Sometimes characters receive just hatred towards them for the heinous acts they’ve committed. Others actually become unfairly hated on for undue reasons, even sometimes to the point of becoming a fad to hate on them. Even so, such characters deserve to be recognized for their true selves and not the unwarranted prejudice. But which characters are deserving of such redemption from the undue criticism? Although there may be many who deserve proper recognition, these characters definitely come to mind.
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Some characters require some time to develop despite their initial traits many may be averted to, as hilariously depicted by SungWon Cho aka ProZD. Others somehow slowly garner hate for things like minor, harmless quirks that really ultimately don’t warrant such spite they somehow grow to receive. Others still may outwardly be rough around the edges but, looking into who they really are and their purpose within the overall plot, really deserve much more leeway than the general fanbase tends to grant them. Whatever the case, these characters really don’t deserve the amount of hate they receive.
1) Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion
With the fanbase being weirdly overly obsessive over the divide of whether Rei or Asuka should be Shinji’s rightful love interest, many write off Asuka as just a temperamental egotist who seems to only exist to abuse Shinji.
But what Evangelion fans fail to recognize are the parallels between her and Shinji that basically makes Asuka just a female Shinji; In the solipsistic realm of Shinji degrading himself, so too does Asuka personify Shinji’s inner conflict. Even so, at her core, Asuka does like and admire Shinji, just as he must eventually learn to stop beating himself up and be able to actually appreciate himself.
2) Near from Death Note
Near often gets a bad rap, but he’s really not bad if viewed as an individual and not just solely L’s successor to be constantly compared to his predecessor. Raised at Watari’s orphanage for gifted children, Wammy’s House, Near takes on the Kira case after L’s death, which is no easy task when he had to start from scratch due to Watari deleting all previously gathered evidence.
Near has his own quirks and unique problem solving abilities, typically taking on a calm yet childish demeanor and often fiddling with toys and puzzles. Tsugumi Ohba, author of Death Note, has acknowledged that Near’s cheekiness had unfortunately been misconstrued as annoying. Despite his jab at L saying, “If you can’t win the game, if you can’t solve the puzzle, then you’re just a loser”, Near did actually hold a high respect for his predecessor.
3) Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!
As feisty of a tsundere Taiga Aisaka is, she has a soft heart. She may outwardly seem like she’s just a bully to Ryuuji Takasu, but the two really hit it off. Well, at least after Taiga’s initial reactionary first impression and after they sort out the whole love letter debacle. Ryuuji has a certain patience that’s able to tame this Palmtop Tiger and Taiga does eventually come around to genuinely appreciating Ryuuji’s kindness and wanting to help him in return, the two teaming up to become each other’s wingmen after confessing their feelings for each other’s best friends.
Taiga may be a bit rough around the edges, but she’s not just the embodiment of malice as some may pin her as. She’s just kind of oblivious to her own feelings towards Ryuuji.
4) Black Star from Soul Eater
Yes, Black Star immediately comes of as an arrogant, obnoxious egotist. And he is. But there is good reason why Soul considers him a close friend and why Tsubaki herself sticks by his side, and it’s not just because she was saddled with him as her meister. He’s like if Naruto were a weapon meister instead of a ninja.
Black Star is a legitimately talented and reliable meister and friend with an unbeatable knack for determination. Besides, Black Star may be pretty arrogant, but with Tsubaki to balance him out, they make a super skilled team. Love him or hate him, Black Star’s unabashed brazen spunk brings a great character dynamic to the Meister Academy party that can’t be stopped.
5) Kazuto Kirigaya aka Kirito from Sword Art Online
Okay, so Kirito is widely known for being pretty much the poster boy for boring, flat male anime protagonists. He gets pretty overpowered, gets a harem, and is basically a Gary Stu. But while there isn’t much to his character, he does have his merits. No, not in the original anime, but instead in the fan-made abridged version by Something Witty Entertainment.
Kirito in Sword Art Online Abridged is what the character should have been. Sure, all the other characters hate him akin to how the audience hates him in the original, but in this version, that’s part of his charm. Taking on a more hilariously arrogant role, Kirito in SAO Abridged constantly ridicules those around him while simultaneously being self-conscious of whether others view him as an a-shole. THAT Kirito deserves some recognition.
6) Yukiteru Amano from Future Diary
Yukki comes off as a timid coward who relies too much on Yuno for protection on top of feigning returning her feelings of love towards him. But, c’mon, who wouldn’t be terrified to have a yandere like Yuno Gasai absolutely obsessed with them? Well, besides those who have such a preference. At first, the dude just wanted to defend himself from both the crazy game and the crazy dame. He was kind of forced to become more manipulative and combative given his entrapped circumstances.
Yukki also has a lot of trauma and mind games thrown at him. And when he believes he can eventually strive to revive everyone, winning the game to simply restore everything to how it was seems like the lesser of the other evils other Diary Holders may not have been willing to uphold.
7) Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto
It must be some sort of mistake how Naruto Uzumaki is somehow on any “most hated” anime characters lists. Though some may find him obnoxious or annoying just as some of the characters in the show do, Naruto is an incredibly wholesome character (well, besides his most notorious jutsu) who deserves recognition for all his struggles and accomplishments.
Though he faces challenge after challenge in ninja training, Naruto also faces emotional challenges that hit close to home. But he doesn’t let that stop him. Naruto’s drive to accomplish his dreams in the face of adversity is the epitome of “never give up” and he should be seen as an inspiration, not just a rambunctious hooligan. Believe it!
8) Ichigo from Darling in the Franxx
To be fair, Ichigo really did need to get the hint that, just because other anime have the whole childhood friend-to-lovers trope, Hiro just did not feel the same way towards her. She also should’ve shown Goro more respect and consideration as her official partner, but at least she was honest about her feelings and didn’t lead him on the way Kokoro had with Futoshi.
With that said, Ichigo was eventually able to step aside to let Hiro and Zero Two be happy together despite her worries towards Hiro’s safety as at least his friend. Ichigo is a deeply flawed and tragic character who, despite at first letting her own feelings and jealousy get in the way of others’ happiness, she eventually grew to be supportive and find her own happiness.
9) Miri Unasaka in Buddy Daddies
Some may write off Miri as way too whiny and annoying by fans, but, c’mon, she’s a kid. While Anya from Spy x Family is actually pretty agreeable and insightful for her age and Kun Ota from Mirai is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum constantly whining, arguing, and throwing absolute tantrums, Miri is situated somewhere in the middle.
With a more reasonable balance of childish outbursts and endearing qualities, Miri actually seems to portray a more realistic and relatable depiction of how a young child would act. And, like any typical child with silly flaws and delightful quirks, her dads can’t help but love her all the same.
10) Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Okay, somewhat double dipping here, but whether it’s legitimate hate or just a meme to hate on him, Shinji doesn’t deserve it. The dude is only 14, his mom turned into a robot, his dad who abandoned him yells at him to get into said robot to go defend Earth from terrifying metaphysical monsters, and he ends up having an existential crisis. Given those circumstances, who wouldn’t?
Even though he runs away several times and often crumbles under the pressure, Shinji probably actually ends up gathering way more courage than anyone else ever could to not just face all the horrors that he’s thrust into, but to come out learning self love and how to connect with others.
What character in anime do you think doesn’t deserve the hate they tend to receive? Let us know in the comments if there’s any character who deserves more positive recognition!
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