Anime characters gain many admirers for a reason, and a character’s popularity can often accurately reflect the quality of their writing and their impact on the story. Plenty of incredibly beloved characters, from Gintama’s Sakata Gintoki to Fullmetal Alchemist’s Edward Elric, undeniably deserve the praise they get.
However, sometimes, an anime character’s popularity gets blown out of proportion compared to what they actually amount to in the series, overshadowing much more deserving heroes as a result. A character’s appeal is a subjective metric, and what some see as instances of outstanding character writing and development can easily fail to resonate with others. Yet, the gap between these overrated characters’ objective merits and how much the fans put them on a pedestal is simply too great to ignore.
10 Solo Leveling’s Sung Jinwoo Amounts to Little Outside His Ridiculous Powers
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As one of modern anime’s biggest smash hits, Solo Leveling has undeniable merits as a thrilling and excellently executed action series — yet lacks notably when it comes to nuanced character writing. With a lackluster side cast, most eyes are expectedly glued to Sung Jinwoo, Solo Leveling’s immensely overpowered stoic MC whose unstoppable quest to power the series follows.
However, outside of Jinwoo’s fascinating ability to turn any encounter into a one-sided spectacle of destruction, there’s little to like about Solo Leveling’s protagonist. Jinwoo’s personality is disappointingly one-dimensional, and, based on how poorly the fanbase has reacted to him showing emotion upon saving his mother in Episode 21, even the character’s fans don’t seem too keen on seeing him as more than a personification of their power fantasies.
9 Demon Slayer Treats Nezuko as a Plot Device Rather Than a Character
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A straightforward shonen adventure with universal appeal, Demon Slayer, nonetheless, features plenty of captivating characters — with Tanjiro’s sister Nezuko, regardless of what many fans believe, not counting among them. Turned into a demon in the very first episode, Nezuko becomes the driving force for Tanjiro’s heroic quest.
Yet, as a character, Nezuko never transitions from being a plot device to motivate the protagonist’s growth. Nezuko’s only contribution to the story outside of setting the plot in motion is a handful of cutesy scenes which infantilize her even further and a couple of fights where she temporarily lets her demon side loose. Even after Nezuko gains the ability to speak and walk in sunlight, the story doesn’t become more concerned with giving her an actual personality, which many fans conveniently overlook.
8 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind’s Giorno Giovanna Is Overshadowed by a Much More Dynamic Side Cast
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Despite Golden Wind being one of the most popular entries in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Giorno Giovanna hardly lives up to Part 5’s acclaim. While arguably not as beloved as Joseph or iconic as Jotaro, Giorno won over countless fans with his composed attitude and the confusing yet fascinating abilities of his Stand, Gold Experience.
Yet, even in his own story, Giorno isn’t the most interesting character, with Part 5’s supporting cast — namely the deuteragonist Bruno Bucciarati — possessing much more dynamic personalities and stirring development arcs. Whenever Giorno does get to shine in the limelight, his lack of notable qualities becomes immediately apparent, dragging the appeal of his character down.
7 Zero Two’s Popularity in Darling in the Franxx Is Carried by Her Outstanding Design
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An anime character so popular and recognizable, even those who have never heard of Darling in the Franxx have likely seen her countless times, Zero Two possesses an undoubtedly striking appearance. Just as controversial as the anime she comes from, Zero Two is a definitive example of style winning over substance in an anime character.
Zero Two embodies many quirks and qualities male anime fans find attractive — from her alluring, assertive personality to the hidden traces of tragedy sprinkled in her backstory. However, there’s no denying that, if not for her captivating character design, Zero Two would hardly have so many fans, many of whom haven’t even seen the series and simply like her for being attractive and unique-looking.
6 Bleach’s Sosuke Aizen Is a Good Villain — Just Not a Great One
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A mastermind villain whose tales of genius manipulation and deceit reach far beyond the Bleach fandom, Sosuke Aizen is definitely one of the most memorable characters in the beloved shonen franchise. However, to call Aizen the best villain in all of anime would be a gross overstatement many of his fans still continuously make.
Aizen’s betrayal of the Soul Society made for a riveting moment which caught almost all first-time watchers off guard, and how the antagonist went about executing his master plan was certainly impressive. Nevertheless, Aizen’s charisma and intelligence hardly make him outstanding as far as iconic anime villains go, and his ill-defined motivation for overthrowing the Soul King, paired with an overall lack of depth once his true nature is revealed, result in a rather one-note character most fans paint too favorably.
5 Death Note Doesn’t Become Unwatchable After L’s Death
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While the obvious pick for the most overrated Death Note character would be Light Yagami, who, without a doubt, is often painted as far more intelligent than he actually is, it’s the fans of Light’s nemesis, the genius detective L, who overvalue their favorite character’s importance the most. As a character, L is a thrill to watch, his kinetic dynamic with Light being the driving force of the series’ first half.
However, to claim that the series crashed and burned after L was defeated in Episode 25 is to unfairly tie Death Note’s appeal to a single character. While many factors went into making Part II of Death Note controversial, the series remains captivating after L’s death, as he was never its most significant or interesting aspect.
4 Lelouch Lamperouge’s Fate in Code Geass Makes Fans Turn a Blind Eye to His Flaws
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One of the most highly-regarded anime series of all time, Code Geass is a title many wouldn’t have rated so highly if not for its impeccable finale, which intrinsically ties to the popularity of its protagonist. Lelouch Lamperouge goes down with a blast, his self-sacrifice being the culmination of the entire series which rightfully stuck with fans for years.
However, the highs of Lelouch’s character arc make fans forget the aspects of his writing that are far from stellar. As a character meant to be perceived as a ruthless yet awe-inspiring genius, Lelouch relies too greatly on deus ex machina plot devices and the series’ insistence on his intelligence, which is rarely conveyed convincingly in practice.
3 Yuno Gasai of Future Diary Is a Controversial Archetype Taken to the Extreme
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Many popular anime characters — even outstandingly well-written ones — can’t escape falling into tropes and archetypes. Future Diary’s Yuno Gasai, however, doesn’t simply fit into a few clichés — she is the embodiment and face of the controversial yandere archetype.
To many, it’s impossible to fathom why a cruel and obsessive killer whose defining personality trait is her fixation on the male lead, Yukiteru, would be so popular — and their confusion is not unfounded. Nonetheless, Yuno still has countless fans, and her staggering popularity largely pioneered the yandere trend in anime, leading to many copycats attempting to make the most of the violently possessive girlfriend trope.
2 Classroom of the Elite’s Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Is an Unconvincing Power Fantasy
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When it comes to psychological thriller anime, Classroom of the Elite stands as one of the most entertaining, with its protagonist playing the largest part in explaining the series’ appeal. A master strategist whose outstanding intelligence allows him to manipulate the happenings at the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing School from the shadows, Ayanokoji is never boring to watch — even if his feats have a tendency to be a bit unrealistic.
However, being a power fantasy to many of his fans, Ayanokoji has acquired a controversial reputation. A genius character trope taken to the extreme, Ayanokoji is taken too seriously by a large portion of his fanbase, who tend to unfairly paint him as the most intelligent character in all of anime.
1 Fans Who Love Attack on TItan’s Eren Yeager Tend to Mischaracterize Him
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At the start of Attack on Titan’s story, Eren Yeager can be described as a well-executed yet unremarkable MC — an idealist who refuses to stop at anything to achieve his goal yet still possesses moral virtues. Eren’s transformation into a ruthless anti-hero in Season 4 is what propelled him to unimaginable heights of popularity — for all the wrong reasons.
Whereas the narrative intended to make Eren’s descent into villainy a cautionary tale meant to critique the protagonist’s worldview — an aim which becomes clear when the series finale exposes Eren’s immaturity — many fans put the post-time skip version of Eren on a pedestal and saw the logical culmination of his arc as character assassination. A well-written character who could’ve been adequately appreciated, Eren became notoriously overrated by attracting all the wrong fans.
