I'll Admit It: Some of Anime's Biggest Guilty Pleasures Are Actually Pretty Good

As with any media, when people watch anime, they tend to default to the best shows around. In every person’s limited schedule, the last thing they would want to do is devote their time to something that ultimately wasn’t worth it, so defaulting to the anime they know for sure will be good is the easiest way to enjoy anime with as little risk as possible.

Watching a bad or subpar anime almost always sets someone up for a bad time, but that isn’t always the case. Whether it’s a bad show having a few strong points to make it worth watching or something that’s entertaining specifically because of how bad it is, some of the most fun a person can have with an anime will often come from the ones that end up being guilty pleasures of theirs. The kind of anime that fall into that category will be highly subjective, but speaking from personal experience, there are a few that perfectly fit the bill.

10 Kampfer

Anime Series By Nomad; Based On The Light Novel By Toshihiko Tsukiji

Nomad’s Kampfer stars Natsuru Senou, a young student who wakes up one day with magical abilities, including the power to take on a female form. Natsuru, as it turns out, has been chosen to become one of several Kampfers, female warriors with magical powers being forced to fight to the death, and as Natsuru gets further engrossed in the conflict, he ends up catching the eye of a multitude of women, including his school crush who’s only attracted to his female form.

Kampfer is, by no measure, a good anime; it’s a by-the-numbers harem anime that quickly abandons any attempt at a serious plot and really only ever looks good when it needs to deliver on fanservice. However, Kampfer ends up being such a ridiculously dumb anime that its worst points make it fun to watch, and anyone looking for an anime like that won’t be disappointed.

9 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

Anime Series By A-1 Pictures; Based On The Manga By Masaki Tsuzuki & Takuya Fujima

A-1 Pictures’ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid is the fourth anime in the Nanoha franchise. The series takes place four years after Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers and stars Vivio Takamachi, Nanoha and Fate’s daughter who joins a league for close-combat-oriented mages as a means of becoming strong like her parents and getting closer to Einhart Stratos, a new face with a mysterious connection to her past.

In addition to doubling down on the fanservice that became prevalent in Strikers, ViVid abandons the political and deconstructive elements of the franchise to become a more lighthearted martial arts romp, and the quality of the writing noticeably suffers for it. That being said, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid is still fun to watch thanks to its fun characters and engaging fight scenes, and overall, it’s simply fun to have any sort of new content for an underrated franchise like Nanoha.

8 Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy

Anime Series By Liden Films; Based On The Manga By Kazushi Hagiwara

Liden Films’ Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the villainous Dark Rebel Army is making plans to revive the demon Anthrasax and destroy the world. To counter the threat, the high priest of the kingdom of Metallicana revives Dark Schneider, the world’s most powerful dark wizard sealed inside an unassuming child, to stop them, but Dark Schneider’s violent tendencies and womanizing ways make that easier said than done.

Bastard!!’s edgy writing and excessive fanservice make it an unabashedly trashy series, but at the same time, Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy leans into its trashiness so much that it ends up fun to watch because of it. It’s a perfect time capsule of the 1980s when the manga first started, and that old-school charm is a big part of why it’s so fun.

7 Samurai Flamenco

Anime Series By Manglobe; Directed By Takahiro Omori

Manglobe’s Samurai Flamenco stars Masayoshi Hazama, a model who secretly fights as Samurai Flamenco to live out his dream of being a superhero. Despite having no powers or special technology, Masayoshi nonetheless gradually proves himself to be a true hero, and that becomes all the more important as his adventures escalate into the supernatural and absurd.

Samurai Flamenco is an anime that gradually gets more absurd as it continually changes the degree to which it wants to parody superhero stories, and unfortunately, the writing isn’t strong enough to support its penchant for bizarre plot twists. Nevertheless, the sloppiness of Samurai Flamenco’s writing ultimately helps sell the absurdity and sincerity of its story through its constant escalation, and that makes it a hilarious absurdist romp any action fan is sure to get a lot out of.

6 My Deer Friend Nokotan

Anime Series By Wit Studio; Based On The Manga By Oshioshio

Wit Studio’s My Deer Friend Nokotan stars Torako “Koshitan” Koshi, a former delinquent trying to reinvent herself as a model high school student. Koshitan’s plans, however, are completely upended by Noko “Nokotan” Shikanoko, a bizarre girl with antlers sticking out of her head who repeatedly does increasingly impossible things, with Koshitan always being dragged along for the ride as she’s the only one who ever seems to have a problem with it.

Despite all the hype the series received pre-release, it’s ultimately a fairly average comedy, and there are plenty of anime that do a far better job of absurdist and even regular humor, even from 2024. Even so, My Deer Friend Nokotan, despite not being the best comedy, is funny when it wants to be when it comes to both visual and verbal comedy, so there’s plenty to get out of it, even if some comedies are ultimately better.

5 Black Clover

Anime Series By Studio Pierrot; Based On The Manga By Yuki Tabata

Studio Pierrot’s Black Clovertakes place in the magical Clover Kingdom where people of all colors hone their magical abilities to fight as Magic Knights in the hope of becoming the Wizard King, the most powerful mage in the country. Asta is one of the people who aspire to that life, and while he was born without magic, he’ll get a chance to prove himself when he awakens to the mysterious and powerful ability of anti-magic.

Black Clover never does much to break away from the typical tropes of shonen manga, and that style can make it feel cumbersome at times. Cliches aren’t inherently bad, however, as the sincerity in Black Clover’s writing, combined with how great the action always is, has always made it one of the best modern shonen anime to watch, and that will never change, even as its contemporaries try harder to push the envelope.

4 Sword Art Online

Anime Series By A-1 Pictures; Based On The Light Novel By Reki Kawahara

A-1 Pictures’ Sword Art Online takes place in the near future where virtual reality has finally given way to the first fully immersive virtual reality game, Sword Art Online. At the game’s launch, however, the creator revealed that anyone playing the game would die in real life if they died in the game, thus forcing thousands of players to find a way to clear the game and return to their lives before it’s too late.

Sword Art Online is one of the most divisive anime of the past decade, with its fanservice, harem elements, and the overpowered nature of Kirito’s character making it a constant punching bag for fans and critics. Nevertheless, Sword Art Online’s writing, combined with its stellar action, still always makes for a fun story with an engaging cast to go along with it, and there’s rarely a moment where watching it will leave you bored.

3 Fate/Stay Night (2006)

Anime Series By Studio Deen; Based On The Visual Novel By Type-Moon

Fate/Stay Night

TV-14

Release Date: January 7, 2006
Directors: Yūji Yamaguchi

Cast

Kate Higgins
Kari Wahlgren
Liam O'Brien
Sam Riegel

The very first animated adaptation of the Fate/stay night visual novel was in 2006 by Studio Deen. The anime was primarily an adaptation of the “Fate” route, the first route of the visual novel, although the second half of the anime would incorporate various plot points and references to “Unlimited Blade Works” and “Heaven’s Feel”, as well.

Writers: Takuya Sato
Franchise(s): Fate/Stay Night
Main Genre: Action
Seasons: 1

The first Fate/stay night anime has a notoriously bad reputation, and with its poor visuals and how bad a job it does at adapting its story, it’s hard to say that that reputation isn’t deserved. There’s no denying that it’s a bad adaptation, but even so, the few good fight scenes in the original Fate/stay night anime, in addition to the great handling of Shirou and Saber’s relationship, don’t leave it without merit in the slightest, and that makes it almost as fun as the more competent Ufotable adaptations.

2 Gushing Over Magical Girls

Anime Series By Asahi Production; Based On The Manga By Akihiro Ononaka

In Asahi Production’s Gushing over Magical Girls, ordinary middle schooler Utena Hiiragi is a major fan of her town’s magical girl team, Tres Magia, and she jumps at the chance to become a magical girl just like them. Unfortunately, Utena was recruited to become an evil magical girl, and whenever Utena fights as Magia Baiser, she can’t stop herself from indulging in her repressed sadist urges and subjecting them to BDSM-style torture, resulting in varying degrees of arousal from both parties every time.

Gushing over Magical Girls is an unabashedly raunchy anime that revels in audacity, so no one should watch it without expecting trashy content. At the same time, though, Gushing over Magical Girls has a surprisingly thoughtful exploration into BDSM and sex positivity, two fields rarely ever addressed in media, and with the great animation for the fight scenes and fanservice, it’s surprisingly fun to watch.

1 Yu-Gi-Oh!

Anime Series By Studio Gallop; Based On The Manga By Kazuki Takahashi

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (2000)

Main Genre: Animation
Creator(s)
Streaming Service(s)

Yu-Gi-Oh! tells the story of Yugi Muto, a young boy who, after solving the Millenium Puzzle, becomes possessed by the spirit of the Pharaoh sealed within. While Yu-Gi-Oh!’s first anime adaptation was done in 1998 by Toei Animation, the one most people will be familiar with is the 2000 adaptation by Studio Gallop, which largely skipped over the first seven volumes to start when Duel Monsters became the focus of the franchise.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is hardly the best Shonen Jump anime, both visually and narratively, and the English dub is notorious for its censorship, edits, and excessively comedic tone, but even with that, Yu-Gi-Oh! is an anime that’s always fun to watch because of its strong cast and how much it plays the ridiculousness of its story straight. Yu-Gi-Oh! has endeared as a franchise for a reason, and it’s easily one of the best guilty pleasure anime, by far.

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