If there’s one thing that all anime fans have strong opinions about, it’s characters. Some characters go down in history as some of the greatest in all of anime. Meanwhile, others are despised from the moment they appear on the screen.
Fans will dislike a character for many different reasons, be it their personality, lack of abilities, or actions. Whatever the reason, many anime characters become infamous for being hated, and while in some instances this is justified, not all of them deserve it.
10 Kikyo Isn’t As Bad As Fans Think She Is (Inuyasha)
Kikyo is a character that Inuyasha fans either love or hate. However, she seems to have many more haters. She is one of the colder, more stoic characters in the series and tends to be more off-putting. But when it comes down to it, the main reason fans hate her is that she comes between Inuyasha and Kagome, creating a frustrating love triangle.
However, Kikyo isn’t a bad character, and it isn’t even her fault that Inuyasha ditches Kagome whenever she’s around. If fans saw Kikyo as more than an obstacle between Inuyasha and Kagome, they’d like her much more.
9 Orihime’s Role In The Series Is Just As Important (Bleach)
For years, fans of Bleach have made it loud and clear that they don’t like Orihime Inoue. Many see her as weak and useless, reduced to nothing but a love interest. She has a lot of wasted potential, as she never grows stronger or develops. Orihime often takes a backseat in the plot, playing more of a supporting role.
While it’s understandably frustrating for one of the leading females to be less proactive in the story, her role is just as important as anyone else’s. Her role as a supporter is often vital to the series, though many fans overlook this.
8 Zenitsu Is More Than A Coward Or A Crybaby (Demon Slayer)
Zenitsu is one of those rare anime characters who are both wildly popular and wildly hated at the same time. Those in the Demon Slayer fandom who hate him feel that he’s a coward, crybaby, and not as useful as other characters. However, Zenitsu fans know that there’s a lot more to him than just that.
He may be whiny or a crybaby, and even a little creepy when it comes to girls, but he continues to grow as the series progresses. Despite his fears, Zenitsu faces demons and doesn’t back down, and his Thunder Breathing is extremely powerful. While he has his faults, his redeeming qualities make him deserving of a second chance with haters.
7 Fans See Sakura As A Useless Crybaby, But She Grows Beyond That (Naruto)
Sakura Haruno is probably one of the most infamous examples of a hated anime character. Since the very beginning of Naruto, fans have seen her as annoying, bratty, useless, and a crybaby. While there’s no denying that Sakura starts out with all of these traits, many fail to recognize the clear development she goes through from start to finish.
Her strength never reaches the godly levels of Naruto and Sasuke, but she’s a powerhouse in her own right and a vital part of their team. She matures a lot by the end of the series and even more so in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, where she thrives as a strong and independent single mother for twelve years.
6 Mako Gets Blamed Far Too Much (The Legend Of Korra)
Avatar fans have many reasons they don’t care for The Legend of Korra nearly as much as the original series, and one big reason is the series’ portrayal of Mako. Everyone was rooting for him and Korra at the start, but it went downhill fast.
After the infamous kiss scene, everyone turned on Mako immediately and shifted all blame to him, even though Korra was more at fault than him. With each season, fans became determined to hate Mako, no matter what he did to improve himself. By the end of the series, he’s all but redeemed himself for any mistakes he made, but for some, it still isn’t good enough.
5 Alois Is Just As Much A Victim As Ciel (Black Butler II)
Black Butler‘s second season is infamous for the hate it gets. The only thing fans seem to hate more than Black Butler II are the characters it introduced, especially Alois Trancy. Fans despised him almost immediately, turned off by his abusive behavior. It’s easy to write him off as irredeemable, but by the end of the season, Alois shows he has good in him after all.
As it turns out, he’s just as much a victim as Ciel is, and while that doesn’t excuse his actions, it does allow the audience to understand him better. If nothing else, Alois’ past shows he has the potential to be a good person, if not for Claude’s manipulation.
4 Near Is Mostly Hated Because He’s A Replacement For L (Death Note)
Fans all agree that the second half of Death Note pales in comparison to the first. There’s no way anything could top the suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase between L and Light. That said, when Near debuts as L’s replacement, he’s basically set up for failure from the start. Fans were far too attached to L to consider giving Near a chance.
As his own character, there’s nothing inherently wrong with him. He’s just as smart, quirky, and interesting as his predecessor. He’s just unfortunate enough to come into the story after the death of one of the most beloved characters. However, if fans looked past his role as L’s replacement, they’d probably like him much more.
3 Shinji Ikari Deserves A Better Reputation (Evangelion)
For years, Shinji Ikari has been viewed by the Evangelion fandom as a poor excuse for a protagonist. He’s not strong or smart, and he seems to do nothing but cry and mope about his situation. However, to be fair, he lived a relatively normal life as an average teenage boy before being thrust into the world of Evas and Angels.
Any normal person in his shoes wouldn’t be able to handle the horrifying things Shinji has to go through. And while it’s true that he could stand to grow or mature faster, in later adaptations of Evangelion, Shinji’s character makes great improvements. He’s not always the crybaby that fans make him out to be.
2 Akito Sohma Learns From Her Past Mistakes (Fruits Basket)
Everyone knows Akito Sohma as the cruel and abusive head of the Sohma family in Fruits Basket. Even after her redemption at the end of the series, fans despise Akito for her treatment of the other Sohmas. It’s completely understandable, and even if she’s changed, that doesn’t mean that she necessarily deserves forgiveness.
But despite her faults, Akito is one of the most well-developed characters in the series. Her growth from start to finish makes her one of the best, even if she’s not always the most likable. It isn’t easy to let go of toxic habits and change, so if nothing else, her efforts to do better are very commendable.
1 Boruto Lives In His Dad’s Shadow (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations)
It feels like Boruto Uzumaki never had a chance with fans from the start. Ever since his first appearance at the end of Naruto, everyone has made comparisons between him and his dad. This only increased once Boruto: Naruto Next Generations kicked off. Most see Boruto as a selfish, arrogant, and spoiled brat. They compare his cushy life as the Hokage’s kid to Naruto’s early sufferings and see him as ungrateful.
But when it comes down to it, Boruto is just a kid and has no way to understand the pain of his father’s past. He may not be the protagonist Naruto was, but that’s not a bad thing. He’s his own person, and that’s the way it should be. If fans stopped the comparisons, they may even find something about Boruto to like.
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