When it comes to adapting video games, most anime fans will agree that, with a few exceptions, the live-action versions fall short of expectations. However, that is sometimes the case for anime adaptations as well. For each Fate game that gets a good adaptation, it’s another that is completely disappointing.
If the animation is terrible (as seen in the case of Persona 5)or the story takes too many liberties with the source material (like Dragon Age: Your Story), there are several reasons why fans would hate an anime adaptation of a beloved video game or series. This article will chronicle 10 such anime-adapted video games that fans hate.
Disclaimer: This article is subject to spoilers and reflects the personal opinion of the author.
Tekken: The Motion Picture and 9 Other Hated Video Game Anime Adaptations
1) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
This standalone Final Fantasy movie is one of the most famous movies ever to break the landscape of video game anime adaptations. Why? This is because it has the same problem that many moviegoers have with the James Cameron-directed one Avatar movie franchise, which feels like all flash and no substance.
This is especially bad when you consider how far out and removed The spirits within feels from Final Fantasy series. Apart from the presence of spirits and Doctor Cid, the film has almost nothing to do Final Fantasy the universe most fans are familiar with.
To be fair, the story itself is interesting and the visuals were impressive for 2001. However, it couldn’t save the film which was so badly rejected by both Final Fantasy fans and moviegoers that it completely destroyed Square Pictures as a movie studio. Instead, watch Advent children for a better one Final Fantasy film.
2) Persona 5: The Animation
Of all adaptations of this series, Persona 5’s anime adaptation is considered the worst. It was tough competition compared to Persona: Trinity Soul and Persona 4: Golden’s anime adaptation. On the other hand, Persona 5’s anime adaptation trumped them both in terms of how awful it was.
Persona 5, Royaland The tips the sequel is all bombastic games, with a memorable cast and plenty of epic and emotional moments. The anime adaptation condenses far too much into a short 26-episode runtime, barely giving the main characters any development. Besides treating the main character like a bland slate, some of the key central battles are also abbreviated to the point of absurdity.
As the final nail in the coffin, the animation is shockingly poor quality for an anime adaptation produced by Cloverworks, which is known for The Promised Neverland, Fairy Tail, and Spy X family, and A-1 Pictures, which credits the production of Sword Art Online, Black Butler, and Blue Exorcist. However, many expected more from an anime adaptation of such beloved games. The English dub may be great, but it doesn’t quite save the rest of the anime’s problems.
3) Tekken: The Motion Picture
Fighting game adaptations usually tend to do well in the market. From Mortal Kombats live-action adaptation (both the original in 1995 and 2021) to Street Fighter’s many anime and live adaptations, the concept of colorful fighters fighting each other tournament style should be a flawless victory.
Unfortunately, this is not the case Tekken: The Motion Picture. The film mostly focuses on the Mishima family drama, featuring Heihachi and Kazuya, with Jin’s mother, Jun, investigating Heihachi’s dark plans. While the follow-up Blood revenge considered superior, the original film suffers from many problems.
While the voice acting was considered flat by fans, the animation didn’t even try to match the game’s action. Also, it all came off like a derivative version of a Bruce Lee movie. To top it all off, series mainstays like Yoshimitsu, Paul and King were reduced to extras, which was not good for an ensemble cast.
4) Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (1997)
OVA by Fire emblem anime adaptation, titled The Mystery of the Emblem, was named after the 1994 game of the same name. It was only two episodes long and sold poorly enough to cancel production of the remaining episodes. Additionally, no more copies of the anime were ever found.
The 1997 OVA follows Marth as he journeys to fulfill his destiny. Since the audience never got to the fate part, the rest of it has to be criticized based on two episodes. Surprisingly, just based on the dub of the first two episodes, most people liked it when it came to YouTube views.
While not hated, as most would prefer it to be remade or remastered, it still sold poorly enough to be cancelled. Furthermore, Fire emblem was considered obscure in the west and did not receive enough attention to warrant a full anime adaptation.
5) Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works (Studio Deen Version)
Fate Stay Night Unfotable vs Studio Deen
Trying to fight a long visual novel game into a 105 minute OVA isn’t going to sit well with fans. The Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works film attempts to shorten Unphotographable series and not doing so well. While the story is still decent, it is much better told in the anime.
The film was found to have reduced the story by a huge amount, with the content reduced by approximately 80%, according to some reviewers. That means downsizing everything from the prologue being three minutes to taking way too many liberties from the second Fate routes, making the shonen aspects the focus rather than the ideological and psychological aspects.
Basically, the art is bad, the story is told pretty frivolously, the characters feel flat, and it hasn’t aged well.
6) Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
dragon age is Mass Effects second series, which is worth a game and deserves an anime adaptation. Dawn of the Seeker focuses on the character Cassandra Pentaghast from Dragon Age Inquisition, who was known to be a hardliner at times, although she never hesitated to keep the player in check.
The problem is that her characterization in the OVA doesn’t quite match what happened in the game, with her being incredibly harsh to everyone around her. In addition, the story is full of clichés without much of its charm dragon age has, which is why fans have also described the art as stiff.
7) Dragon Quest: Your Story
A wrongly told story can be overlooked, a bait-and-switch cannot. This anime adaptation’s climax is extremely sour fans hoping for a straight anime adaptation of Dragon Quest. In a case of a series-wrecking climax, it turns out that the main character, Luca, is literally in a .Hack scenario where he is connected to the game as a VR simulation.
That’s not hyperbole, that’s literally what happened. The whole story was about someone playing Dragon Quest V. Needless to say, no one liked this twist and soured on the anime after it was revealed. As some fans have said, that twist feels better suited to science fiction like Sword art online or similar productions.
The point is, don’t bait and switch the audience expecting a fantasy story, and introduce science fiction elements at the very end.
8) Corpse Party: Missing recording
Corpse Party is quite niche for an anime adaptation, much similar Dead Space. Horror usually doesn’t sell well unless it’s well made like that Silent Hill series or the works of Junji Ito. When it comes to Lack of admission, its problems are incredibly and painfully obvious since its entire running time is 11 minutes.
This is a small OVA that shows what happened before the series, following a different set of characters than what is usually focused on. The animation is stiff, lacks visual appeal, and the moments feel poor compared to other horror anime. Also, the ending is unsatisfying, something not enough is explained to justify its existence.
As a general rule of thumb, audiences often care about what happens to characters in a horror setting. However, the characters feel like cardboard and are not missed. An alternative to this is the anime adaptation of Tortured souls and/or live action Book of Shadows to satiate one’s gruesome preferences.
9) Devil May Cry
Capcom’s devil may cry the series centers around a snarky and stylish brawler named Dante. He is a demon hunter who seeks revenge for the death of his family by shooting and slashing several demons and horrors from the underworld. The idea of an anime adaptation of this game seemed inevitable. However, it disappointed several fans.
Many feel that Studio Madhouse dropped the ball by trying to shape DMC to something that would work for newer fans. Dante was transformed from a cool, wise demon hunter exploring twisted environments to a downtrodden paranormal investigator taking mundane jobs in a town that offers nothing memorable.
While the action was amazing and the expansion on Lady and Trish was incredible, the anime adaptation of this over-the-top game is downgraded to slower paced events. Also, it doesn’t help that some people hated the character of Patty, who reminded them of Ashely from Resident Evil 4.
10) Bayonetta: Bloody Fate
An anime adaptation based on Bayonetta shouldn’t grace this list since the wacky game features the main character using his hair to fight angels and demons. The animation is a clear sticking point, as it is often incomprehensible at best. While this can be the case in video games, especially with Bayonettaits stylized executions, an anime adaptation should have been able to convey what was going on without feeling like it was directed by Michael Bay.
The reception is more mixed than outright hatred. However, most people who played the game do highly recommend it, given it’s a direct adaptation of the first game. While the animation could have used some polish, the soundtrack lacks some of the best tracks and the story isn’t conveyed half as well as the game does.
