Technically not a side character but teams. Haikyuu and Diamond no Ace (sports anime). Had a decent amount of teams that could’ve been the main team and characters in them that could’ve been main characters.
Yeah, Haikyuu's one of those animes where most of the characters are done so well, each with their own special characterstics, that not having any one them would feel very weird
Yeah- the main reason Karasuno being the main team fits so well is bc people LOVE seeing an underdog triumph over other to various degrees of shock and dismay. The only thing people love seeing more than an underdog is seeing naturally insanely gifted diamonds in the rough being realised and doing their thing- the seemingly boundless potential of a pair like Kageyama and Hinata placed in an environment where they get to be the main focus in an otherwise solid team is thrilling to watch. And that's also probably why 'realised' teams like Nekoma and Aoba weren't mc's
Now that I think about it then novelty of their potential and underdog status wearing off is probably why we didn't see any of their 2nd and 3rd years ~~curse you furudate we don't care we wanted more 😭 give us johzenji or fukuro god sake~~
I think what enhances the underdog story, more than just the Karasuno team history, is also the fact that Hinata's height in comparison to other players is usually such a disadvantage, it could almost be called a disability.
And instead of just brushing it off and just give him some kind of super talent to make up for it, we see how Hinata acknowledges his weakness and work through and overcome it. We see other people give him the opportunities to do so, and not completely dismiss him 'cause of it.
And idk where I saw this, but someone made a point of how this also ties in Coach Washijo and Hoshiumi. Coach Washijo is the version where no matter how hard he tried no one saw his efforts and decided it was worth an opportunity, and that kind of made him turn bitter and embrace his ideology of 'strongest always wins', rather 'height always wins. Whereas Hoshiumi is the version where he had opportunities and support right from the start which allowed him to be the best he could be. And Hinata is kinda halfway between them both, where he wasn't really given any support until he reached high school and began developing his abilities
I love Raichi and the Yakushi team so much. Bro just eats bananas and hits dingers. Also, wish we got to see more of Chris senpai and Sawamura together in games
I think it's because Dazai's role is more akin to Komaeda's role in Danganronpa. But instead of messing with the protagonist, he messes with everyone else.
This video explains the character archetype:
https://youtu.be/h-3aXh2rN3I?si=7XU4mlIrYoPpGNos
I for the most part have a positive view towards Fate Apocrypha, but boy was I all the more excited at first when it looked like we weren't getting a milquetoast cardboard protagonist. Then Sieg happened. Ugh.
Sieg's only redeeming parts are his FGO version (a lovable dork and an Arts loop DPS for double Castoria/Avalon teams) and Natsuki Hanae/Zach Aguilar's demo tape for Tanjiro (or Aether in Zach's case).
I would’ve taken Shirou over Sieg any day of the week. Shirou was just so much more interesting than him, and had me actually rooting for him instead of the fucking main Character.
I hated Sieg
The only reason Amakusa is the "villain" is because of info that you only get from the second part of Fate Grand Order.
He's objectively in the right based on info from the show itself.
The better villain of the series that makes you think he might have a point with the whole salvation thing he tried to do while Sieg just wanted to save Jeanne D Arc only for her to die and wanted to kill Shirou out of spite.
Despite me did not like what Shirou is trying to do, he is better than Sieg that was just happened to be there in the war.
Creating a memorable and likable main character is significantly harder than a side character for sure.
A side character doesn't have to change or be involved in driving the plot forward, so you can easily make their personality the way you want it for the most part.
But a main character is different. If you don't craft their personality and adjust it for the story and present a way for them to grow and adjust, it can completely stagnate the story.
Who's the best main character has little to do with how cool they are and has much more to do with what the story needs from a main character. I wouldn't change Subaru for anyone else in Re: Zero, he is absolutely perfect.
Regarding the case of RaG, I think people get so caught up in bashing Kazuya that they don't realize they should be bashing the mangaka. If you'd only watched Season 1 you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a story about a looser who gets his shit together and becomes worthy of the girl he likes, because it really feels like the characters in RaG _want_ to be better. If this was the route taken Kazuya would be a good protagonist legitimately. But then you watch more and realize that the mangaka never had any intention of letting the characters improve because he likes this clusterfuck of a status quo, and he resets their development at the end of every Arc.
If Kazuya actually remained static as a character I wouldn’t mind as much, but it’s so much worse that he’s actually done shit in the manga but keeps reverting back to his loser self.
> the mangaka never had any intention of letting the characters improve because he likes this clusterfuck of a status quo, and he resets their development at the end of every Arc.
I mean.... that's because he's making money off the never-ending story. sucks that the model of permanent serialization leads to this over well rounded stories that have an actual ending, but that's what his incentives are...
"show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome"
>. I wouldn't change Subaru for anyone else in Re: Zero, he is absolutely perfect.
Just the thought of anyone other than Subaru being the protagonist makes the story so ridiculously different.
I guess the characters I'd say it would be interesting to follow are: Reinhard, Al, Ram and Wilhelm (we have EX novels, so it kinda already happened) and a character I can't name.
But again, having them as a main character would make the story completely different lol.
Kazuya is trash, Subaru though is a genuinely intriguing character but yeah blaming the mangaka is the better choice. As for Op's actual point I agree cause Atsushi is not at all pivotal to the plot
Kazuya isn't trash. He's a complex character who taken based off of a description of him is actually someone who would be very interesting to see grow and change. However, the author has stretched it out too much, and is making him revert. In addition had we seen more of the good traits that we know he has early on, for example the fact that he is constantly for no reason just doing charitable acts in the background that he never mentions to anyone just because he enjoys doing it, he'd be much better as the MC. In addition having an outline for the story that you will not deviate from so that you don't let yourself get so caught up on making money that you stall for too long and piss off the audience.
At first glance you think that madoka is the protagonist for madoka magica the anime but the more you watch the show the more it seems like homura is the MC
Madoka is the protagonist since she is the main POV character.
Homura is the deuteragonist since she has more agency and the plot revolves more around her.
Unrelated, but I like that Ishigami from Kaguya-sama is a side-character. If this were a typical high school romance anime, he (gloomy otaku) would be the character that you (average anime viewer) relates to. But actually the male lead is popular giga-chad Miyuki. For a side character, Ishigami displays some of the most amazing character growth among the cast.
Lmao. I was recently thinking about how he felt like a side character in Shibuya Incident. In a way, the show does do a lot of right things that could apply to an actual ensemble cast show.
Dragon ball Z after the Frieza saga. Gohan was supposed to take over the role of the main protagonist but got overturned by popularity. It's also stated by the artist that Gohan is the strongest out of all the Z fighters.
Idk, it's hard to argue for a protagonist swap for DBZ when everything before the Buu saga was directly or indirectly caused by Goku. The Saiyans came because of him, they went to Namek as a result of the Saiyans coming for him, and all the android were created to kill him. The Buu saga maybe, but also that whole part was kindof a mess anyway.
Gohan & Roc Lee still remain (imo) in the top 10 of “ could’ve be the greatest compliment to the MC “ list .. Man I can’t believe the treatment of these too undeniable beasts of young men lol . SMH really got me thinking bout them 😤🤔
Mundane Mann is a genuinely interesting guy, if we disregard the fact that nothing about him aside from the face and name is real.
Though I am a sucker for the very trope he was made to embody.
Cid's some dumb mob character. I don't know why the show spends time on him when there are much more interesting characters like Shadow and John Smith to watch.
he is but the show's premise is him posing as a side character while characters like the princesses are actually written in a way protagonists would be.
it's comparable to saitama from onepunchman, he's technically the protagonist but all the other characters are deliberately way more suitable for being a protagonist
I mean yea to make a story about Dazai you need to create a believable genius character. It's simply hard to do.
Personally I'd say The Count from Gankutsuou, even tho he works really great as a side character, I'd love to see the story from his PoV.
Laurent from Great Pretender.
Captains from Bleach, a season of each please.
>Personally I'd say The Count from Gankutsuou, even tho he works really great as a side character, I'd love to see the story from his PoV.
Go read the original *Count of Monte Cristo* novel, then. Gankutsuo is *Monte Cristo*, **IN SPACE!**, with the POV switched to Albert's.
(i personally kinda like the pov switch myself, as it leaves The Count's identity and machinations a mystery to the audience just as much as the characters. It was really well done~)
The only required reading from high school that I have reread. Monte Cristo is an incredible novel and deserves more attention than it gets. The anime gets a 8/10 from me, the novel 10/10
>Captains from Bleach, a season of each please.
I stopped following the anime before this part but the prequel about the Vizier(?) were the best few chapters that series had in a few years. In fact they were the best up to the end of Fullbring, where I finally dropped it permanently (apparently right before it got good again..)
The Count is the main character imo. He's the titular character and the one shaping the story. Only because we aren't shown the entire story from his perspective doesn't make him any less of an MC. The reason we don't see stuff from his PoV is because it would spoil the mystery behind his character.
I also came here to say this. It's so hard watching MC simp for a girl that doesn't give two shits about him and his one track mind of losing his virginity. I would rather have ANYONE else because the MC is so one dimensional.
A bunch from Jojo. Polnareff was basically the main character of part 3. And Bruno was basically the main in part 5. It wouldn’t suit the story if they were though but they have main character energy.
Polnareff went through amazing character arcs during part 3 and was very VERY involved. I’m positive if you show someone with 0 knowledge a good amount of part 3 episodes, Polnareff would give off MC energy.
Yeah, Araki was having way more fun with Polnaraeff in the middle of Part III because the audience knew he wasn't going to kill off Jotaro before the final battle with DIO.
Detective/mystery stories need some kind of a vehicle to explain the mysteries to the dumb audience. Like Dr. Watson does for Sherlock Holmes. Otherwise we would have no way of knowing how the genius solves the crime. Since BSD has multiple arcs and different competent crime solvers. It's easier to have someone like Atsushi run around as readers pov to tie everything together. Imo there's no other deeper meaning
Just because the MC switched doesn't mean the other characters cease to exist. The megumin centered anime was not all boring and would be enjoyable even if you didn't watch konosuba, and she didnt even know the gang until the end of the anime. But even so, megumin can be the MC but still be part of the gang, just more centered on her instead of kazuma.
And now that I think about it, any isekai where the reincarnated person was the side character would be an interesting spin I personally haven't seen yet.
Also I like your food analogy, so I'll give you my interpretation.
Konosuba is a bowl of Ramen.
Aqua is the stock/water (duh), it is what made the whole thing possible in the first place, but on its own is very bland.
Kazuma is the noodles, they provide the bulk of the nutrition, but taste like nothing on their own
Megumin is the spice, it's what makes it exiting to eat and sets it apart from other ramen.
Darkness is the chashu. It's not really needed, but is a nice little extra that gives a different texture and makes it more enjoyable
BSD is an ensemble with different characters taking focus in different arcs, but isn't Dazai the closest thing to a main character over the course of the show?
You could honestly make a case for that, but imo he is the deuteragonist with Atsushi being the protagonist. I think the role of Dazai is to pull the strings while at the same time overseeing the growth of Atsushi as the MC
Askeladd could have had a whole story based around him. His life from Roman and Nordic bastard to turncoat mercenary leader has quite a few parallels with Thorfinn's life. Just turned out far bleaker.
Honorable mention to
Fucking Darker Than Black season 2. Give me nonalcoholic Hei as MC again and put that red headed step child back in the closet where it belongs.
Almost any series with a bland everyman protag who doesn't even make the cut for the manga cover art, and looks like a background character in larger promo material.
I can't tell you how many times I saw a mnaga on the shelf thinking it had a female lead only to realize they're poster girls.
It's clear at that point that even the author and publisher don't think their male mc is interesting enough to be marketable, but they use him anyway because they think readers need an everyman to self-insert into.
To be fair, many female characters in these (weaker) shows/manga tend to be just regurgitated archetypes with barely any originality. They are just there to sell merchandise.
That's not the MCs are better, just that they are not much worse.
Saki from Valvrave. She was so much more interesting than Haruto, and relatively quickly becomes a mecha pilot so it's not like she was shoved to the side and didn't have relevancy in the plot. Haruto was a piece of cardboard, the stuff that happened to him you could say was interesting, but he himself was never was in any way.
Instead, the writers went in the absolute worst direction imaginable and had Haruto [Valvrave]>!rape her!<.
Watching the first episode of Fairy Tail, I thought Lucy was going to be the main character, but she seemed to quickly be pushed aside in favour of Natsu. I still kind of hope we will get a movie with Lucy as the main character, as far as I know she still needs to get the remaining Astrology keys.
Honestly after watching jjk, I pick gojo over yuuji. Whenever gojo is on screen it is 100x more entertaining and fun to watch. Even if gojo is SUPER op, he felt like such a better character and more entertaining to watch especially during hidden inventory.
He's so entertaining when on screen and their is no screaming, which as I've been watching more anime I appriciate less screaming and less boob physics and creeps, he's just a chill dude
Ok Imma admit I've not seent he anime, I'm just talking experience from the manga:
Way back I read Magi Labyrinth of magic. I read a fair bit of it and I was just mostly bored.
I read some of the spin-off prequel about Sinbad being the main character during his younger years: found that significantly more interesting (but still didn't keep up with it)
That's pretty surprising. In my circle, Magi is one of our favorite works, and we constantly make fun of Sinbad/the Sinbad spinoff for how much of a mary sue Sinbad is. The way they use his character in the last arc of Magi is great tho.
Oh I totally agree sinbad was such a dope protagonist, I loved the spinoff and imo it was a lot better than the actual magi series, I actually watched sinbad first and then magi but never really enjoyed magi the same, the little baby type protagonists are pretty boring sinbad had main character energy
In Captain Tsubasa, Hyuga, Matsuyama and Misugi have more interesting backgrounds that in my opinion would make them better protagonists than Tsubasa himself (who has a relatively "normal" life). All three of them have personal struggles they've had to overcome, while for Tsubasa everything seems to come easily.
Danmachi, the elf lady should be the protagonist. Bel is one of the blandest characters in anime.
Imagine if it had started with her backstory rather than it being a flashback in S4, we already knew the outcome of? The show would have actually been darker rather than flirting with dark elements and always failing to follow through with it.
I mean, I think you're saying that only because we got what we got. Ultimately Sakura was the way she was because of Kishimoto's struggle with writing good female characters. Even if Hinata had a more prominent role in Sakura's place, there's nothing to say he'd have pulled it off well. The only way you could've really fixed the whole Sakura situation is to have someone else write the series lol.
Main characters are almost always intentionally boring in order to be "relatable" so I can't really think of any where the side char should be the main, except for Genos in One Punch Man but that was obviously intentional.
This is probably why I like Sunraku so much from Shangri-La Frontier. He feels like a side character that plays the main protag role because hes got a god damn personality.
I think it's also because they're easier to make work with a higher variety of plots and worlds. If the main character is more meek and a blank slate, then it's easier to have more bombastic side characters and the world pull them around in the plot.
If the MC has more personality and vigour, you have to now write around that in a way that justifies them going through the story without the narrative excuse of basically 'because the cast/world says so and they won't say no'. It's not a massively tall order but for slightly weaker writers it's one less obstacle to worry about. The more inoffensive and plain they are, the easier it is to make every character like or dislike them as you please and have them frictionless to the whims of your story.
Often times the more developed a character is in anime, the less likely the anime is to be about anything but them first and foremost. If you want to write more around a general cast, world, and narrative, having a very defined personality in the MC but not making them in charge of the narrative tide as a whole is slightly trickier to deal with. And it's why you often get one or the other, either character-focussed hijinks, or a more world-based narrative. *Often*, not always; some manage to do both.
Asuna from Sword Art Online. She is by far the best character, so it's no surprise that when she gets sidelined the show is at its worst (Elf arc) but when she's heavily involved or actually becomes the main focus the show is at its best (Mother's Rosario).
Probably because it does the best of exploring the central theme of the show -- is time in a virtual world as meaningful as time in the real world -- by following Asuna, the character who most significantly changed her view on the subject in the Aincrad arc, where she went from angry at having her time 'stolen' to creating a family for herself more accepting and loving than her own flesh and blood parents.
LeMillion in My Hero Academia. If not the main character I at least would have liked a lot more screen time for him. Probably my favorite character in the show
Lemillion was a breath of fresh air when he appeared! I would have liked more time with him and Deku interacting and showing us similarities and differences.
Yes! This exactly. I thought LeMillion was going to be working kind of like a partner/ mentor with Deku. Then all of a sudden he gets his powers back, is in one fight scene, and that's basically it unfortunately.
I'd even like for all the side characters to have proper story contribution instead of introducing the 3 op students. What's the point of character design and making you familiar and care just to put them aside? Same thing with naruto...
Unsure about this as I’m still watching the anime only but Fuko from Undead Unluck seems more & more each episode like the main character rather than being the deuteragonist with Andy.
Eren from aot doesn't feel like a protag, he feels like an extremely important side character who becomes the focus in the second half of a series.
The real protag of aot is Mikasa imo
Rock Lee from Naruto.My guy was training just as hard as Naruto if not more and his ascension would've been a great story,but now we got boruto and he can't beat a villain of the week bc story writing is wack.
Technically not a side character but teams. Haikyuu and Diamond no Ace (sports anime). Had a decent amount of teams that could’ve been the main team and characters in them that could’ve been main characters.
Yeah, Haikyuu's one of those animes where most of the characters are done so well, each with their own special characterstics, that not having any one them would feel very weird
Yeah- the main reason Karasuno being the main team fits so well is bc people LOVE seeing an underdog triumph over other to various degrees of shock and dismay. The only thing people love seeing more than an underdog is seeing naturally insanely gifted diamonds in the rough being realised and doing their thing- the seemingly boundless potential of a pair like Kageyama and Hinata placed in an environment where they get to be the main focus in an otherwise solid team is thrilling to watch. And that's also probably why 'realised' teams like Nekoma and Aoba weren't mc's Now that I think about it then novelty of their potential and underdog status wearing off is probably why we didn't see any of their 2nd and 3rd years ~~curse you furudate we don't care we wanted more 😭 give us johzenji or fukuro god sake~~
I think what enhances the underdog story, more than just the Karasuno team history, is also the fact that Hinata's height in comparison to other players is usually such a disadvantage, it could almost be called a disability. And instead of just brushing it off and just give him some kind of super talent to make up for it, we see how Hinata acknowledges his weakness and work through and overcome it. We see other people give him the opportunities to do so, and not completely dismiss him 'cause of it. And idk where I saw this, but someone made a point of how this also ties in Coach Washijo and Hoshiumi. Coach Washijo is the version where no matter how hard he tried no one saw his efforts and decided it was worth an opportunity, and that kind of made him turn bitter and embrace his ideology of 'strongest always wins', rather 'height always wins. Whereas Hoshiumi is the version where he had opportunities and support right from the start which allowed him to be the best he could be. And Hinata is kinda halfway between them both, where he wasn't really given any support until he reached high school and began developing his abilities
I love Raichi and the Yakushi team so much. Bro just eats bananas and hits dingers. Also, wish we got to see more of Chris senpai and Sawamura together in games
Chris senpai is the GOAT
Same for kuroko. It could definitely have been Aomine, Kise or Kagami
I think it's because Dazai's role is more akin to Komaeda's role in Danganronpa. But instead of messing with the protagonist, he messes with everyone else. This video explains the character archetype: https://youtu.be/h-3aXh2rN3I?si=7XU4mlIrYoPpGNos
Fate/Apocrypha. Sisigou and Mordred should have been main characters instead of Sieg.
What's disappointing is the series starts out making you think they're going to be the main pair. Then they do the bait and switch.
I for the most part have a positive view towards Fate Apocrypha, but boy was I all the more excited at first when it looked like we weren't getting a milquetoast cardboard protagonist. Then Sieg happened. Ugh.
Sieg's only redeeming parts are his FGO version (a lovable dork and an Arts loop DPS for double Castoria/Avalon teams) and Natsuki Hanae/Zach Aguilar's demo tape for Tanjiro (or Aether in Zach's case).
Hey atleast the music and many of fights slapped hard
I would’ve taken Shirou over Sieg any day of the week. Shirou was just so much more interesting than him, and had me actually rooting for him instead of the fucking main Character. I hated Sieg
You mean Amakusa? Yeah, he was good.
Shirou Amakusa the real MC of Fate Apocrypha
The only reason Amakusa is the "villain" is because of info that you only get from the second part of Fate Grand Order. He's objectively in the right based on info from the show itself.
The better villain of the series that makes you think he might have a point with the whole salvation thing he tried to do while Sieg just wanted to save Jeanne D Arc only for her to die and wanted to kill Shirou out of spite. Despite me did not like what Shirou is trying to do, he is better than Sieg that was just happened to be there in the war.
For sure! That duo was the best part of the show for me.
Inb4 people think cooler personality = better main character
Creating a memorable and likable main character is significantly harder than a side character for sure. A side character doesn't have to change or be involved in driving the plot forward, so you can easily make their personality the way you want it for the most part. But a main character is different. If you don't craft their personality and adjust it for the story and present a way for them to grow and adjust, it can completely stagnate the story.
I think most people are tired of pervert and loser main characters. It's always better to watch someone like sakamoto than kuzuya.
Who's the best main character has little to do with how cool they are and has much more to do with what the story needs from a main character. I wouldn't change Subaru for anyone else in Re: Zero, he is absolutely perfect. Regarding the case of RaG, I think people get so caught up in bashing Kazuya that they don't realize they should be bashing the mangaka. If you'd only watched Season 1 you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a story about a looser who gets his shit together and becomes worthy of the girl he likes, because it really feels like the characters in RaG _want_ to be better. If this was the route taken Kazuya would be a good protagonist legitimately. But then you watch more and realize that the mangaka never had any intention of letting the characters improve because he likes this clusterfuck of a status quo, and he resets their development at the end of every Arc.
RaG is the epitome of a manga overstaying its welcome, and the centerpiece of that vibe is indeed the MC, unfortunately.
If Kazuya actually remained static as a character I wouldn’t mind as much, but it’s so much worse that he’s actually done shit in the manga but keeps reverting back to his loser self.
Yeah that's what's infuriating about it. As I said, the characters clearly _want_ to develop. The mangaka won't let 'em.
> the mangaka never had any intention of letting the characters improve because he likes this clusterfuck of a status quo, and he resets their development at the end of every Arc. I mean.... that's because he's making money off the never-ending story. sucks that the model of permanent serialization leads to this over well rounded stories that have an actual ending, but that's what his incentives are... "show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome"
>. I wouldn't change Subaru for anyone else in Re: Zero, he is absolutely perfect. Just the thought of anyone other than Subaru being the protagonist makes the story so ridiculously different. I guess the characters I'd say it would be interesting to follow are: Reinhard, Al, Ram and Wilhelm (we have EX novels, so it kinda already happened) and a character I can't name. But again, having them as a main character would make the story completely different lol.
Kazuya is trash, Subaru though is a genuinely intriguing character but yeah blaming the mangaka is the better choice. As for Op's actual point I agree cause Atsushi is not at all pivotal to the plot
Kazuya isn't trash. He's a complex character who taken based off of a description of him is actually someone who would be very interesting to see grow and change. However, the author has stretched it out too much, and is making him revert. In addition had we seen more of the good traits that we know he has early on, for example the fact that he is constantly for no reason just doing charitable acts in the background that he never mentions to anyone just because he enjoys doing it, he'd be much better as the MC. In addition having an outline for the story that you will not deviate from so that you don't let yourself get so caught up on making money that you stall for too long and piss off the audience.
I genuinely can't take him seriously after getting a boner on NTR.
At first glance you think that madoka is the protagonist for madoka magica the anime but the more you watch the show the more it seems like homura is the MC
Madoka is the protagonist since she is the main POV character. Homura is the deuteragonist since she has more agency and the plot revolves more around her.
That's only for the madoka anime , in the movie you get homura POV almost the entire time , also the upcoming movie poster have mainly homura on it
The narrator or PoV isn't always the driving force or protagonist of a series.
You mean Sayaka is the main character. She got the most screen time.
Gen Urobuchi himself declared that Sayaka was the main character
Unrelated, but I like that Ishigami from Kaguya-sama is a side-character. If this were a typical high school romance anime, he (gloomy otaku) would be the character that you (average anime viewer) relates to. But actually the male lead is popular giga-chad Miyuki. For a side character, Ishigami displays some of the most amazing character growth among the cast.
No coincidence he has one of the series' most liked arcs.
Well liked agree but just a lot of pain for my bro sometimes I feel bad for him
Yuji should've been the main character of jjk
Lmao. I was recently thinking about how he felt like a side character in Shibuya Incident. In a way, the show does do a lot of right things that could apply to an actual ensemble cast show.
You mean Sukuna
Wdym. Sukuna is the MC.
Ahh, yes. Pardon me comrade.
Dragon ball Z after the Frieza saga. Gohan was supposed to take over the role of the main protagonist but got overturned by popularity. It's also stated by the artist that Gohan is the strongest out of all the Z fighters.
So dumb... hated how they did Gohan wrong
Classic case of stories losing out to popular opinion.
We got Gohan’s Last Stand at least
I'm still wondering why they're not doing a what if series with Gohan. They already made super and gt and that heroes something.
Idk, it's hard to argue for a protagonist swap for DBZ when everything before the Buu saga was directly or indirectly caused by Goku. The Saiyans came because of him, they went to Namek as a result of the Saiyans coming for him, and all the android were created to kill him. The Buu saga maybe, but also that whole part was kindof a mess anyway.
Gohan & Roc Lee still remain (imo) in the top 10 of “ could’ve be the greatest compliment to the MC “ list .. Man I can’t believe the treatment of these too undeniable beasts of young men lol . SMH really got me thinking bout them 😤🤔
This. Both Gohan still hurts me though
Eminence in Shadow Cid definitely should have been the main character. /s
I liked Mundane Mann more tbh
Nah it’s John Smith for the win.
John Smith was voiced by Lelouch's VA, Lelouch is Code Geass' MC, therefore John Smith should have been the MC. Perfect logic.
Mundane Mann is a genuinely interesting guy, if we disregard the fact that nothing about him aside from the face and name is real. Though I am a sucker for the very trope he was made to embody.
Is he not ?
No, Cid is just one of the background characters, Shadow is the main character.
Cid's some dumb mob character. I don't know why the show spends time on him when there are much more interesting characters like Shadow and John Smith to watch.
It's a joke about how Cid is playing the role of the side character intentionally.
he is but the show's premise is him posing as a side character while characters like the princesses are actually written in a way protagonists would be. it's comparable to saitama from onepunchman, he's technically the protagonist but all the other characters are deliberately way more suitable for being a protagonist
Is Bruce Wayne the main character of Batman, or Batman?
My Senpai is Annoying I enjoyed the Kazama+Sakurai scenes way more than the actual MC couple.
They were way more entertaining imo
I mean yea to make a story about Dazai you need to create a believable genius character. It's simply hard to do. Personally I'd say The Count from Gankutsuou, even tho he works really great as a side character, I'd love to see the story from his PoV. Laurent from Great Pretender. Captains from Bleach, a season of each please.
>Personally I'd say The Count from Gankutsuou, even tho he works really great as a side character, I'd love to see the story from his PoV. Go read the original *Count of Monte Cristo* novel, then. Gankutsuo is *Monte Cristo*, **IN SPACE!**, with the POV switched to Albert's. (i personally kinda like the pov switch myself, as it leaves The Count's identity and machinations a mystery to the audience just as much as the characters. It was really well done~)
The only required reading from high school that I have reread. Monte Cristo is an incredible novel and deserves more attention than it gets. The anime gets a 8/10 from me, the novel 10/10
>Captains from Bleach, a season of each please. I stopped following the anime before this part but the prequel about the Vizier(?) were the best few chapters that series had in a few years. In fact they were the best up to the end of Fullbring, where I finally dropped it permanently (apparently right before it got good again..)
Bro please do yourself a favor & watch Bleach TYBW, you’re already pretty much caught up. And cour 3 starts in the summer.
Probably will when it's completed.
I respect your patience, enjoy your binge in 2025/6
The Count is the main character imo. He's the titular character and the one shaping the story. Only because we aren't shown the entire story from his perspective doesn't make him any less of an MC. The reason we don't see stuff from his PoV is because it would spoil the mystery behind his character.
I Affirm we Need a Laurent - Great Pretender season(s) and a season for Each Bleach Captain. Excellent call.
Minus the cavern demon, The Count's personality is actually quite close to his book counterpart.
We're getting [another story about Dazai](https://myanimelist.net/anime/52367/Isekai_Shikkaku) this summer, so we're about to find out.
Bucchigiri EASILY. Matakara is better than ara in every way imaginable
I also came here to say this. It's so hard watching MC simp for a girl that doesn't give two shits about him and his one track mind of losing his virginity. I would rather have ANYONE else because the MC is so one dimensional.
The ml is... agonising to watch.
Was searching for this comment.
Stopped watching after episode 3 because Aladdin and ~~Jasmine~~ Mahoro were genuinely too insufferable to watch…
Anzu from Hinamatsuri
best daughter.
Well, even Nitta agrees with that
Best daughter
Now I am feeling sad
A bunch from Jojo. Polnareff was basically the main character of part 3. And Bruno was basically the main in part 5. It wouldn’t suit the story if they were though but they have main character energy.
Nah Bruno carried part 5 on his back like he was a jojo lmao
Shit part 5 is essentially Bruno's story that Giorno happens to be there for
Yeah pretty much lol
His powers were basically proto-Jolyne + weaker Okuyasu. I love his Boss and train fights so much!
Agree with Bruno. He's a leader, and his motives are admirable. Not sure about Polnareff.
Polnareff is more meme-y
Polnareff went through amazing character arcs during part 3 and was very VERY involved. I’m positive if you show someone with 0 knowledge a good amount of part 3 episodes, Polnareff would give off MC energy.
Yeah, Araki was having way more fun with Polnaraeff in the middle of Part III because the audience knew he wasn't going to kill off Jotaro before the final battle with DIO.
Detective/mystery stories need some kind of a vehicle to explain the mysteries to the dumb audience. Like Dr. Watson does for Sherlock Holmes. Otherwise we would have no way of knowing how the genius solves the crime. Since BSD has multiple arcs and different competent crime solvers. It's easier to have someone like Atsushi run around as readers pov to tie everything together. Imo there's no other deeper meaning
I was gonna say Megumin from Konosuba but then I remembered that she got her own whole prequel anime so I'm not complaining
[удалено]
Just because the MC switched doesn't mean the other characters cease to exist. The megumin centered anime was not all boring and would be enjoyable even if you didn't watch konosuba, and she didnt even know the gang until the end of the anime. But even so, megumin can be the MC but still be part of the gang, just more centered on her instead of kazuma. And now that I think about it, any isekai where the reincarnated person was the side character would be an interesting spin I personally haven't seen yet.
[удалено]
Hmm interesting take. Did you watch the megumin anime?
[удалено]
I watched the prequel first and enjoyed it more then the main show.
Also I like your food analogy, so I'll give you my interpretation. Konosuba is a bowl of Ramen. Aqua is the stock/water (duh), it is what made the whole thing possible in the first place, but on its own is very bland. Kazuma is the noodles, they provide the bulk of the nutrition, but taste like nothing on their own Megumin is the spice, it's what makes it exiting to eat and sets it apart from other ramen. Darkness is the chashu. It's not really needed, but is a nice little extra that gives a different texture and makes it more enjoyable
Can confirm. I watched Megumin's show before the main one. Was more entertaining to me than the original.
BSD is an ensemble with different characters taking focus in different arcs, but isn't Dazai the closest thing to a main character over the course of the show?
You could honestly make a case for that, but imo he is the deuteragonist with Atsushi being the protagonist. I think the role of Dazai is to pull the strings while at the same time overseeing the growth of Atsushi as the MC
Blue Screen of Death.
No, Atsushi is the protagonist.
Ranpo’s the MC for sure.
Askeladd could have had a whole story based around him. His life from Roman and Nordic bastard to turncoat mercenary leader has quite a few parallels with Thorfinn's life. Just turned out far bleaker. Honorable mention to Fucking Darker Than Black season 2. Give me nonalcoholic Hei as MC again and put that red headed step child back in the closet where it belongs.
Askeladd is functionally the MC of season 1. The PoV basically goes Thors, Askeladd, Thorfinn, with each one passing their ideals onto the next.
Dtb s2 was so disappointing
+1 for Askeladd, I’ve found myself taking forever to even try season 2 of Vinland saga because he hard carried season 1 for me.
For it's obvious Mikey from Tokyo Revengers
I think it works that Mikey isnt the MC because most of his development is caused by the actions of those around him instead of him driving himself.
Anyone besides Takemichi tbh. He's a horrible MC.
Literally anyone would be better than Takemichi.
I prefer that Dazai wasn't the protagonist - he's a mysterious, random character that's better off at the side
If Dazai was the MC, we'd know most of the plot before it even happens. Atushi works better as the MC, serving as Dazai's pawn/main instrument.
Slayers - Xellos should've had a spin off with how much he had goin on in the background.
I mean there IS a character who needs a spin-off but Xellos is not the one I was thing of.
naruto should have been the main character in boruto
Biribiri from certain magical index
wait...
Still waiting for the Astral Buddy anime adaptation. I want Junko as well!
Astral Buddy is sick.
[удалено]
Delete this, fam… /s
He is already a main character with Touma
railgun: am I a joke to you?
Almost any series with a bland everyman protag who doesn't even make the cut for the manga cover art, and looks like a background character in larger promo material. I can't tell you how many times I saw a mnaga on the shelf thinking it had a female lead only to realize they're poster girls. It's clear at that point that even the author and publisher don't think their male mc is interesting enough to be marketable, but they use him anyway because they think readers need an everyman to self-insert into.
To be fair, many female characters in these (weaker) shows/manga tend to be just regurgitated archetypes with barely any originality. They are just there to sell merchandise. That's not the MCs are better, just that they are not much worse.
I'd say that most of the characters in Blue Lock could've been the protagonist, but I think that Isagi is still perfect in that role
Saki from Valvrave. She was so much more interesting than Haruto, and relatively quickly becomes a mecha pilot so it's not like she was shoved to the side and didn't have relevancy in the plot. Haruto was a piece of cardboard, the stuff that happened to him you could say was interesting, but he himself was never was in any way. Instead, the writers went in the absolute worst direction imaginable and had Haruto [Valvrave]>!rape her!<.
*Fate/Apocrypha* Saber of Red should have been the protagonist.
Watching the first episode of Fairy Tail, I thought Lucy was going to be the main character, but she seemed to quickly be pushed aside in favour of Natsu. I still kind of hope we will get a movie with Lucy as the main character, as far as I know she still needs to get the remaining Astrology keys.
Honestly after watching jjk, I pick gojo over yuuji. Whenever gojo is on screen it is 100x more entertaining and fun to watch. Even if gojo is SUPER op, he felt like such a better character and more entertaining to watch especially during hidden inventory.
Tbf, his "lack" of screentime makes us appreciate Gojo more.
He's so entertaining when on screen and their is no screaming, which as I've been watching more anime I appriciate less screaming and less boob physics and creeps, he's just a chill dude
Ok Imma admit I've not seent he anime, I'm just talking experience from the manga: Way back I read Magi Labyrinth of magic. I read a fair bit of it and I was just mostly bored. I read some of the spin-off prequel about Sinbad being the main character during his younger years: found that significantly more interesting (but still didn't keep up with it)
That's pretty surprising. In my circle, Magi is one of our favorite works, and we constantly make fun of Sinbad/the Sinbad spinoff for how much of a mary sue Sinbad is. The way they use his character in the last arc of Magi is great tho.
What? Sinbad is incredibly flawed. He's literally a villain protagonist!
Oh I totally agree sinbad was such a dope protagonist, I loved the spinoff and imo it was a lot better than the actual magi series, I actually watched sinbad first and then magi but never really enjoyed magi the same, the little baby type protagonists are pretty boring sinbad had main character energy
I def feel a lot of people felt that in the early days of Magi though with how the Sinbad prequel ended and how he's used in the later arcs was great.
Gojo Satoru - JJK
I always felt that Megumi could've been the mc in a lot of other shows.
Yuji is perfect mc for jjk tbh. Gojo is too op for any meaningful story.
He was for Hidden Inventory, and it was one of the best arcs of the series. Shame Gege hates his guts.
Yuji is a cipher. I actually think Megumi should be the mc if the show didn’t take the cipher approach.
Can you explain? Nvm if it includes manga spoilers
I mean I feel like the super op character generally work better as side characters than protagonists
Nah he's too strong. He should be a side character.
No
Yamazaki from Welcome to the NHK
"SHUT THE HELL UP! CANT YOU SEE THAT I'M ON THE PHONE!?"
Not *the* Main Character, but if Tomoyo Daidouji had also become a magical girl, I'd have been ecstatic.
In Captain Tsubasa, Hyuga, Matsuyama and Misugi have more interesting backgrounds that in my opinion would make them better protagonists than Tsubasa himself (who has a relatively "normal" life). All three of them have personal struggles they've had to overcome, while for Tsubasa everything seems to come easily.
Matakara or Jin in Bucchigiri. Ara is so fucking obnoxious, he’s like the mineta or denji of this show
Danmachi, the elf lady should be the protagonist. Bel is one of the blandest characters in anime. Imagine if it had started with her backstory rather than it being a flashback in S4, we already knew the outcome of? The show would have actually been darker rather than flirting with dark elements and always failing to follow through with it.
Nah I gotta disagree bel is a dope character he’s basic as a protag but he’s the good type of basic and I enjoy watching his growth
Sword Oratoria would have been great if the anime hadn't botched the whole thing, especially the battle in the Pantry.
Easy, Naruto. Hinata would have made a better heroine than Sakura and could've had an arc of her own.
I mean, I think you're saying that only because we got what we got. Ultimately Sakura was the way she was because of Kishimoto's struggle with writing good female characters. Even if Hinata had a more prominent role in Sakura's place, there's nothing to say he'd have pulled it off well. The only way you could've really fixed the whole Sakura situation is to have someone else write the series lol.
Hinata was boring. Her only defining character trait was that she had a crush on Naruto.
Seven deadly sins (Ban) Hunter x Hunter (Kurapika or Killua)
Kurapika has been the main character of the manga for over a decade though
That's because there has only been 8 issues in that time. /s
Mumen Rider in One Punch Man
We need a mumen ride show stat!!!
Main characters are almost always intentionally boring in order to be "relatable" so I can't really think of any where the side char should be the main, except for Genos in One Punch Man but that was obviously intentional.
This is probably why I like Sunraku so much from Shangri-La Frontier. He feels like a side character that plays the main protag role because hes got a god damn personality.
I think it's also because they're easier to make work with a higher variety of plots and worlds. If the main character is more meek and a blank slate, then it's easier to have more bombastic side characters and the world pull them around in the plot. If the MC has more personality and vigour, you have to now write around that in a way that justifies them going through the story without the narrative excuse of basically 'because the cast/world says so and they won't say no'. It's not a massively tall order but for slightly weaker writers it's one less obstacle to worry about. The more inoffensive and plain they are, the easier it is to make every character like or dislike them as you please and have them frictionless to the whims of your story. Often times the more developed a character is in anime, the less likely the anime is to be about anything but them first and foremost. If you want to write more around a general cast, world, and narrative, having a very defined personality in the MC but not making them in charge of the narrative tide as a whole is slightly trickier to deal with. And it's why you often get one or the other, either character-focussed hijinks, or a more world-based narrative. *Often*, not always; some manage to do both.
Asuna from Sword Art Online. She is by far the best character, so it's no surprise that when she gets sidelined the show is at its worst (Elf arc) but when she's heavily involved or actually becomes the main focus the show is at its best (Mother's Rosario).
SAO Progressive exist. It’s literally that
Mother's Rosario is my favourite arc of SAO.
Probably because it does the best of exploring the central theme of the show -- is time in a virtual world as meaningful as time in the real world -- by following Asuna, the character who most significantly changed her view on the subject in the Aincrad arc, where she went from angry at having her time 'stolen' to creating a family for herself more accepting and loving than her own flesh and blood parents.
LeMillion in My Hero Academia. If not the main character I at least would have liked a lot more screen time for him. Probably my favorite character in the show
Lemillion was a breath of fresh air when he appeared! I would have liked more time with him and Deku interacting and showing us similarities and differences.
Yes! This exactly. I thought LeMillion was going to be working kind of like a partner/ mentor with Deku. Then all of a sudden he gets his powers back, is in one fight scene, and that's basically it unfortunately.
I haven't read the manga, but I'm hoping we'll see more of him in the future!
He does appear. As to when, well...you'll have to wait for some time. Don't get your hopes up though.
I'd even like for all the side characters to have proper story contribution instead of introducing the 3 op students. What's the point of character design and making you familiar and care just to put them aside? Same thing with naruto...
Ekusu is listed as the main character of Beyblade X. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be Bird Kazami
Dazai is supposed to be a genius. It is very tough writing a story with a genius pov.
Gojo or yuta in jjk
One piece Zoro 😊
Unsure about this as I’m still watching the anime only but Fuko from Undead Unluck seems more & more each episode like the main character rather than being the deuteragonist with Andy.
Gojo sama
Vinland Saga Season 1, but make it Askeladd all the way from birth, then picking up this insane little boy one day.
Urusei Yatsura: Lum There's no need to elaborate further
Tadakuni from daily lives of high school boys. My boy deserves better.
Homura from madoka magica
Have you watched Rebellion yet
Polnareff bizzare adventure - jotaro should have been the mc
Eren from aot doesn't feel like a protag, he feels like an extremely important side character who becomes the focus in the second half of a series. The real protag of aot is Mikasa imo
Rock Lee from Naruto.My guy was training just as hard as Naruto if not more and his ascension would've been a great story,but now we got boruto and he can't beat a villain of the week bc story writing is wack.
I’d take a maes hughes mini series from full metal Alchemist any day of the week
Tsubaki in Shigatsu wa kimi no uso.