Not all anime protagonists maintained their popularity throughout their series' run. Fewer still have retained as many fans upon subsequent rewatches of the anime. A lot of this can be boiled down to changes in fans' lives, changes in the world, and new realizations about the anime or its characters.
Anime protagonists sometimes lose their popularity because the things they did might not have aged well. Other times, protagonists lose their fans after they turn down the path of villainy or they do not fit well into their respective shows as events progress. Whatever the reason, these characters find themselves losing traction with their former fan base.
***CW: MENTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT***
10 Naruto's Sasuke Uchiha Stopped Being Cool After A While
In the original Naruto series, Sasuke Uchiha was the cool-natured prodigy who was top of his class and never showed affectation. As he and Naruto Uzumaki got closer, the two foiled one another and provided options for fans when it came to protagonists to root for. However, after Sasuke left the village and tried to kill his friends on multiple occasions, fans felt differently.
As Sasuke became more and more villainous, he lost more and more fans, thanks to his poor attitude and treatment of his comrades from both Orochimaru's crew and the Hidden Leaf Village.
9 Attack On Titan's Eren Yaeger Went Down Hill
As the end of Attack on Titan approached, Eren Yaeger got closer to being a villain until wholly ending in infamy. While fans are used to anti-heroes or heroes turning bad to do something good, and often love this plot point, something about what Eren was willing to do as a result of his trauma felt unacceptable.
In the end, Eren's proximity to The Rumbling and its organization was disappointing for a lot of fans. It was an interesting and dynamic event in the show, but it showed many fans how bad Eren had become and caused him to be hated by a lot of Attack on Titan fans.
8 Mugen From Samurai Champloo Does Not Hold Up On Rewatch
Mugen and the entirety of Samurai Champloo had a coolness and brashness to them that attracted a lot of fans. During its initial run, it was well-received and critically acclaimed. However, upon rewatch, there were a lot of things that did not age well, especially regarding Mugen.
Mugen was not above threatening sexual assault and treating the women in the show poorly. There was obvious misogyny in his character that made a lot of fans uncomfortable in retrospection. Even if fans still like the show, there is still a lot of criticism around Mugen's character.
7 Inuyasha Was Not Good Enough For Kagome
Inuyasha did not know what he had in Kagome, and his obsession with Kikyo felt like a jerk move when considering his relationship with the former. It always felt as though Inuyasha saw Kagome in second place to the late priestess. It was a wonder that Kagome stuck with Inuyasha, despite having other options available to her.
Inuyasha could also get annoying throughout the show. He had a one-track mind, was a loudmouth, and took others for granted. While Inuyasha did not necessarily do anything wrong, fans' support started to waver in favor of other characters such as Sesshoumaru and Koga.
6 Death Note's Light Yagami May Have Been A Protagonist, But He Was A Villain
Light Yagami started Death Note with good intentions, but absolute power can corrupt anyone. It was not long before Light was spiraling thanks to his god complex. However, even with that level of self-importance that Light portrayed, it was still fun watching his struggle, at least for a while.
This issue was that Light started to get more indiscriminate with his murders to the point where he killed off other beloved characters. Furthermore, his ego and melodrama became so prevalent that his character began to seem more like a frustrating villain than a fun-to-watch anti-hero.
5 Shinji Ikari Was Insufferable Despite Evangelion's Success
Whether or not Shinji Ikari was liked at the beginning of the Evangelion franchise might be up for debate, but when fans were first introduced to the character, there was a lot to relate to. He had a complicated family dynamic and history. Plus, he was going through a coming-of-age moment in his character arc.
Unfortunately, Shinji made a nuisance of himself quickly, and the combination of his whining and his creepiness toward many of the female characters in the show made him lose fans fast.
4 In KonoSuba, Aqua's Antics Got Old Fast
Aqua from KonoSuba was a goddess with great potential. She was capricious and mercurial, and she did not take the ramifications of her actions into account. Being somewhat of an anti-hero in her anime, she made a lot of enemies and got herself into a lot of trouble. It did not help that she was self-centered and impulsive.
Much to fans' dismay, her antics did not stop, and it got to the point where Aqua was just frustrating and annoying. She lost a lot of fans she might have had if she would not have continued her poor behavior.
3 Emma's Genki Girl Attitude Does Not Fit The Promised Neverland's Tone
Emma was a kindhearted, compassionate, and overall very likable character in The Promised Neverland. However, there was a lot about Emma that made her unbelievable. She wanted to change the entire world on her own, and while that is not a strange concept in anime, her attitude and goals on top of the dark nature of the show felt disingenuous.
A lot of fans started to feel that Emma's character did not fit or make sense in the context of the show, especially after the events of the show's second season. The ending especially felt like a strange and lucky convenience than a believable plot point.
2 Brock's Obsession With Women Got Too Cringe-Worthy In Pokémon
Many anime characters are obsessed with love and hitting on other characters. It is a source of comic relief for a lot of anime and is somewhat of a trope. However, sometimes characters take it too far and either become creepy or annoying.
Brock's obsession with Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and other women in the Pokémon anime became both of those things. His persistence felt creepy and his constant antics of trying to ask them out got on fans' nerves, especially upon rewatching the anime today.
1 Jotaro Was Just Too Condescending For Some Fans Of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Jotaro Kujo was another cool character who was incredibly intelligent to the point of always having a plan. He could always be trusted to find a way to overcome situations when the other characters could not. However, fans got a lot of red flags from Jotaro in Stardust Crusaders, and they only continued.
It started with Jotaro's mistreatment of his mother and female classmates. Then, it moved to his condescending tone towards characters in other parts, such as Koichi Hirose or Josuke Higashikata in Diamond is Unbreakable, and left his daughter out to dry in Stone Ocean.
Source: Trendz OH
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