Forum - View topicAnime in which a main character is not the most popular?
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ChirashiD
 Posts: 197 Location: WA |
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There always seems to be a correlation between which character is most popular in a series and who the main character is. Logically why should that correlation exist so frequently? Characters are products of their creators and creators are people just like you and me, so how they express a main character shouldn't necessarily form an emotional connection with every viewer.
Assuming a show's character development portrays a wide variety of personalities and traits across the entire cast, I think it's statistically likely any character could be more popular than the main character. Or is there something about main characters in particular that draws the vast majority of viewers toward them? Perhaps it's that they have the most screen time, the story focuses on them or more detail is put into their appearance, actions and facial expressions compared to other characters. So I'd like ANN members to think of and mention some shows that prove MCs arent always the most popular characters. Or are there many shows that tell a story without really focusing on one singular character (often it's 2 actually, that's why I said "a main character" in the subject)? |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1876 |
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I think Levi is generally considered more popular than Eren and Asuna more than Kirito. Frankly, most Jun Maeda works have the girls as more marketable than the male protagonist.
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InfiniteJest
 Posts: 136 |
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Maybe it’s just me but in Overlord I find Albedo way more interesting and entertaining than Ainz.
And in Danmachi and Sword of Oratoria I find almost all the characters more interesting than Ais. |
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2480 |
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Usually in harem series or even regular romcoms the love prospects are more popular than the main/POV character
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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Durararara for sure.
NOBODY chose Mikado as their favorite.  Including me. He was the blandest thing ever.
Logically? I have no idea why the show made him so boring. Maybe he's better in the source material (which happens almost always) Evangelion is a big one. All three women are more popular than Shinji (who gets an unfair amount of hate imho) |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24167 |
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Good answers and an interesting question. I'd have to paw through my "Seen All" list to try and come up with some answers but off the top of my head, in Bakemonogatari I think maybe Senjougahara is more popular than Araragi? I guess that sort of fits with killjoy_the's theory except I'd say she is the only girl who is more popular than he is. I'll try to come up with some more later on. Black Lagoon, Revy > Rock. The cut-off jean shorts certainly don't hurt... |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10031 Location: Virginia |
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@Chiibi
I hate to break it to you, but Mikado is not the main character of Durarara!. According to the author of the light novels (the source material) the main character is Celty. It does make the show a bit different in that the main character is not the first person we meet and is only occasionally the view point character. Mikado is the center around which the first arc is told but he is shoved aside for later arcs. The series is very much an ensemble one with Celty as a fixed point. The author just loves his overlapping stories with multiple characters taking the focus at different times. It is the same way in Baccano the author's other animated series. |
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killjoy_the
Posts: 2480 |
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That's kind of correct Alan, but Narita himself superseeded himself. This is the afterword of Volume 13 of DRRR, where he says the story was "centered around the trio of teenagers"
He intended to make Celty the main character, and in a way she is, as the instigator (not on her own terms) of lots of things, but the main DRRR plot is about Mikado |
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louis6578
Posts: 1876 |
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There's an argument for Celty being the true protagonist early on, but as it goes on, it's pretty clear that Mikado is the one most focused on (even if he's clearly not the one Narita is making the most entertaining to follow).
I guess I should get the harem examples out of the way. Kirito, Tenchi, Araragi, Keitaro, Keima Katsuragi, Tomoya, Shirou, and almost every harem protagonist is, by design, less remembered than the female leads. The only exception I can think of is Okabe from Steins Gate. It might be a cheat to say Haruhi is more popular than Kyon (who is, at the end of the day, the real protagonist), but Mikuru and Yuki are also more popular than Kyon so... Mascot characters, even ones with a dark twist, also tend to overshadow the others in the public conscience. Kyubey is by far the most popular character in Madoka. |
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killjoy_the
Posts: 2480 |
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You've mostly cited exceptions, imo. My 'method' is checking favorites numbers on MAL/AL, and Kirito, Keima and Tomoya all have more than the other members of their respective anime on MAL. Kirito has less than Asuna on AL, though, but Keima and Tomoya have more than the other characters on AL as well |
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ChirashiD
Posts: 197 Location: WA |
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How could a show with so many supporting characters have a main character who is duller than all of them? Nothing wrong with Danmachi though, its one of my recent favorites. Another show with a lot of supporting characters is That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime but the only reason I started watching it is because I was already interested in the MC. I enjoyed it so far but the story really digs into the idea that the MC is the only reason to watch. It's like the character development of everyone else serves primarily to prop up Rimuru. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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I am 100 PERCENT certain that people watched Is This a Zombie? and Eminence in Shadow for their absolute Chad MCs who are a true joy every single second they are on screen 
At least I did. 
I can't even remember the names of most of Cid's "harem".... they're just eyecandy for the male viewers and not much else.
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4807 |
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I think this is super-common in shonen series, at least. You look at any major popularity poll for the likes of One Piece or MHA, and you'll see all kinds of ancillary characters ranking near the top. (Hell, didn't Naruto's dad win some recent poll, because the prize was an additional story focused on the winner?) Given how many popular anime series seem to take pride in featuring completely milquetoast protagonists, I don't think it's any surprise that side characters often grab the fans' interest.
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3972 |
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Going to go old school and go with Madoka Ayukawa from Kimagure Orange Road, who was way more popular than the series main character, Kyosuke Kasuga. Most of the merchandise greatly features her more than any of the other characters from the show.
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