Sometimes a story can only be as good as the characters that lead the way. In anime, there are many different kinds of protagonists, and no matter what their archetype is, a protagonist needs something for the viewers to relate to or become attached to for them to want to see their story to the end.

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Sadly, not all protagonists are created equal and there are many out there that are rather unpleasant for a variety of reasons. Not even in the "you can understand them, even if you don't fully agree with them" sort of way, more like the "wall-punching frustration" way. Whether it's their personality, what drives them, or some questionable actions, these protagonists are unlikeable no matter how the anime tries to get the viewer to root for them.

10 Kazuya Kinoshita (Rent-a-Girlfriend)

Kazuya Kinoshita from Rent-A-Girlfriend.

At first, Kazuya seems like a sympathetic and relatable kind guy after being unceremoniously dumped by Mami, but after he rents out Chizuru Mizuhara, his negative traits become more apparent. Kazuya's constant lies make the situation so much worse for both him and Chizuru and all because he wanted to impress his friends and family.

When he's not constantly lying to everyone, he's putting himself down as he pines for Chizuru, while also ignoring chances at a normal relationship with someone else. And on top of all this, he lacks the spine to stand up for himself or to come clean about his lies.

9 Yamada (B Gata H Kei)

Yamada from B Gata H Kei

Yamada (who has no first name) has really one goal in life, to lose her virginity and be intimate with 100 partners, her problem is that she's incredibly insecure and picky in choosing that first partner. Eventually deciding on Takashi Kosuda, Yamada spends the entirety of B Gata H Kei manipulating and gaslighting the poor guy.

Yamada's attitude is pretty obnoxious and self-centered, she only ever seems to have sex on the mind and cares about literally nothing else. The only reason she wants Kosuda is that he's "unremarkable" and for the most part is just using him. By the end of the series, Yamada is supposedly in love with Kosuda, but her feelings come off as disingenuous.

8 Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Shinji Ikari screaming inside the Eva from Neon Genesis Evangelion

Admittedly, plenty of people at Shinji's age would experience the same level of anxiety and depression if they were in his shoes. However, watching Shinji constantly wallow in his own misery to the point of being nearly catatonic can be really frustrating.

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Shinji's growth is perpetually stunted and he struggles with the same issues over and over. He should be sympathetic, but it's difficult because Shinji's inability to get over himself ends up getting people hurt or killed. By The End of Evangelion, Shinji's a time bomb that fantasizes about strangling Asuka and almost destroys humanity.

7 Kirito (Sword Art Online) 

Sword Art Online Kirito weapons

Sword Art Online's Kirito has definitely become one of those more infamous anime protagonists, mostly for being ridiculously overpowered. His personality is a bit flat too, with his only memorable trait being that he's good with games and technology.

Now being overpowered is not inherently a bad thing, but it seems no matter what it is, Kirito can adapt to any new virtual environment. The story of SAO takes itself very seriously, but Kirito destroys any sense of tension when Kirito's "Gary Stu" powers can literally break the game to give him a win. It also doesn't help that he keeps getting into some cringy situations either.

6 Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière (The Familiar of Zero)

Louise from The Familiar Of Zero.

The most crucial detail for a tsundere character is that there has to be some sweetness underneath all the saltiness. Familiar of Zero's Louise just has more salt under all that salt. She could've been sympathetic from being looked down on for her lack of magic skill, but Louise ruins that by being a spoiled rich kid with an overwhelming sense of entitlement.

After accidentally kidnapping Saito and forcing him to be her familiar, Louise spends almost every waking moment abusing him in any way she can, both verbally and physically. Louise treats everyone around her like trash, which makes it hard to root for her to succeed or get together with Saito.

5 Masamune Makabe (Masamune-kun's Revenge)

Masamune Makabe from Masamune-kun's Revenge with hand on chin.

After being rejected by the cruel ice princess Aki Adagaki, Masamune Makabe trained to change his physical appearance and adopted a "hot or not" philosophy with a desire to get revenge on Adagaki by making her fall for him only so he can dump her.

Adagaki's attitude is pretty unlikeable too, but Masamune might just be as bad as her if not worse. He's a narcissistic and egotistical jerk and he rejects any chance of a normal relationship for the sake of his revenge. He's not even good at that part, despite spending years on this revenge plan he almost blows it multiple times. People may see Masamune as handsome on the outside, but on the inside, he's rotten to the core.

4 Yukiteru Amano (Future Diary) 

Yuki from Future Diary

There's being indecisive, and then there's being Yukiteru Amano (aka Yuki). Granted, he's in life or death situations throughout most of the anime, but still, Yuki is cowardly to frustrating levels and can't seem to make decisions for himself. The only reason he got so far in the game as he did was that Yuno pretty much carried him there.

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At first, Yuki does seem like a victim, but as the anime goes on he actually gets worse. He goes from being a wimp to almost as big of a psychopath as Yuno but goes right back to being a wimp afterward. It's a wonder why Yuno was so crazy about him.

3 Kyouya Sata (Wolf Girl & Black Prince) 

Kyouya being abusive to Erika, Wolf Girl and Black Prince

Kyouya Sata is the textbook example of an abusive boyfriend, plain and simple. From the beginning, Kyouya treats Erika like a dog, humiliates her, dismisses her feelings, and withholds any affection, and yet Wolf & Black Prince tries its hardest to convince the audience that Kyouya is good deep down.

The only times Kyouya seems to care about Erika doesn't come off as genuine, it comes off more like he's gaslighting her. It looks less like love and more like he wants to keep her as a possession. In short, Erika should've left Kyouya and toxic behavior long ago.

2 Makoto Itou (School Days)

Makoto Itou smiling From School Days

Makoto Itou may appear innocent at first glance, but those who've seen School Days know he's a straight-up monster. He gets together with Kotonoha, but he quickly becomes bored with her and starts cheating on her with his friend Sekai. From there, he starts sleeping with just about any girl he can find while ignoring Sekai and Kotonoha.

Throughout the course of the anime, Makoto cheats, lies, and abuses pretty much everyone who ever cared about him. He's a selfish womanizer who doesn't care how his actions affect others, making him nothing more than a sociopath. In the end, you don't really feel bad for Makoto when Sekai snaps and stabs him to death since it's the result of his own karma.

1 Boruto Uzumaki (Boruto)

Boruto surprised bushes

At the end of Naruto's long story, having Boruto as the next mischievous ninja felt like the series coming full circle, but when Boruto got his own series, that enthusiasm declined. Where viewers could empathize with Naruto since he was a lonely outcast, Boruto doesn't really have that going for him.

Boruto's incredibly selfish, pretty much stomping on everything Naruto tried to achieve in the previous anime for the sake of attention. He's also overpowered at the start, which makes him obnoxiously overconfident. These things would be fine if Boruto had good character development, but so far he hasn't changed much at all. At his best, Boruto is just a pale imitation of his dad, at his worst, he's an irritatingly selfish brat with all of Naruto's worst traits and no sympathy behind it.

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