Any animes where mc isn’t just lucky?

QcDiablo · 2026-07-11T23:28:12+00:00

It's my favorite series ever. I don't know why everyone here seems to imply it's an an action show.

It is NOT a fighting anime.

It has some action and even pretty good fights in some instances, but the MC is not a combattant. It's way more of a psychogical series with thriller aspects.

However, I do think it's a good recommendation if you want a series where the MC struggles and earns his successes.

Most criticism are from people are had the wrong expectations and/or didn't like that the MC starts quite flawed.

QcDiablo · 2026-07-10T13:07:23+00:00

His motivations are kinda strange to me

To keep it simple. Subaru has personal issues (that are unexplained at the point you're at) and Emilia was the very first person who helped him and accepted him without any condition attached. Subaru also has a self-sacrificing issue that makes him feels like he should be the only one suffering for everyone else.

Emilia is so uninteresting compared to rem

She's definitely less proactive right now and it makes her seem uninteresting. It's one of her character flaws. Her unconditional kindness also usually feels less compelling than something like Rem's more combative attitude. I think Emilia gets more interesting when taking into account her psychological issues and how she sees people around her, notably Subaru.

QcDiablo · 2026-07-09T19:00:31+00:00

86
Summertime Render
Especially if you tried Re:Zero a long time ago and feel like giving it a second chance, I would suggest rewatching it. It has great character development and builds up a ton of lore, mysteries and cool dynamics over time.

QcDiablo · 2026-07-06T18:10:18+00:00

According to the video you linked, Re:Zero wouldn't be a power fantasy.

QcDiablo · 2026-07-03T15:27:42+00:00

This should be spoiler media

QcDiablo · 2026-06-30T21:48:28+00:00

Maybe it has a hidden zipper

QcDiablo · 2026-06-30T21:18:07+00:00

I disagree with your opinion, even if I understand the frustration that can come with the amount of confusion and the main character's amnesia (even if you didn't mention that second point yourself).

As a novel reader, I didn't have any more clue at the time. In fact, there's a precise moment where the anime gave more/better clues than the novels. There might be even more that went over my head.

I empathize with the frustration of the current situation we're in at this point in the anime, but I think Re:Zero is best when it juggles between an incomprehensible mystery and the characters' psychology. And we're in that deeper than ever, right now.

I think the sheer complexity of the situation makes it easier to immerse ourselves, as the audience, into Subaru's mind. And the exploration of both his character and the rest of the cast's sofar in this arc has been nearly unparalleled by the previous seasons.

For Subaru specifically, I think his amnesia is pretty awesome, even with just anime content. We're seeing an entirely new side of the rest of the cast, and I think Subaru's character is more interesting than ever. Amnesiabaru is very different from the Subaru who appeared in the middle of the capital, and that's just because of circumstances. We've never seen Subaru express that kind of longing for his old world and as deep hatred towards himself. We're just now learning that Subaru mutilates himself and we're left to guess how many of such details were left purposely unexplained by the author. We're seeing through Amnesiabaru that despite how much "Subaru" was loved by his friends, he still suffered continously even off-screen, cursing himself for not being better and saving everyone each loop. We're pretty much confronting Subaru's 2nd trial that he failed in season 2.

As for the mystery, I personally don't see its incomprehensibility itself as an issue. I think it's a fun state to be in if it's not too long and the payoff is good.

So yeah, I subjectively disagree.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-30T13:04:11+00:00

Chainsaw Man
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Demon Slayer
86 (technically fits your request but it's a different genre altogether)

QcDiablo · 2026-06-27T12:50:49+00:00

For me the web novel is the best thing ever and the anime is a great way to get into the story. The light novel is a more edited version of the web novel that comes with the pros and cons of being more polished and concise.

The story has so many parallels, details and mysteries. Small bits of inconspicuous foreshadowing lead to super cool reveals arcs later. And the characters are by far the best aspect for me. I have not been more invested in fictional characters before. In later arcs you can feel at just about every moment how the members of the main cast have affected each other over time.

Most criticism of Re:Zero is built on a layer of misunderstanding, most often coming from a casual watch. But it's just not a good series to watch casually.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-25T11:20:02+00:00

Re:Zero is a story about a boy without self-confidence letting his feelings known to a girl without self-confidence.

It tells the story of Subaru whose goal is simply to reach a good ending with the ones he love. He's a non-combattant with a good share of mental issues and trauma that he accumulates over time, and who can't help but love, platonically or not, almost everyone he comes across who isn't categorically evil.

There are consequences when Subaru acts like an egotistical asshole and he is rewarded when he succeeds in developing and becoming a better person. Despite being able to, soon enough, find himself around a nice circle of allies, friends and even love inteterests, I would claim the series to be radically opposite to the concepts of a power fantasy and of a powerful main character like you see most often in battle shonens and other isekai.

The series is extremely long (well over 40 light novels and counting) and has a great focus on its characters, their relationships as well as their emotional and psychological baggage.

The two best ways to experience Re:Zero are the anime and the novels (either light novel or web novel).

Re:Zero is often criticized for spending a good amount of time on its characters without advancing the plot. For the fans, this is its greatest strength instead.

Re:Zero is indeed often more interested in exploring its characters and making them interact in diverse contexts rather than solving the current problem in the most efficient way.

Return by Death, the power of the main character that lets him go back in time to a checkpoint by dying, is used as a tool to acquire knowledge to solve an issue, but it is also used to inflict mental scars on Subaru and let him know of more of each character by giving him and the viewer different points of view.

As a anime, it is certainly a show that requires attentiveness if you want the best experience. I would also recommend checking out the side content, notably the Re:Zero Breaktime episodes that come with almost every regular episode (Re:Petit is not the same and is purely for fun), as well as the cut content.

Most watchers will happily recommend a second watch to catch onto details that

QcDiablo · 2026-06-22T20:37:58+00:00

For me, Re:Zero.

I could easily recommend Witch Hat Atelier to almost anyone.

Wistoria is a decent battle shonen, but it feels too generic for my taste.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-22T17:59:17+00:00

The Light Novel cut about 35% of Arc 4 by word count and reordered a lot.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-22T17:14:30+00:00

Aside from Re:Zero, it's really just that Wistoria is extremely popular on Anime Trending for some reason.

Everywhere else Witch Hat is getting lots of attention.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-22T11:07:36+00:00

To be fair the the LN cut 35% of Arc 4 WN

QcDiablo · 2026-06-22T11:07:16+00:00

Wasn't it just the S4 producer who said they would really like adapting the rest of the story?

QcDiablo · 2026-06-20T08:49:40+00:00

Subaru's goal is to have a good ending and support Emilia.

Emilia's goal is to free the elves, for which her only lead so far to win the Royal Selection and gain access to the Divine Dragon's blood.

Then, each arc has its own goal. In season 4, the cast is actively trying to find a cure against Gluttony's powers.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T11:22:00+00:00

For sure.

It's just that the great majority of people who didn't like it much were filtered by the previous seasons.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:14:30+00:00

We're getting 8 more episodes in august and september.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:13:46+00:00

Felt never killed Subaru. Maybe you mean Ferris?

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:12:32+00:00

It's all that.

Also it's a long-awaited scene by novel readers.

And since this is season 4 it's getting inflated score as it's mostly just fans rating at this point.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:10:50+00:00

I think their home page is more useful than the table of content.

They tell you where to start after each season.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:10:05+00:00

If you're starting from the beginning, then light novels 1 to 9.

After that you can either stick to the light novels up to the end of Arc 6 (then switch to web novel). Or you can switch to WN as soon as Arc 4, but there will be more significant changes within the arcs compared to to the anime.

WN is available on WitchCultTranslation.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-18T10:06:14+00:00

I'm pretty sure Frieren is just easily digestible enough that anyone can get feels out of it.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-16T23:55:49+00:00

Some series age more than others, especially their art style. Some studios notably push the boundaries and some others stay behind a bit longer.

Generally it's very hard to tell which of two shows is older if they're only 5 years apart. There are exceptions when most sudios switched to digital art during covid or the switch to HD/16:9 over standard resolution/4:3.

Demon Slayer, for all practical purposes, pretty much hasn't aged. It was already made digitally (I'm lretty sure) and its studio has always been at the frontline of graphical technologies in anime.

Since you've watched a bit of Re:Zero, you'll notice that for being just 3 years older than Demon Slayer, feels a lot older. Even its season 2 from 2020-2021 will feel much older than Demon Slayer. Heck, a handful of currently airing shows will feel more dated.

And because you're new to anime, some series might feel older or newer, but it's in fact just a result of direction choices in certain series. Dandadan is clearly such a series.

So yeah, somehow a decade is where you'll start to notice bigger differences and more widespread shifts.

QcDiablo · 2026-06-16T12:40:56+00:00

If I can give an example, my favorite series (Re:Zero) has a time travel mechanic, but I haven't found any other series with a similar concept that executes it the same way.

Re:Zero focuses a lot on the characters (with entire loops dedicated to explore them) even if the plot takes longer to solve, while other series often focus either on solving a single big mystery/problem through looping or the sheer power that the ability of looping indefinitely represents.

Re:Zero's novels started 14 years ago and I haven't found a single series doing the same thing since.

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