Anime with strong first episodes that fall off afterwards?

I’m curious what anime people have watched or dropped due to a strong first episode and then the rest of the season being not up to par.

I’m also wondering what characteristics of those future episodes cause it to contrast so much with episode 1 and cause them to be worse!

For me, I think a lot of the seasonal isekai fall into this category. Strong start after being transported into a new world and then they seem to fall off hard and become very generic.

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Commentaires

TheBlessedBoy992026-01-02 18:18

Guilty Crown has a pretty good first episode. However it ended up as my least favourite anime by a decent margin. It's the only show that made me consider just quitting watching anime as a medium.

N7CombatWombat2026-01-02 18:29

Hard agree on Guilty Crown, that one is tied with Big Order for worst anime I've ever tried to watch (at least Big Order sucked from the start).

mattmaster682026-01-02 19:56

The only hope Big Order had was the concept.

IIRC it was proposed as a Future Diary alternate yet was anything but.

4Khazmodan2026-01-02 18:37

It really is Code Geass at home but without anything that made Code Geass amazing.

TheBlessedBoy992026-01-02 18:56

Guilty Crown is Code Geass but if it was shot from the perspective of the guy in the Black Knights who is obsessed with Zero but never does anything cool.

4Khazmodan2026-01-02 19:05

Why is that so accurate? I watched Guilty Crown directly after finishing Code Geass because I heard it was similar. I couldn't stand it after long and dropped it after a few episodes. I was almost offended that it was even compared to Code Geass.

TorchedBlack2026-01-02 19:28

The only reason anyone talks about Guilty Crown anymore is because it was the big breakout title for Sawano. Yeah, he'd done bigger name stuff before (kill la kill) but ironically Guilty Crown sucking probably led to people focusing on the only good thing. The music.

4uk4ata2026-01-02 18:19

Tenchi Muyo has one of the best first episodes ever.

It's okay afterwards, but that pilot episode? Chef's kiss

Kazuma_Megu2026-01-02 18:57

You talkin' about the OG OVA(the episode with Ryoko chasing him around), or the OG series?

4uk4ata2026-01-02 19:04

Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki, I believe that was the first series to be released. I thought it is was a series but yeah, it is classified as an OVA.

Kazuma_Megu2026-01-02 19:12

I'm old enough to remember when that first aired on Toonami as what I believe was the first series to follow up DBZ and Sailor Moon as their earliest anime. I was like, "hey this one's pretty good, too!"

mlcarson2026-01-02 18:19

Well, the Water Magician falls into this category.

iCrono2026-01-02 18:26

I tried really hard with this anime because the animation is so beautiful but ended up dropping it

N7CombatWombat2026-01-02 18:35

I kind of liked the narrative concept that I took from it, [Water Magician]>!that the character we follow isn't actually the MC of the plot and just kind of hangs out.!< I thought that was a novel idea, the last time I saw something like that was Big Trouble in Little China, but, at least Big Trouble in Little China [this aspect of the movie is a counter point to how the concept went in Water Magician, so tagging it as well]>!Kurt Russell was an active participant for the entire story.!<

scratchfury2026-01-02 19:08

It seemed crazy how a character we see so little of got an entire ED, but at least it was a nice ED.

42tfish2026-01-02 19:20

Does it progress throughout the full novel/manga like that? From what I saw it looks like it was pretty popular in Japan so a S2 wouldn’t be a surprise.

CanadianNoobGuy2026-01-02 23:45

the anime was really good up until the MC reached a town and then just... stayed there and did nothing the rest of the season

Erick_Brimstone2026-01-03 04:02

MC doesn't really do anything before he goes to town either.

Just-let-me-sign-in2026-01-02 18:19

Shield hero.

static_func2026-01-02 18:54

Which is saying a lot, because even the first episode was mediocre. Just a mediocre setup for a mediocre joke concept before it instantly devolved into weird incel fantasies that should land all its fans on a list

Destinum2026-01-02 20:15

Shield Hero has a pretty enjoyable first novel (first four episodes of the anime), but as soon as it's not just Naofumi and Raphtalia anymore, the vibe changes drastically.

Brickinatorium2026-01-02 22:19

I thought Filo was a nice addition. Especially her sister like relationship with Raphtalia. I wish it had just stayed those three though.

IClop2Fluttershy42062026-01-02 23:48

Filo was around the part the show goes downhill, but I'll maintain Filo herself was fine.

nagchamploo2026-01-02 22:45

Maybe not the first episode but it fell off the edge of the abyss when the turtle came in

EnyaCa2026-01-02 23:07

It got better if you can get through season 2, lol. The turtle shit was the worst.. I barely made it.

Pretend-Ad14242026-01-02 18:20

The ones that come to mind are Ninja Kamui and Uzumaki

RPO7772026-01-02 18:30

Yeah Uzumaki was a pure production \*\*\*\*show after the first episode. It was unfortunate because the first episode was pretty good.

steven48692026-01-02 18:37

I heard that the director got fired and he spent like a year on the first episode, another director took over and presented whatever possible.

ratrexw2026-01-02 18:58

Ninja kamui might be the one of the worst anime i've ever finished

Pale_YellowRLX2026-01-02 21:04

You're stronger than me.

I just couldn't

DocMcsquirtin2026-01-02 20:15

Then they’re gonna threaten us with a second season of kamui

breakbats_nothearts2026-01-02 21:43

I stuck with Ninja Kamui and regret it. But it did expose me to coldrain, who did the opening theme. And they're exceptional.

4Khazmodan2026-01-02 18:22

Goblin Slayer starts off very dark/edgy and shocking but absolutely does not carry that tone the rest of the show. Turned out EP1 was just that for shock value which leaves a bad taste.

Klinicalyill2026-01-02 18:33

Seconded.

That first episode made me think the show was going the way of AoT where no one other than the main character had any plot armor. It adds a lot of intensity and anticipation to scenes when you’re not absolutely certain the core characters will survive.

By now it’s pretty clear none of the core characters are in any real danger.

darthvall2026-01-02 19:32

Huh, very interesting.

I might not like the anime if they retain that level of SA throughout the series. It becoming a comfort dnd adventure actually made it very enjoyable for me.

Charming_Figure_90532026-01-02 19:59

I don't think it's the SA so much as the energy and general tone of the world....it starts presenting one way and then goes another

RellenD2026-01-02 20:15

I kind of feel like Goblin Slayer is the opposite of what this is asking for.

The first episode will turn so many people off it and it doesn't keep showing us women being raped beyond that opening and is a good show.

4Khazmodan2026-01-02 20:17

I understand that Ep 1 isn't an easy watch, but it just feels generic after that. At least the first episode was uniquely dark if hard to watch. Rest of the series is just serious male anime protag followed by big titty fantasy tropes.

Only-Ambassador26242026-01-02 18:22

For sure Summertime Render. I watched all of it but wow what a start to a series. The first few episodes had me hooked and then it just became mediocre. I know some people love it but I can't understand why after the fall off..

Edit: And I watched it dubbed in English. Holy moley whoever that dubbing studio was... Please never hire them again. Some of the worst Voice Actors I've ever heard in Anime hands down.

iCrono2026-01-02 18:28

I agree, it’s a slow burn and definitely need to have some suspension of belief to get through some parts. Overall I liked it

chetrhcp2026-01-02 18:32

Agree, a lot of people love that show but I thought it got noticeably worse after the first 5-10 episodes.

Fl_Funky_Jam2026-01-02 18:24

Moonrise came out with a really strong premise, then proceeded to just suck ass lol

iCrono2026-01-02 18:33

Man this anime was just incomprehensible - they tried to do way too much

Fl_Funky_Jam2026-01-02 18:46

Seriously it had all it needed to be a hit, great looking characters, amazing animation/backgrounding, a solid plot to build off of but they ended up adding in about 6 plotlines too many along with the absolutely absurd pacing.

darthvall2026-01-02 19:30

Later on, I learned that she's only involved as character design. But man, I almost lost faith to Hiromu Arakawa due to this anime.

Calypso_gypsie2026-01-02 18:45

I powered through it. Great premise and a killer opening but instead of the moon the writers flew too close to the sun.

Fl_Funky_Jam2026-01-02 18:53

I VERY clearly remember messaging a buddy after the 1st episode that he should check it out and that the show had a lot of promise, then about an hour later and a few more episodes under my belt I told him to hold off 😆

vesterbeast2026-01-02 19:22

Which is kind of sad how much of a mess the story was because the production quality was insane, but that's not that surprising considering the names attached to it. It was definitely one of the most consistently good-looking anime of last year. It just sucks that it felt like they wanted to take the story in so many directions that it ended up feeling like they had no idea what they wanted to do with the characters and plot.

garfe2026-01-02 19:54

Anytime that anime gets mentioned, I remember that thread that was made when it was coming out about how Netflix was ignoring it and it was going to be a masterpiece

Kassssler2026-01-02 21:41

I remember that shit lol. Guy was acting like it was a crime against humanity how little buzz the show was getting and then it was just a dumpster fire.

ortikatu2026-01-02 18:25

To your eternity

Nyte_Crawler2026-01-02 18:29

I mean the show is solid (hardly the best show I've ever watched, but very far from a bad show), however to your point, the first episode works so well as a one shot that the rest of the series has no chance when measured against it.

I will add though my opinion is solely based on seasons 1+2, I have yet to watch 3.

roshan2312026-01-02 19:57

Honestly not even just the first episode I'd say the first six or so episodes are really really good! The first episode definitely stands out though even amongst those.

But the rest of the series is such a tremendous fall from grace that it's hard to really argue for it anymore than that.

SacaeGaming2026-01-02 18:29

People hype this up so hard that I decided to watch it,

Am I missing something with this show?

iCrono2026-01-02 18:31

Completely agree, I ended up dropping it halfway through the first season. Probably one of the strongest first episodes I can think of.

senpaikantuten2026-01-02 19:23

What? First season was hella amazing for To Your Eternity.

fire_head2022026-01-02 19:06

Cannot disagree harder, the first episode is everything great about the show condensed into one episode as a taster. The rest of the show gets sadder and explored the same themes over a much more extended and deeper period. You're missing out if you drop it and don't commit tbh.

ravenpotter32026-01-02 19:41

All I will say is [major to your eternity spoilers] >!when the whole point of your protagonist is that they are immortal and the only immortal… and that they take on the forms of those who have died so a small part of them can live on within them…. The entire plot because fucking pointless when HE BECOMES ABLE TO BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD!!! LIKE THAT IS RHE ENTIRE PREMISE OF HIS CHARACTER AND Honestly WAS A FASCINATING CONCEPT! WHERE HE CAN DO NOTHING TO STOP THE ENEVITABILITY OF DEATH AND TIME!! HE BECOMES LIKE BEYOND OP!! LIKE HE CAN MAKE ANYTHING WITH HIS BODY MASS. DEFEATS THE ENTIRE POINT SET UP IN EP 1 OF HIS CHARACTER! DEATH IS WHAT GIVES THE STIRY STAKES AND WHEN DEATH CAN BE REVERSED Everything BECOMES IRRELEVANT AND THERE ARE NO STAKES!< gosh i hope someone takes inspiration from to your eternity in his the protagonist works and just makes a actually good story with it. Like the premise of his character is so fascinating and I would love to see a story that gives kino’s journey or frieren vibes take on that concept for the protagonist of a immortal traveling and dealing with the inevitability of time and loss.

soupzYT2026-01-02 19:44

yep I agree the concept was brilliant and became utterly ridiculous and forgettable

Rediro_2026-01-02 19:55

Haven't been able to finish the third season honestly :/

SmurfRockRune2026-01-02 18:25

Goblin Slayer has a really engaging first episode and was incredibly boring every episode after that.

a-nun-ee-moose2026-01-02 18:26

Aldnoah Zero. I think. I've heard not good things about it.

Alt22212026-01-02 18:32

entire first season is pretty solid imo

Nyte_Crawler2026-01-02 18:35

First episode was the only one Urobachi wrote (or it might've been first 3, can't remember). So that would be why. It was still ok, up until it's midpoint.

The show instantly killed any hype it had after it restarted (it was split cour) with the worst possible resolution to its cliffhanger.

Iirc, the last episode of the first cour was the highest upvoted post in this subreddit of all time when it came out, meaning it was still absolutely a good show people were watching up to that point. But yeah, the start of second cour instantly killed any respect it had.

ArturiaPendragonFace2026-01-02 19:13

The double tap in the head was a brilliant silent moment asking for confirming a kill.

Then the next season starts with MC having a cool mechanical eye.

QWEDSA1597532026-01-02 19:43

Wait, really? I remember being so.. displeased, by that ending that I never even gave second season a first look. I suppose the princess lived too then, didn’t she? Don’t know what’s worse, actually killing them off, or the fake out.

Nyte_Crawler2026-01-02 19:37

If you want me to explain how it messed up so bad. The show ran with dual protagonists, one from the earth faction and one from the mars faction.

The first cour ended with [Aldnoah.Zero]>!the two protags meeting face to face with the mars protag firing a shot into the earth protags head and leaving him to bleed out as he takes the last escape pod on a failing space station.!<

The second cour then opens [Aldnoah.Zero]>!a beach episode type scene with the earth cast and the earth protag is completely fine- and no it was not a coma fake out or anything like that.!<

ShowBoobsPls2026-01-02 19:11

This. The first episode is a banger with epic Sawano Hiroyuki OST drop.

pssiraj2026-01-02 19:48

Yeah that soundtrack being so good is even more frustrating when you realize the show couldn't cash the check Sawano wrote for it.

krackatowakid2026-01-02 18:27

Zom 100 for me

steven48692026-01-02 18:33

Ironically, the studio (OLM) they were targeting for the poor work ethic and environment, they only ended up having worse conditions than them.

Nova-Redux2026-01-02 18:51

It makes me sad because I personally loved the show, the manga has been nothing but pure joy for me.

But you're absolutely right that the first episode was a masterpiece of art and media, and it just kinda... became a normal anime after that.

deskbeetle2026-01-02 19:53

That first episode is so well done. When he is running, the color becomes more saturated and the aspect ratio changes to show how his world has opened up, it really is an exhilirating sequence. And then it never comes close to that high the rest of the run.

teddy_world2026-01-02 22:07

same studio is handling Witch Hat Atelier this year, im so nervous 😭

Fennezu2026-01-02 23:56

Zom 100 was their first project and they did fine outside of the schedule issues, I wouldn't be worried. I liked it a lot, but I feel like other people had problems with the source material or grew tired of waiting.

I don't know any details, but I imagine WHA has been their main/only project during all this time. They even kept the release date under wraps for such a long time, that surely everything will be well polished when it finally releases. The trailers so far have been gorgeous!

slightdepressionirl2026-01-02 18:27

Oshi no ko

Lunchb0xx872026-01-02 18:30

yeah it peaked with the first few eps that they strung together..really set the bar high

steven48692026-01-02 18:31

The ep-1 is still one of my 10/10 rated anime episodes, while the manga is [manga spoilers]>!a 4/10, how the mighty have fallen!<

harunonami2026-01-02 18:29

wonder egg priority

mekerpan2026-01-02 18:34

{sound of heart breaking}

I got worried around ep 8 but that last "special episode" was a flaming car plunging over a cliff and exploding on the way down.

harunonami2026-01-02 19:01

tbh the first few episodes were good but somewhere near the end… it was too rushed and was so disappointing

mekerpan2026-01-02 20:02

Much worse than rushed. It undermined many of the core aspects established at the start.

harunonami2026-01-02 20:17

agree!

WiqidBritt2026-01-02 20:47

You can kinda tell the writer didn't really have a plan, and the director/animation staff did what they could to polish it up. I'd love to have seen what that team could've done with a real story.

Mazgazine12026-01-02 18:59

Damn what a fun anime that totally just went weird.. Wish these super out there worlds got more Episodes Of world building..

Takemyfishplease2026-01-02 19:43

Probably the most gorgeous anime I’ve ever watched.

DaveTheDolphin2026-01-02 20:05

Nah the quality extended past the first couple of episodes

It was the last 2/3 episodes and “ending” that really sucked

zool7142026-01-02 18:29

Pretty recent but Towa no Yuugure

mekerpan2026-01-02 18:36

One of the messiest stories that I nonetheless enjoyed. Not sure what the heck went on in the planning and writing.

Asd_892026-01-02 18:49

Yeah, PA shows are some of my favorite shows, and I enjoyed the first few episodes, but it really got messy as you said. Still enjoyed it but it could have been better.

n080dy1232026-01-02 20:01

I'm noticing a trend in recent years of PA Works originals having some of the most interesting premises and concepts, and looking fantastic, but then kinda going in another direction by the end that misses what made it interesting at the start. Happened with Mayonaka Punch about the same speed as Yugure, it happened with Appare-Ranman, it happened to a much lesser extent with Akiba Maid War (that was still pretty good all the way through), it happened HARD towards the very end of Day I Became a God (which can be blamed specifically on Jun Maede, he does that). Though I think Buddy Daddies was good the whole way, and I didn't watch Narenare.

Throwaway7853202026-01-02 19:31

Still can't believe how bad it was

Imagine making original anime with like 70% filler

RimuruKusuo2026-01-02 18:29

NINJA KAMUI! a masterpiece 1st and 2nd episode, then it just fell off hard by introducing mecha.

steven48692026-01-02 18:29

Babylon, amazing start, terrible ending.

wawuwewa2026-01-02 18:31

Towa no Yuugure... AKA Dusk Beyond the End of the World

n080dy1232026-01-02 19:52

God what the fuck were they even doing with that, they made such a cool setting only to use it as set dressing for a weird exploration of like, marriage customs and relationship structures? Like, what the fuck? Absolutely bizarre direction.

Kassssler2026-01-02 21:43

Wait seriously. I had this one on the backburner.

n080dy1232026-01-02 22:44

Yeah, I only watched through like Episode 6 but after they got the main trio together in Episode 2 or 3, a big focus was on this new concept of partnership called "ehlsea" which could include multiple people of the same or different genders and ambiguous romantic interest, and each episode and a half or so was the characters going to a new location and meeting some people in a different configuration having interpersonal relationship issues. I think there was one android fight in that time which was just a drunk Yugure beating up some yakuza goons.

Also the first case of this was two sibling yakuza heirs who wanted to partner with eachother. Meanwhile the protagonist is trying to sort through what his relationship with the titular android that looks like his ex-girlfriend (who I would note, was also his adoptive sister, though this happened fairly recently when they were teenagers), while the second girl third-wheeled the relationship *hard* and insisted all three of them partner up.

Animesiac2026-01-03 00:23

I was dumbstruck by the ending. I just sat there wondering about if that was the story destination they were going for, WTF was up with the path they took to get there. So much nonsense. So many things that happened didn't matter. So many other things made no sense. The show got progressively worse as it went, but it really nosedived the last 2-3 episodes.

[Towa no Yuugure nonsensical plot point] >!"Where is Towasa?" - literally everyone in the show. "That's classified." ... "Oh, btw, here's her grave."!< What the literal fuck? That one single piece of information makes at least half of what happened in the show completely pointless.

Alt22212026-01-02 18:32

sadly this is waaay too common in anime

BigOk68922026-01-02 18:33

# I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too this anime for sure

*shit ass ending worst story line*

N7CombatWombat2026-01-02 18:37

I mean, we really didn't get any kind of "ending" in the first season to be fair, maybe in the second season though.

Kazuma_Megu2026-01-02 18:59

Man people rabidly hate that show so much but to me it was just another run-of-the-mill B-tier Isekai with actually exceptional character designs and decent animation.

But I hated that fucking rabbit.

BigOk68922026-01-02 19:01

i fell in love with the anime watching the first few episodes but as it progresses it became worse than I could imagine

The_Parsee_Man2026-01-02 20:16

The first episode was pretty terrible too. You had to accept that he somehow managed to go six weeks without looking in a mirror even once. Meanwhile he could see that his body had totally transformed and he got measured and fitted for new clothes.

Reasonable-Divide2082026-01-02 18:37

Devilman Crybaby dove off a cliff for my partner and I. It wasn't enjoyable to finish and I just kept telling myself it'll get interesting again for sure

Devilman_lore2026-01-02 18:50

Crybaby isnt as good as the manga but dove off a cliff? Damn.

Aggressive_Map67662026-01-02 18:41

B: The Beginning. Great setup. Excellent art for the 1st episode. Super bland and generic after that.

Asiyt2026-01-02 18:42

The detective is already dead spent all of its budget on the first episode and completely fell off after getting super hyped

abandoned_idol2026-01-02 19:12

The only thing I recall from that first episode was cheesy, pretentious, nonsensical dialogue and a suitcase.

It might have also had an impossibly evil mook, but my memory is hazy.

tkguru82026-01-02 19:12

This was the first thing I thought of

iCrono2026-01-02 19:56

lol the first episode animation was so good too

Gabelschlecker2026-01-02 20:30

Luckily Detectives These Days Are Crazy afterwards made up for that by being good the whole way through.

Tornadoeight2026-01-02 18:48

Oshi no ko

Kassssler2026-01-02 21:46

I mean the first episode was basically a short movie. Hard act to follow so I don't blame em much.

tehcharizard2026-01-02 18:48

Magical girl destroyers had a pretty good start but then had no momentum for the rest of the series.

The detective is already dead had a great first episode to the point where the second episode made me feel like it was a bait and switch.

NatAnirac2026-01-02 18:50

Fire Force for me. I loved the idea of it, and the lore and setting they built up in the first episode. Spontaneous fire demon things with fire fighters being literal fighters. Ruined by ecchi.

ginger66162026-01-02 19:25

I’ve never seen a anime more universally dropped for the same exact thing

FrostNar2026-01-02 18:50

Comet Lucifer. An anime original, and that first episode felt like it had so much potential, and then quickly dissolved into one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. The weekly discussion threads were great though since everyone was hate watching it at that point.

caldoran22026-01-02 18:54

Akiba Maid War

[Absolutely incredible musical number](https://youtu.be/RczT7gdkV8E) at the end of the first episode, then it sort of just...flatlines for the rest of the season, only sparking a few laughs here and there towards the very end.

Dark-Zafkiel2026-01-02 19:01

One punch man, season 2-3

iClips32026-01-02 19:05

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was that. It was attack on Titan basically until it fell completely flat and had one of the least inspiring villains I've ever seen in the medium.

ArturiaPendragonFace2026-01-02 19:16

Damn, loved the premise, then dropped it hard as the show continued.

The only hype moment I remember afterwards was the driver flexing while controlling the train, and that's probably from episode 1.

https://media.tenor.com/tuCE24DpQ1QAAAAM/kabaneriofthe-iron-fortress-koutetsujounokabaneri.gif

Damn, a nice maki body type.

mattmaster682026-01-02 19:53

Loved the premise, held on until the end hoping it’d make a comeback.

It didn’t.

Ryukenden1232026-01-02 19:06

Cheat magician. Falls off the cliff very fast.

dienomighte2026-01-02 19:06

That assassin isekai from this season

Kassssler2026-01-02 21:47

I love that this is a valid statement.

Just to separate it from all the other assassin isekai lol.

mmubeen2026-01-02 19:08

For me, this has to be The Kingdoms of Ruin. Absolute banger of a first episode, then turns into a ****show.

ShowBoobsPls2026-01-02 19:09

Aldnoah Zero

One of my favorite 1st episodes ever, but what a mid show otherwise.

It's watchable if you like mechs though

CrazyThinkingHat2026-01-02 20:46

Or you're a physics/chemistry nerd wanting to see it put to some fun applications. And by fun, I mean explosive. Outside of one mech in the second season that involves a shady application of quantum physics, it could be retitled as "Logical Weaknesses in Your Super Mecha: The Anime".

The actual plot and characters... could use some work, though. (Though I have a soft spot for Inaho)

ArturiaPendragonFace2026-01-02 19:11

Kabaneri of the iron fortress for me. Anything after leaving the town was a boring generic Disney plot.

SmashingK2026-01-02 19:15

Zom 100 had an amazing first episode and then never managed to stay as good. Second half got a fair beat weaker for me.

APRengar2026-01-02 22:11

IMO the final 3 episodes of Zom 100 S1 (with the delay especially) were straight up bad. Did not like the villains, and it broke format from the whole "having fun in a zombie apocalypse" thing it had going on to try to be more dramatic but ended up being lesser than the sum of its parts.

Some fun shows can go dramatic and pull it off well, I'm thinking like Cautious Hero. But I feel like Zom 100's attempt was a big miss.

BasroilII2026-01-03 03:14

> Did not like the villains, and it broke format from the whole "having fun in a zombie apocalypse" thing

fuuuuuuck. I wanted to watch that show. I just wanna see a bunch of people living it up at the end of the world. Why they gotta screw it up with villains and stakes and crap? Not everything needs to be a saga.

Other_Total55362026-01-02 19:16

To your eternity. The first episode feels like a completed story, it's absolutely amazing, almost like a movie.

It's still a super good series, but that first episode just hits different.

Spirited_Stick_50932026-01-02 21:20

It really didn't "fall off" though it just had a 10/10 first episode

Matias99912026-01-02 21:31

Yes. The rest is good, very good but that first episode is just so above the rest

akutaen2026-01-02 19:16

Blue Lock 😭 The manga is great but the anime (minus the 1st episode) has less animation than the manga 🙃

Shwars2026-01-02 19:16

Zom 100

pereira20882026-01-02 19:20

akame ga kill - one of my favorite first episodes. then if falls downwards

Codee332026-01-02 19:21

Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night

Aquatope on the White Sand had a great first half, then falls off hard.

PartyParrot-_-2026-01-02 21:15

I found Aquatope very interesting from start to finish, but I haven't rewatched since it aired so...

Codee332026-01-02 22:05

The back half was still good, but the first half had a certain magic to it that the second half lost. Still great, but made me feel pretty empty, which I personally think was the point.

Contren2026-01-02 21:17

Yeah, thought Jellyfish was going to be one of my favorite shows ever after the first episode (even through the first 4 or 5).

Back half isn't terrible, and it's still a worthwhile show to watch, but it loses the magic that had my hopes so high in the first couple episodes.

DaRootbear2026-01-02 21:54

It was so funny how it and girls band cry just kinda flipped.

Jellyfish started as a show that i thought would be one i talked about for years, in the same way you described, until the back half.

Girls band cry started as a show i thought was real good but nothing crazy and by the end became one of my favorite shows.

HowToVenusaur2026-01-02 21:49

Jellyfish can't swim at night was such an avoidable fumble. It's a mostly solid series that could have been great with double the episode count. [Jellyfish can't Swim at night spoilers] >!The speed with which we rush through that final arc of Mahiru leaving the group temporarily to pursue her art elsewhere, the falling out with Kano, and then them getting back together and resolving it all was the decision of all time (I'm pretty sure the entire resolution happened in 9 minutes of screen time during the finale itself). We never got any major resolution or even interactions between Kano and her mother. We never get a good exploration of Kano's mother or the idol group girl who initially sabotaged her and set the entire series in motion. We completely rush through and undermine Kiui's character arc by having her "accept herself" by...developing and playing a made up persona on the internet, which, in terms of thematic consistency, is such an anathematic metaphor to accepting who you actually are that it almost seems like it was written as a parody of itself. All the while we get random one off episodes like the motorcycle driving instruction episode that largely do nothing for the narrative comparatively, when we could have used that run time for meaningful necessary character work.!<

Oh well, at least I got to hear Sumire Uesaka play the cute hag idol, I guess.

BakedWizerd2026-01-02 19:21

Was it Castlevania that had the first episode be about Dracula falling in love, coming to see that humanity isn’t all that bad, and then his wife is killed by the church so he turns his back on humanity?

Yeah I watched that first episode, and was thrilled to get a “revenge anime from the perspective of the villain,” only for the next episode to be like “a hundred years later” or something and shift focus to a drunk vampire hunter who’s down on his luck or whatever.

I was so incredibly disappointed by my own expectations that I’ve never watched past the first 20 minutes of the second episode.

Throwaway7853202026-01-02 19:23

Dusk beyond

ulysses85002026-01-02 19:25

Wonder Egg, it was quite the disappointment after such an interesting start

Khashishi2026-01-02 19:27

Plastic Memories has one of the best first episodes of all anime. and a relatively crappy succession

Voxious2026-01-02 19:27

It would be easier to name the modern shows that DONT fall into this category. Most shows blow their wad financially and creatively early on to try and get the audience hooked. After that the quality falls off a cliff as they aren't putting the requisite time and effort into subsequent episodes to maintain the same quality.

Kooler2212026-01-02 19:29

Solo Leveling, after the first two episodes, it just becomes power fantasy slop.

CoconutForward83152026-01-02 19:31

Ninja kamui

Vixilianne2026-01-02 19:33

The Junji Ito Uzumaki adaptation, rest in peace 😭

joepanda1112026-01-02 19:37

So I’m a Spider, So what?

Overall still good but man the animation got real bad real quick.

rorenspark2026-01-02 19:40

The Detective is Already Dead

4ps222026-01-02 19:51

SAO

LilWildFox2026-01-02 19:52

Believe SAO (Swort Art Online) is a big one for this.

Trini2Bone2026-01-02 19:52

I'll never forgive Ninja Kamui holy fuck

DaveTheDolphin2026-01-02 20:11

This wasn’t the most popular show but,

Kijin gentoushou

It had an hour long premiere episode and like 24 episodes in the season, but in the last like 8, the budget completely died. Some scenes were literally incomplete, like they didn’t have visuals to match audio, and had incomplete frames.

Idk how well it was received but I really liked the world it was building up, and the premise was unique in amongst the seasonal isekai and harem slop. Such a shame the budget was completely front loaded for the season

darkuen2026-01-02 20:14

Kotoura-San’s first episode was really sad and heartfelt. Which really surprised me because I was almost scared away by the slap happy intro song, which unfortunately does set the tone for how the rest of the series is after the excellent drama of episode one.

akiba3052026-01-02 20:17

Kotoura-san. It starts off as a sad story of a psychic girl who was ostracized by everyone for reading people's thoughts, which quickly devolves into an ecchi comedy.

Akriosken2026-01-02 20:27

I haven't seen anyone mention **Japan Sinks 2020**.

A disaster story about a series of devastating earthquakes causing the entire Japanese archipelago to slowly sink into the Pacific, filled with nonsense and bad ideas.

But the first episode is a raw and powerful earthquake disaster story told from a few different points of view that sells you on the deadliness of earthquakes in urban centers, following a family going about its daily life at first and then struggling to find each other in the aftermath of the destruction.

It's a shame the rest of the series is unable to live up to that 10/10 first episode.

slappycider2026-01-02 20:36

Uzumaki… ughhhhhhhh

Salty1452026-01-02 21:01

*Takt Op Destiny* had a surprisingly pretty good first episode and then made the bold decision to stop being as good in Episode 2 onward.

ClemFire2026-01-03 02:41

I thought of that show after the ending of Dusk Beyond the End of the World and not in a good way

UmmOkWhateverSilly2026-01-02 21:03

tokyo ghoul

Chooba322026-01-02 21:08

I'm probably gonna get piled for this but it's Solo Leveling for me. The first episode had such good tension and sense of danger.
Every episode after that felt like an incel fantasy. So dissapointing.

Hocaro2026-01-02 21:33

Uzumaki 😭 It was as if the studio put their heart and souls in the first ep and then it completely unravels and the animation quality drops off a cliff. One of the biggest let-downs in recent memory.

ClemFire2026-01-02 21:39

I'm gonna be killed for this, but Komi Can't Communicate. That scene in the first episode is one of my favorite in romance anime, but I never felt that way again myself.

KappaFedora2026-01-02 22:10

I dropped it a few episodes later but man that first episode with the chalk was amazing

Strong-Range-56162026-01-02 23:39

Yeah I felt like the anime would've been better if it had stuck with the feeling of the first episode and if it hadn't of kept trying to create wacky characters that barely anyone could get behind. I love unique characters but it felt like the show was starting to become a circus with all the clowns it added in.