Top 10 Boring Anime Characters (ft. Todd Haberkorn)

“Infinite Stratos” (2011-13) When you’re out hunting for bland leads there’s no better place to start than with the harem genre, if anything it’s the primordial soup by which all future, pale-ass babe-magnets are drawn from. In this instance we’ve got the single male IS Pilot attending an academy that (you guessed it) is filled with just female occupants who suddenly find their adolescent switches flipped when exposed to Ichika’s overwhelming mediocrity – and yeah he’s leaning pretty hard on the whole naivety thing. Given the amount of hunnies who want to go infinite with his stratos, guess it’s working out pretty well for him.

“Isekai Cheat Magician” (2019) One of the newest additions to this milquetoast collective, this spellcaster’s biggest achievement is just how…interchangeable he is. Even if we weren’t in the middle of the isekai apocalypse, this random student who gains uber magical power after being tossed into a fantasy world would already be boring as sin, but considering we ARE in the middle of the isekai apocalypse, we might as well be looking at fog. Whiny, annoying fog that can tackle women to the floor and somehow get a wedding proposal as a response.

#8: Sōta Mizushino

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“Re:Creators” (2017) Goes to show that even in hidden gems like this, you can still get yourself saddled with a main character who manages to hold onto his blandness indefinitely, even when living pieces of fanfiction are blowing up entire cities! We get Sota is meant to be the window for the average viewer and act as an observer as these fantastical creations clash, but he could at least be a bit more fleshed out than “generic guy wallowing in misery.” Come on man, even if there’s a Military Uniform Princess on screen at least try to exert yourself.

#7: Yū Nagami

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“My Sister, My Writer” (2018) Just when you thought we had run out of subgenres; we got hit with the rising trend of bland protagonists falling in love with their obnoxious sisters. While not as iconic as some of its predecessors, this show still managed to tick all the boxes, one of which is useless lead that’s constantly outshined by their sister. The only thing to differentiate Yu from the rest of his perverted brethren is that he’s even more of a punching bag, living in the shadow of his genius sibling while catering to her every whim, and of course oblivious to her creepy feelings. Shame on you sir!

“Fate/Extra Last Encore” (2018) Look, we’re not going to pretend that Shirou and Sieg were the shining examples of character complexity, especially in a franchise that is all about the beauty and inner turmoil of its female leads, but even by those lofty standards Hakuno falls flat. With his memory missing, the dude just seems to be lacking an identity, as well as any of the grit of the Masters that have come before. The only thing he’s got going for him is his connection to Red Saber, and even then all we can think is that a sunflower like her deserves so much better!

“Chivalry of a Failed Knight” (2015) You officially fail at failing. Regarded as the worst Blazer of them all for his lack of magical talent, Ikki’s story is meant to be regarded as one of an underdog that manages to rise up to greatness one slash at a time, all fuelled by his love for his sizzling companion Stella. Sounds good right? Well if we cared enough about his plights to begin with maybe it would have been, but as it stands this guy is so uninteresting that even when the world is against him it’s just…blasé. On top of that, you really couldn’t pick this guy out from a crowd of Anime extras.

“Eromanga Sensei” (2017) Aaaaand, right back to the bland leads who having raging desires for their sisters. What separates Masamune from the rest of his fellow trash bros is that he stands atop of the pile as the king of trash. He’s boring, you couldn’t tell him apart from Styrofoam, and manages to remain so even as he’s dealing with a younger sister who makes her living drawing hardcore erotica. How you can be in such a situation and maintain such a neutral perspective is sort of astounding.

“In Another World With My Smartphone” (2017) Such a ridiculous premise was only going to work if the characters involved were just as outrageous, and given how Touya is so bland even milk would be jealous, it’s fair to say the whole thing was a miss. With uber elemental magical power at his fingertips and his fully functioning cell phone by his side, this beanpole was able to recruit numerous ladies to his cause, boring the rest of us every step of the way as he one-shot enemies left and right with zero effort. Ladies, do yourself a favour and swipe left.

“Wise Man’s Grandchild” (2019) Here we cross the line from harmlessly bland to aggravatingly bland. You had us fooled Shin, even though the writing was clearly on the wall, we thought you were better than those other wannabes, but in reality you were the biggest casualty of the isekai apocalypse. Not only is this guy so overpowered that he sucks up every ounce of tension from the show, but he’s so irksome it will make you angry. From his talents, to his desires, to his romance, everything falls into his lap, to the point that whenever he tries to come across as innocent or righteous, it just feels pretentious and smug.

“Aldnoah.Zero” (2014-15) Look, Slaine can be an asshole. He can be the biggest asshole. But do you want to know why fans ended up siding with him and his gritty crusade? Because the alternative was Inaho, the most underwhelmingdull, ho-hum, middle of the road, cookie cutter lead to ever star in what was admittedly a damn good sci-fi series. We get it, he’s supposed to be the nice guy going to war, the sensitive soul to match Slaine’s volatile nature, but instead of standing as an equal and potential romance option for the princess, the sad truth is this guy was just a wet blanket who never even veered towards interesting. But I guess that’s kinda the point?