7 Anime Protagonists Who Are Terrible Role Models

Summary

Anime protagonists have complex traits but aren’t always admirable role models.
Unconventional heroes like Ichigo, Yumeko, and Afro can have personal flaws and baggage.
Characters like Light, Mokoto, Edward, and Usagi show the darker sides of ambition, revenge, and personal growth.

People love anime for its complex protagonists and unconventional heroes. These might be courageous, interesting, or beautiful characters with unbelievable powers and talents, but that doesn’t mean they have characteristics that viewers should admire and emulate.

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It’s fun to watch a reckless but talented protagonist defeat the enemy and get what they want, despite the enormous chip they have on their shoulder. Everyone likes an uncompromising character that behaves as if they have nothing to lose.

1

Ichigo Kurosaki, Bleach

A Typical Bad Boy

It’s ironic that Ichigo, who also goes by the nickname Bleach because of his unique hair color, is such an endearing character while also being a typical rebellious teenager. He’s fairly sympathetic, getting teased for his hair and defending his younger sister from bullies, and dealing quietly with a mysterious power that allows him to see ghosts.

By the time Bleach is recruited into the life of a Soul Reaper, his rough attitude has isolated him socially, so joining a secret occult society seems like a natural next step anyway. It’s partly because of his steely and snide demeanor that Ichigo can survive and thrive while hunting Hollows, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good role model.

2

Yumeko Jabami, Kakegurui

A Compulsive Gambler

All kinds of anime take place in themed schools, often where upper-class students are boarded for the term, and the setting in Kakegurui is focused on gambling. In addition to using conventional money, students can also bet their lives and time, which prompts a slave class to emerge who have gambled their lives away while playing the “experts” that make up the Student Council.

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This is where the protagonist Yumeko appears, and she’s not motivated by money but the thrill of winning, which means she can’t be threatened or intimidated like the other students. In fact, she loses strategically at several points to expose the Student Council players as cheaters, or to set up her opponents for even more devastating failures in the future. It’s satisfying to watch Yumeko come for these smug upper-class students, but she’s got issues of her own, and the stakes are more personal when she’s playing.

3

Afro, Afro Samurai

Consumed By Revenge

Afro Samurai

Release Date: 2007 – 2007
Network: Spike
Showrunner: Takashi Okazaki, Fuminori Kizaki

It’s thrilling to watch the deadly protagonist of Afro Samurai slice through village and town to reach the Number 1 headband, but underneath all of this is a story of personal tragedy and loss that reduced a human being to a dark and determined spirit of revenge. Part of the reason Afro is such an efficient fighter is that he wants nothing but revenge against the one who took the headband from his father.

It sounds like a description of a liberated and untouchable badass, but it’s a life of solitude devoid of any other feelings, and Afro seems to suffer from PTSD and depression as opposed to just being stoic. He even rejects the few childhood friends who survived into adulthood, or they blame him and seek revenge, which makes for a great narrative but not a good role model.

4

Light, Death Note

Law Enforcement And Lord Kira

At first glance, Yagami Light is the person everyone wants to be: model student, favorite son, and future leader. It might have stayed that way if Ryuk had not dropped the Death Note on the lawn of his school, where just any passing human could pick it up and use it.

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It falls into exactly the wrong hands, however, and Light starts to use his powers of intellect and charm to do evil that’s disguised as good. The power he’s given warps him into a god-like ruler that can judge anyone, making him one of the most dangerous and deviant human beings alive.

5

Motoko, Ghost In The Shell

A Nihilistic Downward Spiral

Ghost in the Shell

Release Date: December 8, 1995
Runtime: 83 Minutes
Director: Mizuho Nishikubo, Mamoru Oshii

Ghost in the Shell isn’t just one of the best and earliest cyberpunk movies and a stellar example of the anti-mecha genre; it’s also a deep dive into some uncomfortable existential questions. It speaks through the protagonist, Motoko Kusanagi, who is also known by her military title, Major.

Motoko has a full-replacement cyborg body that technically isn’t even her property, but belongs to the government agency that employs her, and begins to question her own existence to the point of a dangerous and even suicidal nihilism. When she’s given an opportunity to change, she takes it, but at great personal cost to herself and maybe all humanity.

Driven, Arrogant, And Dishonest

Sure, talk your impressionable kid brother, who thinks the world of you, into using the power of alchemy to resurrect Mom using a forbidden ritual. What could go wrong? It’s easy to be sympathetic to Edward Elric at first, since he’s just a kid who wants his dead mother back. Instead of learning to temper his ambition, it gets worse, and the mostly innocent Alphonse gets dragged into trouble with him.

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Edward lied to their teacher, who had her own secrets when it came to the forbidden ritual, but he also lied to the Army for the same reason, because he wanted to train in Alchemy. He also rather carelessly abandoned his first creation, which is how Sloth was recruited into the company of Dante and her minions. Many of his mistakes came back to haunt him, but it was a lesson he was slow to learn.

7

Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon

A Lazy Crybaby

Sailor Moon

Release Date: 1992 – 1997
Network: tv asahi
Directors: Takao Yoshizawa, Harume Kosaka, Kazuhisa Takenouchi

Viewers might be put off by Usagi Tsukino’s character at first, and it’s not just the constant crying about school, grades, boys, or her mom. She’s always late, gets terrible marks, and spends more time at the arcade than studying or working, but part of the story is how this one-dimensional child changes into a superhero.

Except that she doesn’t, at least not for a few seasons, and without Tuxedo Mask and her friends backing her up, Usagi is sort of useless. She can be a role model in the sense that she’s a good-hearted person who always stands by the people she cares about, and her antics as an awkward kid are pretty funny, but that’s not role-model material.