8 Cancelled Anime That Haunt Our Watch History Forever

These are few of the anime that were on the receiving ends from the audience but not from the animation studios.

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Priyanko Chakraborty

Jul 11, 2025 3:37 PM

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There are several anime that were dearly loved by the fans, but never got to finish the story or had more scope. The characters were great, the plot was good, the detailing was to the point, etc., yet somehow, the animation studios never green-lighted it. There are various underlying reasons why an anime may not be renewed for a new season or get cancelled midway. Yuri!!! On Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence is the latest name on that list of cancelled anime. Here is a list of popular anime series that were cancelled due to various problems.

1. Deadman Wonderland

Creator(s): Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou
Number of Episodes: 12
Start Date: April 17, 2011
End Date: July 3, 2011
Animation Studio: Manglobe
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix

Deadman Wonderland follows Ganta Igarashi, who was wrongly accused of murder and sent to a violent amusement park named Deadman Wonderland. Ganta learns that the one behind all his sufferings is a mysterious figure named “Red Man.” The inmates at the amusement park were given brutal tasks for survival, with everything being a means of entertainment for the public. Ganta soon discovers that he has gained the ability to use his blood as weapons. It was up to him to use this ability to its fullest while trying to survive the dangerous place.

Even though it had a great plot, the anime was abruptly cancelled due to the mixed reception. Apart from the low home media sales and skipping major arcs, Studio Manglobe filed for bankruptcy in 2015, which happened to be the biggest reason behind Deadman Wonderland’s death.

2. BTOOOM!

Creator: Junya Inoue
Number of Episodes: 12
Start Date: October 4, 2012
End Date: December 20, 2012
Animation Studio: Madhouse
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, HIDIVE

An unemployed young man, Ryouta Sakamoto, is a top player of BTOOOM!, an online video game focusing on combat and bombs. One fine day, Ryouta wakes up on a stranded island and discovers that he has become a part of a real-life BTOOOM!. Everyone on the island is trying to survive by killing other participants and collecting their green crystals, which are necessary for survival. The protagonist teams up with a mysterious girl named Himiko and unearths the sinister plot and organization behind the survival game.

Even though the anime had a compelling story, it was not profitable for the animation studio due to its poor sales numbers. There is speculation that the animation studio wanted to see how the manga turned out before investing further, but never opted for a continuation.

3. Berserk

Creator(s): Kentaro Miura, Kouji Mori
Number of Episodes: 24
Start Date: July, 2016 (Season 1)
End Date: June, 2017 (Season 2)
Animation Studio: GEMBA/ Millepensee
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu

Berserk is one of the greatest stories ever. It follows the journey of Guts, who was brutally betrayed by his friend Griffith. The later shook hands with the evil side and came to be known as Femto, who raped Guts’ girlfriend, Casca, in front of him. Since then, Guts has been on a journey of revenge and suffering.

Poor use of 3D CGI, stiff animation, and a low budget for such high-detail manga made it difficult for the anime to continue. On top of that, a sudden change of animation studio led to the abrupt end of the anime, without any further announcement regarding an upcoming season.

4. Elfen Lied

Creator: Lynn Okamoto
Number of Episodes: 13
Start Date: July 25, 2004
End Date: October 17, 2004
Animation Studio: Arms
Where To Watch: HIDIVE, Crunchyroll

A psychological horror, Elfen Lied, explores Lucy’s life, who happens to be a mutant girl with invisible telekinetic arms. While breaking out of a secret government facility, Lucy killed all her captors, but suffered a head injury in the process. Due to the injury, she gets amnesia and suffers from split personality – one with a cold and homicidal attributes (Lucy), and another with a childlike personality without her memories (Nyu). After Kouta and Yuka take her in, Lucy’s connection to Kouta’s tragic past slowly gets revealed.

Elfen Lied‘s rushed ending left out multiple crucial scenes due to budget issues. Unfortunately, Studio Arms went bankrupt in 2020, and the anime never got picked up by any other animation studio.

5. D.Gray Man

Creator: Katsura Hoshina
Number of Episodes: 103
Start Date: October 3, 2006
End Date: September 30, 2008
Animation Studio: TMS Entertainment
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu

D.Gray Man takes place during the 19th Century with Allen Walker as the protagonist. He has a cursed eye, through which he can detect disguised demons, and a weapon embedded in his arm to fight them. Allen Walker joins an organization called the Black Order, which protects humanity from evil creatures. Together, they went on to search for the Millennium Earl, who is responsible for creating the demons through dead bodies.

One of the main reasons behind the anime getting cancelled was that it was catching up to the manga. The manga was constantly on hiatus due to the creator’s health issues, which made it difficult for the anime to continue.

6. Baccano!

Creator(s): Ryohgo Narita, Katsumi Enami
Number of Episodes: 13
Start Date: July 26, 2007
End Date: November 1, 2007
Animation Studio: Brain’s Base
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Amazon Prime

Set in 1930s America, it involves multiple people who are either immortals, gangsters, psychos, thieves, or alchemists. The story focuses on the Immortality Elixir, which grants eternal life. However, there is a heavy underlying cost that comes along with eternal life. Baccano! focuses on multiple characters jumping between different time periods, involving various scenarios.

Baccano‘s plot could not help it from receiving poor ratings from the Japanese audience. The story felt out of place, with too many characters hard to follow.

7. Yuri!!! On Ice

Creator(s): Mitsuro Kubo, Sayo Yamamoto
Number of Episodes: 12
Start Date: October 6, 2016
End Date: December 22, 2016
Animation Studio: MAPPA
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix

Focused on figure skating, love, and pressure, Yuri!!! on Ice brings a compelling sports anime for the fans. When Yuri Katsuki suffers a crushing defeat at the Grand Prix Final and is struggling mentally, his idol visits him unannounced and offers to train him. Victor Nikiforov is a five-time world champion, and as he trains Yuri, the duo form a deep and intimate bond.

MAPPA announced a prequel movie, Yuri!!! On Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence in 2017, but after much waiting, it was cancelled. The anime won the 2016 Crunchyroll Anime of the Year Award, but due to the animation studio focusing on other big projects, they failed to give it the time. The constant delays in production and internal restructuring further fuelled its cancellation.

8. Beelzebub

Creator: Ryuuhei Tamura
Number of Episodes: 60
Start Date: January 9, 2011
End Date: March 25, 2012
Animation Studio: Pierrot+
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, YouTube, Amazon Prime

When Oga Tatsumi, a delinquent among delinquents, ends up with the Demon King’s son, baby Beelzebub IV, his life changes completely. Baby Beelzebub IV is sent to Earth to destroy humanity along with his demon maid, Hildegarde. Being a student of Ishiyama High, Oga has to take the baby to school and is tasked with training him. The anime has multiple crazy fights and offers loads of comedy. Even though Beelzebub was a fan-favorite anime, it was slowly catching up to the manga and was filled with fillers to delay it. The mangaka had some disputes with Shounen Jump, which further escalated the anime’s cancellation, and Pierrot+ shifted its focus to other projects.

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