Japanese anime characters lead all sorts of lives, ranging from 9-5 office jobs to fighting supernatural monsters on the streets to going on isekai adventures or fighting in turf wars. Usually, anime protagonists have exciting, colorful lives packed with action, noise and adventure, and some heroes love it, such as Naruto Uzumaki. Introverts, however, beg to differ.
The quiet life is boring for adventurtous troublemakers, but it's perfect for anime characters who prefer a stable, low-stress environment and routine. For these characters, waking up in a quiet house is bliss, and going to an ordinary job to make decent money is all the adventure they need. Some of these characters actually do have loud or exciting lives, but given the choice, they'd rather blend into the background and leave the chaos and noise behind for good.
10 Hirotaka Nifuji Saves The Adventures For Video Games
Wotakoi
The suit-wearing Hirotaka Nifuji from Wotakoi works at a fairly ordinary Japanese office alongside his childhood friend Narumi Momose and their mutual friends Taro and Hanako, though not all of them enjoy the paperwork. Hirotaka, though, is perfectly happy to be just another Japanese guy in a suit who doesn't stand out.
Hirotaka feels differently about games, though. While his real life is stable and peaceful, he is a hardcore gamer who can dominate the competition in any MMORPG, fighting game, or first-person shooter. His idea of an exciting isekai adventure is buying the newest JRPG title and taking it for a spin.
9 Iruma Suzuki Doesn't Want Any Trouble
Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!
Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!'s young isekai protagonist Iruma Suzuki is having the adventure of a lifetime down the Netherworld – the realm of demons – and it's just one zany adventure after another. Funnily enough, Iruma doesn't like this adventurous lifestyle. He's not here to fight or prove much of anything about himself.
Given the choice, Iruma would stay in the Netherworld and attend Babyls, but he'd much rather keep out of the spotlight and never fight anyone. Ideally, Iruma would just live a peaceful life with his foster grandfather, attend class, make a few friends, and stay out of trouble.
8 Koji Koda Is Not A Flashy Hero
My Hero Academia
On one hand, the class 1-A sudent Koji Koda understands that as a trainee hero, he has left mainstream society behind to be a costumed crime fighter, and there's no going back. Still, this huge, gentle kuudere boy would rather avoid the violence and help society in other ways in My Hero Academia.
Koji's personality and Anivoice Quirk make him ideal for working with animals, meaning he could, and likely wants to, be a support hero who never fights villains. Koji may become a souped-up park ranger and animal handler, while living a quiet, reclusive life in a cabin in the woods.
7 Yor Forger Loves Her Family More Than Her Careers
Spy X Family
Spy x Family's Yor Briar, now Yor Forger, is three things in one, but she only loves one of them. In mainstream Ostanian society, Yor is a clerk at city hall, but she is also the Thorn Princess, an elite assassin who will kill anyone under orders. But most of all, Yor is a foster mother and wife in the Forger household.
In light of becoming a mom, Yor is questioning her career as an assassin. She can use her skills to defend Anya from harm, but otherwise, she questions if it's worth it. Yor now identifies most strongly as a foster mother, and given the chance, she'd give up everything else to be an ordinary wife and mother to find true happiness.
6 Ken Kaneki Never Asked For This
Tokyo Ghoul
The bookish dandere Ken Kaneki never meant to become a ghoul in Tokyo Ghoul. For a time, he tried to deny his half-ghoul nature and act like nothing was wrong. After experiencing torture and violence, Ken embraced his true nature, but deep down, he still yearns for the life he lost.
Ken was a perfectly ordinary college student, and he would give it all up to return to that quiet, ordinary lifestyle where Dr. Kano and Aogiri Tree can't hurt him. It's a pretty routine and slightly dull lifestyle, but Ken is perfectly content with that. It's better than ghoulish hunger, at least.
5 Miku Nakano Doesn't Like Chaos & Conflict
The Quintessential Quintuplets
The bashful Miku Nakano is the #3 quintuplet in The Quintessential Quintuplets. Unlike her deredere sister Yotsuba or the headstrong Nino, Miku is a soft-spoken girl who has trouble speaking her mind as a true dandere. Miku's heart burns with passion for her tutor Futaro Uesugi, but she'd much rather not fight her sisters over him.
Miku wants everyone to get along and avoid conflict if it can be helped. Ideally, Miku's love interest Futaro would immediately but diplomatically choose her over the other four, then move into a nice apartment with her and live an ordinary, quiet life.
4 Ichigo Kurosaki Isn't Trying To Become Hokage
Bleach
Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki is a classic big three hero alongside Naruto Uzumaki and Monkey D. Luffy, but his goals and lifestyle choices are very different from theirs. Naruto wants to stand in the spotlight as Hokage and Luffy loves making a scene, but the tsundere Ichigo can't stand it.
Aside from his latent spirit powers, Ichigo is an ordinary fellow who prefers his normal, stable lifestyle in Karakura Town, and he will only go on adventures to protect his friends. After his final victory, Ichigo didn't become Hokage or pirate king. Instead, he settled down as a humble family man, and he was very happy that way.
3 Soichiro Yagami Didn't Sign Up For Supernatural Adventures
Death Note
The suit-wearing police officer Soichiro Yagami is a man whose outward appearance reflects his personality and lifestyle in Death Note. He is a stickler for the rules and doesn't like chaos, and he definitely doesn't like it when people make up their own rules or harm others.
Soichiro keeps himself pretty grounded, and he would be happiest living in a stable, logical world where peace and sensibility rule the day. The Kira case, with magical notebooks and Shinigami, isn't what he signed up for.
2 Naoto Hachiohji Is Comfortable With Being Boring
Don't Toy With Me, Ms. Nagatoro!
The high school student Naoto Hachioji lives a pretty boring life in Don't Toy With Me, Ms. Nagatoro!, but he likes it that way. Naofo would be terrified and miserable if he became an isekai protagonist, for example, and he'd be overwhelmed by all the noise, action and monsters that would entail.
Naoto prefers the quiet life, attending a perfectly ordinary school while also working on his art sketches in comfortable solitude in the art club's room. He'd rather not be interrupted in there, but by now, he has come to embrace Hayase Nagatoro as an odd but true friend. Hayase's other friends are a real headache, though.
1 Yuki Sohma Wants An Ordinary, Quiet Life With Machi
Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket's Yuki Sohma is supposed to be the zodiac's favored animal, the Rat, but in reality, Yuki's life in the Sohma compound was miserable. He was forced into seclusion, and now, he is fighting back against Akito and often clashes with Kyo or even Hatsuharu at times – he doesn't like any of this.
Yuki desired to be free of this zodiac curse and pursue an ordinary life as a typical teenage boy. Eventually, he got his wish. Now he is a perfectly normal young man who is happy with his quiet but charming girlfriend Machi – free to build their quiet life together on their own terms.