Anime That Are Overrated (But Still Good)
"Overrated" is often used as an insult, but in anime, it usually means something else entirely. When a show reaches a certain level of mainstream popularity, the hype machine inevitably creates expectations that no series—no matter how good—can fully satisfy. The conversation shifts from "Is this good?" to "Is this the greatest thing ever made?" And that's where the disconnect happens.
The anime we're examining today aren't bad. In fact, they're genuinely entertaining, well-produced, and worthy of your time. But they've been elevated to near-mythical status by viral moments, stunning animation sakuga, or simply being in the right place at the right time. Let's separate the legitimate quality from the inflated reputation and give credit where it's actually due.
Demon Slayer
Let's address the elephant in the room: Demon Slayer is not the revolutionary masterpiece some fans claim it to be. The story follows a fairly conventional shonen formula—orphaned protagonist seeks revenge, joins a specialized organization, trains with quirky mentors, and battles increasingly powerful enemies. Tanjiro is likable but not particularly complex. The plot rarely subverts expectations. If you strip away the visual spectacle, you're left with a competent but unremarkable battle shonen.
But here's the thing: that visual spectacle matters. Ufotable didn't just animate Demon Slayer—they redefined what television anime could look like. The Hinokami Kagura sequence, the Rui fight, the entire Mugen Train arc—these aren't just well-animated scenes, they're cinematic experiences that justify the medium's existence. The show also excels at emotional beats, particularly in its portrayal of demons as tragic figures rather than pure evil. Episode 19 became a cultural phenomenon not just because of Tanjiro's fire breathing technique, but because the animation elevated a solid emotional moment into something transcendent. Demon Slayer proves that execution can be just as important as innovation, even if the discourse pretends otherwise.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen arrived with the weight of being "the next big thing" and immediately drew comparisons to classics like Hunter x Hunter and Bleach. The series does borrow heavily from its predecessors—cursed energy functions similarly to Nen, the organizational structure mirrors Soul Society, and the mentor-student dynamics feel familiar. Gojo Satoru became an instant icon, but let's be honest: he's essentially Kakashi with unlimited power and a god complex. The show doesn't reinvent the wheel; it just polishes it to a mirror shine.
Yet dismissing Jujutsu Kaisen as derivative misses what makes it compelling. MAPPA's adaptation brings kinetic energy to every fight, with Yuji's raw physicality and creative cursed technique applications making battles genuinely thrilling. The series excels at character moments—Junpei's arc is heartbreaking, Nobara brings genuine feminist energy to a genre that often fumbles female characters, and the Shibuya Incident arc delivers consequences that most shonen would never risk. The show understands that darkness without stakes is just edgy aesthetics, but suffering with narrative weight creates genuine investment. It may not be the genre-defining masterpiece it was hyped as, but it earns its popularity through consistent quality, bold storytelling choices, and the best-animated hand-to-hand combat in modern anime.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia had the misfortune of being labeled "the anime that could make non-anime fans care about anime" during its early seasons. That level of hype created impossible expectations. Critics started comparing it to every superhero property ever made, from Marvel to The Incredibles to Watchmen, and finding it wanting. The truth? MHA is a solid, heartfelt battle shonen that borrows from Western superhero comics while maintaining distinctly anime sensibilities. It's not revolutionary, and it was never trying to be.
What My Hero Academia does better than almost any of its peers is emotional consistency. Deku's journey from quirkless underdog to inheritor of the world's greatest power could have been a standard power fantasy, but the series never lets him—or us—forget the weight of that responsibility. All Might's decline, Bakugo's complex character growth, Todoroki's family trauma—these arcs are executed with genuine care. The show stumbles with pacing issues and an overcrowded cast in later seasons, and yes, some villains feel underdeveloped. But when it focuses on its core themes of heroism, legacy, and what it means to save people, MHA delivers emotional gut-punches that rival any anime. It may not be the genre-defining masterpiece it was hyped as, but it's a consistently good show that deserves appreciation for what it actually is rather than criticism for what it isn't.
Final Thoughts
Being overrated doesn't mean being bad—it just means the conversation has become distorted. These anime suffer from a discourse problem, not a quality problem. They're victims of their own success, held to standards that even legitimate masterpieces would struggle to meet. The backlash they receive is often less about their actual content and more about exhaustion with their omnipresence in the community.
The lesson here isn't to avoid popular anime or to defensively overhype them. It's to approach each series with measured expectations and judge it on its own merits. Demon Slayer is a visual masterpiece with a straightforward story. Jujutsu Kaisen is a well-executed modern shonen that knows its influences. My Hero Academia is an earnest, emotionally resonant take on superhero mythology. These shows are all good—legitimately, objectively good—even if they're not the revolutionary genre-redefining works some fans claim. And honestly? That's perfectly fine. Not every anime needs to be a masterpiece. Sometimes being really, really good is more than enough.