While anime is often filled with some amazing stories and brilliantly written characters, that's not always the case. Sometimes the writer drops the ball, even in a show that's otherwise filled with great characters. Shonen in particular often struggles with its female characters, who often have little agency or relevance to the plot.
Isekai and light novel protagonists aren't too far behind, as there's never any reason for them to improve or change in relation to what happens within the story. Whatever the reason, poorly written characters bring down even the greatest stories and change them from masterpieces to simply good.
10 Sakura Haruno Is Too Obsessed With Sasuke & Has No Goals (Naruto)
Some fans believe Sakura Haruno is secretly a good character, but others claim that's far from true. She's obsessed with Sasuke to a ridiculous extent, but she doesn't have the same level of conviction that Naruto has to actually stand in his way. She nearly commits treason to stay with him, and that almost could have been amazing writing.
If that was her low point and she climbed up from there, she'd be one of the best women in shonen anime. But instead, she doesn't serve much of a purpose after early Shippuuden. She's more useful once she's in Boruto protecting both her daughter and the city.
9 Yuki Cross Allows The Story To Happen Around Her (Vampire Cross)
Vampire Knight felt like a series with potential when it first launched. A shojo 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 eventually gets dragged into the adventures of the vampires of the Academy's Night Class. But Yuki's kind of a boring protagonist who doesn't bring a lot to the series. Rather than pushing the plot forward on her own, things just sort of happen around her. It pushes forward the love triangle but doesn't necessarily make for a better series.
8 Ichika Manages To Be The Most Boring Man In A Series With Almost No Men (Infinite Stratos)
Ichika is the sort of nothing protagonist that was all over the 2000s and early 2010s anime. In a world where only women can pilot special armors that allow them to fight a dangerous threat to humanity, Ichika is (of course) the only man who can use these armors.
He's a bit rowdier than most harem protagonists, but nothing else about the character sets him apart. He could be replaced with any number of 2010s era harem heroes and the story wouldn't change in the slightest.
7 Tsukune Aono Is Given Free Powers Just For Existing (Rosario + Vampire)
When regular human Aono finds himself at a school with nothing but monsters, he realizes he's in danger—but then the beautiful Moka Akashiya fell in love with him, who happens to be able to grant him special powers whenever she bites him.
While the manga does a lot of interesting things with this premise, the anime makes it a standard harem. Because of that, any depth Aono might have had is thrown out from the start.
6 Yuno Is Given Tons Of Powers For No Reason (Black Clover)
Yuno is interesting in that he's the stereotypical ace that's placed opposite a supposedly less talented friend. But Asta is constantly pulling ahead of him, so Yuno is always working to master his powers and try to keep ahead.
But there's not nearly enough focus given to Yuno's character development to carry his part of the show. That's why the manga doesn't focus on him nearly as much, because without revealing his hidden past, there's just not much of him compared to even the other characters in Black Clover.
5 Kazuki Shikimori Has No Real Personality (Maburaho)
Kazuki Shikimori is like a lot of harem protagonists from the 2000s era. He's just some regular guy that a bunch of gorgeous women way out of his league are attracted to because he shows them basic kindness.
In the world of Maburaho, a person's worth is determined by the number of spells they can cast. Kazuki can only cast spells eight times, but his bloodline 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 Fulfillment Character (The Irregular At Magic High School)
Shiba Tatsuya is about as frustrating as one can get when it comes to anime protagonists. He's good at nearly everything and he's a super-genius that was constructed by his own family to become the strongest magician.
There's only one person he's ever lost a fight to, and his reputation is so great that entire countries are terrified of him. His only "flaw" is that he's got no emotions, which is an excuse not to explore someone's character any deeper than at a surface level. This is the worst kind of wish fulfillment.
3 Zenitsu Spends Too Much Time Chasing Women (Demon Slayer)
Demon Slayer's Zenitsu is probably the weakest part of the show. The Hashira might 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 were actually funny.
He spends too much time chasing down any woman who will look his way for the chance at getting a wife. It's a joke that ran its humor well over a decade ago for most women. He's also a shonen character who doesn't believe in his own power and runs from every battle he's in, rather than just quitting the Demon Slayer Corps.
2 Mineta Is Creepy Even For A Teenager (My Hero Academia)
Mineta is the worst. He's not a character—he's a collection of tropes that make up something pretending to be a character. His powerset is unimpressive, he's a coward, and his outfit looks like he's wearing a baby's diaper. And the worst part is that Mineta would be fascinating if that was all there was to him.
Watching someone with an unusual Quirk try to become a Pro Hero would help elevate the series as a future classic. But Mineta is a pervert and seems to only be motivated by opportunities where he can ogle women. He makes the people around him uncomfortable and fans embarrassed for watching.
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 difficult to like him. He's a character that makes the entire story about him from the moment he arrives. There's never time to tell an arc about someone else as he has to be integral to it in some way.
The women constantly fawn over how nice and sweet he is, while he struggles with just enough inner doubt to make him feel relatable and edgy. He gathers harems and never really has to deal with the women involved seriously. He's also apparently always amazing at every game he plays for no good reason.
Source: Trendz OH
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