2010 was a great year for the company fantasy genre in anime. It wasn't all about magic and swords anymore, as the genre gradually welcomed more diverse themes, settings, and even main characters with unique roles. As a result, the 2010s produced some of the best fantasy anime, which earned more praise for everything they did right.
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Unfortunately, some bad eggs slipped through during this crucial period. While many fantasy anime pushed the genre forward, others continued to rely on tired tropes. As such, let's look at worst entries of fantasy anime scene 2010.
2010: The Blessing of Campanello
The beginning of the list is The blessing of CampanelloA 12-part fantasy anime from Studio AIC, which was behind the same production studio Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and My bride is a mermaidso the animation is guaranteed to be decent and watchable. The female characters all look cute too, with Leicester's harem adding consistent fluff and appeal.
Despite a decent animation courtesy of AIC, The blessing of CampanelloThe problems lie in the non-existent plot, the incredibly apathetic main character and the lack of originality. In each episode, Leicester and Minette go on an adventure together, but their story never develops beyond shallow, episodic fluff.
2011: Astarotte's Toy
Assumption Astarotte toy not suitable for young viewers, even though the main character of this fantasy anime is a young girl. Astarotte Ygvar is unlike normal anime girls as she is a succubus princess who is expected to maintain a male harem to maintain her magic while maintaining the peace and prosperity of her kingdom. One of these men is Naoya, a 23-year-old single father.
Unfortunately, Astarotte toy it pushes Naoya into a controversial setup with a much younger Astarott, creating an uncomfortable and disturbing dynamic that's hard to ignore and feels out of place. Worse, Naoya is visually designed to resemble a teenage anime character, presumably in an attempt to make the premise less inappropriate for viewers.
2012: Hiiro no Kakera: The Tamayori Princess Saga
Hiiro no Kakera: The Saga of Princess Tamayori is one of those fantasy anime with a protagonist who can see yokai and other supernatural things like Takashi Natsume from Natsume's Book of Friends and Nanami Momozono from Kamisama Kissto name a few. Although the anime is worth watching Hiiro no Kakera: The Saga of Princess Tamayori is just the opposite.
This fantasy anime has a good plot but doesn't develop beyond shallow interactions between Tamaki Kasuga and her potential love interests. Instead of showing fantasy and supernatural battles or any proper explanation of the yokai, the series focuses almost entirely on the romance aspect, leaving its rich setting largely unexplored. However, if you're a fan of reverse harem fantasy shows, then this one might not be entirely disappointing.
2013: Amnesia
Similar to Hiiro no Kakera: The Tamayori Princess Saga, Amnesia is a reverse harem fantasy anime that features a bland female protagonist who does almost nothing. It's based on a visual novel, which explains why the anime is structured around multiple male love interests and their romantic journeys, at the expense of meaningful plot and character development.
It's easy to notice Amnesia was created to fulfill the romantic fantasies of its target group. While the main female character has no personality or agency, the important thing is that the story revolves around her romantic interactions with the other male characters instead of any meaningful development.
2014: Pupa
A pupa is one of the most popular fantasy anime, not because it's a masterpiece, but because it's one of the worst. While the manga has a devoted following, A pupa the anime adaptation is widely criticized for its extremely short running time, rushed pacing, and poorly executed story.
Pupa released 12 episodes, but each is 4 minutes max, so there's little to no room for real development. While there is some continuity, it's not enough to weave a cohesive story. Instead of getting a full anime adaptation, A pupa brings a disparate experience. The best advice is to pick up the manga instead of taking the time to watch the anime, despite its short duration.
2015: Absolute duo
An absolute duo began with a powerfully unique story where characters pair up to fight adversaries. The mechanics of this matchup seem fascinating at first glance, and fights happened more often than expected. In addition, the animation was also promising, so viewers could easily immerse themselves in the anime world An absolute duo.
However, the anime ultimately fails to live up to its promising premise by missing every opportunity to make meaningful use of its characters. Female characters are only used as harem interests, reducing them to archetypes. The main lead, on the other hand, lacks depth, instead driving the story with his motivations and ambitions.
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2016: Divine Gate
Divine Gate is a fantasy anime based on the mobile game of the same name by Acquire. While there are quite a few fantasy anime based on games, not every adaptation succeeds in turning the source material into a decent anime, and Divine Gate is certainly no exception.
Although the story looks promising, Divine Gate crammed multiple game storylines into a 12-episode anime, resulting in a chaotic mess of a show. While the anime deserves props for its attempt to explore the world and flesh out the characters with flashback scenes, the execution is poorly done.
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2017: Glamorous Heroes
There is nothing glamorous about this fantasy anime, just like all 10 episodes Charming heroes they are skippable. Like Divine Gate, Charming heroes it is also based on a game called 300 Heroes. However unlike Divine Gate, Charming heroes completely abandoning the animation department, voice acting and overall production quality.
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Maybe the only good thing Charming heroes is its short run as each episode is only about 10 minutes long, half of which is wasted on unnecessary scenes instead of actual anime content.
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2018: Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
Among the sea of fantasy and isekai anime produced in 2010, Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar it stands out not because it's an incredible anime, but because of the poor production, unlikable main character, and a story that goes nowhere.
From the first episode, viewers would easily notice that the story lacks proper direction. Neither the main character nor the supporting cast are properly fleshed out, and the setting itself looks like a hastily put together set compared to other isekai anime. The CGI is also bad, making the battles distracting and awkward. Also, the main character, Suou Yuuto, has no redeeming qualities and acts mostly uninspired throughout the series.
2019: Assassins Pride
Assassin's Pride offers a unique fantasy story that doesn't rely on fan service to engage its audience. The series follows Melida Angel, a young girl who is often bullied by her classmates and even her family members for her lack of magical abilities or mana. That is, until a teacher named Kufa Vampir arrives and helps her in the most unexpected way possible.
The plot sounds interesting, but Assassin's Pride tried to give an engaging performance to the audience. The rushed pacing undermined Melida's development, so it was sometimes unbelievable that she could lose miserably and then suddenly win without showing any real growth. The series also uses time jumps that do more harm than good, ignoring crucial interactions and plot events.
