Netflix’s Neo Yokio Redefines “Bad Anime”

Jaden Smith’s self-insert anime Neo Yokio has unsurprisingly been ill-received by everyone with any sense, with complaints ranging from the poor art and animation to its agonizing decision to mash numerous anime tropes together for no reason other than to convince a pampered halfwit acting talent is a hereditary trait.

The Netflix original series was made by Production I.G. and Studio Deen, an absolute waste of talent that will surely damage their reputations – various websites were given the “privilege” of seeing the series early, and Netflix seemingly forgot to pay off the reviewers:

“Instead of feeling like an anime parody, it’s easier to see Neo Yokio as a bad show desperately trying to fit in with the rest of the anime on Netflix” – IGN

“Kaz is an easy character to hate because he’s based entirely on Smith’s Twitter persona.” – Polygon

“In six episodes of TV animation, there’s not even a single moment of truly dynamic action, nothing that’s boldly visually inventive.” – Anime News Network

“Like Gossip Girl before it, Neo Yokio falls short of any real socioeconomic criticism, too in love with the aesthetics of the lifestyle to tear it down in any real way.” – Den of Geek

Some of the many negative remarks those online had to say about the “anime”:

“This whole thing just sways from pointless whining to incredibly contrived conflicts to just long swaths of pseudo-intellectual mumbling.”

“The show tries to be a comedy, but I didn’t realize that they were even telling jokes until halfway through.”

“I don’t think I can watch this without a drinking game.”

“There is nothing, not a single thing, redeeming in it.”

“If it’s not Japanese then it’s not anime, it’s a cartoon at best because it looks fucking stupid.”

“Production IG is working on this so…”

“Neo Yokio is a good lesson in what to avoid when translating a digital concept to a digital series.”

“Why resort to a so-so anime takeoff when there’s ample real anime that’s cooler and funnier on its own?”

“HOW IS JADEN SMITH SIMULTANEOUSLY THE LEAD ROLE AND THE WORST VOICE ACTOR IN THE SERIES.”

“Damn, Jaden Smith can’t even do anime right and that’s saying something considering how bad most voice acting in anime is.”

“The way people feel about Jaden Smith is how I feel about 99% of Hollywood. Just seeing certain names equate to a hard no.”

“All I saw was Jayden Smith and I threw up a little in my mouth.”

“This is the gayest shit I’ve ever seen.”

“There are professional voice actors that are good at what they do; why would they go out of their way to cast a kid who is average at best and who has never voice acted before to fill a main character role?”

“This is what happens when Americans try to copy anime.”

“To put it generously, the character designs are lazy, the music is uninspired, the dialogue is awful, the voice-work is inconsistent (almost hilariously bad bit, Susan Sarandon voices two characters, who happen to be women appearing consecutively, with only a slight accent differentiating them), the action animations are practically non-existent, the facial animations are actually non-existent, the plot is an unforeshadowed mess, and the world building is like something I’d expect from a drug-fueled Soulja Boy rant.”