The 8 Best-Written Anime Protagonists of the Past 10 Years, Ranked

The anime characters in the last decade have evolved in a very conspicuous manner. The days of the endlessly optimistic, fate-chosen hero who triumphs because the plot says he will have gradually faded away. Instead, it was replaced by characters that are imperfect, weary, emotionally multidimensional, and all too human. Such protagonists are not characterized by their physical strength, but by their response to suffering, loss, responsibility, and development. Their paths are hard-earned, agonizing, and frequently uncomfortable and this is precisely what makes them so relatable.

The real difference between great protagonists and ones that are easily forgotten does not lie in the power levels or the dazzling scenes, but in the consistency of writing. These characters on this list develop in a logical manner, they have consequences that count, and they develop without losing the essence that they are. There are those that begin soft and become tough with time, and those that start breaking and gradually restructure themselves. Each of them can be viewed as one of the most powerful character-writing anime brought over the last decade.

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By  Suzail Ahmad

8 Tanjiro Kamado

Demon Slayer

Tanjiro is introduced to the audience as a character who most viewers would regard as too kind a protagonist: gentle, understanding, and too compassionate. At the beginning, he comes out as a typical shōnen archetype, whose goodness is his only character trait. However, the best part of Tanjiro is that his kindness never fades away despite him becoming more powerful and battle-hardened with time. Instead, it matures. He discovers that empathizing with the suffering of a person does not imply that they should forgive them.

Tanjiro is a person who is able to sympathize with demons, yet is able to kill them without any hesitation as the series progresses. He does not hesitate when the lives of innocent people are on the line, and he does not allow guilt to paralyze him. His development is not handed to him since it is achieved through training, defeat, and failure after failure. Tanjiro is one of the main characters who develops in a rather down-to-earth way compared to most of the new shōnen heroes and is oddly mature.

7 Denji

Chainsaw Man

Image via MAPPA.

Denji is one of the most unorthodox heroes that anime has brought forth in recent years, and that is the reason why he works. His ambitions initially sound like a joke, i.e., some basic food, a roof to sleep on, and physical love. However, behind these empty-sounding desires lies something that is too true: a boy who never enjoyed a childhood, never enjoyed safety, never enjoyed the luxury of dreaming big. To Denji, the desire to live a normal life does not make one worthless but all the more relatable.

The thing that makes Denji such a well-written character is that the series never makes fun of his lack of sophistication. Rather, it gradually shows the way trauma made him turn into a person who cannot even imagine what a happy person is supposed to be. His emotional development, disorientation, and desperation are raw and uncomfortable in the most appropriate way. Chainsaw Man is successful because Denji is not a hero, striving to attain greatness, but a human being experiencing what it is like to live.

6 Kafka Hibino

Kaiju No. 8

The first thing that makes Kafka Hibino a standout is that he is not an adolescent going after glory, but a man in his 30s who already feels like life has slipped by. That itself is what makes him one of the most relatable protagonists in modern anime. Kafka brings regrets and insecurities and a silent feeling of failure that many viewers can identify with immediately. Ironically, his emotional core is incredibly grounded even after transforming into something barely human.

The best thing about Kafka is that he can risk his life on behalf of other people without much thought. His heroism is not boastful and dramatic; it is based on duty and concern. His arc brought a level of maturity typical of shōnen storytelling by seeing somebody of his age fight over missed opportunities and still decide to save people. Kafka's story does not feel like a typical MC, he feels like a person who does not give up, even when life has already taken much more than he had.

5 Subaru Natsuki

Re:Zero

Subaru is a hero who is characterized by misery, loss, and a collapse of his emotions, and the series does not allow him to avoid the results of his deeds. As opposed to most protagonists who have been endowed with superhuman powers, the power of Subaru brings no solace, no domination, no emotional alleviation. Each reset is accompanied by trauma, which accumulates rather than fades away, and his journey is tiresome to follow in the most deliberate manner possible.

The thing about Subaru that makes him so well-written is that he does not get stronger by fighting harder, but they are addressed his own insecurities, selfishness, and fear. He tries and tries and fails in an embarrassing manner. But he manages to rise again, not because he is not afraid, but because surrender is worse. His development is as painfully human as it can get, and he is one of the most sympathetic main characters that anime has gotten in recent years.

4 Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden is among the most emotionally ambiguous heroes of the last decade. Violet is introduced as a person who hardly knows how to feel, and she starts her path in a state of being emotionally numb, being influenced only by war and orders. She does not seek power or acknowledgment; she is seeking meaning behind the words I love you, the words that would be said to her without a reason and out of context.

The plot of her character is constructed with the support of empathy, grief, and the emotional connection that she learns through the lives of other people. The development of Violet is delicate, silent, and highly personal and is presented in the form of letters, conversations, and mutual suffering as opposed to theatrical battles. At the end, she is not only aware of emotions, but she also experiences them. The story of Violet is one of the most sensitive and moving works on healing, trauma, and humanity in anime.

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3 Frieren

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Frieren is perhaps the most unusual protagonist of any in recent years, but in the most positive way possible, not due to sheer power, but by way of perspective. She is an ancient mage, whose perspective on time and how she views people is different than what humans do. The series does not deal with epic wars or end-of-the-world scenarios, but the silent awakening that the times formerly ignored as meaningless were actually invaluable.

Frieren's relationship with Fern and Stark also feels as natural and enjoyable as how she trains them both. Her bond with Himmel, which is Platonic in nature but emotionally deep, forms a foundation of much of the emotional content of the series. The point of the journey made by Frieren is to learn to appreciate connections when they are already lost. The anime's biggest strength is that it allows grief, memory, and regret to influence its protagonist without rushing her development. The thought that it is a beautiful reminder that realization about life is usually realized long after it is gone.

2 Maomao

The Apothecary Diaries

Maomao is one of the most well-written female leads in anime. It has been years since her attractiveness is all about character rather than presentation. She is smart, insightful, and clearly herself. Instead of being characterized by romance or fan service, Maomao is characterized by her ability to be competent, curious, and witty. She is not overly smart, but rather smart through hard work and practice.

The most well-written part of her is the relationship with Jinshi, as it evolved without blushing or flustered reactions. It is so soothing, so down-to-earth, and so genuine in the way Maomao speaks. It is interesting to observe her maneuvering through politics, medicine, and people relationships in the palace, since the story is confident that the audience is smart enough to like it.

1 Thorfinn

Vinland Saga

The story of Thorfinn is one of the strongest character arcs in anime. The first season introduces us to a boy who is consumed by vengeance - a product of hatred and loss. Each of his actions brings him deeper into the violence, and he comes out empty despite his strength. Then season two does the unusual thing of when it changes gears and making him deal with the emptiness that has been left behind.

"I have no enemies" is not just a sentence; it is the result of decades of suffering, contemplation, and maturity. The change of Thorfinn from being a young, naive boy blinded by vengeance to a human being who wants peace in his life is emotional and very inspiring. His arc demonstrates that it is not the power to conquer but rather the power to forgive that is really strong and that the path of peace in a world of violence could be the most difficult of all.

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