Whenever conversing with familiar or new people, many love seeing the smiles and confidence these individuals display. Whether it's something minor as a positive facial expression or vocal tone, conversing with joyful people can give others feelings of hope and motivation.
And there are some people who simply prefer their people, selves, and favorite characters on the sour side. Not everyone is, or wants to watch, an optimist. Luckily the world of anime has enough characters with truly varied personalities that everyone can find someone they relate to or enjoy watching. Whether that is an optimist, realist, or pessimist.
11 One Piece: Usopp Didn't Think His Captain's Plans Would Work Out
Despite One Piece being a beloved shonen series with an immense fanbase, some characters in the series aren't in high regard as others. Although Usopp can defeat some One Piece characters and has had some of the most iconic scenes in the series, he's not the most optimistic person of the Straw Hat Crew.
During the early beginnings of One Piece, he'd always complain about Luffy's plans and being a part of them. Sometimes Usopp would upright shout how much he believes things wouldn't work out for the better. Although Usopp's changed over time, he still showcases some of his pessimistic habits.
10 Kuroko's Basketball: Ryo Sakurai Always Apologizes For Things That Don't Require It
Compared to many sports anime that have come and gone, Kuroko's Basketball is one with varied inaccurate depictions of sports in anime due to the inclusion of supernatural movements and power-ups. Regardless of its deviation from realism concerning the sport, Sakurai's pessimism in the series will convince fans there are real emotions inserted into Kuroko's Basketball.
In the anime, Sakurai always blames himself for things regardless if his actions are positive or not. Some examples of Sakurai's pessimism include times where's apologized for his existence to friends and shooting perfect three-pointers. Although he undergoes a change-of-heart near the series's conclusion, these many moments will never go unnoticed.
9 Scum's Wish: Hanabi Yasuraoka Believes Her Crush Won't Reciprocate Her Feelings
Although it's beautiful to see two people fall in love, some relationships overstep the boundaries. Like relationships, there are anime about toxic relationships that make fans beg for characters to move on. One of these characters is Scum Wish's Hanabi Yasuraoka, who feels like her crush won't reciprocate the same feelings she has for them.
This crush later becomes Hanabi's undoing as she enters a fake relationship with another classmate as a way to pretend she's dating her crush. She has no romantic feelings for this classmate and even gets jealous when he gets attention from others.
8 Mr. Osomatsu: Ichimatsu Matsuno Doesn't Believe He'll Ever Live A Good Life
Mr. Osomatsu is one of 2020's best comedy anime. It loves taking a jab at other franchises via sketches, parodies, and hilarious jokes. Despite the characters being a part of the world meant to make viewers chuckle, they undergo life problems that sometimes never go the way they expect.
Though some of the brothers don't mind these failures, Ichimatsu does. Ichimatsu never loved his highschool persona and is often insecure, depressed, and sad about his adult life. Whenever fans see the character in the episode, they can tell he's miserable, which is evident in his belief that he'd never get a job or a wife worth loving.
7 Masamune-Kun's Revenge: Masamune Makabe Felt He Had To Undergo Strict Dieting To Get Revenge
Although unpredictable endings are something fans love seeing, some anime don't execute those endings properly and they don't click with the series's storytelling. Masamune-Kun's Revenge is a popular anime that won't age well because of those reasons. On that note, the main character Masamune's actions for wanting vengeance over a rejection follows suit.
Although being called a pig isn't something anyone would tolerate, Masamune felt losing weight would be the only way to settle the score. Instead of moving on and finding someone who'd like him for "himself," he felt making his body suffer would be the only way to get back at Aki.
6 Higurashi When They Cry: Satoko Hojo Felt Entrapping Rika In Hopeless Worlds Would Show Her The Error Of Her Ways
5
Maintaining healthy friendships is something many people struggle with achieving. Satoko Hojo was a character that didn't believe her friend Rika remained her friend anymore because of her fondness with the students and life inside St. Lucia Academy.
Although Satoko could've studied harder or had a more personal conversation with Rika, she felt violence was the only thing that'd convince Rika of her poor-friendship skills. Like the many differences between the original Higurashi series and Gou, Satoko underwent a drastic change and went as far as to send Rika down a spiral of endless deaths and torture.
4 My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU: Hachiman Hikigaya Doesn't Feel He'll Ever Establish A Mutual Connection With Anyone
Whenever someone tunes into romantic comedy anime, they expect the show to explore romance concepts through a more lighthearted and hilarious lens. However, if someone were to watch My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, they'll receive the exact opposite due to the series depressing tone and not-so-optimistic main character Hachiman Hikigaya.
Hachiman's a person that believes he'll never find a significant other or a person he can have a mutual bond within life. He never tries ruining his chances with others and makes sure he's the one that receives the most backlash for situations that's not entirely his fault.
3 Watamote: Tomoko Kuroki Believes Punishing Herself Is The Only Way To Become Popular
Despite Watamote having hilarious scenes involving its main protagonist Tomoko Kuruoko, it's an anime that deals with real-life issues concerning fitting in and having low self-confidence. Tomoko strives to be popular and does make attempts at becoming a well-known person at her school.
However, she always tends to go the other route and avoids social interactions with people. Even when she does harken up the courage to speak to people, she weirds them out because of her lack of knowledge concerning proper social etiquette. Tomoko even punishes herself in order to achieve these goals, like not showering for a week because she felt oily hair would make her look popular.
2 Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Didn't Feel Like His Father Loved Him Back & Risked His Life For Praise
Despite Shinji's age, many fans feel he's too pessimistic regarding his fears of piloting Evangelion Unit-01 and causing more damage than good. Not only that, but Shinji decides to utilize the mech to impress his father Gendo and nothing more.
This decision ties beautifully with Shinji's emotional trauma concerning his neglected past and low self-worth. Further, Shinji doesn't feel comfortable interacting with people and mostly feels like a downer whenever he's grouped with others. His pessimism has put others in danger even when he wants to accomplish the exact opposite.
1 Sayonara Zetsubo-Sensei: Nozomu Itoshiki Doesn't Adore Living & Isn't Afraid To Implant This Thought Into His Student's Minds
When sending one's children to school, parents expect the teachers to be ideal role model figures that'll help educate their kids before they become adults. Nozomu's character may represent the stress teachers endure when handling rowdy students, but his pessimistic teaching skills aren't something worth copying.
Nozomu doesn't feel like his life is worth living. He ponders to himself about wanting to end his life and isn't afraid to show this emotion to his students. Influencing children to end themselves when life brings them down is not a lesson parents would want to be taught in an educational facility.