Mugi, Chiya, Kanbaru, Sayaka… do we need “certified unpopular” characters in anime?

One of the characteristics of a character that can easily be identified as unpopular is a character that floats in the works.
In that case, it is difficult to be popular even if there are no unpopular attributes.

For example, “K-On! This also applies to Mugi in
Compared to the other four main characters, Mugi, the young lady character, has a distinctly different personality and setting.
On top of that, she had the unpopular attributes of “thick eyebrows” and “calmness”, which made her less popular at the time of the show.

The same can be said for Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
She is the only one of the five main characters who is in love with the opposite sex, and is a life-sized junior high school girl who is alone in her troubled state of mind and sometimes shows a piercing attitude.
Because she doesn’t have the age-appropriate mastery characteristic of the anime, she seems even more buoyant.

For fans who are immersed in the work, the characters that are floating in the work may be a hindrance, if not a hindrance, then it is hard to get to know them.

However, if there is no Mugi in After School Tea Time, we would have two groups of relatively similar characters, the brainy and moody Yui and Ritsu, and the serious and firm Mio and Azusa.
Then, I can’t get rid of the overall impression of the series.
By adding Mugi who does not belong to either of the two groups and does not have the same image no matter which character he or she is involved with, a contrast is created between the characters.

Also, in a daily life anime, it is easy to be unpopular if there is only one noisy character, but their presence brightens the color of the work as a whole and improves the tempo.
The opposite is true for the Onmyou-kei, where a character who speaks at a slow pace makes the work as a whole lean towards calmness.
Both of these characters tend to float in the middle of a work, but in many cases, they are actually the ones who steer the direction of the work.

To put it bluntly, it’s easy to say that the characters who were responsible for setting the tone of the work are the ones who fall out of favor.
But without those characters, the color of the work would be completely different.
In that sense, unpopular characters are never unnecessary.

Characters who have bounced back from unpopularity

出典 : Amazon.co.jp

Popularity is not something you can aim for, no matter how good a creator is, and it’s the same with character popularity.
It’s not just a matter of having popular attributes such as long black hair or big tits, and the opposite is true as well.
In fact, there are many characters who became popular despite having unpopular attributes.

One of the most unpopular attributes is the eyeglass character, and the character with glasses is no exception.
Takara Miyuki from “Lucky Star” is one of the most popular characters in the series, even though she wears glasses.
Anri Sonohara of “Durarara! s Anri Sonohara is also one of the most popular female characters in the series.

Hairstyle with a forehead showing is also a typical example of an unpopular attribute, but in recent years this impression has faded somewhat with the success of “Teasingly Good Mr. Takagi”, in which the author has an uncanny obsession with the forehead.
Also, with the popularity of brown-skinned heroines such as “Tease me, Nagatoro-san”, it seems that the trend is changing.

There are rare cases where a character who was originally unpopular has gradually gained popularity.
Sakura Magiri from “Fate/stay night” finished 6th in the first round of popularity voting and was regarded as an unpopular heroine at the time, but she rose to the 5th place in the second round of voting.
Furthermore, she was ranked 8th in the TYPE-MOON 10th anniversary all-character popularity poll (4th among Fate/stay night characters), and the movie version of her route, “Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel]” was a huge hit, and she is now one of the most popular characters in the world.

Among the male characters, Hisashi Mitsui from “Slam Dunk” is at the top of the list.
In the beginning, he was unpopular because he was a villain who was determined to destroy the basketball club, but after he joined the basketball club, he became one of the most popular characters in the series.

On the other hand, depending on the trends of the times, there have been cruel cases where he has fallen from the top spot.
Mahiru Iha of “WORKING! was voted number one by the author Takatsu Carino on his webpage prior to the anime adaptation, but by the latter half of the anime, when the violent heroine became disliked, she had settled down to about the same position as Popura and Yamada among the female characters.
Tendo Akane, the main heroine of Ranma 1/2, was also the most popular character among the women when the anime aired, but she lagged behind Shampoo in the 2019 All-Rumikku Anime Big Poll.

Popularity can fluctuate on a whim.
It’s not impossible for a character who is certified unpopular to become popular at some point.

Summary

The unpopularity certification is often done with a sense of teasing, and it’s likely to have a strong storytelling connotation.
But for those who like the character, it’s not a very interesting story.
Even if it’s really unpopular, if the character is contributing to the work, there’s certainly a reason for their existence, so you should shout out loud that you like the character without any shame whatsoever!