These days, the acronym R.B.F. is familiar to many. Plenty of people have default facial expressions that are less than inviting. Cruel people can look friendly, while friendly can people look frightening, and no one should ever be judged based on their appearance.
A handful of lovable anime characters have found themselves misinterpreted by those around them. As kindhearted as these characters are, they’re cursed with the misfortune of looking meaner or scarier than they mean to. Luckily, characters and audiences often learn to see past their intimidating exteriors and appreciate the wholesome person beneath.
10 Sawako Is Often Called Sadako (From Me To You)
Sawako Kuronuma’s face is certainly lovely, but her name and her features have done nothing to help her confidence. Her classmates find her creepy because she looks similar to Sadako, the infamous monster from Ring and the dead girl who crawls out of a well. The parallels between them have done a number on Sawako’s confidence, exacerbating the issue further.
Fortunately, people who come to know Sawako will learn that she’s a wonderful person. Shouta Kazehaya, the jovial, outgoing boy she’s fallen for, never sees her as creepy. On the contrary, he learns to love Sawako for who she is.
9 Takeo Is A Total Softie On The Inside (My Love Story)
Plenty of guys admire Takeo of My Love Story!!, but he tends to scare off the girls he approaches. Takeo is a hulking, tall boy with broad shoulders, built like a wrestler, and unfortunately, many people think he looks a bit like a gorilla.
His intimidating aura is completely at odds with his kind nature. Yes, Takeo is incredibly strong, but he’s also extremely softhearted. One day he saves a girl named Rinko from being harassed by a pervert, and she soon falls hard for his genuine kindness.
8 Ryuji Didn’t Ask To Look Intimidating (Toradora)
Ryuji of Toradora would give a lot to change his appearance. He wears his bangs long because he’s well aware that he looks like a delinquent. He has inherited what’s known in Japan as sanpaku eyes, where the whites of his eyes are visible beneath his irises.
Ryuji is studious and determined to avoid a bad reputation, doing chores in his single-parent household. He’s great at cleaning, cooking, and sewing. Despite his efforts, people often assume he means them harm, and Ryuji develops a habit of combing his hair over his eyes.
7 People Often Misread Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Life as Alphonse Elric must be exceedingly hard, but he rarely draws attention to it. Having lost his body during a failed transmutation, Alphonse’s soul is tied instead to a cold suit of armor. Though he’s an adolescent boy, people see him as a fearsome warrior and often assume that he must be the Fullmetal Alchemist rather than his short little brother.
Alphonse is rarely treated as a boy anymore, and those moments when someone touches him or talks to him like a child are extremely precious to him. If anyone deserves a new body, it’s Alphonse, and his kindness and bravery deserve to be rewarded.
6 Asahi Isn’t A Delinquent (Haikyuu!!)
Few characters rock a man-bun with as much charm as Asahi of Haikyuu!!. He’s a high schooler, but his hair and goatee make him appear older than his age, and classmates even spread rumors that he might be a delinquent. In reality, there are few characters as gentle as Asahi.
In fact, his meek nature and lack of confidence have often impeded him on the court in the past, and he has to work hard to embrace his role as Karasuno’s ace.
5 Tenshi Isn’t The Enemy (Angel Beats)
In the initial episodes of Angel Beats, the enemy seems clear. Otonashi wakes in the afterlife alongside several other teens who are engaged in a battle against Tenshi, or Angel, the apathetic and violent student council president. According to Yui and the others, characters can only move on from limbo if they live normal school lives, and their constant struggle against Angel makes that impossible.
In reality, Angel is a victim as much as any of them and is only attempting to help counsel the others and help them move on. She isn’t a monster, but another deceased, lost kid hoping for closure.
4 Shadow Is A Sweetheart When He Isn’t Skating (Sk8: The Infinity)
In a competition, the skater known as Shadow is a fierce opponent indeed. He has a reputation for being brash and violent, and his face paint and garb make him look like a member of Dethklok. An aggressive skater and a self-professed “anti-hero,” Shadow isn’t opposed to using dirty tricks to win.
Despite all this, his alter ego, Hiromi Higa, is about as kind as they come. A young man who works in a floral shop, Hiromi is admired by his customers and harbors a secret crush on his boss.
3 Rin’s A Rather Friendly Demon (Ao No Exorcist)
Transferring to a new school is never easy, and it’s only harder for a student who’s a demon in disguise. But this is the fate of Rin Okumura, who enrolls in True Cross Academy, a school for exorcists, shortly after manifesting demonic powers inherited from his father, Satan.
Rin keeps his tail hidden at school and his ears and teeth only grow sharp when he’s in attack mode, but anyone who sees his blue flames and assumes the worst is misguided. Rin is a loyal friend and a skilled exorcist, as determined as anyone else to defeat evil. More than anything else, Rin wants friendship and respect.
2 Homura Is The Tsundere Personified (Madoka)
The tsundere character type has a long and storied history in anime. Described as a person who initially acts cold or heartless but gradually warms to others, tsundere appear in all genres. Few have left an impact like Akemi Homura of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Homura is aloof and sometimes openly hostile, and Madoka is intimidated by her.
In truth, Homura’s cold demeanor is the product of trauma instilled by her time travel abilities, and she’s trying to save Madoka from another untimely death. Homura was once incredibly shy, bespectacled, and sweet. Becoming a magical girl forced her to build up a tougher exterior.
1 Soichi Negishi Never Wanted To Be A Black Death Metal Icon (Detroit Metal City)
It’s tough when no one appreciates an artist’s creative vision. Soichi Negishi harbors a deep abiding love for cheesy Swedish pop music, but there’s simply no market for it. Despite his sweet nature, he finds himself helming a raucous black death metal band known as Detroit Metal City, or DMC.
The trouble is that Soichi is rather suited to the job, and like Retsuko of Aggretsuko, he tends to cut loose when the microphone’s in front of him. Few characters have ever been so ludicrously contradictory.
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