Anime is populated with so many different characters but they generally tend to come down to a few specific types of archetypes, especially within certain genres. These types of characters can be pretty varied even within the archetype since it’s the context and the story itself that can really make or break them. I found that for many years, I had latched onto a particular character as “the most annoying character” which is the challenge of the day in the form of C-Ko from Project A-Ko. But after rewatching that movie recently, with someone who has had mild exposure to anime overall, that she wasn’t anywhere near as annoying as I remember. That surprised me a whole lot because up until then, she was always my off the cuff answer to this kind of question and you had near-universal acceptance and understanding of it. Everyone has different most annoying characters, but C-Ko kind of stands above them all in a way.
So where does that leave me now?
It’s not so much a character, but a type, and even then it can be tolerable in certain series. Typically, it’s the younger character in a series, or a younger looking character who just hasn’t quite hit that age of mild maturity yet. When you have a show filled with high school kids but one still feels like they’re straddling the line of middle school and elementary school with their personalities and child-like behavior, you want to slap them. They’re the outgoing, angry, overexcited types that just drain the drama and emotion out of the room when they arrive as they’re often little more than a spoiler to the events or relationship that’s about to potentially happen.
Sometimes they can be done right, with the most recent example for me being Astarotte in Lotte no Omocha. While she’s the young character, a princess at that, who has an outgoing personality, the show works her in a way where she doesn’t have the traits that come across poorly. Partially because it’s not a harem style show where these characters are more prevalent. But that show feels like a real exception to the rule for me. When you bring in a character that’s tinier than everyone else, acts like a spoiled brat and basically stomps her feet around when she doesn’t get what she wants, it’s the epitome of an annoying character.
In looking around at what others consider annoying, they’re things I can understand but don’t agree on, largely because I suspect I didn’t marathon these things in huge doses but spread it out. Sakura from Naruto is an easy shot. Orihime from Bleach another. Misa from Death Note? Nah, she’s got a very specific purpose there. Haruhi? Yeah, I can get that. But when you’re dealing with the big name characters, you’re always going to draw some ire. The only one I came across in my searches to see what else was out there that I agree with, it ended up being essentially what I wrote about here. Nagi from Hayate the Combat Butler. Because of her, even though she’s a key character, I couldn’t enjoy that series. I could get into all the other characters for the most part, but her continued presence, personality and antics ruined it for me, making her a truly annoying character. She’s the type that just does a show in for me when they’re on screen.
