It's easy for me to pick out the ones to avoid like the plague:
- Naruto
Naruto takes it upon itself to open up with a typical "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was" type hero. Before the end of the first season (or maybe the second, they all blend together), however, someone else becomes what he was striving to be so he changes his goal. People defend this as being about the journey, but I found none of the characters to be likeable and if I want a journey where nothing is accomplished, I'll just go hang out with Ash Ketchum.
- Inuyasha
Let me spoil this one. It's 10 seasons of crap (I think, it goes on for AGES) that starts with a very simple goal: defeat Naraku, get the jewel shards. On the last episode of the entire series, it ends with: defeat Naraku, get the jewel shards. They never even get marginally close to succeeding at either thing, and their relationships never develop past season 1 in complexity.
- Bleach
If you like Yu Yu Hakusho, you'll hate Bleach. Unimaginative douche-y characters with names that take a decade to prattle through. I only ever watched the first fifteen minute block of a single Bleach episode before shutting it off. That's bad, because at least I stomached ALL of Inuyasha and a season (or maybe two) of Naruto. The first five minutes of a Bleach episode are spent breathlessly running through everything that happened in the last episode. Except that most shows do this in under a minute. The episode I made the mistake of seeing had Kuroichilongname with Tanabanalongername in the realm of Gooeylongwhat trying to find Boramoranoro-mon so they could go fight Yamamamama in the city of Foraloin. Meanwhile, Ualiobatymaty and Jillowillopigskin were locked in mortal combat with the vicious Yitomori Tribe of Haganali. For the sake of space, I'll stop, but there was a third set of people doing something on a DIFFERENT PLANE OF EXISTENCE. Each one had a unique name with a unique enemy doing something different. Focus on one thing, please, you're making me laugh.
Oh, also, it started the exact way that Yu Yu Hakusho started. I do remember seeing the first few episodes of Bleach, but apparently one season in they realized that whatever realm the bad guys were coming from would be WAY COOLER as a setting, so they ditched the whole "fighting monsters around town" theme. This show is a waste of awful, and it pisses me off that real shows like Cowboy Bebop were pushed down to the 4 AM time block to make way for this crap.
- S-CRY-ed
Aside from having the weirdest name I've seen in a while that had nothing to do with the show itself, S-CRY-ed served to ultimately piss me off. It's not too bad of a show, considering that none of the characters are likeable or have charisma. It all centers around the two main characters (who suffer from non-memorable-name syndrome) being on opposite sides of a brutal, evil government. They're constantly at war with each other and threaten to fight one another at every turn, but never get the chance. The series crescendos with them having to work together, which sets up for some serious character building and realization. Well, they take that and spit at it while laughing at my stupefied corpse, because the series ends violently and abruptly with them FIGHTING. I guess it was supposed to be endearing or something, but it just felt like a giant Fuck You to the audience.
- Rurouni Kenshin
I'm hesitant to add this to the list, because I do have fond memories of it, but it did jump the shark. If you just watch the first few seasons, it's pretty good. Characters are built, tension underlies everything, and there's a good deal of humor. Plus, you get the feeling that Kenshin has some pretty serious inner demons to work out. Buuut in the later seasons they throw that out and the jokes become forced and painful. So, if you do watch this series, leave it early on and just imagine a satisfying ending to it.
EDIT:
I almost forgot one more!
- Wolf's Rain
As with most anime, it's pretty depressing. At least Naruto had the courtesy to start on a high note before crashing down into abysmal reality. While it can be considered good, I guess, it lacks any form of a really likeable character. But those can be ignored next to the ending, which is such a cheap cop out that I couldn't even get up the strength to do a face-palm at the end of it. It's one of those animes that everyone seems to like, but I'd suggest Full Metal Alchemist over Wolf's Rain just because FMA has a likeable cast and a story arc. Oh, and a good ending. WR's ending made me wanna hurt someone, and the story wasn't exactly impressive.
