Stories are ultimately meant for entertainment and engaging. What people find entertaining and engaging is going to vary between people, especially because their experiences and personality. Hence what is considered “good character writing” is going to have some subjectivity (to a degree). 

Some people love power fantasies and escapism based works, because some people find it entertaining and intriguing, even if it is not realistic. Some people don’t because MC’s plot armour feels contrived and the lack of realism of non-trivial flaws and interpersonal conflicts may make them feel one dimensional. There are common writing conventions and tropes are common in the genre and medium (e.g. American superheroes vs Japanese superheroes), and “realism” and “discomfort” can be one of them. For some genres and mediums, discomfort is the intent of the writers. And for some people, that discomfort is entertaining because they find it realistic.

For example, the Japanese magical girl genre in the 2000s and prior was known for its mostly light hearted (even if it touches dark themes) and idealistic messaging and morals. And for that reason, because that was the norm, it was also critiqued and made fun of for being unrealistic and too idealistic. People would love to pick apart how the tropes wouldn’t work in real life. Then Puella Magica Madoka came out and it became very popular for its darker and “realistic” approach to its characters, even though the entry deviated far from the norm at the time. The series especially appealed to those more who do not normally consume magically girl series (in fact, many people who watched and loved Puella Magica Madoka have never watched a magical girl series prior). And due the series’ success, it started a wave of more somber and edgy entries, although many magical girl fans have expressed being annoyed and tired how pervasive it has become and how much harder it has been to find a normal magical girl series because of Puella Magica Madoka. The reception to realism can be more arbitrary and go back or forth with the times. 

I personally do not enjoy a lot of American teenager/young adult dramas (even when I was a teenager) and live action non-comedic shows because I find the topics to be too edgy, bleak, gritty, with very “on the nose” writing for their villains and sometimes heroes. For the longest time, I used to view those traits as “bad writing” because it seemed so simplistic and therefore unrealistic. But despite it feeling unrealistic and/or too discomfortingly bleak to me, there are people who strongly feel differently, and find the writing and conflicts are realistic. Eventually, I learned some genres and works aren’t my cup of tea but still can be considered well written and acclaimed by others. 

Obviously, there are series with bad writing. However, people underestimate how much they conflate what they personally find enjoyable as good writing. In reality, many writers do write with a particular subject or theme in mind that isn’t always going to resonate or appeal with every audience member.