The Biggest Disappointments of Spring 2025 Anime, Part II

We don’t always get lucky with seasonal lineups. Spring 2025 made that fact painfully clear for me, and if you read the first part of this text, you already know I had more than enough material to rant about. The list of shows that let me down was unfortunately long, and stopping at four titles would almost feel dishonest. That’s why I’m back with Part 2 this time focusing on two more anime that sparked a good amount of frustration, both in my watchlist and across anime communities online.

These aren’t obscure picks, either.

Both shows started with strong hype, but they quickly lost steam, leaving behind a mix of disappointment, ridicule, and in some cases outright anger from fans. Let’s go straight into it.

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Chronicles of the Infinite Dungeon

When Chronicles of the Infinite Dungeon was announced, it sounded like a dream project for fans of dark fantasy isekai. The visuals in the promotional material had a sharp aesthetic, the trailers promised a balance of world-building and intense dungeon-crawling action, and the idea of an ever-shifting labyrinth that devours adventurers sounded like the perfect setup for both tension and character growth. In theory, this should have been one of the flagship shows of the season.

But what we got instead was a painfully generic isekai, barely distinguishable from the dozens of others flooding the market. The so-called “Infinite Dungeon” ends up feeling more like a backdrop than an actual character in the story. Rooms repeat, traps are predictable, and instead of delivering on the promise of a hostile, unpredictable labyrinth, it often looked like the characters were just strolling through copy-pasted hallways.

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The biggest problem here is tone.

The first two episodes flirt with a dark, survival-horror vibe adventurers whispering in the shadows, the sense that the dungeon itself is alive. But then, almost overnight, the anime abandons that mood in favor of cheap comedy, overused fanservice, and power-fantasy tropes. Suddenly, the protagonist, Riku, who was initially portrayed as vulnerable and inexperienced, becomes absurdly overpowered thanks to yet another "hidden skill" reveal. By episode 6, the stakes had evaporated completely.

Community reactions were equally harsh.

Many viewers called it “Isekai Paint by Numbers”, while others accused it of being nothing more than a commercial for upcoming light novel volumes. Personally, I just felt insulted: the anime dangled the promise of something special, only to fall into the laziest storytelling traps imaginable. By the final episode, the “infinite” part of the dungeon felt less like endless mystery and more like endless mediocrity.

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Lazarus

If Chronicles was disappointing for being bland, Lazarus hurt in a completely different way.

This was supposed to be one of the flagships of the season directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, with action supervised by Chad Stahelski (John Wick), animation by MAPPA, and a soundtrack featuring names like Kamasi Washington and Bonobo. On paper, it sounded like a dream project. The trailers promised stylish sci-fi action, philosophical undertones, and a tense countdown narrative about a miracle drug that turns deadly.

Expectations were sky-high.

What we actually got was… not nearly as strong. Instead of a masterpiece, Lazarus stumbled into something oddly hollow: visually ambitious, but narratively shallow.

The main cast the Lazarus agents meant to carry the emotional weight of the story felt disappointingly flat.

Backstories were thin, motivations often rushed, and it was hard to connect with them beyond the surface level. For a show that tried to balance spectacle with existential dread, the lack of character depth made everything feel disposable.

Then came the pacing.

Episodes alternated between bombastic action setpieces and long, meandering dialogue scenes that often did little to push the story forward. The countdown to humanity’s downfall should have created constant urgency, but instead, whole episodes felt wasted on filler-like detours. The “pressure cooker” vibe that the plot needed just never materialized.

Fans also couldn’t help but compare it to Watanabe’s earlier works. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo had style, yes, but they also had soul. Lazarus has plenty of style the action choreography and music are genuinely fantastic in moments but there’s little heart. The show flirts with big ideas, then abandons them just as quickly, leaving viewers unsatisfied.

By mid-season, online discussions were divided. Some praised the audiovisual spectacle, while others dismissed it as a “glorified music video with filler in between.” The finale didn’t help either, with its heavy reliance on sudden revelations that lacked proper build-up, leaving many feeling like the story had been rushed or unfinished.

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In the end, that’s what hurts the most.

I don’t mind a trashy anime if it embraces being trashy those can even be fun guilty pleasures.

What frustrates me are the shows that promise innovation, creativity, or at least solid execution, and then deliver nothing but mediocrity wrapped in shiny marketing. Spring 2025 wasn’t all bad, of course. Some titles really delivered, and I’ll talk about those in another text. But for now, I wanted to close this little two-part rant on a sour note because if anime seasons can disappoint us this much, at least we can turn that frustration into conversation.

What about you? Did you also check out these two shows? Did they disappoint you as much as they did me, or do you think I’m being too harsh again?