3 Popular Anime Protagonists Who Are More Overrated Than Well-Written

While some anime heroes thrive on narrative complexity, others lack depth or compelling writing, and their actions lack logical consistency but remain relevant due to the momentum of their successful anime franchises. When these characters' layers are peeled back, it becomes clear that they are lacking when nostalgia is taken out of the equation.

Saitama

Saitama, the protagonist of One-Punch Man , is a subversion of the traditional hero's journey and a satire of common Shonen tropes. He is the most powerful hero in his universe, which bores him and leaves him unmotivated. What makes him an effective satirical take on heroes also makes him one of the least compelling characters in One-Punch Man.

As the most powerful hero in the anime, Saitama can solve most problems with one punch; this eliminates all stakes when he's on screen. All the tension is lost because Saitama serves as a plot device to solve problems that are too difficult for the other characters. Moreover, while his personality/issues work well for gags, they lack any relatability.

The permanent lack of tension due to Saitama's overwhelming power forces the side characters like Genos and King to do the narrative heavy lifting. Saitama is so powerful that his fights have no technical depth; he simply hits his target with one or more punches until they are defeated. Saitama is the weak link in the anime's story.

Eren Yeager

Eren Yeager is the centerpiece of the titular anime Attack on Titan . Eren starts the anime as a loud, anger-driven, one-note protagonist; his goal of killing all titans shifts to killing 80% of humanity, and his personality becomes that of a cold, calculating schemer over the span of a season, much to viewers' shock.

At the beginning of the anime, Eren is the stereotypical shonen protagonist. Constantly screaming and getting himself into situations where he needed to be bailed out by more competent characters. Furthermore, because of his lineage, he was gifted with titan-shifting powers; at this point, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about his character.

When Eren foresees the future, his character appears to change instantly. The transition from his brash, incompetent teenage self to his goal-driven adult self would have been better served on screen. Eren's ability to see the future also means that he is acting according to a script, removing the character's agency.

Light Yagami

In an anime lauded as a psychological cat-and-mouse game, the dynamic between the protagonist, Light Yagami, the wielder of the Death Note, and L, the detective set on apprehending him, was the cornerstone of the anime Death Note. This dynamic crumbled when L was killed off, and the ‘brilliance’ once perceived in Light was nowhere to be seen.

Light is never portrayed as a hero. While he disposes of criminals, his misguided sense of justice is born from his desire to be the ‘god of the new world’. Light is supposed to be smart, but his elusiveness often seems to be attributed to the Death Note as opposed to his own planning.

When L was killed, he fell into madness. Fans could no longer see the psychological cat-and-mouse dynamic on display. Light makes a series of poor decisions that eventually lead to his death. By the end of the series, Light's brilliance has faded, so his reputation as one of the smartest anime characters is unfounded.