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Anime Hot Takes (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-26 19:52:02
Imported:
2026-01

Content

Reply to this post with your anime/manga hot takes and I'll pick some of them to respond to in a future ProZD Watches Anime video.

Comments

Jonathan Nguyen

Franky, Brook, and Jinbei are the least interesting Straw Hat members. Cut them out and you wouldn’t miss much.

MOL352

Shinichirou Watanabe is overrated, and has been cruising off the success of Cowboy Bepop for years. None of his shows can stick the landing.

Colton Lambert

Lately the new animation style for popular battle anime is SO busy that it does more harm than good. One piece for example: At the beginning of Wano the animation was SO beautiful, but later luffy vs kaido was so busy and messy that it was hard to see what was going on at all most of the time

Pumaloaf

An actually generic isekai where a hero is summoned to defeat a demon king played completely straight with no special twist would be original at this point

Jamie Robinson

People that only watch shonen / battle focused anime shouldn't claim to say they love anime. There is so much more to explore within anime that I believe should be explored in order to claim you love anime as a whole

Toaster_inc

Adachi (the mangaka behind Cross Game, Touch, H2, etc.) repeating himself isn’t a flaw, it’s the appeal. You read him for the vibe and the people, not for twists.

Zee

An anime dub is a transformative piece of art because you are getting an entirely new cast of performers compared to subtitled anime. I think of a dubbing cast more akin to a theater troupe putting on the same play than a 1:1 translation of the original work

claire f

"Bad" english dubs and translations of old anime series like early Lupin III and Speed Racer are honestly kind of fun, in the same way that an earnestly made bad movie loops around to being fun.

BardBarianBoi

I personally hate time skips. Far too often they take, what is usually, a well established world, dynamic among characters, and even the overall premise of a series and borderline just throw all of that out of the window. It's made me genuinely drop series all together, most notably Gurren Lagann, because the shift is so jarring and unwelcome. I know some series have pulled it off well, but more often than not it's just bad

Jirrij

There is something inherently voyeuristic/pervy about the "cute girls doing cute things" subgenre

Emily Collins

In Isekais, the "MC's delayed surprise to receiving a large sum of money because they had to mentally calculate it into yen first" bit is always funny.

Chronomagi

I think Frieren is an extremely slow, boring, and overrated anime that only gets better when it relies on a cliché and becomes a tournament arc. It's like the creator had a cool concept but didnt really know what to do with it so they turned it into generic shonen slop. It also has the OPM problem where there's no tension because the MC is so OP and can instantly solve most problems so they keep cutting to weaker cookie cutter characters to add any drama. The emotional moments flashing back to the hero don't feel earned because we barely know anything about the guy or spend much time with him while he was alive so it makes it really hard to care

GreatNate

I think having average anime is still a good thing. Obviously it would be great if EVERYTHING was a banger, but from a practical standpoint, the time and cost would be impossible. I think you need all the middling anime with lower budgets to be made to keep jobs and interests in the field, for better tools and techniques to be made, and for potential future talent to cut their teeth. Thanks to that, the anime industry overall continues to improve.

Ivan

The only good entry in the Fates series is Fate/Zero.

Alis

The Umineko and Higurashi are perfectly cromulent anime and while not the best way to experience R07's work they don't ruin it if you go back and read the VNs after.

Chris

"Power Fantasy Anime" are boring. Classic shounen shows were power fantasies, but they had characters who struggled, experienced failure and, ultimately, developed. Shows like Solo Levelling and The Eminence in Shadow suck because there are no characters; just cut-outs that aura farm and pander to the audience. More JJK and less Solo Levelling!

Izer

When people say they miss "when anime had filler", what they really mean is that they want to watch a Slice of Life anime, but don't know or don't want to admit it.

Caiden

Dragonball Z Kai is mostly better than Dragonball Z. The problems Kai gets criticized for are often American TV network changes, not the anime or dub. Plus, it does still have some filler like the driver's license episode. Dragonball Z can arguably be better, however, when it comes to voice actor choices and having some good filler that Kai doesn't have. I'm referring to the Funimation dubs to clarify.

Ironwolf

Same set as the previous posts on this subject. - Attack on Titan was overrated as hell. - Harem anime can be fine, just as long as all the characters are consenting adults and there is an actual plot... - Subs are not better than dubs, and vice versa, what matters is the production quality of the show itself. Voice acting included. - The original Ruroni Kenshin show is still one of the best anime of all time, even if the original mangaka is a disgusting pervert. Steve's gonna crucify me for this last one... 😮‍💨 - The art and animation style for One Piece is weird and off-putting, and to such an extent that despite everyone saying "One Piece is one of the greatest anime of all time!" I just can't get into it. I believe the anime/manga is a quality product. I just can't stand the way it looks. Sorry.

Jeff Hibbert

Someone should take a big swing and make another humorous dub like Ghost Stories or Samurai Pizza Cats. Unsure what property it should happen to, but maybe something older? We do have a lot of 'abridged' content now, but I think this could still be hilarious.

Jonathan Negron

Not enough love is being given to other Stawhats. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are oversaturated at this point, and every other crew member has become a benchwarmer.

Izer

In the long term, Demon Slayer Infinity Train has accidentally doomed the standard "anime adaptation" run. Anime studios feel more emboldened to release an entire story arc in a movie, even when it doesn't fit. Some series like Demon Slayer can get away with a well-paced 2hr special, while other series will skip entire story arcs straight to their epilogue. Now every time an anime adaptation gets a movie announced, you pray your series isn't getting shafted

Dan Koss

They shouldn't make live-action anime, but if they do (or do them better), these are the only directors that could do them justice. Cowboy Bebop: Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) Fooly Cooly: Daniels (Swiss Army Man, Everything Everywhere All at Once) Akira: Denis Villeneuve (Bladerunner 2049, Dune, Arrival) The Promised Neverland: M. Night Shyamalan (The Visit, The Village, Split)

Masterdramon

You've spoken previously (and correctly) that anime OPs are an underappreciated art form in their own right, but the same goes doubly for anime EDs. Rarely do they get featured in Top 10s or actively discussed apart from their songs, but precisely because they don't have the burden of needing to "sell" a show with great bombast or high-action spectacle, they're a medium where some of the most deeply creative work in the industry's history has been realized. Think about Mob Psycho 100 ED1, painstakingly animated through painted glass, or FLCL's "Ride on Shooting Star," smoothly transitioning between the journeys of an animated and choppy live-action Vespa with the same inimitable humor of the series. EDs deserve a lot more recognition from the anime fandom and artistic community at large.

Miy Eterp

Do H e n t a I count?

I have nothing BUT contempt for this court

Tournament arc are the real test if a battle anime has the juice or not, if you can’t keep the narrative arcs of your main cast in focus in a tournament arc it’s gonna fall apart

Blake hutcheson

I have two hot takes. Tsundere archetypes are one of the hardest to get right, but when done correctly makes way for some of the best multidimensional characters in anime. Outgoing female MC that is emphatically in love with shy and sweet male MC that is also interested, but lacks the courage to confess is best dynamic if written well.

TrX

Audiobooks are an underappreciated medium for experiencing Japanese light novels, and they enhance the experience of watching anime based on them. For anyone who's a fan of Konosuba or Overlord, the Yen Press audiobooks are really well done and include some of the English dub main cast.

Matthew Ely

The Silver Spoon anime doesn't cover all the material from the manga, but it does cover the most interesting material from the manga, so it's okay that we didn't get any more.

purplealchemist

Hot take: fluid animation is a must to keep viewers interested. That’s half the anime experience right there. If I notice a shows animation quality start to deteriorate, I stop watching it or it gets very painful to enjoy. As someone who adores animation, it’s maybe easier for me to see where the crew cuts corners compared to other viewers, though I think most can tell when something is “off”. It’s unfair that so many anime projects are rushed which makes the quality suffer. I’d love to hear more crew talk about it.

LittleKachowski

I tend to find that short anime has better moment-to-moment storytelling. While long stories are fantastic for building worlds and developing deep character connections, they often suffer from meandering, character obsolescence, and a deviation from the initial vision. Shorter stories, like Gurren Lagann, FMAB, and Dungeon Meshi make use of much more assertive storytelling, where story beats, themes, and character moments feel intended from the beginning. Character growth and death is often permanent, and the endings feel more like it was built up to, rather than being 'the last arc.'

Jathby Dredas

I love Murciélago, but there are some manga that I just don't think should be adapted to anime.

Izer

Lupin III proves that anime can be episodic and even formulaic as long as it's actually entertaining. Fans don't truly want something new, they want something fun.

Gentleman Gamer

I personally really appreciate anime that are "just okay" or "merely fine" Sure, I love the 9 or 10/10 shows where I'm heavily invested and eagerly awaiting every episode. I also like the 8/10 shows which don't end up being favorites, but are still really enjoyable watches. But sometimes, I don't feel like I have the brain-power or energy to engage with a more involved or "peak" show. S sometimes, it's nice just to go through a "fine" show that I'd only give a 6 or 7 out of 10 to. Am I likely to rewatch or especially remember such shows? Probably not, but on low-energy days where it's hard to focus on stuff, it can be nice to have something that requires too much emotional or intellectual investment from me.

Jacob Haras

Doesn't matter how impressive the scene on screen is, when the frames drop in modern anime it completely takes me out of the show and ruins it for me. Retro anime 80s/90s are more visually appealing. Even with the amount of static images / limited animation / trickery they used, it doesn't break my immersion like modern frame drops and sudden jank 3D

Cadmon Alima

I've been listening to the So I'm a Spider So What LN. Great way to get through books without adding more books to the pile of read later.

KaptainMorgan

Excessive fanservice can turn me off of an anime even if I've heard really good things. I heard great things about Summer Time Rendering, but couldn't make it through the first episode because the fan service was so excessive.

blah

Some takes 1 - I don't think sexualization in anime is an issue. It is an issue if it is paired with poor writing. I think the true issue is objectification, where a character is only useful as an object of sex appeal. I think its important to have characters that have sexual appeal while being well written. 2 - Fate series is often praised for the art quality especially in fights, but I think flashes of lights are terrible representations of quality. 3 - I think that a bad adaptation of a manga into anime is better than no adaptation. It hurts, but at least I can stop hoping. I will admit though that being exposed to a bad adaptation will taint the enjoyment of the source.

Teacol

Not sure how much of a hot take this is, but I think one of the tenets of consuming stories that a lot of anime fans lack is understanding the fact you can enjoy a story while still disliking certain aspects of it. I see lots of discussions for anime series where valid critiques of a show are presented, only for people to boil those critiques down to an attack against the show and the thing they enjoy. I believe that in general anime fans would benefit from understanding just because you like a show, doesn't mean you have to agree with or defend each and every part of it.

Vitriol

More anime watchers need to pick some unheard of show each season or every few seasons to watch. I think a lot of the problems we see with online anime discourse is from people only watching the most hyped/talked about shows, then go run online to farm engagement about how it's "mid"/"bad" when it doesn't change their life. Watching less hyped seasonal shows can both incentivize just watching a show for the sake of enjoying it rather than needing to have an opinion about it AND can provide broader perspective about all of anime as a medium. Best case, you find your new "hidden gem" favorite, worst case it recontextualizes what a "mid" or "bad" show really is.

ToughtMoff

Pre-Timeskip One Piece has way more heart and comedy than Post-Timeskip. Ever since the Return to Sabaody it feels like the crew has had most of their fun dynamics and personalities muted. Not to mention how little relevance certain straw hats, such as Ussop and Chopper get. (Though this is more of a post Dressrosa problem). It just feels like straw hats outside of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji don’t get cool moments anymore.

Matt

The problem with FMA Anime comparisons is that neither 03 or Brotherhood were meant to be each other. The 2003 version had seven volumes worth of Manga to adapt and the author herself encouraged the production staff at Bones to match to the beat of their own drums. It’s interesting to see how it diverged from the Manga but it’s hard to call it better or worse on that front due to the intentions from the outset. Brotherhood was made as a more close adaptation even with its own liberties. There, you can criticize how they adapted the Manga, what they changed and what they cut. However, what’s the point in deriding it for lacking what the 2003 Anime had?

Matt

I don't get the Fairy Tail hate. I ain't talking about those who gave it a shot and bounce after an episode. I ain't talking about those who loved it at first but felt it became less for them over time as tastes change year to year. No. I'm referring to the outright derision and disdain that Fairy Tail has often gotten by default as if Hiro Mashima personally came over to these people to destroy their Anime figurine collection. Like what happened exactly to make the show an acceptable punching bag?

Matt

It seems a lot of Anime adaptations back in the day were more liberal in animating the Manga. Take a lot of Leiji Matsumoto's Manga and how their Anime adaptations would go into vastly different story directions with a lot of the same concepts. Or Sailor Moon which reformated the Manga's serialized story arcs into episodic monster of the day Power Rangers fare. In today's accuracy senstitive community, we'd have meltdowns across the board over it all. Like no analysis of it on its own terms but rather just seething. Many can't even handle MHA when it tinkers with how a Manga panel is interpreted on screen.

Xwelldo

I am more or less done with the "Humans vs Demons/Monsters" plot in Anime. I understand having to have Enemies, I just hate it when it automatically defaults to that. I tend to lose interest in those stories, because I think it's a foil for a "We Are Good, They Are Bad" plot. Rather than a story about a Human who beats up a bunch of mindless Demons, I'd rather watch a story about a Human who is raised to hate all Demons, but then ends up befriending one, only to learn that Demons aren't all that different than Humans! Bonus points if the ultimate villain ends up being a fellow Human who claims to be a good person, but ends up actually being more "Demonic" than a so-called Demon.

Izer

An ambitious 6/10 that fails to stick the landing is a better watching experience than a 10/10, even if it's a worse overall work. I most recently watched Blue Giant, and while I think that movie was incredible and practically flawless, I find myself thinking more about anime movies like Josee, the Tiger and the Sea that have a strong start but just can't follow through.

Izer

The "noble demon" or "sympathetic villain" trope has become flanderized to the point that people (some writers, but ESPECIALLY fandoms) have forgotten why we love classic villains, or just problematic characters. Similar to the issue of many people judging an anime on whether fits the "self-insert power fantasy" mold, we've lost sight of the fact that "bad guys" in fiction can be entertaining, but also make us uncomfortable and explore parts of ourselves we usually don't want to acknowledge in our day to day.

Bernie

I hate talking about anime with most people due to the fact that there are 3 takes nowadays. 1. Its peak! 2. It's mid. 3. It's trash. There seems to be little to no actual substantial commentary on shows these days and if I see the word peak to describe something that was just fine one more time I'm going to lose my mind.

rudolfpikel

I really don't love how seasonal-oriented the general anime sphere has become. It's not that I don't understand it, it's pretty much an inevitable outcome given how attention hungry the world is nowadays, companies and people alike are scrambling to always focus on the hottest, newest, most conversation generating thing in order to maximize profit or validation. Why would anime be any different? Still I can't help but be sad at how many people have watched nigh nothing that came out before they themselves got into the medium. There is so much art of equal, greater, or even just different quality than what's new and popular, and outside of certain breeds of hardcore enthusiasts, particularly those who got into the medium before the internet in its current form had materialized, it is by and large neglected or even denigrated. Yet I have no doubt that so many of those people could find so much to love in these things they will never see. I really do find it tragic.

blah

Thank you for picking it. I elaborated a little bit in the comments

Omar Montoya

This take is specifically geared towards certain anime fans I ran into when I used to go to anime specific conventions. I think anime fans would benefit a lot by practicing some animation for themselves. It doesn't have to be perfect by any means, but just the exercise of learning how anime is made and the sheer amount of effort that goes into every step of the pipeline would hopefully help eliminate some of the more braindead takes. This could be drawing, voice acting, composing music, writing, etc. Anything that is a hard skill that is difficult to learn and work towards. Something that shows you how crazy it is that anything is made in the first place. It's really hard to talk to certain fans of anime when they: -still think episodes are made the week of -can't voice what works for them or not outside of "the animation/writing was good/bad" -criticizing the way a show looks because it isn't a typical style (a lot of people want every show to look like sword art online for some reason?). -EVERYTHING PAST THIS POINT IS JUST ME RANTING- It really feels as though these fans are cats that just wants to see the laser point move fast enough across the screen, get mad when it doesn't, and don't understand at all that there's a narrative or story attempted to be told. It's crazy to me that these same people ONLY watch anime, they don't touch manga, AND they don't watch or consume any kind of show outside of anime. Their ENTIRE LIVES are dedicated to watching anime, and yet they don't know the first thing about how it's made, do not care to learn, and will just get on their soapboxes with some of the worst takes ever.

Justin Thorpe

I really liked the ending of Hunter x Hunter (2011). I hear a lot of people dislike the ending and feel it left off on a cliffhanger, which I guess is technically true since the manga continues on. For me personally, the core of the series was always about Gon trying to find his father. So I think it makes since that when he does, the show ends. The stuff about Dark Continent is teased in his talk with Gon, but honestly, I don't really care about it and for me the story is over. I think what was adapted in 2011 is a perfectly tight story with most important plot threads tied and with a great message about enjoying the journey rather than obsessing over the destination.

Blake hutcheson

You mentioned in your Naruto episode with Anne Marie that Anime these days is largely plot driven. This really resonated with me. I desperately wish anime would take the time to breathe and let characters have fun side adventures or have enough episodes to not have to rush through the main plot. It often feels like we’re lucky to get 3 seasons (36 episodes) of a show let alone have the time to spend with the characters to learn more about them.

Akrasia

Anime fans need to engage with Tokusatsu more often. Creators like Hideaki Anno, Hideo Kojima, and Satoshi Tajiri cite their love of Ultraman and Kamen Rider for many of their most popular works, and engaging with these shows and understanding the influences they have on their favorite anime manga and games is an enriching experience. Rejecting Tokusatsu because it’s childish is hypocritical when animation as a medium still struggles to be taken seriously. These shows aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s baffling when someone says they love Japanese culture but only watch anime.

José

Attack on Titan is just Gundam without mechs even it technically does have mechs though. So even though the premise and story are handled well, its wild that people think this is somehow a separate entity from other things and saying its the best anime or Eren is a goated MC when it's literally just another mecha anime telling the same plot about how war is bad as every other mecha but in a very different way.