In the wide world of anime, some of the most exciting moments may be when a character appears for the first time. Often, the most popular characters will positively burst onto the scene in flamboyant style, emphasizing their unique traits, worldview, and personality along the way. But do they always pull it off?
Viewers can get a strong first impression when an anime character makes a dramatic, impactful, and sudden entrance— but sometimes, anime characters have surprisingly mundane or forgettable debut moments on-screen. Given how exciting and memorable these characters proved to be later on, it becomes clear that they needed better debuts.
10 Light Yagami, The Self-Proclaimed Savior (Death Note)
Light Yagami was a brilliant but bored high schooler, and his disgust with the current state of the world was the first impression he made. He was first seen looking out the window of his high school in despair when he happened to see the notebook, but that's a rather underwhelming way to introduce him.
Light is also charismatic and incredibly good at school, so he may have made a stronger impression by first appearing while acing a test, tutoring his classmates, or even sweet-talking a bully into leaving him alone. The series should've shown him using that brain right off the bat.
9 Mr. Yoshimura, The Gentle Ghoul (Tokyo Ghoul)
Mr. Yoshimura is among the most powerful ghouls of all, once being known as the Owl and defying the CCG at every turn. He now seeks peace and reconciliation with the human world, and runs Anteiku as a neutral meeting ground between humans and ghouls.
Mr. Yoshimura is a warrior in a garden; that is, he is powerful but prefers peace and artful pursuits. Perhaps this duality would have been clearer, and more exciting, if Mr. Yoshimura were first seen saving Ken from ghouls with a gentle expression on his face.
8 Maki Oze, The Fire Soldier (Fire Force)
Many anime characters are introduced simply by talking, when instead they could be doing something that's typical of their character. Maki Oze of company 8 is an example of that. Her introduction was forgettable, merely seeing Shinra Kusakabe when he arrived and then commenting on him in the shower to Iris.
Maki Oze is friendly but tough, and she can easily spar with any rookie fire soldier and whip them into shape. She did do that, but it was in her second appearance. Maki ought to have done that as her first appearance instead, and make an even stronger first impression that way.
7 Megumin, The Explosion Witch (Konosuba)
This is another character who introduced themselves with mere chit-chat, rather than bursting onto the scene by doing what they do best. Megumin is a specialist in explosion magic, and she made her pitch to Kazuma Saito and Aqua the goddess right there in the adventurer hall. She doesn't really have a way with words, though.
Megumin was a bit desperate to find an adventuring party to back her up, and she would have wowed viewers and Kazuma alike by saving Kazuma and Aqua from danger with an explosion in her first appearance. Plus, it would have been funny to see Megumin collapse and get carried back to town in her debut.
6 Soichiro Yagami, The By-The-Book Detective (Death Note)
Just like his son Light, Soichiro Yagami could have and should have made a stronger first impression by doing what he does best. Soichiro first appeared when he told Matsuda who L is, acting as a source of brief exposition. Soichiro deserves better than that.
Instead, Soichiro could have made his first appearance in the middle of an arrest or a big bust on a local crime gang, and get a phone call about L just as the case is wrapping up. It would have been fun to see Soichiro on the job and in his element before the true battle against Kira began.
5 Sokka Of The Water Tribe (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Sokka of the Water Tribe is protective and cautious, not to mention a clever and resourceful adventurer. However, Sokka made a negative first impression by constantly doubting both his sister Katara and Aang alike. He also has disturbingly backward views on girls and women at the time.
Sokka made up for all this and then some, but in his debut, he almost felt like an obstacle to Aang and Katara's quest, a real downer indeed. In his first appearance, Sokka should have explained himself more carefully, so viewers can understand that he's just being protective and cautious the best way he knows how. That would have made him more sympathetic in the show's first few episodes.
4 Kisuke Urahara, The Ex-Captain (Bleach)
Kisuke Urahara was hiding many secrets at the start of this series, and he presented himself as an ordinary shop owner at first. It soon became clear that he was more than he seemed, though, and Kisuke knew about Hollows and even gave Rukia Kuchiki a faulty mod soul dispenser by mistake.
Kisuke could have made a slightly stronger first impression, and acted more like his flamboyant self the first time he appeared. This also would have been a fine time to drop more hints of his origins, such as a brief shot of his sheathed zanpakuto leaning against a wall or something like that.
3 Shikamaru Nara, The Easygoing Genius (Naruto)
It took some time for Shikamaru Nara to establish himself as a lazy genius. He made his biggest impression during the chunin exams, when he reluctantly fought Temari and her wind scythe jutsu. In the audience, Asuma Sarutobi mentioned that he used to play shogi with Shikamaru all the time.
Arguably, Shikamaru should have first appeared during one of these shogi games, where he yawns out of boredom and easily beats Asuma yet again before wandering off to watch clouds pass by. A brief intro scene like this would have fit nicely in the chunin exam arc's first few episodes.
2 Major Alex Louis Armstrong, The Brawny Alchemist (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Major Alex Louis Armstrong made a decent appearance with his personality and behavior when he first appeared, but he could have done more. He is the type to constantly train and hone his body, and he could have made his first appearance during a training session.
Alex Armstrong talks a good fight and takes great pride in his strength, so instead of appearing in a simple hospital scene, he should have made a flashy debut by defeating several sparring partners and showing off his unique style of muscle-based alchemy. Now that would have been cool.
1 Uryu Ishida, The Quincy Archer (Bleach)
Like Kisuke Urahara, Uryu Ishida could have made a stronger impression and hinted at his abilities much sooner. Or, he could have made an explosive first appearance on the battlefield, rather than just introducing himself with "I'm Uryu, a Quincy. Let's be rivals." That's more or less how he put himself on the map— not terribly exciting.
Instead, Uryu could have made his big debut while Ichigo is fighting a pack of Hollows, and defeat them all with a dazzling display of Quincy arrows. Uryu really did challenge Ichigo in a Hollow-hunting match early in the series, but perhaps that should have been his first big scene, not his second.