There are many anime where many characters grow and develop over time. These characters became fan favorites because of their eventual growth. They became fleshed-out individuals other than simple plot devices. Yet, there are also many anime where only the protagonist received development.
This growth was often limited to the protagonist for varying reasons. Some series didn’t have enough screentime to give development to anyone other than the main protagonist. Examples of this included Nyanko Days and Bonjour Sweet Patisserie. Others, like Let’s Make A Mug Too and Your Lie In April, focused on the main protagonist’s development as the main story itself.
10 Bonjour Sweet Patisserie’s Protagonist Has The Most Depth
Bonjour Sweet Patisserie had short episodes, so hardly anyone got any development. Only the protagonist had any growth by the end. She became very skilled at coming up with creative, sweet ideas. This helped her school win a competition in later episodes.
Some episodes tried giving the varied love interests development but failed. They never had as much time as the heroine did to develop at all. The heroine also never chose to be with any of her love interests, which gave them even less time to develop.
9 Nyanko Days’ Other Characters Suffer From Lack Of Development
Nyanko Days also had short episodes, which led to only the protagonist developing at all. The rest of the characters, composed of humanoid catgirls, had no development other than being pets.
Even though the pets were cute to watch, they barely did anything. All they did was dote on their owner, play with each other, or create some messy situations. The heroine, meanwhile, showed how responsible she was by taking care of all of them. This made the various catgirls plot devices instead of developed characters.
8 Let’s Make A Mug Too’s Himeno Toyokawa Is The Only Interesting Character
Himeno Toyokawa is the only interesting character in Let’s Make A Mug Too. Most of the series’ development focused on her individual growth. After she moved to Tajimi city with her father, she eventually joined the pottery club. Himeno also learned that her mother was a legendary potter.
After this discovery, Himeno ended up following in her footsteps. There was a lot of time spent on her individual growth, both in pottery and as a person. The rest of the characters, in comparison, barely grew at all. Most of the side characters acted as plot devices for Himeno’s growth.
7 Diabolik Lovers’ Yui Was The Only Human Among Sadistic Vampires
Yui’s personality differed in the Diabolik Lovers’ visual novel, but her timid personality in the anime adaptation made her stand out more when stuck in a house full of sadistic vampires. She was the only human and had a backstory connected to the vampires’ mother, Cordelia.
Such a unique backstory made Yui the most engaging character to watch. Half of her involvement involved the vampires torturing and tormenting her, yet she also tried learning more about her past and true origins. This ironically made the human more interesting than the rest of the vampire cast.
6 Takt Op. Destiny’s Titular Protagonist Had The Most Development
Takt Op. Destiny involved Takt, the protagonist, getting the most development. He lost his sister Cosette in the opening episodes. This led to the Musicart Destiny awakening inside her. Takt struggled with losing his sister for good.
It didn’t help that Cosette’s entire personality and the rest of who she was as a person no longer existed. The Musicart Destiny initially acted like a stranger instead of an ally. Takt thankfully worked through this grief by the final episodes, but many other characters’ development was either rushed or undeveloped.
5 Your Lie In April’s Kousei Struggled With Past Trauma
Kousei from the musical anime Your Lie In April struggled with past trauma and abuse, which made it difficult for him to hear the piano whenever he played. Most episodes focused on Kousei’s experiences of learning to love music again. This resulted in many of the other characters lacking development.
Some viewers felt that violinist Kaori was more of a plot device than a fully-realized character. They argued that the only point of her relationship with Kousei was to help him heal and move forward. None of the other supporting characters received much development, either, which vexed some viewers.
4 La Corda D’Oro’s Kahoko Hino Is The Only General Education Student Competing In The Music Competition
Kahoko Hino received a magic violin and eventually participated in her school’s music competition in La Corda D’Oro. However, she was the only General Education student competing, so Kahoko received much individual development.
She learned to play the violin and grew a deep love for music in the process. Being a general student with no background in music made her more engaging to watch. Unlike others, she had to learn everything from scratch in time to compete properly. The other characters, meanwhile, were music students or had a background in music.
3 Kenja No Mago’s Protagonist Had The Most Development Thanks To Being So Overpowered
Shin from Kenja No Mago became an extremely overpowered protagonist. He also had the most development out of the rest of the main cast. The setting’s worldbuilding affected many other characters, especially politically. Meanwhile, Shin was mostly new to this world and could use his knowledge from his past life to help him.
Shin’s lack of common sense helped him develop more. He came up with creative solutions to many obstacles and foes he faced. The rest of the cast remained limited by their world’s restraints and also developed less.
2 Phantom In The Twilight’s Heroine Developed More Than Her Love Interests
Phantom In The Twilight’s heroine, Ton, developed much more than her love interests did. Her supernatural love interests initially knew more than Ton about everything. They attempted to keep her out of trouble by giving her little information and by wiping her memory.
However, Ton eventually learned about the bigger issues. She stood up more for herself and learned to use the powers she had all along. The rest of her love interests lacked development other than trying to keep Ton out of harm’s way.
1 Drugstore In Another World’s Reiji Is The Only Sensible Person
Drugstore In Another World had Reiji running a pharmacy in a fantasy world. However, his extremely wild coworkers made Reiji the only sensible person. Their antics only made his life complicated as he tried keeping order in the pharmacy.
Poor foreshadowing also ruined the appearance of the pharmacy’s later employee, Egil. The rest of the employees often caused more problems than solutions, which did little to help their development. Reiji was the only sensible person and often became the only person who could fix their problems.
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