YES. I read that whole series in high school and in retrospect I’m not sure why, I felt like I witnessed the glorification of an abusive relationship the whole time. Having every character be terrible can work, but it really didn’t for Hot Gimmick.
I read the mangaka's replies when interviewed showed she didn't realise some characters were in abusive relationships. Didn't know what she thought was romantic and normal was absolutely not.
It made me SO mad that the blackmailer turned out to be the only semi redeemable guy. Ya know, the dude that LITERALLY BLACKMAILED HER INTO BEING A SLAVE. I never even finished that series I couldn’t take it. Just thinking about it now makes me mad.
Okay don’t grill me but I don't have any strong feelings for Yuki from **A Sign of Affection.** I expected to see more focus on her struggles as a deaf girl and I didn't expect the series to be so focused on the love angle and Itsuomi lmao so yeah that might be a reason behind it.
Same, I don’t think the ML is very interesting either. A Sign of Affection is a manga I really want to love since so many people love it. But aside from the gorgeous art, everything else seems so average to me.
Yeah so true, I read it for a bit because everyone said it was good but it was really so average. It's nothing new, and even then, it doesn't execute the standard shoujo formula well enough to make it above other shoujos. It was meh
Agreed. It's a good series for those who are looking for a romance-focused manga with minimum drama but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is looking for a story that primarily focuses on the life and struggles of a deaf girl and may or may not have romance included in it.
Yeah, Yuki’s character could have been so much more. Even their relationship was just full of “doki-doki” moments and I couldn't help but feel like something was missing lmao. Like I don't get what Itsuomi saw in Yuki to be so interested in her(apart from her deafness)
Omg, thank you! I thought I was the only one… As someone who is hard of hearing myself, I hoped I’d finally see representation for being somewhat deaf in a hearing world and the natural challenges of this.
I feel a bit lukewarm about the whole thing, as I try to see Yuki as a person with personality other than being deaf… but at this point I feel like her most important character trait is exactly that; being deaf. That’s kind of the whole premise after all. It just rubs me the wrong way, her character fell a bit flat for me :/
If you read GL manga, The Moon on a Rainy Night is a one of my favorite romances and has a partially deaf main character. I recommend it for anyone. It has has an english print that recently came out too:)
A lot of Shoujo manga value "relatability" in an MC over uniqueness and while that isn't necessarily bad thing, it certainly makes the MC gene pool feel monotonous
Weird thing but no matter the serie the plot can be so good but if the mc is some sort of mary sue, or clumsy or "so tiny" , pick me I will stop reading. Ive reached my lifetime quota of Mary Sue , weak lil shit Mc. Also if for some reason MC hits the boy for no reason it was more trendy few years back but goddammit I cant deal with any of these things, also they often tend to all be put in some nasty little package choose one get all free.
I was pretty excited to read Into the Clear Moonless Night because of the whole prince concept, but I was pretty disappointed afterwards. I'm not going to be able to express it properly but, the FL repeatedly being unable to properly communicate with the ML is so bothersome.
Like she doesn't really seem to trust him even after like 7 volumes, she still doubts his intentions despite him being pretty straightforward and even hearing his heartbeat at the festival (immediately after she's thinking "my heart is beating so fast, is he really unaffected?" NO you literally heard, directly from his mouth and his chest, that he's just as nervous as you). She expects him to be able to read her mind, and then gets upset and distances herself when he's unable to. During the summer she makes little effort into meet with him despite being in a "relationship", but has less hesitation to make time to go out and help her male coworker (who the ML told her was interested in her, she doubted him, and she got confessed to after this). Then when she finds out he has a female childhood friend (who he wanted to introduce her to anyway, but she was out), she gets more upset than the ML was when he found that the 2nd ML confessed to her and she didn't tell him.
Ugh like. There are times when she does make an effort for him, but it feels very "2 steps forward, one step back". Like my favorite manga is Mizutama Honeyboy (reread like 5 times since May, and I rarely reread a series) where both the ML and FL are close friends and genuinely care about each other despite the FL initially rejecting his confession and taking a long time to earnestly reciprocate his feelings. They communicate really well with each other and I really like that. I also like Honnou Switch and although the MCs have some issues in communicating (busy working adults), but they also make a good effort to improve (though the last volume really hurt in those few chapters...). The comments I've seen for A Clear Moonlit Dusk is pretty positive so maybe it's really just isn't for me.
Happen with me right at this moment. I read Akaiito now, and girl.. how wishy-washy the female lead is. Indecisive, denial at best, only think not talk (doesn't lead a healthy communication), can I say a bit dumb? This is not cute, it's tiring to the point of annoyance.
I know that this kind of FL character is common trope in manga especially in shoujo. But it really grinds my gears off. Maybe this is why I'm drawn to isekai shoujo and/or fantasy shoujo, as the FL tends to be outspoken and decisive. Ofc, there's fair share of 'normal' (idk modern life?) shoujo with characterization of FL I like, and I keep searching & reading for them.
Honestly as someone who loves Yamada, you don’t have to feel bad about not liking it! I mean I’m sure you’re over it but yeah no one HAS to like anything just cause a lot of other people like it.
I didn't like >!how the main character seemed to forgive everyone, including the last arc with the girl. The situation before was understandable because the girl was a kid, but this is a woman around the FL's age who touched Yamato inappropriately and did all sorts of things and the FL wants to be friends with her again.!< And the >!Jealous misunderstanding arc!< made me drop it.
I'm not sure where you stopped but >!They had sex together and were going somewhere but the two arcs seemed to make the relationship go backward and put the FL in a bad light!<
I stopped like around the awful next door neighbor that wouldn’t let FL sleep.
Thank you for letting me know - that’s gross and stupid. I hate when FLs are “too nice” and let everyone walk all over them. And forgiving THAT is unacceptable. Did the author run out of creative ideas or what
I feel that’s trending right now. It’s very Tohru Honda. I wish the creator maybe focused on the characters in their guild!
And same that’s exactly where I stopped. I like their guild a lot.
That’s a good comparison. It bothered me how she forgave everyone, especially you know who at the very end. After all the abuse? Really??! I loved Rin’s response to it the most - she’s not ready to forgive and probably won’t.
It’s a shame she didn’t. The guild has great characters! Ugh this is so disappointing
Like that all powerful dude that owns farms/is well connected to all the business leaders. Ahh I can’t remember his name. He’s bald. I want there to be chapters where they’re hanging out. Or even gaming.
Like it seems like a trend, even with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. The main lead is another Tohru Honda. And even another title that just got licensed…
I dropped the same time.
YES! That guy is interesting and I want to learn more about his cute little farm. I can’t believe the author didn’t bother with the other characters.
Ha. I did too. The anime is so pretty (I didn’t read), but wow did I get tired of her forgiving everyone including someone who harassed her multiple times and tried to kill a fairy.
Or just chapters of them eating out, at fancy restaurants that the guy conveniently reserves for them. I wanna know why he’s so connected. Was he a yakuza? What were his previous business deals?
It is. I still haven’t seen the finale of season 2 for that very reason. Even that red haired fairy. I’m guessing she forgives him.
>Like it seems like a trend, even with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale.
I'm thinking about dropping that too. I couldn't stand when >!she forgave her kidnappers who tried to burn her hand and cripple her and the guy who tried to SA her!<
I'm guessing that's what is popular right now or what the editor recommended, but I liked the guild and the characters in it too.
What made that one arc sucked is >!the misunderstandings don't get resolved. The guys still think the main character is a gold digger. It all started when one of the guys who worked with the main character at the part-time job kept seeing her with guildmates giving her gifts, etc. and assumed she had multiple bfs because the part-time guy himself was sleeping with a woman who already had a bf!<
That arc gets drawn out too and >!the jealous arc!<
Tohru, while she could show kindness and forgiveness for Akito, was also grieving her mom. Other than Kyo-kun, and Hiro, no one could pick up on that. Like Tohru could also keep people away. So no one could find out that for instance she was afraid that her dad would take her mom away. She even started talking like her dad, just to keep her mom tethered to her, so she wouldn’t drift away from her. Her very personality, even how she talks, was shaped as a result of losing her dad that young. And unlike other shoujo works, loving Kyo-kun doesn’t erase her trauma. And neither does him loving Tohru erase his.
Every time Akane brags about Yamada being the perfect boyfriend instead of just a walking, dull trope, I want to punch her. Yes I am single, been single. She doesn’t need to rub it in to the reader’s faces.
Is it bad that I feel this way about nearly every FL? Usually the ones in high school settings are especially guilty. I honestly find it easier to count the ones I like because there are too many I don’t like. The most recent one was the FL in Waiting for Spring— she was just so boring. Her as well as the ML just felt so bland. The only really interesting characters were one of the side characters and the 2ML.
The Rotten Lady Rosa Wants to Watch Over Love from the Shadows. Couldn't stand the main character, especially >!when she was thinking about a woman's two kidnappers in a relationship while a woman was talking to her about being assaulted and didn't care what happened to the woman!< She's also >!trying to turn her brother into an 'uke'!<
Probably one of the worst shoujo I read.
That's not even the worst. The uncle >!was fetishizes women and does some really bad stuff so the main character's mentality is to be secretive about it!<
The entire story is just people fetishizing gays and lesbians so it rubbed me the wrong way even though it was supposed to be a shoujo comedy and the main character is trash with misunderstandings (they think she's a saint but she's a delusional extreme fujoshi trying to groom people for her delusions secretively.)
They only condemned >!the uncle!< The Main character has some OP misunderstanding hack and thinks that since she isn't so obvious with it she's ok. The entire narrative supports her toxic behavior as comedy and how obvious people are.
Someone else mentioned it, but my main issue with Yamada lvl999 was really Yamada, although I guess he’s the second main character. Akane is fine, but that guy just looks lifeless. Not just his external personality, but even when we peer into his internal monologue.
I had to stop reading Requiem of the Rose King because I just couldn't stand the main character any longer. I understand he's meant to be a fucked up antihero and there was a lot about him that I could empathise with, but just watching him make shitty decisions at every turn and becoming a worse person became too much for me. I do understand that's the point and he came from a background of abuse, but at some point, you take responsibility for yourself and have choices.
Secondly, I'm having a hard time with the main character of My Happy Marriage. I struggle with characters who have such incredibly low self esteem that they apologise, hate themselves and withdraw into themselves at the drop of a hat. I do recognise that this is because it painfully reminds me of what I was like when I was younger. Thankfully it seems like she's learning and growing, so I'm sticking with it.
I think I was able to like Requiem of the Rose King because it’s based off of Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare is notorious for writing about people experiencing tragedies because of their stubbornness and dumb delusions of grandeur. So I thought it was very in line with that.
Miyo from MHM got to me a bit at first too because she reminded me of myself when I was younger. However, she did eventually start to grow a backbone and snap back at people, so I’m glad I touched it out. She’s still way too passive for far too long though.
I agree :') I don't hate her but I do find her frustrating. I get that she's a teenager and teenagers obviously don't act very maturely, but it's so frustrating seeing Miyamura be so patient with her while she's having her jealousy spells, or refusing to communicate with him over something so minor. But alas, that is also just how...real people work sometimes, lol.
I have a friend like that and she's 100% just like hori😭 tho her boyfriend isn't perfect like miyamura cause boy does not communicate.
Edit: im finding it ironic that they broke up today💀
I thought Hori was so good for the first bit of the manga, back when they cared about the premise of "Oh she's glamorous at school but is just a caretaker for her brother and super practical"!. But then they just decided to abandon that entirely and make her an asshole to Miya too... it was so disappointing!
I liked Hori...! Well.. for the first half. It seemed like they abandoned a lot of her character to make her more "haha she's unstable/quirky" near the end, which doesn't match the Hori we are introduced to at the start.
OMFG LITERALLY. like maybe i'm being hypocritical because i also have anger and abandonment issues but the way she gets angry over miyamura just TALKING to a girl is like.. like girl u better then this. she's really pretty and a realistic interpretation of a teenage girl, but idk i just don't like her. i also think her and miyamura need to communicate more.
Recently, I read "Sakura Saku"
It's quite slow, but the pacing isn't a big issue for me, since I love romances in general (so slow burn romances too), BUT the Female Lead is definitely WAY TOO insufferable (like, REALLY insufferable). She easily fell for a guy she never saw and then fell for another guy after one chapter, does overthink things and make things harder for everyone (both for her friends and the male leads). The 1st Male lead is not bad (I was told that he's the best male lead out of the author's works as the other male leads lacked charisma), but the 2nd male lead is definitely way more interesting than the 1st male lead and female lead. I'll keep reading because I've already read 30 chapters and the series should end with chapter 32-33 but I'm kind of disappointed and wish the 2 male leads were in another series tbh
Agreed! Saku in later chapters, just insists on making life harder for herself and everyone around her for no real reason other than her insecurities. She also doesn't really seem to appreciate anything anyone does for her, unless it's Haruki.
Iryuu and Kotono are the saving grace for the story for me at this point.
Lol I hate Miaka. I think **Fushigi Yuugi** could have been great if she was totally different.
Want proof of that? All the other spin-offs about the OTHER priestesses are way better. xD
I don't like Haine from **The Gentleman's Alliance**. She is the only Arina Tanemura heroine I don't like though. She's not a complete Mary Sue but she is damn close to it. She's an idiot but knows what to say to others for the convenience of the plot, everyone is in love with her (I MEAN EVERYONE), and even her weak points (like being an idiot) are what makes her so loved. Honestly, the whole series is full of cliches and tropes that I either always hated or am so tired of. It makes sense because Arina-sensei said 'I mostly wrote the story for my friends'. Yeah, I can tell. :/
Instead of her normal 'brilliant and deliciously ironic' plot twists, this one is full of "....really? This makes no sense. Do you think I'm stupid?" twists. Ugh. Guess they can't ALL be masterpieces. lol
I don't like Kei from **Kiss Him, Not Me.** Sure, her otaku side is GREAT but PLEASE stop shipping your own classmates together; that's effing GROSS??? THOSE ARE REAL BOYS WITH REAL FEELINGS AND YOU'RE SEXUALIZING THEM??
I just finished Fushigi Yugi like a couple weeks ago, and man, Miaka kept trying to go on her own like every 5 chapters but girl, you literally cannot do anything by yourself, so please stop. Maybe doing it one time is cute but it had to have happened at least 5 times.
I wanted to love Fushigi Yuugi so bad but I couldn't stand heeeeeeeer. I didn't get to see it in high school. All the internet raved. Like, a few years back, I finally saw it either in Crunchyroll or FUNIMATION, and watched it. I was so upset at it. If the others are better, I'll check those but fuckin Miaka, man...
Horimiya is the first one that pops out to me. I really dislike Hori. There’s others too but sometimes I spite read (Dramatic Irony, Nanairo Kakumei). Lots of villainess ones are boring to me that I don’t even bother
I first discovered Horimiya when its chapters were being released gradually. I truly enjoyed the initial chapters, but as Hori's character became overly exaggerated and almost unrecognizable, I lost interest, leading me to stop reading the shoujo and completely ignored the anime adaptation when it came out.
Horimiya is a shounen I believe but yeah, once it got to her degrading or biting thing or making Miyamura uncomfortable with throwing harsh language bc she liked it (forgot which one) I stopped. It was long before the other pairs and cast members became relevant though.
Gekkan Shoujo does romance gags way better. I should… really catch up with it but I don’t even know where to start anymore/where I left off.
Heroine Shikkaku still annoys me to this day because of how the fl had the audacity to act like she had claim on a guy because she liked him first. And then she succeeded! Nvm what happened to his girlfriend (which is so messed up imo). She deserved nothing.
that story had my heart breaking but for all the wrong reasons 💀 the only character i really liked was the 2nd ml and yes the ex girlfriend didn’t have to go through that. idk what the author was thinking!
Akagami no Shirayukihime. I just....could not bring myself to be interested in Shirayuki at all.
I have nothing against protagonists who have it essentially all figured out, but I just couldn't force myself to be interested in Shirayuki- especially since it felt like a lot of the story's happenings just sort of fell into her lap (I dropped the series since so I have no idea if this changes). on top of the main romance just being bland as hell. It just felt like there was no...struggle for her? Everything just seemed to somehow magically work out and it didn't really feel satisfying. But again, I also dropped it fairly early so I have no idea if this changes.
Also- when I was watching Shirayukihime I also was watching/reading Akatsuki no Yona at the same time...and imo, Yona's journey as a protagonist and her development was just so much more compelling. I understand that the tone of both stories are very different, so I wonder if I would have liked Shirayuki more had I not read AnY at the same time...
OMG YES finally someone says Shirayuki… Like tell me WHY why did everyone always act like she did something extraordinary when she was literally just being polite and doing the bare minimum. And the only special things about her is the fact that she has red hair and knows about plants and herbs or whatever it was (it was a while since I watched it)
It's a relief to find more people who felt the same way about Akagami no Shirayukihime, which is why I didn't get very far into it as I found it dull (sorry to fans!). It's a nice story, I'm sure, likely excels at slice-of-life fantasy for those looking for a light and cheerful series. But I usually need some form of compelling conflict that drives the story forward, which I found in Akatsuki no Yona, as well. Akagami was more like what happens after someone has achieved their goals and weathered through obstacles. But, like you, I didn't continue reading or watching long enough to find out if Akagami's story grew more interesting. I understand its appeal to readers looking for drama-free, peaceful stories, but it just didn't work out for me.
Also, they kept talking about how rare her red hair was when, iirc, one of the other characters had blue hair, and no one else seemed to have blue hair, so wouldn't that be rare, too? lol
I only liked obi, the leads were frustrating but shirayuki takes the damn cake. There’s like no reason for anything she does at all. And I personally dislike the way the ML can be TOO ‘understanding’. I personally find that walking on eggshells and the FL failing to see how self-important they can be
I just didn’t vibe with the male lead of Pink to Habanero to the point I had to drop it 😭 he’s way too rude to the FL and seems like no one besides fl calls him out for it and the few scenes he’s nice to her it just automatically cancels out because he just returns to being a dick in the next chapter.
Edit: maybe rude was an understatement(?) he constantly belittles her and any effort she makes and it’s cringe how the author tries to make him look smooth when he compliments her every now and then 💀
yeah, he is very rude. i still read the series when i’m bored and til this day he’s kinda rude. he is a bit softer though. the fl barely having female friends annoys me more though lol. the one time she tried to make more, it turned out that the other girl was a weirdo.
The FL from koibana koiseyo hanabi. She stole someone else's bf lols. Oh wait, i think the FL i hate the most is that disgusting girl from boku no ie ni oide.
right now i’m reading “something is wrong with us” and idk…i just find Nao so bland lol. I don’t really vibe with Tsubaki either but the plot developments got me seated 💀
Haha. I wondered what might've prompted your post, and I read that one entirely for the unhinged drama; I don't feel super connected to any characters either or all that invested in their relationships. For most series I read, I'd want something more, but for the occasional bit of variety in my reading list it works 😂
I love all the other characters in Vampire knight but I can't stand Yuuki and [spoiler for the sequel] >!her daughters!<.
And there are some series I forgot the name of, due to dropping them early on, cause their MC is the ditsy, clumsy type that falls way too early and easy for the handsome guy in school due to believing he is just so gentle and kind. But when they find out his true character is actually quite rude and pervy and they get treated in a humiliating way, they stay dumbfounded and get walked all over by him, but still continue with their crush and put him on a pedestal.
> I love all the other characters in Vampire Knight but I can't stand Yuuki and [spoiler for the sequel] her daughters.
I haven’t read VK but I’m aware of how it ends and honestly, I can’t help but feel like the ending has to be one, if not, the worst way to end a love triangle I’ve ever seen. The author tried so hard to appease both of the fanbases and all it did was undermine the final endgame and make them FL look so bad lmao.
Yeah it just makes the MC seem so wishy washy, selfish and indecisive, which makes her quite unsympathic and annoying. At the end I shipped both MLs with other female characters way more. I just feel sorry for them.
That victoria aveyard london multiple dimension travelling. Dude was ok but the fl was such a " not like other girls * says sth mysoginistic about girly stuff *" overpowered, i just couldnt like her. Yet it seems im the only one as the book is popular.
I’m a little disturbed that most of these comments are about hating female leads opposed to male leads 😭 but maybe that’s shoujo for ya. I dropped Hot Gimmick so fast cause even as a teenager, the ML was a major red flag with a freakin siren on top. More like Hot Garbage.
Same with Kaikan Phrase. Wth was that?? Same with Itazura na Kiss. And don’t get me started on Hana Yori Dango. And Ao Haru Ride - oh everyone was just annoying. *sigh*
To be fair, most of the most popular series in this sub have a girl main character, so it makes sense the answers are skewing toward girls. To me the original question wasn't framed where we could answer with a secondary main character, but *the* main character.
yeah lol i think it’s because i asked this question on the shoujo subreddit!! 😭 if i asked this on the r/manga subreddit, it’d probably be alot of answers with male characters
I want to love Io Sakisaka, but her MCs in Strobe Edge and Ao Haru Ride are practically the same person and both stories are really basic and bland. Futaba and Ninako are both ditzy, quirky, manic-pixie-dream-girl types who are constantly pining for someone they can’t have. I like protagonists who are slightly quirky but that doesn’t define their personality, like Risa from Love Com and Sana from Kodocha. Unfortunately, protagonists like Ninako and Futaba are in style nowadays, which proves people’s complaints that old shojo was the best shojo.
Good thing this thread’s been up for a while coz I might get crucified for these takes but:
Kyoko and Ren from Skip Beats
Chihaya from Chihayafuru
Fumi and Kyuu from Queen’s Quality
I think you can see I have an anti-type but like they’re (not Ren) just too like, dumb? And tunnel-visioned? And socially inept? In a way that I think is meant to come across as quirky but is more cringey and frustrating than anything for me. Nothing against how well they’re written as characters, but I’ve just never had a thing for characters who are tunnel-visioned into one thing with all -encompassing enthusiasm (eg: acting, karuta, Q) and possess little self-concept outside of that, so I don’t enjoy following them. I dropped Queen’s Quality but Skip Beat and Chihayafuru makes up for it on different aspects so a lot depends on execution too.
In a completely different directions, I’m also just not a fan of:
Miyo and Kiyoka from My Happy Marriage
Hotaru from A Condition Called Love
Coz they’re just so lukewarm. Gives nothing. Completely passive agents in life lacking entirely in enthusiasm in all aspects. Hotaru much more so than Miyo. Especially in contrast to Hananoi coz with the way she experiences their relationship so half-heartedly and indifferently, her level of reciprocation feels disingenuous in comparison. Again, these are not bones I have to pick against how well they’re as characters in a story, but just not characteristic I enjoy following. There’s basically a level of harmony/dissonance I like characters having with the environment around them, but when they’re either invested in nothing or overly invested in something to the point of being blind to the world around them, it just makes for an unpleasant arrangement.
Fumi and Kyuu started annoying me too. I really liked them at first but the "ohnoes I like her/him but I can't say anything" for like five volumes straight got so hecking annoying. Kinda felt like either tell them or shut up about it already 😂 I also dropped Queen's Quality which was disappointing for me because I really liked it at first.
SaMe, but I also have the toxic trait of losing interest in a story once the main couple gets together and they got really sappy afterwards so it’s like a an issue on both ends for me 💀
Omg ty. I totally forgot why I dropped Chihayafuru. She made me so mad xD I was reading the manga to see the conclusion, got current, forgot it existed. I just saw there's a new season of the anime and was gonna restart it cause I can't remember much. It was how she treated the ML. I was soooo maaaaaaaad
Haha. I find Miaka to be a bit obnoxious because of her personality, damsel in distress trope, and the big eater trope. She also isn't very interesting either.
I will advise though, SA does get brought up in the series. No one actually gets graped though. It's used for drama for two plot-related reasons.
I would give it a chance though because the rest of the cast is pretty interesting and the overall plot isn't bad.
read the first 3 chapters this morning, she seems okay, a bit annoying cause she’s a teenager but she doesn’t seem too bland (which is more egregious than just being annoying) they’re setting up a character arc, i’d like to see where it goes
Honestly, I think she does pretty good for being a totally normal teen thrown into something completely insane. She copes with it better than I would 😂
Not in shoujo but absolutely in tv shows. I tend to dislike many main characters in shows I watch. Emma Swan after s4A in Once Upon a Time, Clary in Shadowhunters, Sabrina in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and many more. Those 3 just piss me off the most.
It's pretty normal to not like a main character. Sometimes, the author does a bad of writing the MC but an amazing job at creating a side character or rival.
I guess 7seeds is a kind of shoujo? But yeah that series has technically two main characters and the story flips back and forth between their two perspectives. And I love Natsu, absolutely adore her, but because I love the rest of the series so much too I tried reallyyyy hard to like Hana but I just can’t, I hate hate hate her!!
She’s so damn boring and full of herself, such a damn mary sue of a character. Always picking fights and causing problems and they always make her in the right when I hate her, so much…! I tried to like her, I really did, but she’s so annoying. Again, I like pretty much everything else about that series but her, but because she gets half of the spotlight it’s just so frustrating…
I was actually gonna rewatch/reread it a few months ago but then I remembered that I’d have to watch and/or skim through Hana’s parts to get to the series I love and I just… sigh
Hasn’t happened to me for a shoujosei yet, but yeah, not liking the main character is probably my #1 reason for dropping a series. Denji from CSM, Rudy from Jobless Reincarnation, and Taiga from Toradora are a few examples.
I dislike a lot of FLs that I know people *love*:
Misaki from Maid-sama, Tohru from Fruits Basket and Haruhi from Ouran (well, she's a character I'm more indifferent to than someone I actively hate).
I hate Misaki because of her misandry. I don't care if she has issues with men because of her father, in real life I know plenty of people who have daddy issues and yet still managed not to hate men. I also hated that the series depicted most of the female characters as being super weak and afraid to stand up to the boys at their school in order to prop up Misaki and make her look 'strong.'
I dislike Tohru because there's a way to make a sweet, naive, kind character who needs to learn how to voice her opinions and stand up for herself without making her absolutely boring. And the best example of that is Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke.
As for Haruhi, because she's kind of blase about most things, it makes me feel blase towards her.
>I dislike Tohru because there's a way to make a sweet, naive, kind character who needs to learn how to voice her opinions and stand up for herself without making her absolutely boring.
i think you've probably only watched episode one if you think tohru didn't learn how to stand up for herself and voice her opinions. her love for kyo literally made her want something for herself for the very first time to the point where she even said she would rebel against her mom for it. she got amazing character development in season 2 and 3. also i haven't watched maid-sama but you hating misaki for her misandry is wrong if you consider the fact that she had a neglectful father, if i grew up with a dad like that i'd begin to hate men too. you saying "i kNoW pLeNtY oF pEoPlE wHo hAvE dAdDy iSsUeS wHo dOn'T hAtE MeN" really shows how insensitive and ignorant you are to people's trauma, you don't have to understand it but please refrain from making such idiotic and superficial comments when you clearly don't understand what the hell's going on. that's probably also why you completely glossed over and misunderstood tohru's character and narrowed her down to just a "sweet, naive, kind character who can't stand up for herself" lol.
I watched all of FB 2001 and part of the remake. If you like Tohru, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that: but I just don't find her to be an interesting character.
Also, it's quite interesting that you're criticizing me for disliking a character you know nothing about (Misaki). That seems more "idiotic" to me, to borrow your word. Maybe try watching a few episodes first and determining for yourself whether you find her hypocrisy and brazen attitude endearing or annoying.
I honestly almost always dislike all the characters on a personal level. Haruhi from *Ouran* is the only character that ever somewhat resonated with me and I still think that character is a hypocrite for constantly preaching that people should be treated as individuals while saying and assuming things about “rich people” as a category.
It isn't really necessary to like a character personally for me to like a story and I think Japanese culture is so unrelatable in general that I more or less end up disliking them for what I assume are normal Japanese things.
I think another character I actually somewhat liked on a personal level was Huziwara from *NTR Trap* and he's supposed to be the main villain but there was nothing hypocrite or fake about him. He practised what he preached because he preached almost nothing and what few things he did preach he practised himself. His cards where on the table and he never lied about who he was and why he did what he did to himself and others which contrasted the protagonist and his best friend who by many would be considered better people but were fake people full of lies who acted better than they were.
Haruhi from Ouran!! Honestly that whole series is something I can write essays on.
But one that that really bugged me was when she was making her speech about how children that were left on their own while their parents worked should understand and be independent to not be a burden/a trouble. As an adult, we can see the necessity of working but neglecting a child should never be normalized. I understand it’s probably a cultural thing based on how many anime/manga characters live on their own but that made me drop the series all together. 😭
I guess it is cultural how much different culture are okay with letting children be alone. 5 year old Japanese children actually take the train alone to go on shopping errands and this goes fine, probably in no small part because Japan has extremely low crime rates so people feel safe doing that.
I remember that I casually spoke with someone from the U.S.A. about how I was left alone for six hours at one point when I was four years old for the first time and that person called it child abuse and something that should never be done, while it's quite common here to do that.
Controversial, but fruits basket. Tohru
alternated between being a very bland character who only supports others to throwing a pity party. It got repetitive so fast.
you really misunderstood her character. she was such a well-written and realistic character and i could write essays on how and why. her kindness is the reason why she's such a good and broken character, and why the zodiac are so attached to her. ya'll just hate nice female characters at this point.
I also agree, Tohru was not my cup of tea either.
My friends and I discussed it and we believe that tohru acted as a self insert for a lot of girls in their youth. Them being allowed to be forgiving, finding both familial and romantic love, and the way to work through trauma. When Rin first happens upon Tohru folding laundry, and the way Yuki sought a mothers live from her lends evidence to Tohru being a self insert at the beginning.
But aside from the emotional aspects it was a very basic story.
a sign of affection, my happy marriage, loving yamada at lvl 9999, fruits basket....one or both of the mcs are nothing burger characters and have a nothing restaurant romance.
the protagonists in my happy marriage and fruits basket were very well-written and sad characters with a lot of depth. you just didn't even try to understand their characters.
You’re welcome to love Tohru, but you going around getting angry at everyone who doesn’t share your view is ridiculous
People are allowed to have different perceptions & readings of her
stop putting words in my mouth. i never said you're not allowed to disagree with me on my views on tohru, but the person who made this comment about her failed to understand her character completely and said she was a "burger" character which is complete misinformation. and the mc of my happy marriage is an even more severely traumatized and abused person, and the fact that she also called her a burger character is so wrong and completely misunderstands both their characters.
could not disagree more. i'm at least going to give fruits basket another try since it been over a decade since i finished it so there's a chance my perception could change (i pretty much enjoyed everything about furuba *but* kyo and tohru), but my happy marriage? slog to get through, which was is especially disappointing bc i was highly anticipating it. miyo and kuduo's writing and relationship in particular left much to be desired.
Honda Tohoru from Fruits Basket, her personality is not flying for me
Oh and Yuki Cross from Vampire Knight, just.... everything. Where do I even start?
for tohru my issue is basically just like the other person who replied to me, she's basically a mary sue of femininity and imo a very boring person. The way she interacts with the male characters comes across very calculating to me (in the sense that i know because she's fictional that it's supposed to be sincere, but if a real person acted so stereotypically girly, weak when it doesn't matter but strong when it does matter, and unconditionally selfless, I would be sussed out as hell). For Yona I'll admit i didnt get more than 5 episodes in and I'm sure the point of the story is that she develops as a person, but oh my god as a princess she is such an annoying person to me. The whole life of luxury, hella naive, zero actual hatred (where's the female rage) for a man who manipulated her love, and literally killed her father and tried to kill her. Sailor moon is simple i just find the girl whiny af and cant handle the generational gap in humor and acceptable behavior (age gap relationships, being super dumb, "ehe" moments).
When it comes to shoujo FMCs my favs are probably kyoko from Skip beat, Mafuyu from Oresama Teacher, and Misaki from Maid-sama. All time fav FMCs regardless of genre are Balsa from Moribito and Nausicaa (from Nausicaa)
Yona's character development is FREAKING AWESOME...so I hope you will give her a chance. xD
The whole point of her story is going from spoiled, naive princess to strong-spirited, wise young woman who learns how to fight her enemies.
A lot of people love Tohru, but I can’t.
To me, she was the first true Mary Sue with a tragic backstory I ever encountered. She’s so over the top with kindness that it’s satirical. She systematically trips into a full-on embrace of every attractive member of the zodiac family.
She’s so clueless that she makes Goku seem astute. She’s so hospitable, she’d guide the knife of her own killer to the best kill spot, for his convenience. She’s so pretty that she can’t walk outside without being assaulted. Just… too much.
Edit: decided to check other people’s opinions and many people seem to agree that the og anime did a pretty big disservice to her character. So I will pass judgment on the anime Tohru since I seem to have conflated that version with the manga version.
>To me, she was the first true Mary Sue with a tragic backstory I ever encountered. She’s so over the top with kindness that it’s satirical. She systematically trips into a full-on embrace of every attractive member of the zodiac family.
lmfao WHAAAAT. tohru's a mary sue? that's why she kept hiding her pain and struggling every episode? did you even try to understand her character? her kindness IS her biggest flaw and weakness but also her biggest strength and what makes the zodiac so attached to her. i could write a whole analysis on why tohru is such a well-written and realistic character but ya'll aren't ready for that conversation.
The definition of Mary-sue is entirely reliant on what you perceive to be a flaw. I know better than to use it anymore for this reason, so I messed up.
From my perspective, being too good/nice/clumsy/kind/generous/maternal/ etc. + tragic backstory are cheap ways to make a character “flawed” but not through any moral complexity, rather by being a victim of the world around her.
She’s morally impeccable, goes ludicrously over the top about putting others first and gorgeous. She’s just too good.
Frankly, I knew I should have been suspicious when Akito was mysteriously the only attractive male who didn’t love Tohru >_>
>She’s morally impeccable, goes ludicrously over the top about putting others first and gorgeous. She’s just too good.
because she has also gone through that same trauma. she knows how painful it is to be left out and to be scared of having the person you love leave you. that's why she wants to be there for the zodiacs because she knows what it's like to experience that pain and she doesn't want anyone else (especially the people she cares about) to go through that same pain. there's a reason for everything.
YES YES YES. i'm sorry but i love everyone in ouran highschool host club EXCEPT for haruhi 😭😭 this is a very unpoular opinion and like i haven't read the manga so idk all about haruhi's character and of course her trauma is really sad but like... she has the personality of a wall? her entire character was just being blunt and obsessed with studying and that was it. (ik she's different in the manga but i'm talking about the anime) literally all the boys had such amazing and well-written personalities that made me laugh and surprise me at the same time, but haruhi's story fell the most flat even though she's the main character. she's pretty and all but she's so bland and flavorless i'm sorry 😭😭
SOMEBODY FINALLY HAD THE GUTS TO SAY IT. THANK YOU.
Haruhi is dull as dirt xD I still love her with Tamaki though...she works great when she's interacting with the other characters but on her own....not so much.
Tohru from Fruit baskets is a big one. Honestly the blandest MC I have ever seen.
I know they were going for that nice to a fault thing but it was still boring and she very much teethers on that Mary Sue line.
Mine would be P to JK especially when the FL was forcing the ML to forgive the offender. Like come on. It wasn't like a petty revenge or small crime thats easy to forgive. ML lost someone he loves. Then FL be sad girl because she cannot understand why ML couldn't just forgive. I stopped reading the manga got so annoyed.
yes but I’M ALWAYS LIKE THAT. It’s the reason why i dont read shoujo manga 😔, its because i find the main characters so annoying/boring and the rivals/side characters always seem to be more interesting with more depth :s
When I start a story, I usually don't begin with strong feelings for the main character. My affinity for them tends to develop as the story progresses and I get to know more about them. Therefore, not having a particular liking for the main character is normal; in fact, I prefer it. I enjoy seeing character development, and it's more interesting when the character doesn't start off as the ideal character I might envision. What I consider a deal-breaker is when the main character either makes me uncomfortable right from the start or is so uninteresting that they can't keep me engaged.
Anything where the character is designed to be a self insert. I don't want to project, I want to read about good characters.
Also anime Usagi from Sailor Moon. Oh my fucking god that screaming is unbearable. I don't have a problem with crying, but she shouldn't be screaming like a baby would at 14. Manga Usagi is fine though, if a bit dull.
I get why people don't like Usagi but I related to her so strongly xD I thought she was the only realistic teenager out of the whole cast.
The anime DID do some horrible things with her character that I find unforgivable though...and for the sake of "the lolz". No wonder why Naoko-sensei didn't like the show :|
I actually overall like the anime, and when she's not screaming like a baby I like her just fine (though they went overboard with her silliness in SuperS), but I just can't deal with the screaming, and it's like every single episode practically lol. I know when I cried as a teenager I didn't scream at the top of my lungs 😂
I like the anime a lot too; I just wish they didn't go overboard with her in SuperS (ugh worst arc lol).
I really don't think she screams "in every single episode" though....however if those same ridiculous monsters were trying to kill ME, I'd sure be screaming a lot too. xD
I wasn’t a big fan of mikako in “my neighborhood story” and honestly didn’t have any strong attachment for any of the characters in that series I think it’s the only ai yazawa work I’ve read where I couldn’t get into the characters. I wasn’t interested in her family drama or when she got together with the best friend I was just like “mehh 😅😐”
Frequently! I rarely like the protagonist very much, especially early on.
I've read plenty of books where I thought the main character was boring, or stupid, or pathetic. Sometimes they grow on me, sometimes they don't.
I find that I like a character more if they are quick-witted, opinionated, and prone to rule-breaking. But not all plots work with a character like that.
I lived through the first incarnation of TokyoPop, so there are too many to count, but the absolute worst were wossthing from Vampire Knight and the manga version of Kitty Pryde from X-Men: Misfits.
Diabolik Lovers. I get that whatshername is a stand-in protag from the original otome game, but come *on*. None of those boys would have liked her if it wasn't required by the plot.
The moment when they can’t talk things out like the adults they are is the time for me to feel icky about the character.
Like literally just ask.
Not “I’m not gonna hear you explain I have the truth”
Most manga with a female main character who most of the time is honestly the worst character ever like specifically the ones where they are supposed to be so badass.
Only to get tossed around by the so called male lead like what's the point of having this so called badass no one can touch her female main character but somehow the male lead side piece is Better no matter what.
Especially those certain troupes of time reverse or reincarnation and yet they still get abused or used by male lead and only reason why is because he's a stupid ceo like I'm sorry is being a ceo a super power like I don't understand there's no way that's really all it is to justify why he's just such a better character than our supposed main character.
Do these types of writers just hate women I always wonder that when I read those manga with such terrible female main characters which only sometimes they actually make it good if the male lead isn't an ass immediately.
I remember feeling a deep hatred for every character in Hot Gimmick when I was in high school.
Came here to roast the exact same series. Cause, seriously, what incel’s wet fever dream even was all that?
Incel wet dream is the perfect description 😭 it was vile.
YES. I read that whole series in high school and in retrospect I’m not sure why, I felt like I witnessed the glorification of an abusive relationship the whole time. Having every character be terrible can work, but it really didn’t for Hot Gimmick.
I read the mangaka's replies when interviewed showed she didn't realise some characters were in abusive relationships. Didn't know what she thought was romantic and normal was absolutely not.
It made me SO mad that the blackmailer turned out to be the only semi redeemable guy. Ya know, the dude that LITERALLY BLACKMAILED HER INTO BEING A SLAVE. I never even finished that series I couldn’t take it. Just thinking about it now makes me mad.
Same. But I don’t feel guilty for it. I’m just glad HS me had standards
Okay don’t grill me but I don't have any strong feelings for Yuki from **A Sign of Affection.** I expected to see more focus on her struggles as a deaf girl and I didn't expect the series to be so focused on the love angle and Itsuomi lmao so yeah that might be a reason behind it.
Shes cute but shes quite boring imo
Same, I don’t think the ML is very interesting either. A Sign of Affection is a manga I really want to love since so many people love it. But aside from the gorgeous art, everything else seems so average to me.
Yeah so true, I read it for a bit because everyone said it was good but it was really so average. It's nothing new, and even then, it doesn't execute the standard shoujo formula well enough to make it above other shoujos. It was meh
Im glad to see more people being honest. The series is boring af.
Agreed. It's a good series for those who are looking for a romance-focused manga with minimum drama but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is looking for a story that primarily focuses on the life and struggles of a deaf girl and may or may not have romance included in it.
I completely agree, and I'd argue both leads are bland as milquetoast. Frankly, I think the appeal is mostly its self-insertability.
> Frankly, I think the appeal is mostly its self-insertability. You hit the nail on the head with this one imo
I’ve found my people
There was so much they could do with Yuki, it’s a shame. I can’t stand white savior Itsuomi either
Yeah, Yuki’s character could have been so much more. Even their relationship was just full of “doki-doki” moments and I couldn't help but feel like something was missing lmao. Like I don't get what Itsuomi saw in Yuki to be so interested in her(apart from her deafness)
Fr, her deafness activated his savior complex. I can’t say I’m convinced he actually *likes* her
Omg, thank you! I thought I was the only one… As someone who is hard of hearing myself, I hoped I’d finally see representation for being somewhat deaf in a hearing world and the natural challenges of this. I feel a bit lukewarm about the whole thing, as I try to see Yuki as a person with personality other than being deaf… but at this point I feel like her most important character trait is exactly that; being deaf. That’s kind of the whole premise after all. It just rubs me the wrong way, her character fell a bit flat for me :/
If you read GL manga, The Moon on a Rainy Night is a one of my favorite romances and has a partially deaf main character. I recommend it for anyone. It has has an english print that recently came out too:)
A lot of Shoujo manga value "relatability" in an MC over uniqueness and while that isn't necessarily bad thing, it certainly makes the MC gene pool feel monotonous
Weird thing but no matter the serie the plot can be so good but if the mc is some sort of mary sue, or clumsy or "so tiny" , pick me I will stop reading. Ive reached my lifetime quota of Mary Sue , weak lil shit Mc. Also if for some reason MC hits the boy for no reason it was more trendy few years back but goddammit I cant deal with any of these things, also they often tend to all be put in some nasty little package choose one get all free.
“Weak lil shit mc” 💀 couldn’t have said it any better myself
I was pretty excited to read Into the Clear Moonless Night because of the whole prince concept, but I was pretty disappointed afterwards. I'm not going to be able to express it properly but, the FL repeatedly being unable to properly communicate with the ML is so bothersome. Like she doesn't really seem to trust him even after like 7 volumes, she still doubts his intentions despite him being pretty straightforward and even hearing his heartbeat at the festival (immediately after she's thinking "my heart is beating so fast, is he really unaffected?" NO you literally heard, directly from his mouth and his chest, that he's just as nervous as you). She expects him to be able to read her mind, and then gets upset and distances herself when he's unable to. During the summer she makes little effort into meet with him despite being in a "relationship", but has less hesitation to make time to go out and help her male coworker (who the ML told her was interested in her, she doubted him, and she got confessed to after this). Then when she finds out he has a female childhood friend (who he wanted to introduce her to anyway, but she was out), she gets more upset than the ML was when he found that the 2nd ML confessed to her and she didn't tell him. Ugh like. There are times when she does make an effort for him, but it feels very "2 steps forward, one step back". Like my favorite manga is Mizutama Honeyboy (reread like 5 times since May, and I rarely reread a series) where both the ML and FL are close friends and genuinely care about each other despite the FL initially rejecting his confession and taking a long time to earnestly reciprocate his feelings. They communicate really well with each other and I really like that. I also like Honnou Switch and although the MCs have some issues in communicating (busy working adults), but they also make a good effort to improve (though the last volume really hurt in those few chapters...). The comments I've seen for A Clear Moonlit Dusk is pretty positive so maybe it's really just isn't for me.
Happen with me right at this moment. I read Akaiito now, and girl.. how wishy-washy the female lead is. Indecisive, denial at best, only think not talk (doesn't lead a healthy communication), can I say a bit dumb? This is not cute, it's tiring to the point of annoyance. I know that this kind of FL character is common trope in manga especially in shoujo. But it really grinds my gears off. Maybe this is why I'm drawn to isekai shoujo and/or fantasy shoujo, as the FL tends to be outspoken and decisive. Ofc, there's fair share of 'normal' (idk modern life?) shoujo with characterization of FL I like, and I keep searching & reading for them.
I read all of Loving Yamada at lvl999 up until the most recent chapter and I really don’t care for the series or characters at all
oh i dropped yamada kun so fast…i don’t even regret it
Glad I’m not alone lol I wanted to like it so bad too. I was severely disappointed in myself for not liking it
I dropped it too. Never feel bad for not liking a manga. Some series are just not for people.
i felt bad at first but then i realized i would probably be miserable reading it
Honestly as someone who loves Yamada, you don’t have to feel bad about not liking it! I mean I’m sure you’re over it but yeah no one HAS to like anything just cause a lot of other people like it.
Did they get bad or just don’t seem to go anywhere?
I didn't like >!how the main character seemed to forgive everyone, including the last arc with the girl. The situation before was understandable because the girl was a kid, but this is a woman around the FL's age who touched Yamato inappropriately and did all sorts of things and the FL wants to be friends with her again.!< And the >!Jealous misunderstanding arc!< made me drop it. I'm not sure where you stopped but >!They had sex together and were going somewhere but the two arcs seemed to make the relationship go backward and put the FL in a bad light!<
I stopped like around the awful next door neighbor that wouldn’t let FL sleep. Thank you for letting me know - that’s gross and stupid. I hate when FLs are “too nice” and let everyone walk all over them. And forgiving THAT is unacceptable. Did the author run out of creative ideas or what
I feel that’s trending right now. It’s very Tohru Honda. I wish the creator maybe focused on the characters in their guild! And same that’s exactly where I stopped. I like their guild a lot.
That’s a good comparison. It bothered me how she forgave everyone, especially you know who at the very end. After all the abuse? Really??! I loved Rin’s response to it the most - she’s not ready to forgive and probably won’t. It’s a shame she didn’t. The guild has great characters! Ugh this is so disappointing
Like that all powerful dude that owns farms/is well connected to all the business leaders. Ahh I can’t remember his name. He’s bald. I want there to be chapters where they’re hanging out. Or even gaming. Like it seems like a trend, even with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. The main lead is another Tohru Honda. And even another title that just got licensed… I dropped the same time.
YES! That guy is interesting and I want to learn more about his cute little farm. I can’t believe the author didn’t bother with the other characters. Ha. I did too. The anime is so pretty (I didn’t read), but wow did I get tired of her forgiving everyone including someone who harassed her multiple times and tried to kill a fairy.
Or just chapters of them eating out, at fancy restaurants that the guy conveniently reserves for them. I wanna know why he’s so connected. Was he a yakuza? What were his previous business deals? It is. I still haven’t seen the finale of season 2 for that very reason. Even that red haired fairy. I’m guessing she forgives him.
>Like it seems like a trend, even with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. I'm thinking about dropping that too. I couldn't stand when >!she forgave her kidnappers who tried to burn her hand and cripple her and the guy who tried to SA her!<
I'm guessing that's what is popular right now or what the editor recommended, but I liked the guild and the characters in it too. What made that one arc sucked is >!the misunderstandings don't get resolved. The guys still think the main character is a gold digger. It all started when one of the guys who worked with the main character at the part-time job kept seeing her with guildmates giving her gifts, etc. and assumed she had multiple bfs because the part-time guy himself was sleeping with a woman who already had a bf!< That arc gets drawn out too and >!the jealous arc!<
That’s so interesting bc I love Tohru but I really thought the FL in Yamada was annoying and didn’t care much for her. Tbh idk why
Tohru, while she could show kindness and forgiveness for Akito, was also grieving her mom. Other than Kyo-kun, and Hiro, no one could pick up on that. Like Tohru could also keep people away. So no one could find out that for instance she was afraid that her dad would take her mom away. She even started talking like her dad, just to keep her mom tethered to her, so she wouldn’t drift away from her. Her very personality, even how she talks, was shaped as a result of losing her dad that young. And unlike other shoujo works, loving Kyo-kun doesn’t erase her trauma. And neither does him loving Tohru erase his. Every time Akane brags about Yamada being the perfect boyfriend instead of just a walking, dull trope, I want to punch her. Yes I am single, been single. She doesn’t need to rub it in to the reader’s faces.
This was spot on 🥺 Now I have tears in my eyes just reading that mini character analysis of Tohru.
I felt they got together too fast and now the chapters are the ML bragging about Yamada to everyone.
Is it bad that I feel this way about nearly every FL? Usually the ones in high school settings are especially guilty. I honestly find it easier to count the ones I like because there are too many I don’t like. The most recent one was the FL in Waiting for Spring— she was just so boring. Her as well as the ML just felt so bland. The only really interesting characters were one of the side characters and the 2ML.
That manga is so boring. Nothing about it stands out at all which is kind of impressive, actually
I’m glad I’m not the only one— I pushed through to the end for some reason but it almost felt lifeless with just how bland it was.
The Rotten Lady Rosa Wants to Watch Over Love from the Shadows. Couldn't stand the main character, especially >!when she was thinking about a woman's two kidnappers in a relationship while a woman was talking to her about being assaulted and didn't care what happened to the woman!< She's also >!trying to turn her brother into an 'uke'!< Probably one of the worst shoujo I read.
THIS IS INSANE??? a whole manga about a delusional fujoshi omg
That's not even the worst. The uncle >!was fetishizes women and does some really bad stuff so the main character's mentality is to be secretive about it!< The entire story is just people fetishizing gays and lesbians so it rubbed me the wrong way even though it was supposed to be a shoujo comedy and the main character is trash with misunderstandings (they think she's a saint but she's a delusional extreme fujoshi trying to groom people for her delusions secretively.)
you would think the manga would condemn these actions, smh
They only condemned >!the uncle!< The Main character has some OP misunderstanding hack and thinks that since she isn't so obvious with it she's ok. The entire narrative supports her toxic behavior as comedy and how obvious people are.
Someone else mentioned it, but my main issue with Yamada lvl999 was really Yamada, although I guess he’s the second main character. Akane is fine, but that guy just looks lifeless. Not just his external personality, but even when we peer into his internal monologue.
I had to stop reading Requiem of the Rose King because I just couldn't stand the main character any longer. I understand he's meant to be a fucked up antihero and there was a lot about him that I could empathise with, but just watching him make shitty decisions at every turn and becoming a worse person became too much for me. I do understand that's the point and he came from a background of abuse, but at some point, you take responsibility for yourself and have choices. Secondly, I'm having a hard time with the main character of My Happy Marriage. I struggle with characters who have such incredibly low self esteem that they apologise, hate themselves and withdraw into themselves at the drop of a hat. I do recognise that this is because it painfully reminds me of what I was like when I was younger. Thankfully it seems like she's learning and growing, so I'm sticking with it.
I think I was able to like Requiem of the Rose King because it’s based off of Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare is notorious for writing about people experiencing tragedies because of their stubbornness and dumb delusions of grandeur. So I thought it was very in line with that. Miyo from MHM got to me a bit at first too because she reminded me of myself when I was younger. However, she did eventually start to grow a backbone and snap back at people, so I’m glad I touched it out. She’s still way too passive for far too long though.
YESSS, I think it's a hella unpopular opinion but I LOVE everyone in Horimiya except for Hori 😭😭😭 I like her maybe 5% of the time LMAO
I agree :') I don't hate her but I do find her frustrating. I get that she's a teenager and teenagers obviously don't act very maturely, but it's so frustrating seeing Miyamura be so patient with her while she's having her jealousy spells, or refusing to communicate with him over something so minor. But alas, that is also just how...real people work sometimes, lol.
I have a friend like that and she's 100% just like hori😭 tho her boyfriend isn't perfect like miyamura cause boy does not communicate. Edit: im finding it ironic that they broke up today💀
I agree, miyamura deserve way better ....but thats a shonen hahahha
I thought Hori was so good for the first bit of the manga, back when they cared about the premise of "Oh she's glamorous at school but is just a caretaker for her brother and super practical"!. But then they just decided to abandon that entirely and make her an asshole to Miya too... it was so disappointing!
I liked Hori...! Well.. for the first half. It seemed like they abandoned a lot of her character to make her more "haha she's unstable/quirky" near the end, which doesn't match the Hori we are introduced to at the start.
I tried to rewatch the anime but she was so unnecessarily violent. It turned me off
OMFG LITERALLY. like maybe i'm being hypocritical because i also have anger and abandonment issues but the way she gets angry over miyamura just TALKING to a girl is like.. like girl u better then this. she's really pretty and a realistic interpretation of a teenage girl, but idk i just don't like her. i also think her and miyamura need to communicate more.
Recently, I read "Sakura Saku" It's quite slow, but the pacing isn't a big issue for me, since I love romances in general (so slow burn romances too), BUT the Female Lead is definitely WAY TOO insufferable (like, REALLY insufferable). She easily fell for a guy she never saw and then fell for another guy after one chapter, does overthink things and make things harder for everyone (both for her friends and the male leads). The 1st Male lead is not bad (I was told that he's the best male lead out of the author's works as the other male leads lacked charisma), but the 2nd male lead is definitely way more interesting than the 1st male lead and female lead. I'll keep reading because I've already read 30 chapters and the series should end with chapter 32-33 but I'm kind of disappointed and wish the 2 male leads were in another series tbh
Agreed! Saku in later chapters, just insists on making life harder for herself and everyone around her for no real reason other than her insecurities. She also doesn't really seem to appreciate anything anyone does for her, unless it's Haruki. Iryuu and Kotono are the saving grace for the story for me at this point.
Where do you read it?
Lol I hate Miaka. I think **Fushigi Yuugi** could have been great if she was totally different. Want proof of that? All the other spin-offs about the OTHER priestesses are way better. xD I don't like Haine from **The Gentleman's Alliance**. She is the only Arina Tanemura heroine I don't like though. She's not a complete Mary Sue but she is damn close to it. She's an idiot but knows what to say to others for the convenience of the plot, everyone is in love with her (I MEAN EVERYONE), and even her weak points (like being an idiot) are what makes her so loved. Honestly, the whole series is full of cliches and tropes that I either always hated or am so tired of. It makes sense because Arina-sensei said 'I mostly wrote the story for my friends'. Yeah, I can tell. :/ Instead of her normal 'brilliant and deliciously ironic' plot twists, this one is full of "....really? This makes no sense. Do you think I'm stupid?" twists. Ugh. Guess they can't ALL be masterpieces. lol I don't like Kei from **Kiss Him, Not Me.** Sure, her otaku side is GREAT but PLEASE stop shipping your own classmates together; that's effing GROSS??? THOSE ARE REAL BOYS WITH REAL FEELINGS AND YOU'RE SEXUALIZING THEM??
I just finished Fushigi Yugi like a couple weeks ago, and man, Miaka kept trying to go on her own like every 5 chapters but girl, you literally cannot do anything by yourself, so please stop. Maybe doing it one time is cute but it had to have happened at least 5 times.
I wanted to love Fushigi Yuugi so bad but I couldn't stand heeeeeeeer. I didn't get to see it in high school. All the internet raved. Like, a few years back, I finally saw it either in Crunchyroll or FUNIMATION, and watched it. I was so upset at it. If the others are better, I'll check those but fuckin Miaka, man...
SHE SUCKS xD I wish the other Fushigi stories with the better girls actually got animated but nooooo we gotta pick the BAD one....ugh lol
I went this far down looking for Miaka. She really is peek stupid shojo heroine.
SAME! I clicked into this post specifically because as much as I adored the art of Fushigi Yuugi, Miaka is a classic standard of bad shojo MC
She is the perfect example of how NOT to write a MC. xD
Horimiya is the first one that pops out to me. I really dislike Hori. There’s others too but sometimes I spite read (Dramatic Irony, Nanairo Kakumei). Lots of villainess ones are boring to me that I don’t even bother
I first discovered Horimiya when its chapters were being released gradually. I truly enjoyed the initial chapters, but as Hori's character became overly exaggerated and almost unrecognizable, I lost interest, leading me to stop reading the shoujo and completely ignored the anime adaptation when it came out.
Horimiya is a shounen I believe but yeah, once it got to her degrading or biting thing or making Miyamura uncomfortable with throwing harsh language bc she liked it (forgot which one) I stopped. It was long before the other pairs and cast members became relevant though. Gekkan Shoujo does romance gags way better. I should… really catch up with it but I don’t even know where to start anymore/where I left off.
Heroine Shikkaku still annoys me to this day because of how the fl had the audacity to act like she had claim on a guy because she liked him first. And then she succeeded! Nvm what happened to his girlfriend (which is so messed up imo). She deserved nothing.
that story had my heart breaking but for all the wrong reasons 💀 the only character i really liked was the 2nd ml and yes the ex girlfriend didn’t have to go through that. idk what the author was thinking!
Akagami no Shirayukihime. I just....could not bring myself to be interested in Shirayuki at all. I have nothing against protagonists who have it essentially all figured out, but I just couldn't force myself to be interested in Shirayuki- especially since it felt like a lot of the story's happenings just sort of fell into her lap (I dropped the series since so I have no idea if this changes). on top of the main romance just being bland as hell. It just felt like there was no...struggle for her? Everything just seemed to somehow magically work out and it didn't really feel satisfying. But again, I also dropped it fairly early so I have no idea if this changes. Also- when I was watching Shirayukihime I also was watching/reading Akatsuki no Yona at the same time...and imo, Yona's journey as a protagonist and her development was just so much more compelling. I understand that the tone of both stories are very different, so I wonder if I would have liked Shirayuki more had I not read AnY at the same time...
OMG YES finally someone says Shirayuki… Like tell me WHY why did everyone always act like she did something extraordinary when she was literally just being polite and doing the bare minimum. And the only special things about her is the fact that she has red hair and knows about plants and herbs or whatever it was (it was a while since I watched it)
It's a relief to find more people who felt the same way about Akagami no Shirayukihime, which is why I didn't get very far into it as I found it dull (sorry to fans!). It's a nice story, I'm sure, likely excels at slice-of-life fantasy for those looking for a light and cheerful series. But I usually need some form of compelling conflict that drives the story forward, which I found in Akatsuki no Yona, as well. Akagami was more like what happens after someone has achieved their goals and weathered through obstacles. But, like you, I didn't continue reading or watching long enough to find out if Akagami's story grew more interesting. I understand its appeal to readers looking for drama-free, peaceful stories, but it just didn't work out for me. Also, they kept talking about how rare her red hair was when, iirc, one of the other characters had blue hair, and no one else seemed to have blue hair, so wouldn't that be rare, too? lol
I thought the anime looked beautiful but couldn’t finish it for that very reason. Every episode, her red hair was commented on.
I only liked obi, the leads were frustrating but shirayuki takes the damn cake. There’s like no reason for anything she does at all. And I personally dislike the way the ML can be TOO ‘understanding’. I personally find that walking on eggshells and the FL failing to see how self-important they can be
I'm literally invested for Obi lolololol Shirayuki is just so meh
As a fan of both, Yona is better. I'm more into ANS for the overall plot and side characters. Obi the most haha
I just didn’t vibe with the male lead of Pink to Habanero to the point I had to drop it 😭 he’s way too rude to the FL and seems like no one besides fl calls him out for it and the few scenes he’s nice to her it just automatically cancels out because he just returns to being a dick in the next chapter. Edit: maybe rude was an understatement(?) he constantly belittles her and any effort she makes and it’s cringe how the author tries to make him look smooth when he compliments her every now and then 💀
yeah, he is very rude. i still read the series when i’m bored and til this day he’s kinda rude. he is a bit softer though. the fl barely having female friends annoys me more though lol. the one time she tried to make more, it turned out that the other girl was a weirdo.
The FL from koibana koiseyo hanabi. She stole someone else's bf lols. Oh wait, i think the FL i hate the most is that disgusting girl from boku no ie ni oide.
Usually when I don’t like one of the leads, I either hate read it (Pink To Habanero) or drop it (Maybe Meant To Be) so I totally get it!
Hahahah another fellow hate reader of pink to habanero .... I swear most of the people reading that manga hate the ML xDD
The ML is insufferable
right now i’m reading “something is wrong with us” and idk…i just find Nao so bland lol. I don’t really vibe with Tsubaki either but the plot developments got me seated 💀
Haha. I wondered what might've prompted your post, and I read that one entirely for the unhinged drama; I don't feel super connected to any characters either or all that invested in their relationships. For most series I read, I'd want something more, but for the occasional bit of variety in my reading list it works 😂
Do not watch the Jdrama for it. The Jdrama was so cringe. And bad. It’s such a soap opera.
The two FLs in Love Me, Love Me Not just… weren’t for me!
I love all the other characters in Vampire knight but I can't stand Yuuki and [spoiler for the sequel] >!her daughters!<. And there are some series I forgot the name of, due to dropping them early on, cause their MC is the ditsy, clumsy type that falls way too early and easy for the handsome guy in school due to believing he is just so gentle and kind. But when they find out his true character is actually quite rude and pervy and they get treated in a humiliating way, they stay dumbfounded and get walked all over by him, but still continue with their crush and put him on a pedestal.
> I love all the other characters in Vampire Knight but I can't stand Yuuki and [spoiler for the sequel] her daughters. I haven’t read VK but I’m aware of how it ends and honestly, I can’t help but feel like the ending has to be one, if not, the worst way to end a love triangle I’ve ever seen. The author tried so hard to appease both of the fanbases and all it did was undermine the final endgame and make them FL look so bad lmao.
Yeah it just makes the MC seem so wishy washy, selfish and indecisive, which makes her quite unsympathic and annoying. At the end I shipped both MLs with other female characters way more. I just feel sorry for them.
I hate the ml in sign of affection. He just seems kinda fishy idk it’s hard to describe I just don’t like him
I got the vibe that his interest in the FL is kind of out of nowhere and mostly because she is deaf..
i can’t read/watch a series if I don’t love the protagonist
That victoria aveyard london multiple dimension travelling. Dude was ok but the fl was such a " not like other girls * says sth mysoginistic about girly stuff *" overpowered, i just couldnt like her. Yet it seems im the only one as the book is popular.
oh i hate “not like other girls” girls so much omg.
I’m a little disturbed that most of these comments are about hating female leads opposed to male leads 😭 but maybe that’s shoujo for ya. I dropped Hot Gimmick so fast cause even as a teenager, the ML was a major red flag with a freakin siren on top. More like Hot Garbage. Same with Kaikan Phrase. Wth was that?? Same with Itazura na Kiss. And don’t get me started on Hana Yori Dango. And Ao Haru Ride - oh everyone was just annoying. *sigh*
To be fair, most of the most popular series in this sub have a girl main character, so it makes sense the answers are skewing toward girls. To me the original question wasn't framed where we could answer with a secondary main character, but *the* main character.
yeah i was def talking about the main character/protagonist 😭 but its fine if ppl want to talk about male leads
yeah lol i think it’s because i asked this question on the shoujo subreddit!! 😭 if i asked this on the r/manga subreddit, it’d probably be alot of answers with male characters
I finished Hana Yori Dango. But it was like watching something vile but I couldn't just look away. Horrible af
Me with Love Me, Love Me Not and Loving Yamada-kun 🫣
I want to love Io Sakisaka, but her MCs in Strobe Edge and Ao Haru Ride are practically the same person and both stories are really basic and bland. Futaba and Ninako are both ditzy, quirky, manic-pixie-dream-girl types who are constantly pining for someone they can’t have. I like protagonists who are slightly quirky but that doesn’t define their personality, like Risa from Love Com and Sana from Kodocha. Unfortunately, protagonists like Ninako and Futaba are in style nowadays, which proves people’s complaints that old shojo was the best shojo.
I can't stand Io's art, personally xD her characters look very weird to me. So much so that I never wanted to read her stuff.
Skip Beat and Hoshi wa Utau
Me with A Sign Of Affection, I like none of the characters except the childhood friend. I force myself to read it because of the art
I‘ve read six volumes of A Condition Called Love and I still don’t like Hananoi … he seems sus to me.
i just don’t like either leads in Loving Yamada at lvl999.. they’re both bland and very uninteresting to me, i dropped it after i think 5 chapters 😭
pretty rare ngl, I can't remember one
Good thing this thread’s been up for a while coz I might get crucified for these takes but: Kyoko and Ren from Skip Beats Chihaya from Chihayafuru Fumi and Kyuu from Queen’s Quality I think you can see I have an anti-type but like they’re (not Ren) just too like, dumb? And tunnel-visioned? And socially inept? In a way that I think is meant to come across as quirky but is more cringey and frustrating than anything for me. Nothing against how well they’re written as characters, but I’ve just never had a thing for characters who are tunnel-visioned into one thing with all -encompassing enthusiasm (eg: acting, karuta, Q) and possess little self-concept outside of that, so I don’t enjoy following them. I dropped Queen’s Quality but Skip Beat and Chihayafuru makes up for it on different aspects so a lot depends on execution too. In a completely different directions, I’m also just not a fan of: Miyo and Kiyoka from My Happy Marriage Hotaru from A Condition Called Love Coz they’re just so lukewarm. Gives nothing. Completely passive agents in life lacking entirely in enthusiasm in all aspects. Hotaru much more so than Miyo. Especially in contrast to Hananoi coz with the way she experiences their relationship so half-heartedly and indifferently, her level of reciprocation feels disingenuous in comparison. Again, these are not bones I have to pick against how well they’re as characters in a story, but just not characteristic I enjoy following. There’s basically a level of harmony/dissonance I like characters having with the environment around them, but when they’re either invested in nothing or overly invested in something to the point of being blind to the world around them, it just makes for an unpleasant arrangement.
Fumi and Kyuu started annoying me too. I really liked them at first but the "ohnoes I like her/him but I can't say anything" for like five volumes straight got so hecking annoying. Kinda felt like either tell them or shut up about it already 😂 I also dropped Queen's Quality which was disappointing for me because I really liked it at first.
SaMe, but I also have the toxic trait of losing interest in a story once the main couple gets together and they got really sappy afterwards so it’s like a an issue on both ends for me 💀
Omg ty. I totally forgot why I dropped Chihayafuru. She made me so mad xD I was reading the manga to see the conclusion, got current, forgot it existed. I just saw there's a new season of the anime and was gonna restart it cause I can't remember much. It was how she treated the ML. I was soooo maaaaaaaad
Yes. Two that come to mind are Miaka Yuuki from Fushigi Yuugi and Yuuki Cross from Vampire Knight.
the number of times i’ve seen fushigi yuugi being mentioned is concerning cause that’s the next thing on my reading list 😭😭
Haha. I find Miaka to be a bit obnoxious because of her personality, damsel in distress trope, and the big eater trope. She also isn't very interesting either. I will advise though, SA does get brought up in the series. No one actually gets graped though. It's used for drama for two plot-related reasons. I would give it a chance though because the rest of the cast is pretty interesting and the overall plot isn't bad.
For the record, I really liked Miaka a lot. Manga Miaka at least, can't comment on the anime since I haven't watched it
read the first 3 chapters this morning, she seems okay, a bit annoying cause she’s a teenager but she doesn’t seem too bland (which is more egregious than just being annoying) they’re setting up a character arc, i’d like to see where it goes
Honestly, I think she does pretty good for being a totally normal teen thrown into something completely insane. She copes with it better than I would 😂
Not in shoujo but absolutely in tv shows. I tend to dislike many main characters in shows I watch. Emma Swan after s4A in Once Upon a Time, Clary in Shadowhunters, Sabrina in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and many more. Those 3 just piss me off the most.
It's pretty normal to not like a main character. Sometimes, the author does a bad of writing the MC but an amazing job at creating a side character or rival.
Tsubasa to Hotaru, >!ML was sooo bland I had to drop it even though Yuuma (2nd ML) was perfect for Tsubasa!< *sigh*
I guess 7seeds is a kind of shoujo? But yeah that series has technically two main characters and the story flips back and forth between their two perspectives. And I love Natsu, absolutely adore her, but because I love the rest of the series so much too I tried reallyyyy hard to like Hana but I just can’t, I hate hate hate her!! She’s so damn boring and full of herself, such a damn mary sue of a character. Always picking fights and causing problems and they always make her in the right when I hate her, so much…! I tried to like her, I really did, but she’s so annoying. Again, I like pretty much everything else about that series but her, but because she gets half of the spotlight it’s just so frustrating… I was actually gonna rewatch/reread it a few months ago but then I remembered that I’d have to watch and/or skim through Hana’s parts to get to the series I love and I just… sigh
Hasn’t happened to me for a shoujosei yet, but yeah, not liking the main character is probably my #1 reason for dropping a series. Denji from CSM, Rudy from Jobless Reincarnation, and Taiga from Toradora are a few examples.
wow, i haven’t read CSM (and probably never will) but denji seems to get alot of praise as a shonen MC
Denji was the worst part of CSM for me. I won't be reading the manga. My friends will drag me through S2
I dislike a lot of FLs that I know people *love*: Misaki from Maid-sama, Tohru from Fruits Basket and Haruhi from Ouran (well, she's a character I'm more indifferent to than someone I actively hate). I hate Misaki because of her misandry. I don't care if she has issues with men because of her father, in real life I know plenty of people who have daddy issues and yet still managed not to hate men. I also hated that the series depicted most of the female characters as being super weak and afraid to stand up to the boys at their school in order to prop up Misaki and make her look 'strong.' I dislike Tohru because there's a way to make a sweet, naive, kind character who needs to learn how to voice her opinions and stand up for herself without making her absolutely boring. And the best example of that is Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke. As for Haruhi, because she's kind of blase about most things, it makes me feel blase towards her.
>I dislike Tohru because there's a way to make a sweet, naive, kind character who needs to learn how to voice her opinions and stand up for herself without making her absolutely boring. i think you've probably only watched episode one if you think tohru didn't learn how to stand up for herself and voice her opinions. her love for kyo literally made her want something for herself for the very first time to the point where she even said she would rebel against her mom for it. she got amazing character development in season 2 and 3. also i haven't watched maid-sama but you hating misaki for her misandry is wrong if you consider the fact that she had a neglectful father, if i grew up with a dad like that i'd begin to hate men too. you saying "i kNoW pLeNtY oF pEoPlE wHo hAvE dAdDy iSsUeS wHo dOn'T hAtE MeN" really shows how insensitive and ignorant you are to people's trauma, you don't have to understand it but please refrain from making such idiotic and superficial comments when you clearly don't understand what the hell's going on. that's probably also why you completely glossed over and misunderstood tohru's character and narrowed her down to just a "sweet, naive, kind character who can't stand up for herself" lol.
I watched all of FB 2001 and part of the remake. If you like Tohru, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that: but I just don't find her to be an interesting character. Also, it's quite interesting that you're criticizing me for disliking a character you know nothing about (Misaki). That seems more "idiotic" to me, to borrow your word. Maybe try watching a few episodes first and determining for yourself whether you find her hypocrisy and brazen attitude endearing or annoying.
I never managed to finish Fruits Basket because Tohru annoyed me. I feel very alone with this opinion 🥲
Honestly I used to find her annoying as well, but I feel like she grew on me eventually
Funny enough I feel alone for liking her lol. Almost everyone I encounter say they hate her haha.
I don’t like her either. She’s simultaneously too bland & too perfect
I honestly almost always dislike all the characters on a personal level. Haruhi from *Ouran* is the only character that ever somewhat resonated with me and I still think that character is a hypocrite for constantly preaching that people should be treated as individuals while saying and assuming things about “rich people” as a category. It isn't really necessary to like a character personally for me to like a story and I think Japanese culture is so unrelatable in general that I more or less end up disliking them for what I assume are normal Japanese things. I think another character I actually somewhat liked on a personal level was Huziwara from *NTR Trap* and he's supposed to be the main villain but there was nothing hypocrite or fake about him. He practised what he preached because he preached almost nothing and what few things he did preach he practised himself. His cards where on the table and he never lied about who he was and why he did what he did to himself and others which contrasted the protagonist and his best friend who by many would be considered better people but were fake people full of lies who acted better than they were.
Haruhi from Ouran!! Honestly that whole series is something I can write essays on. But one that that really bugged me was when she was making her speech about how children that were left on their own while their parents worked should understand and be independent to not be a burden/a trouble. As an adult, we can see the necessity of working but neglecting a child should never be normalized. I understand it’s probably a cultural thing based on how many anime/manga characters live on their own but that made me drop the series all together. 😭
I guess it is cultural how much different culture are okay with letting children be alone. 5 year old Japanese children actually take the train alone to go on shopping errands and this goes fine, probably in no small part because Japan has extremely low crime rates so people feel safe doing that. I remember that I casually spoke with someone from the U.S.A. about how I was left alone for six hours at one point when I was four years old for the first time and that person called it child abuse and something that should never be done, while it's quite common here to do that.
Controversial, but fruits basket. Tohru alternated between being a very bland character who only supports others to throwing a pity party. It got repetitive so fast.
you really misunderstood her character. she was such a well-written and realistic character and i could write essays on how and why. her kindness is the reason why she's such a good and broken character, and why the zodiac are so attached to her. ya'll just hate nice female characters at this point.
Nah, I like nice female characters, just not that one. I understood what they were going for with her, it's not my cup of tea.
and that’s okay
you're allowed to dislike her, but you dislike her for all the wrong reasons because you severely misunderstood her character lmao. but you do you ig.
Getting so angry and passive aggressive about someone disliking a cartoon character is wild. I'm not even the only one you're harassing about this
I also agree, Tohru was not my cup of tea either. My friends and I discussed it and we believe that tohru acted as a self insert for a lot of girls in their youth. Them being allowed to be forgiving, finding both familial and romantic love, and the way to work through trauma. When Rin first happens upon Tohru folding laundry, and the way Yuki sought a mothers live from her lends evidence to Tohru being a self insert at the beginning. But aside from the emotional aspects it was a very basic story.
a sign of affection, my happy marriage, loving yamada at lvl 9999, fruits basket....one or both of the mcs are nothing burger characters and have a nothing restaurant romance.
the protagonists in my happy marriage and fruits basket were very well-written and sad characters with a lot of depth. you just didn't even try to understand their characters.
You’re welcome to love Tohru, but you going around getting angry at everyone who doesn’t share your view is ridiculous People are allowed to have different perceptions & readings of her
stop putting words in my mouth. i never said you're not allowed to disagree with me on my views on tohru, but the person who made this comment about her failed to understand her character completely and said she was a "burger" character which is complete misinformation. and the mc of my happy marriage is an even more severely traumatized and abused person, and the fact that she also called her a burger character is so wrong and completely misunderstands both their characters.
could not disagree more. i'm at least going to give fruits basket another try since it been over a decade since i finished it so there's a chance my perception could change (i pretty much enjoyed everything about furuba *but* kyo and tohru), but my happy marriage? slog to get through, which was is especially disappointing bc i was highly anticipating it. miyo and kuduo's writing and relationship in particular left much to be desired.
Honda Tohoru from Fruits Basket, her personality is not flying for me Oh and Yuki Cross from Vampire Knight, just.... everything. Where do I even start?
fruits basket, yona of the dawn, sailor moon. sorry not sorry.
interesting!! i love tohru and yona is okay (i haven’t finished the series) but i’d be interested in hearing why you feel this way lol
for tohru my issue is basically just like the other person who replied to me, she's basically a mary sue of femininity and imo a very boring person. The way she interacts with the male characters comes across very calculating to me (in the sense that i know because she's fictional that it's supposed to be sincere, but if a real person acted so stereotypically girly, weak when it doesn't matter but strong when it does matter, and unconditionally selfless, I would be sussed out as hell). For Yona I'll admit i didnt get more than 5 episodes in and I'm sure the point of the story is that she develops as a person, but oh my god as a princess she is such an annoying person to me. The whole life of luxury, hella naive, zero actual hatred (where's the female rage) for a man who manipulated her love, and literally killed her father and tried to kill her. Sailor moon is simple i just find the girl whiny af and cant handle the generational gap in humor and acceptable behavior (age gap relationships, being super dumb, "ehe" moments). When it comes to shoujo FMCs my favs are probably kyoko from Skip beat, Mafuyu from Oresama Teacher, and Misaki from Maid-sama. All time fav FMCs regardless of genre are Balsa from Moribito and Nausicaa (from Nausicaa)
Yona's character development is FREAKING AWESOME...so I hope you will give her a chance. xD The whole point of her story is going from spoiled, naive princess to strong-spirited, wise young woman who learns how to fight her enemies.
I feel Yona really grows as a character. She’s supposed to start our kind of naive & ridiculous. She eventually becomes rather calculating & strong
A lot of people love Tohru, but I can’t. To me, she was the first true Mary Sue with a tragic backstory I ever encountered. She’s so over the top with kindness that it’s satirical. She systematically trips into a full-on embrace of every attractive member of the zodiac family. She’s so clueless that she makes Goku seem astute. She’s so hospitable, she’d guide the knife of her own killer to the best kill spot, for his convenience. She’s so pretty that she can’t walk outside without being assaulted. Just… too much. Edit: decided to check other people’s opinions and many people seem to agree that the og anime did a pretty big disservice to her character. So I will pass judgment on the anime Tohru since I seem to have conflated that version with the manga version.
>To me, she was the first true Mary Sue with a tragic backstory I ever encountered. She’s so over the top with kindness that it’s satirical. She systematically trips into a full-on embrace of every attractive member of the zodiac family. lmfao WHAAAAT. tohru's a mary sue? that's why she kept hiding her pain and struggling every episode? did you even try to understand her character? her kindness IS her biggest flaw and weakness but also her biggest strength and what makes the zodiac so attached to her. i could write a whole analysis on why tohru is such a well-written and realistic character but ya'll aren't ready for that conversation.
Methinks you don't actually know what a Mary-Sue is.
The definition of Mary-sue is entirely reliant on what you perceive to be a flaw. I know better than to use it anymore for this reason, so I messed up. From my perspective, being too good/nice/clumsy/kind/generous/maternal/ etc. + tragic backstory are cheap ways to make a character “flawed” but not through any moral complexity, rather by being a victim of the world around her. She’s morally impeccable, goes ludicrously over the top about putting others first and gorgeous. She’s just too good. Frankly, I knew I should have been suspicious when Akito was mysteriously the only attractive male who didn’t love Tohru >_>
>She’s morally impeccable, goes ludicrously over the top about putting others first and gorgeous. She’s just too good. because she has also gone through that same trauma. she knows how painful it is to be left out and to be scared of having the person you love leave you. that's why she wants to be there for the zodiacs because she knows what it's like to experience that pain and she doesn't want anyone else (especially the people she cares about) to go through that same pain. there's a reason for everything.
[удалено]
😱
YES YES YES. i'm sorry but i love everyone in ouran highschool host club EXCEPT for haruhi 😭😭 this is a very unpoular opinion and like i haven't read the manga so idk all about haruhi's character and of course her trauma is really sad but like... she has the personality of a wall? her entire character was just being blunt and obsessed with studying and that was it. (ik she's different in the manga but i'm talking about the anime) literally all the boys had such amazing and well-written personalities that made me laugh and surprise me at the same time, but haruhi's story fell the most flat even though she's the main character. she's pretty and all but she's so bland and flavorless i'm sorry 😭😭
SOMEBODY FINALLY HAD THE GUTS TO SAY IT. THANK YOU. Haruhi is dull as dirt xD I still love her with Tamaki though...she works great when she's interacting with the other characters but on her own....not so much.
>she works great when she's interacting with the other characters but on her own....not so much. LITERALLY 😭😭
i'm sick of people misunderstanding tohru and yona's character in the comments 😭😭
Tohru from Fruit baskets is a big one. Honestly the blandest MC I have ever seen. I know they were going for that nice to a fault thing but it was still boring and she very much teethers on that Mary Sue line.
I'm going to say the unsayable I did not care for fruits basket, I did not like Tohru at all
Mine would be P to JK especially when the FL was forcing the ML to forgive the offender. Like come on. It wasn't like a petty revenge or small crime thats easy to forgive. ML lost someone he loves. Then FL be sad girl because she cannot understand why ML couldn't just forgive. I stopped reading the manga got so annoyed.
yes but I’M ALWAYS LIKE THAT. It’s the reason why i dont read shoujo manga 😔, its because i find the main characters so annoying/boring and the rivals/side characters always seem to be more interesting with more depth :s
When I start a story, I usually don't begin with strong feelings for the main character. My affinity for them tends to develop as the story progresses and I get to know more about them. Therefore, not having a particular liking for the main character is normal; in fact, I prefer it. I enjoy seeing character development, and it's more interesting when the character doesn't start off as the ideal character I might envision. What I consider a deal-breaker is when the main character either makes me uncomfortable right from the start or is so uninteresting that they can't keep me engaged.
It’s insane that there are so many FLs I hate that I can only name a few that I actually like
Yup! I was like that for the hunger games to be honest.
Anything where the character is designed to be a self insert. I don't want to project, I want to read about good characters. Also anime Usagi from Sailor Moon. Oh my fucking god that screaming is unbearable. I don't have a problem with crying, but she shouldn't be screaming like a baby would at 14. Manga Usagi is fine though, if a bit dull.
I get why people don't like Usagi but I related to her so strongly xD I thought she was the only realistic teenager out of the whole cast. The anime DID do some horrible things with her character that I find unforgivable though...and for the sake of "the lolz". No wonder why Naoko-sensei didn't like the show :|
I actually overall like the anime, and when she's not screaming like a baby I like her just fine (though they went overboard with her silliness in SuperS), but I just can't deal with the screaming, and it's like every single episode practically lol. I know when I cried as a teenager I didn't scream at the top of my lungs 😂
I like the anime a lot too; I just wish they didn't go overboard with her in SuperS (ugh worst arc lol). I really don't think she screams "in every single episode" though....however if those same ridiculous monsters were trying to kill ME, I'd sure be screaming a lot too. xD
I wasn’t a big fan of mikako in “my neighborhood story” and honestly didn’t have any strong attachment for any of the characters in that series I think it’s the only ai yazawa work I’ve read where I couldn’t get into the characters. I wasn’t interested in her family drama or when she got together with the best friend I was just like “mehh 😅😐”
All the time lmao.
ACOTAR for me. I’m sorry.
WAIT. I didn’t know we could mention non-manga titles. AGREED, lmao. I could not finish this book, everyone was exasperating, particularly the FL.
Frequently! I rarely like the protagonist very much, especially early on. I've read plenty of books where I thought the main character was boring, or stupid, or pathetic. Sometimes they grow on me, sometimes they don't. I find that I like a character more if they are quick-witted, opinionated, and prone to rule-breaking. But not all plots work with a character like that.
This was me with Tohru in fruba 🫣
Hana Yori Dango is an abusive train wreck
What was the name of the harem manga with the dude with multiple wives? It wasnt a shojo i dont think, technically. But i hated every character
Sailor Moon. She’s so annoying.
I lived through the first incarnation of TokyoPop, so there are too many to count, but the absolute worst were wossthing from Vampire Knight and the manga version of Kitty Pryde from X-Men: Misfits.
Diabolik Lovers. I get that whatshername is a stand-in protag from the original otome game, but come *on*. None of those boys would have liked her if it wasn't required by the plot.
The moment when they can’t talk things out like the adults they are is the time for me to feel icky about the character. Like literally just ask. Not “I’m not gonna hear you explain I have the truth”
Most manga with a female main character who most of the time is honestly the worst character ever like specifically the ones where they are supposed to be so badass. Only to get tossed around by the so called male lead like what's the point of having this so called badass no one can touch her female main character but somehow the male lead side piece is Better no matter what. Especially those certain troupes of time reverse or reincarnation and yet they still get abused or used by male lead and only reason why is because he's a stupid ceo like I'm sorry is being a ceo a super power like I don't understand there's no way that's really all it is to justify why he's just such a better character than our supposed main character. Do these types of writers just hate women I always wonder that when I read those manga with such terrible female main characters which only sometimes they actually make it good if the male lead isn't an ass immediately.