Anime is best when it helps us tap strong emotions, experiencing glorious highs when two characters we’ve been rooting for romantically finally hook up, and true sadness when a character we’re emotionally invested in dies a sad death. Anime can make us experience real love for our favorite 2D waifus, and can also make us feel great anger when we encounter a character who annoys us or blocks the story from moving forward. I thought it’d be fun to ask J-List’s followers “which anime character do you hate?” and see what results we came up with.
Kirino Kosaka from Oreimo
One reason why fans choose to hate a character is the perception that she “ruined” the romantic outcome they were hoping for. Fans who hate Kirino probably do so because she kept Kyousuke and Kuroneko from ending up together.
Emilia from Re:Zero
Another character fans sometimes hate is Emilia, because she kept Subaru and Rem from becoming a couple.
Sanae Dekomori from Chu2koi
Side characters come in all shapes and sizes, and some fans dislike Dekomori for being obnoxious and annoying. I personally liked the character growth and maturing she showed in season 1…which was promptly undone in season 2.
Malty from Shield Hero
Sometimes a character is created for the express purpose of being hated, and that sums up Malty, who is totally evil in every episode she’s in. If she were male she’d have a mustache to twirl.
Haruhi from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
One common rule of anime construction is that the main character is often the most annoying and least likable character, which allows all the side characters to shine brightly in comparison.
Deku from My Hero Academia
Some fans apparently feel this way about Deku, annoyed by his emotional outbursts and high level of whining and preferring the other characters in the show.
Sailor Moon or Chibi-Usa
While Sailor Moon fits this standard “annoying main character who makes all the other girls look better by comparison” trope, some fans might be more annoyed at Chibi-Usa’s constant hijacking of the plot and even, um, wetting Usagi’s bed.
Nui Harime from Kill la Kill
I love the darkness and randomness of her character, but apparently, a lot of fans really hate her. Of course, being able to create a villain that gets under our skin so well is the sign of a well-written anime.
Umaru from Himouto! Umaru-chan
Umaru is a fun show about a girl with two sides to her personality, one a popular student and the other a shrunken otaku hamster, and much of the show follows the friendships she forms with the other girls. On the other hand, it’s true she is very manipulative of her brother.
Sakura from Naruto
A lot of fans aren’t fans of Sakura for some reason. How do you feel about her?
Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece
Luffy also got called out by several responders. Why do you think fans might dislike him?
Kyubey from Madoka Magica
I know he’s doing it for a good cause — to hold back the heat death of the universe — but enslaving magical girls through contracts which end in their deaths is just not a cool thing to do.
Haraguchi from Genshiken
The annoying antagonist from Genshiken, the popular anime that captures the spirit of what it’s like to be an otaku at a Japanese university. The way he tries to manipulate the modern visual arts club in a way that benefits himself is so annoying because we’ve all known people like him. His nickname is “Haraguro” which means “having a black stomach” because he’s so devious!
Tarou Takanashi from Shirobako
One character I personally hated was Tarou, the annoying “cow-worker” in the office in Shirobako, who’s always whining about his workload and interfering with the smooth operation of the team. I hate him…and yet it’s important that he be included in the series so we can see that, in the anime industry too, these frustrating individuals exist.
Makoto from School Days
Pretty much the character almost everyone love to hate on is Makoto from the School Days anime, because of his betrayal of Sekai but also for being kind of a dick to all the other girls. Of course, things are quite different in the uncensored English game that JAST USA publishes: since there are 20 different routes, Makoto is only sleeping with 2-3 girls per playthrough rather than cramming them all in back to back, and all the side characters have well-developed stories. The overly dark ending from the anime is original, not found in the games.
Index from A Certain Magical Index
Personally, I hate Index so much that I’ll fast-forward any scene with her in it, and lovingly embrace A Certain Scientific Railgun because of its lack of the annoying and selfish Index. That’s just how I roll.
So, which anime character do you hate? Did we miss your favorite one? Tell us on Twitter!
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