There seems to be quite an irregularity in the correlation between age and intelligence when it comes to anime characters – most of them being quite idiotic by nature, albeit the remaining 1% are the opposite.
Regardless of their age, the greatest majority of characters in anime series will be of the sort who view themselves as something far off from what they truly are – which in other words means they are delusional. Aliens, heroes, warriors, and dark knights of whatever, account for the largest slice of the second dimensional populace – perhaps intending to reflect the reality of those many who admire them, senile, creepy, and lost in the world. These characters take the most expansive range of years – essentially encompassing anything from childhood to later teen years.
The second dominant force is yet another sector of stupidity in the 2-D world – although this one having much less pizzazz to go with it. The generic loser characters, very well exemplified by the leading male protagonist of Sword Art Online, account for the next largest grouping of anime characters – and these fools are usually first or second year of highschool at most. They find any reason to brood and complain – yet when the plot requires someone to save the day, they become ultra invincible and get the job done by employing no skills or talent.
Whilst one could go further down the list from there, it’s more fascinating to focus on the few special exceptions – such as Steins;Gate’s lovable male lead, the internationally recognized mad-scientist, Hououin Kyouma. Despite being merely a year or two older than his peers, he’s infinitely superior in respect to knowledge, bravery, and any given trait of righteousness or prosperity.
Incidentally, his series is also a legion of its own – introducing the question of whether such characters who prosper in intellect also serve to propel their series to new heights.
Madoka Magica’s busty mahou shoujo, Mami, has a bit of arrogance as well as a sharp attitude – although given her age, that’s to be expected. On the other hand, her age doesn’t account for her legitimate desires of goodwill – which is fairly intriguing as well. On a side-note, it goes without saying that Madoka Magica is quite a revolution – and this further acts in favor of proving that characters who actually posses a trait of intellect manage to place their series on the same field of play.
Likewise, it’s not a tough challenge to see why the garbage is all stacked together either.
Oct 29, 2012 @ 17:58 CDT
Okabe isn’t stupid. He’s just an insane mad scientist.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 0:27 CDT
Same with kuroneko, who is just kind of an oddball, and Mami, who somehow managed to die in less than an hour of footage.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 5:44 CDT
umm, unless you guys actually read the entire article, you would see that mami and okabe were labeled as those ones with intellect and were only included to prove that their respective shows are better because they are one of those
Oct 29, 2012 @ 19:21 CDT
L, Light, and Lelouch: Okabe Rintaro, welcome to the SPA or the Smart People in Anime club !
Oct 29, 2012 @ 20:45 CDT
Well, unlike most series a couple years ago, most anime released this year doesn’t require them to have proper common sense/intelligence.
Oct 29, 2012 @ 20:51 CDT
and that’s why most anime of today are inferior to those in the last one or two decades
Oct 29, 2012 @ 21:03 CDT
Err what’s the of use of “decade” in your sentence? 10 years ago or 2000 – 2009, 1990 – 1999 and such.
As I believe if it’s the first one; you wouldn’t need to go back 10 years, as ’07 and 08′ would probably suffice.
Oct 29, 2012 @ 21:28 CDT
the latter, as many anime’s in the 1990′s like GTO, KnockOut, Samurai X, Hunter X Hunter, YuYu hakusho, Slam Dunk, etc, are better than most anime today, in story and even animation, and those in 2000-2009 the examples are Clannad, FMP, FMA, TTGL, Death Note, Code Geass so yeah
Oct 29, 2012 @ 21:43 CDT
Quite depressing too, unlike the past decade, where anime got better and better as years passed by. In this decade it seems, after 2010, things started going south and well, fanservice started overpowering plot. But I still have hope, I mean it just started, after all.
Note: Seems like our taste in anime is quite similar.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 6:18 CDT
quite depressing indeed, it seems today, mostly, they’re just happy to make something as long as it sells,
Oct 30, 2012 @ 4:39 CDT
I am not sure the SAO male is the best example of a useless lead since he is quite in the grey area as actually manages to get a real GF and succeed at anything he decides to do.
On the other hand you would find guys like the lead of Asu no Yoichi which almost intentionally seem to ignore the feelings of the opposite gender and the plot is mostly sustained by them remaining ignorant fools.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 7:45 CDT
“I am not sure the SAO male is the best example of a useless lead since he is quite in the grey area as actually manages to get a real GF and succeed at anything he decides to do.”
i’ll answer you from a quote
” and these fools are usually first or second year of highschool at most. They find any reason to brood and complain – yet when the plot requires someone to save the day, they become ultra invincible and get the job done by employing no skills or talent..”
Kirito is the very example of generic, as said in this article, he and other characters are usually invincible when the plot requires it, gathering some sort of powerup out of nowhere, although kirito is a special case as he is the one most standing out in that he also lacks common sense, along with others in SAO
Oct 30, 2012 @ 16:10 CDT
I’ve noticed over time, there are two functions of stupid characters in so many shows:
1. To make an even dumber plot or storyline come together. You want a show about a boy who tranforms into a girl, then is forced to do humiliating things like join a beauty pageant? Well he better not be too smart, otherwise he will try to get to the bottom of what is going on here instead of participating in gender bending fan service. (Yes Kampfer I am talking about you).
2. To appeal to the many geeky fans out there that do not identify with the heroic, better than the average persona character. I am thinking of oh so many wimpy guys in harem comedies here. Nerdy fans are not going to relate to a stud as the center of affection…that will just remind us what we can’t achieve, so why bother watching? But anime writers, can we at least make these losers a little smarter? There has to be some appeal for the loser to be likeable…I don’t have enough imagination to get how a physically weak, cowardly, unambitious, perverted, unattractive young male would have several beautiful women fighting over him.
Oct 31, 2012 @ 5:04 CDT
You are correct – I concur on your points. The vast majority is stupid, therefore they find appeal in stupidity.