The world of anime is full of variety, with characters showing different levels of complexity and nuances in their everyday behavioral pattern or personality. This, in turn, governs the fandom’s judgment of a character, which is how fans end up liking a character too much or hating another one in equal measure.
Although many anime characters who face the wrath of the fanbase are often the primary or secondary antagonists of the show, some of them get on the fans’ nerves for just being themselves, as in the case of Sakura Haruno from Naruto. times, their dislike for one character makes complete sense, for example, Akito Shoma from Fruits Basket or Muzan Kibutsuji from Demon Slayer.
As a result, just how the good, grey, and popular characters are necessary for a series to flourish, the existence of bad or, by extension, the most hated characters are necessary to bring a balance.
Mahito, Orihime, and three other anime characters fans absolutely dislike
Danzō Shimura (Naruto)
Unsurprisingly, this is a character hated by all, liked by none. Under the humble guise of being the leader of Roots, the organization that swore to protect the Hidden Leaf Village, Danzō devised many extremist plans that could be termed as evil. An ambitious man by nature who hoped to be the next Hokage, he hardly showed any remorse when ordering to assassinate shinobis whom he knew, such as the Third Hokage Hiruzen.
Some of his other immoral actions include stigmatizing the Uchiha clan from the rest of Konohagakure, treating his subordinates as expendable pawns, making Itcahi annihilate his clan with the exception of Sasuke, etc. Moreover, for a person who arbitrarily believed in the sacrifice of the shinobis for the greater good of the village, he feared his own death. However, by the time he conquered his fear of death, Danzō was ultimately killed at the hands of Sasuke Uchiha.
Orihime Inoue (Bleach)
Orihime Inoue’s biggest flaw is that she’s too good, yet she ends up sharing a fate much like Sakura Haruno from Naruto from the fandom perspective. For starters, she is one of the most important characters from Bleach but is often seen relying on Ichigo or others to save her. Besides, fans contest that even though she has been instrumental in bringing home some victories alongside the main team, she ends up being a useless character. Her constant yelling of “Ichigo!” or “Kurosaki-san” also doesn’t help her case.
On the other hand, Orihime is perceived as an obstacle to the romantic union of Ichigo and Rukia, who share brilliant on-screen chemistry. However, the ardent shippers of IchiRuki (Ichigo x Rukia) tend to forget that the series never intended to create a love triangle, and the main protagonist’s choice of romantic partner holds gravity in the fact that Orihime helped him, both emotionally and physically. Yet, she faces the wrath of many Bleach fans for something that she doesn’t have control of and for a power that shows her empathetic nature and team-player attitude.
Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Like Danzō, the fandom’s hatred for Shou Tucker is justifiable. Although he comes off as someone kind and amiable, his selfish, ambitious, and delusional nature leads him to sacrifice his wife and daughter. He later even tried to validate his atrocities by stating that the transformation of the “test subjects” into chimeras was necessary for the advancement of science.
Moreover, similar to Danzō, Shou hardly showed any empathy, nor did he ever try to understand others’ perspectives. He continued asserting his intellectual dominance and, by extension, presenting himself as a victim of a socio-financial situation.
Minoru Mineta (My Hero Academia)
Perverts don’t hold a strong ground when it comes to receiving fandom’s judgment, and Minoru just happens to be one. While many fans question the relevance of his character in the My Hero Academia-verse, his comic relief status sometimes fails to bring the much-needed laughter to diffuse an otherwise tense situation. For example, him groping Tsuyu during the U.S.J Attack, being creepy with Momo, eavesdropping on his female classmates’ bath time during the Training Camp arc, etc.
Suffice to say, his disrespectful moves with his female peers are not appreciated by the audience. But he also has some redeemable qualities, which came to the forefront in the recent arcs. While fans’ hatred for him has subdued comparatively, it is not completely diminished, which is why Minoru continues to be one of the most hated Heroes in My Hero Academia.
Mahito (Jujutsu Kaisen)
As one of the major antagonists, Mahito’s motivations to commit atrocities are primarily driven by his sadistic nature. But if one were to question his position as a villain, the answer is rather straightforward, for he exists for the sake of evil without having any meaningful background or revenge story.
Mahito is cold, manipulative, and ruthless, as shown in his killings of Junpei, Nanami, and Nobara, although the latter’s death is yet to be confirmed in the manga. He was born out of humanity’s hatred for each other and wants to annihilate humans out of existence. While many viewers of Jujutsu Kaisen would agree that Mahito is one of best-written villains in the story, the justification for fandom’s hate for this character is as simple as his existence. He has no redeeming qualities and thus belongs to the same category as Danzō Shimura.
Bonus: Gabi Braun (Attack on Titan)
The list would have been incomplete without the mention of Gabi Braun, whose crime has been to shoot Sasha Blouse. The latter is one of the favorite characters in the series, which is why her death at the hands of Gabi was unacceptable for fans. It even got to the point that fans started threatening her voice actor. Additionally, Gabi’s arrogance, her initial hate towards Eldians despite being one herself, and her rudeness often tend to rub fans the wrong way. She gets her redeeming arc later on, but like Minoru Mineta, her hatred seems to be a persistent issue among fans.
