22 Anime Series That Totally Wasted Their Tremendous Potential

Kokoro Connect

Kokoro Connect is one of those shows that brings something completely new to the genre. However, it doesn’t devolve completely into the perverted situations you would expect from a body switching concept, but instead used it to fuel the drama and romance, both of which start off subtle and great. However, when the reason for the switching comes into play, it never really gets explained. Instead, the series just kind of gets lost in the melodrama that it created.

Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland got caught in the same trap as many shounen anime series often do. It caught up to its source material and was faced with two choices: filler or end it. It ended up picking both. End it with filler. Unfortunately, Deadman Wonderland ended the anime in such a way that it left no room open for a second season now that the manga has ended. You either have to like it as it is, and many do, or hope for a Fullmetal Alchemist-style remake.

Hanasaku Iroha

This mind as well be called “Wasted Potential: The Animation”. You are introduced to this painfully cute main character that inspires you to get up and go to work each day with her work ethic, you have hints of romance that are explored subtly without being overbearing, realistic love triangles, and then it ends. It ends badly, too. Throwing away all the things that it built up without resolution. I suppose as a slice of life anime, it can do that for the sake of realism (as things don’t always get wrapped up), but it makes for frustrating entertainment.

High School of the Dead

The horror genre of movies may be overcrowded with zombies, but that is certainly not the case in anime. For fans who weren’t familiar with the manga, High School of the Dead looked like it would be great. Then it wasn’t. They forgot to make zombies a major threat about half way through and instead focused on showing as much boob and butt as they could without being switched to the hentai genre. Such a waste. If only the could combine the interesting zombies in High School of the Dead with the fear and survival themes of School Live.

Perhaps we could breed them…

Guilty Crown

Throughout the series, Guilty Crown is saved by its great animation and lovely OST. Its story, well, that is another matter. You see, it started off really good, but like Sword Art Online, about half way through someone somewhere gave up and let things slip.

Many people fault Guilty Crown for using tired cliches, but what isn’t a cliche these days? It ultimately wastes the unique aspects that it had with the “paint-by-numbers” plot and a stupid lack of character development. Essentially only the main character was developed, and only when Plot-sama demanded it. Everyone else was… Well, fuck everyone else, I guess.