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Anime fans have a tendency to see the series they grew up with through rose-colored glasses. Their childhood nostalgia blinds them to any potential flaws these anime might have had. While they likely weren't all bad by any means, some anime simply weren't nearly as good as fans remember them to be.

These anime series may have been childhood favorites, but they don’t hold up nearly as well on a rewatch—especially for fans who have grown since they first aired. While they were once a huge part of many childhoods, their flaws are too glaring to ignore now. At least the nostalgia remains, even if the anime series themselves don’t stand the test of time.

Viewtiful Joe Was a Video Game Adaptation Flop Not Currently Streaming

Viewtiful Joe was a superhero anime from the early 2000s based on the video game franchise of the same name. In this series,...

The Pokmon franchise has been popular in essentially every medium, but the anime series is especially successful. Running since the 1990s, it's had over 1000 episodes and defined the brand for a generation of viewers. In its heyday of popularity, it also inspired a slew of imitators that firmly followed the formula it created.

The most well-known competitor for Pokmon was easily the Digimon anime and game franchise, but there were several others. Some of these now have their own nostalgic fanbases, while others have largely been forgotten in the annals of time. Still, many were better than they had any right to be and moved beyond their seemingly "lowly" status.

Your browser does not support the video tag. Dinosaur King Is One of the Most Forgotten Anime Franchises Streaming On: Netflix

Something of an oddity in the realms of franchises similar to Pokmon is Dinosaur King. Similar to a series...

Rachael Lillis, voice actor for Pokémon’s Misty and Team Rocket’s Jessie, has died. She was 46.

Lillis died on August 10 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2024. Her Pokémon co-star, Veronica Taylor, shared a post on social media following Lillis’ death.

“We all know Rachael Lillis from the many wonderful roles she played. She filled our Saturday mornings and before/after school hours with her beautiful voice, her terrific comic timing, and her remarkable acting skills,” Taylor, who voices Ash Ketchum in the animé series, shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a statement, Taylor added, “Rachael was an extraordinary talent, a bright light that shone through her voice whether speaking or singing. She will be forever remembered for the many animated roles she played, with her iconic performances as Pokémon’s Misty and Jessie being the most beloved.”

“Rachael was so thankful...

Some anime holiday specials are kawaii and warm and fuzzy, even if they involve mutants like My Hero Academia. Then there are those which decide to take the festivities for a sleigh ride into the bizarre. The creatures invited to these Christmas parties range from demons to alien frogs to cats that run a pizza shop and even a talking slime in a Santa hat, and don’t forget Santa flying in a sleigh pulled by a robotic reindeer. Pokémon are already strange enough, but in one particular episode, Frosty has nothing on the snowman as Pikachu and his friends build him in the shape of a Snorlax.

By the way, did you know Christmas cake, which is the pièce de résistance of the parties in a few of these specials, is a huge deal in Japan around this time of year, much like KFC? That episode of Dinosaur King is not kidding.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is an incredibly unique anime, being based almost entirely around a trading card game, but despite this there are a variety of similar shows that fans of the franchise would likely enjoy. These shows of course include a variety of other anime based around card games, but they also include other series that are more similar in other aspects. For whatever reason someone enjoys the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, there should be something on this list to scratch that itch.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most iconic anime of the early 2000s. The show follows a young boy named Yugi who unlocks the power of an ancient relic known as the Millennium Puzzle, releasing the spirit of an Ancient Pharaoh. With this newfound ally, Yugi and his friends defeat a variety of powerful enemies through high stakes card games while uncovering the mysteries of the Pharaoh's past. The show spawned a...