Sadly, not all anime are built the same. For every amazing and extraordinary title that’s beloved by many, there are just as many that end up falling short or missing the mark by a wide margin. Whether it’s due to bad writing, lackluster leads, or poor animation, there’s plenty of terrible anime out there, but not all are devoid of bright spots.
Sometimes an anime can even be saved by a single character, who managed to make an impact on the viewer. A bad anime doesn’t always have the benefit of an engaging cast, sometimes a single well-received character can keep viewers coming back.
10 Arata Kasuga (Trinity Seven)
On paper, Trinity Seven isn’t the most original anime out there and tends to fall back on a lot of its ecchi, harem anime tropes, and archetypes. Fortunately, its protagonist, Arata Kasuga, isn’t one of those archetypes. On top of being capable in a fight, Arata’s an upbeat, yet mischievous guy who bounces off the female cast members well without coming off as too annoying or creepy.
While he’s not the deepest character ever written, he is likable and has some layers to him, which in a genre where a lot of the male protagonists end up being blank slates with little personality, is a win.
9 Kogarashi (Kamen no Maid Guy)
The giant and beastly Kogarashi is the titular “Maid Guy” in Kamen no Maid Guy, bound to serve and protect the young Naeka Fujiwara from those who seek the fortune she’ll inherit. While the anime itself isn’t groundbreaking, Kogarashi keeps the anime interesting by being completely over-the-top, earning his spot as the anime’s namesake.
Often clueless about boundaries or conventions of any kind, and more a force of destruction rather than a tidy maid, like hs outfit would imply, half the joke is how Kogarashi is out-of-place compared to the rest of the characters. Is he the most complex, no, but his intense personality and dynamic with the cast make the anime more fun to watch.
8 Guri (Love Tyrant)
Love Tyrant is a pretty out-there premise for a romcom anime, yet despite the presence of yanderes, shinigami, and romance-related Death Note parodies, it tends to miss the mark more often than not and can be a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, the anime’s happy-go-lucky and lazy cupid, Guri, is practically carrying the show on her back.
Where the rest of the characters fail to leave an impression or leave the wrong one, Guri’s comedic antics manage to land every time. Whether she’s shirking her responsibilities as a matchmaker or just causing havoc to those around her, Guri’s definitely the highlight in this cast.
7 Tabitha (The Familiar of Zero)
Often, The Familiar of Zero can be a frustrating watch and its characters are partly the reason why. Some are forgettable, while others have unlikeable personalities, ironically its best character may just be its least emotional. The quiet and reserved kuudere Tabitha is a pretty capable mage with a large dragon at her side and as the series goes on, it turns out she’s much more important than she appears.
Tabitha’s dry wit and bookworm demeanor make her an easy favorite among a cast of characters less fondly remembered. The fact that she wound up getting her own spinoff manga too speaks volumes to her popularity.
6 Kumoko (So I’m a Spider, So What?)
As far as isekai premises go, So I’m A Spider, So What? has a lot of interesting spins on the formula, though a lot of it is undercut by half the story being shared by a rather typical and uninteresting isekai plotline. Fortunately, the anime’s namesake is what makes this anime worth the watch, as Kumoko is reborn as a monster spider ahead of the rest of her classmates.
Watching as this spider’s power levels go from zero to a hundred isn’t anything new, but it’s Kumoko’s plucky, upbeat attitude that makes fans want to see her succeed. The effect she also has on the other world in the years that follow makes the B Plot of this anime more interesting too.
5 Yuuto Kiba (High School DxD)
For the most part, High School DxD leans into its ecchi elements with reckless abandon and for some that can be its greatest strength, but for others it’s the anime’s greatest weakness. Most of the spotlight is taken up by the unapologetically womanizing Issei and his many admirers, but when its focus shifts, some of the cast can actually have layers and surprisingly, one of the more compelling character stories belongs to Yuuto Kiba.
With a tragic backstory tied into human experimentation, holy swords, and survivor’s guilt, Kiba has a pretty fleshed-out character arc that practically feels like it belongs in a different anime. Unlike other supporting characters in this genre who often take a back seat, Kiba comes off as a main protagonist in his own right
4 Kurumi Tokisaki (Date A Live)
Sometimes an antagonist can be just as or even more compelling than a protagonist, and Kurumi Tokisaki from Date A Live would certainly fit that bill for many. With the ability to manipulate time in various ways and a propensity for killing, Kurumi is rightfully known as one of the most dangerous spirits to ever exist.
While such a personality would seem like it would turn fans away from her, Kurumi’s mysterious and wild personality makes her a far more memorable character than the one-note archetypes she shares screen time with. Kurumi steals the show in what would be a pretty stale and unimpressive harem anime.
3 Zero Two (Darling in the Franxx)
Darling in the Franxx starts out as a uniquely different take on mecha anime that sadly winds up a mess toward the end and some of its characters aren’t much better either. Thankfully the one character that stays engaging throughout the bulk of the series is one of its main characters, Zero Two.
With a confident, yet quirky personality and a character design that makes her iconic, it’s no surprise why Zero Two became so popular among viewers. Despite not actually being human herself, Zero Two acts the most human among the cast, and her background as an artificial life form made her relation to the anime’s setting more interesting.
2 Escanor (Seven Deadly Sins)
As far as shonen anime go, The Seven Deadly Sins had an impressively strong start with big personalities making up its cast, that sadly slowly unravel as the series goes on. The longer the show goes, the more flaws the titular knights seem to show that make them less likable, that is except for the “Lion Sin of Pride”, Escanor.
With a musclebound, boisterous persona by day and a meeker one by night, Escanor stands above his fellow Sins as not only one of their strongest but the least problematic in character and storyline. His tragic sacrifice actually lands too, while others in the Sins have theirs undercut by bad writing.
1 Haruko Haruhara (FLCL Progressive & FLCL Alternative)
The original FLCL was a short but sweet coming-of-age anime that featured robots, space pirates, and at the center of it all, the iconic Haruko Haruhara. So when the anime’s follow-ups, FLCL Progressive and FLCL Alternative, arrived they of course both had Haruko in all her manic glory. The same could sadly not be said for both spinoffs.
Both Progressive and Alternative were missing the same spark that made the original FLCL so beloved, making them not just unnecessary sequels, but pretty bland compared to the original. Pretty much the only quality thing that made either worth the watch was coming back to see what Haruko was up to.