While anime is often full of amazing stories and brilliantly written characters, that’s not always the case. Sometimes the writer drops the ball, even on a show that is otherwise full of great characters. Shonen, in particular, often has problems with female characters of hers, who often have little influence or relevance to the plot.
Isekai and light novel protagonists are no slouch as there is never any reason for them to improve or change relative to what happens within the story. Whatever the reason, poorly written characters tear down even the best stories and turn them from masterpieces to just plain good.
10 Sakura Haruno is too obsessed with Sasuke and has no goals (Naruto)
Some fans believe that Sakura Haruno is secretly a good character, but others claim that this is far from true. She is obsessed with Sasuke to a ridiculous degree, but she doesn’t have the same level of conviction that Naruto has to get in her way. She almost commits treason to keep him, and that almost could have been incredible writing.
If that was her lowest point and she climbed from there, she would be one of the best women in shonen anime. But instead, she’s not good for much after the first few Shippuden. She is more useful once she is in boruto protecting both his daughter and the city.
9 Yuki Cross allows history to happen around him (Vampire Cross)
vampire Knight it felt like a series with potential when it first launched. A shoujo action series, vampire Knight follows a young girl named Yuki Cross at her prestigious school, which deals with two forms of classes: the Day Class and the Night Class.
Yuki is eventually drawn into the adventures of the Academy’s Night Class vampires. But Yuki is kind of a boring protagonist who doesn’t bring much to the series. Instead of driving the plot on his own, things just happen around him. He drives the love triangle but doesn’t necessarily make a better series.
8 Ichika manages to be the most boring man in a series with almost no men (Infinite Stratos)
Ichika is the kind of out of nowhere protagonist who was in all of 2000s and early 2010s anime. In a world where only women can pilot special armor that allows them to fight a dangerous threat to humanity, Ichika he is (of course) the only man who can wear these armors.
He’s a bit louder than most harem leads, but nothing else about the character sets him apart. He could be replaced by any number of harem heroes from the 2010s and the story wouldn’t change in the slightest.
7 Tsukune Aono receives free powers just for existing (Rosario + Vampire)
When normal human Aono finds himself in a school with nothing but monsters, he realizes that he is in danger, but then he falls in love with the beautiful Moka Akashiya, who can grant him special powers every time she bites him.
While the manga does a lot of cool things with this premise, the anime makes it a standard harem. Because of that, any depth Aono may have had is ruled out early on.
6 Yuno receives tons of powers for no reason (Black Clover)
Yuno is interesting because he’s the stereotypical ace who stands up against a supposedly less talented friend. But Asta is constantly getting ahead of him, so Yuno is always working to harness his powers and try to stay ahead.
But not enough attention is paid to Yuno’s character development to carry her part of the show. That’s why the manga doesn’t focus on him as much, because without revealing his hidden past, there just isn’t much of him compared to even the other characters in black clover.
5 Kazuki Shikimori has no real personality (Maburaho)
Kazuki Shikimori is like many 2000s-era harem protagonists. He’s just a regular guy who attracts a group of beautiful women out of his league because he shows them basic kindness.
in the world of Maburaho, a person’s value is determined by the number of spells they can cast. Kazuki can only cast spells eight times, but his lineage suggests that his children would have incredible power. In other words, he’s not even special, it’s just what he can do for everyone around him.
4 Shiba Tatsuya is just a wish-fulfilling character (The Irregular At Magic High School)
Shiba Tatsuya is as frustrating as one can be when it comes to anime leads. He is good at almost everything and is a super genius built by his own family to become the strongest mage.
He has only lost a fight with one person, and his reputation is so good that entire countries are terrified of him. His only “fault” about him is that he has no emotions, which is an excuse for not exploring someone’s character beyond a surface level. This is the worst kind of wish fulfillment.
3 Zenitsu spends too much time chasing women (Demon Slayer)
Murderer of demons‘s Zenitsu is probably the weakest part of the show. Hashira may be cruel for trying to attack Tanjiro’s sister, but Zenitsu is just annoying. He’s meant to be the comic relief, which would be great if he was really funny.
He spends too much time chasing after any woman who comes his way for the chance to get a wife. It’s a joke that made her humor more than a decade ago for most women. She is also a shonen character who doesn’t believe in her own power and runs away from every battle she finds herself in, instead of simply leaving the Demon Slayer Corps.
two Mineta is creepy even for a teenager (My Hero Academia)
Minata is the worst. She’s not a character, she’s a collection of tropes that make up something that pretends to be a character. Her power set isn’t impressive, she’s a coward and her outfit looks like she’s wearing a baby diaper. And the worst thing is that Mineta would be fascinating if that was all for him.
Seeing someone with an unusual Quirk attempt to become a pro hero would help elevate the series as a future classic. But Mineta is a pervert and seems to be motivated only by opportunities where he can ogle women. He makes people around him uncomfortable and makes fans embarrassed to watch.
1 Kirito excels in every game he plays (Sword Art Online)
Kirito on his own isn’t bad, but the lookalike isekai characters that have been based on Kirito ever since sword art online debuted make it hard to like him. It’s a character that makes the whole story about him from the moment he arrives. There’s never time to tell an arc about another person, as it has to be an integral part of it in some way.
Women constantly fawn over how nice and sweet he is, while he struggles with enough self-doubt to make him feel relatable and nervous. He gathers harems and never has to deal seriously with the women involved. Apparently, he’s also always amazing in every game he plays for no good reason.
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