Recently, a heated debate arose among members of a Reddit forum over an intriguing question: “What’s a popular anime that you just couldn’t get into after watching it?”This discussion generated a wide variety of responses, revealing the various reasons why some viewers fail to connect with certain anime, despite their immense popularity.

Among the series mentioned by users are titles that were critically and commercially acclaimed, but for some, simply did not live up to expectations.. The reasons behind this phenomenon are varied and complex.

One of the most common reasons mentioned is the discrepancy between the expectations created by the anime's popularity and the actual viewing experience. When an anime is extremely popular, it tends to generate high expectations in new viewers.However, these expectations aren't always met, which can lead to disappointment. Viewers can expect impeccable storytelling, deeply developed characters, and high-quality animation, and when any of these aspects aren't up to par, the disappointment can be even greater due to the expectations generated.

Another important reason is the variation in personal tastes. Just because a series is popular doesn't mean it aligns with every viewer's individual preferences.Some users commented that while they recognized the quality of the animation and storytelling, they simply couldn't connect emotionally with the characters or the plot. Differences in preferred genres, animation styles, or even the type of humor can significantly influence the perception of an anime.

The issue of prejudice against the popular was also highlighted. There is a tendency among some viewers to avoid or reject something simply because it has achieved a high level of popularity.This phenomenon, sometimes called the "backlash effect," is based on the idea that if something is appreciated by the majority, it must lack the depth or quality that each person seeks in their personal choices. This type of bias can lead to a negative review before even giving the series a fair chance.

Media saturation and excessive advertising also play a role. When an anime is very popular, it's present everywhere: social media, debates, friends' recommendations, etc.This omnipresence can create a feeling of exhaustion before even starting to watch. Furthermore, the inordinate hype can inflate expectations to unattainable levels, resulting in a viewing experience that feels less satisfying than the expectations created.

• “Unpopular opinion. Honestly, I couldn't stand Komi Can't Communicate. I was tired of hearing people say she was so down-to-earth, when people with social anxiety would never be as popular as that girl. And the inability to speak isn't the same as social anxiety either. A good example of realistic social anxiety would be Watamote.“.
• “Nanatsu no Taizai, without a doubt.“.
• “Take a shot every time you read Jujutsu Kaisen in this thread.“.
• “Kanojo Okarishimasu, for several reasons.“.
• “I really can't enjoy any long shounen. I absolutely hate the tropes of over-explaining everything, as if the viewer can't understand without help. It feels like shoddy writing; I've never heard of "show, don't tell."“.
• “I liked how Hitorri Bocchi handled social anxiety. From the constant need to reassure herself that they're still her friends and remember her, to the excessive planning of unimportant things like their visit to her house. Plus, AnoHana is a bitch.“.
• “Thank goodness someone else thinks Anohana was melodramatic nonsense. If you saw the movie when you were 10 to 13, I understand.“.
• “Who the hell thinks Komi-san is even remotely realistic? The entire series is completely absurd. I really didn't understand the hype surrounding Vivy Fluorite Eyes Song. I thought it was good and finished it, but I wasn't thrilled with it.“.
• “One Piece, I have a life to live“.
• “I might get a lot of flak for this, but One Piece. A lot of people told me to watch it, so I watched about 20 episodes and never really got into it. “.
• “As a huge One Piece fan, I understand. Many fans tell people they need to get through Arlong Park because "that's where it gets really good!" But there are over 40 episodes. No one should have to watch 40 episodes just to get to the "good part."“.
• “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Even for an isekai, there's no stakes. The protagonist is OP right off the bat and never fights or faces any real threat. And five episodes in, I still hadn't found a single character I cared about. So if there's no stakes and no interesting characters, there's no point in watching.“.
• “Fire Force. Sure, the fire cat girl kept losing her clothes, to the point where I thought it was fanservice satire. But I didn't care. What bothered me was the guy with the fire sword. "Why am I losing? I'm using the sword with the wrong hand"... What? No, seriously, that's bullshit. How do you write all your characters to be so dumb that they'd physically die if you left them unsupervised in the real world for more than two hours? That hurt, especially since the action was beautiful.“.
• “Hero of the Shield. The initial "this country hates the Hero of the Shield, but they can't kill him" approach was interesting. But the character himself was so bitter it was unpleasant to watch, and so OP that there was no stake in it. Not to mention, he single-handedly started the slavery craze in another world.“.
• “Blue Lock. As someone who loves soccer, seeing them create a team made up of only strikers irritated me, no matter how trivial the reason. Plus, I don't like sports anime. I was dragged into watching it and got as far as episode 9 before giving up.“.
• “Demon Slayer, the cast is boring or a bit irritating, and the story is pretty dull. The animation ruined it for me. I didn't continue after the first season.“.
• “I couldn't watch Boku no Hero Academia because it took too long to get to the main plot and I'm impatient.“.
• “One Piece. They're running something like 1,100 episodes, but I couldn't stand it. I tried watching a few of them and finally stopped after about 200 episodes. No one can say I stopped too soon.“.
• “For me, it has to be Demon Slayer. It has a strong beginning, but as the plot progresses and the characters fade away, it's terribly boring and full of the most banal shonen clichés. I didn't bother watching it past the red-light district arc, despite the incredible production and animation.“.
• “The Monogatari series. I made it all the way to the end of the 9 episodes and found no reason to care about anything.“.
• “Naruto and One Piece. It's a very difficult task with so many episodes.“.
• “Just leveling, I have no doubts“.
• “I gave up on Jujutsu Kaisen on my first try, but when the second season recently came out, I gave it another chance and, for some reason, I really enjoyed it. Who knows, maybe I wasn't in the right mindset on my first try.“.
• “I tried really hard to like Cowboy Bebop. I watched it all, but it felt like a chore. I know everyone loves it, but I just couldn't get into it.“.
• “Mine was Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's very slow and doesn't really interest me, although the opening is legendary.“.
• “I'll probably be crucified for this, but I couldn't keep up with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure because I really don't understand what's so popular about it. I mean, the action scenes are cool with the superpowers like the ripple and the bleachers and stuff like that, but other than that, there are a lot of really ridiculous things that I just don't understand, like the flashy outfits everyone wears? The constant sexual actions and innuendos? All the silly and crazy actions and decisions the characters make? I've seen a lot of ridiculous anime where I can at least understand what they're going for, like Gintama and Food Wars, but JoJo's... I don't understand what makes them popular.“.
• “Demon Slayer, I tried to force myself to watch it twice and it was absolute torture, literally no original stuff, just recycled shonen tropes with good animation, I really tried to watch it but I couldn't, I was even about to try a third time but I decided to stop trying altogether.“.
• “Mushoku Tensei the fan service literally makes the show practically unwatchable I can watch a good story but every episode there is fan service, just disappointing.“.
• “For me, it was Shingeki no Kyojin. I tried to watch the ads, watched the entire first season thinking maybe there would be something at the end that would hook me, but nothing. So, I gave up after the first season.“.
• “Re:Zero probably. I'm halfway through S2. I understand what people might get out of it, but I'm not one of those people.“.
• “Dr. Stone. The premise of the series is excellent, a series in which the characters rebuild humanity using science. That's why I love Ascendance of a Bookworm. But what turns me off about the series is that it's shonen. The screams, the smiles, the logic of a clueless young man (ohh... I can't stand seeing my girl naked, so I'm going to dress her before reviving her. I don't know how to revive her from a thousand-year dream!). I don't know what happened after that, as I abandoned the series after just a few episodes. What intrigues me is why this series has more than one season. I think someone likes it.“.
• “86: Eighty-six, I was just bored, I don't understand why he's so well-liked and well-reviewed. Maybe I wasn't in the right mindset, or maybe he's just not my type? I didn't get to see the second part.“.
• “I tried it with Bocchi the Rock! and liked it a little more, but I also don't think it was my type. But it had its good moments.“.
• “Serial Experiments Lain is my least favorite anime. It's excessively slow. I only didn't give it a 1/10 because I liked the final episode and the art direction was interesting.“.
• “I couldn't get into Black Clover because the main character's voice was too deep and didn't suit him very well. Maybe he's going through puberty at the beginning of the anime? I'm not sure.“.
• “Mashle… None of the jokes were funny to me. They seemed very forced.“.
• “I tried to watch Steins;Gate about three times, but I couldn't get past the first few episodes. I should have liked it because I love anime that deals with time travel, but I found the story and characters boring.“.
• “Just Leveling... I wanted to like it, and I thought the first two episodes were great, but the middle and last episodes, where he just levels up, didn't seem that interesting. I preferred when he was interacting with others or in a group dynamic (I liked the S-level hunter story a little more), which is ironic because it's JUST Leveling.“.
• “To Your Eternity. It felt like they were killing people for the sake of killing people, not because their deaths actually mattered, not even to the characters involved.“.
• “Mashle. Terrible premise, terrible character. I hated him. I watched two episodes and finished“.
• “I tried really hard and got this far (8 episodes) in Nichijou, but I finally gave up. I'm sorry, but I don't find this kind of humor funny. I don't think it's my cup of tea.“.
• “Soul Eater. Great animation – everything else I found unbearable.“.

Source: Reddit