Comments on: And Supporting Cast

By: DKellis

DKellis — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:23:04 +0000

@GreyDuck: I'm reminded of one of my dad's comments on some political situation or other, which he described as a "doughnut". The people around the main character is the doughnut, the substance, while the main character himself is the hole. I was trying to include that analogy somewhere in the post, but gave up. In any case, I could be biased by my love of harem comedy anime, where the main male lead is pretty much a blank slate for audience surrogacy. (Compare with the player avatar in many story-based video games.) Then again, there's usually a Chosen Girl in those, and I seldom gravitate towards that character either. @Eternal and TheBigN: Yeah, Yomiko Readman from Read or Die is one of the few main characters I really gravitated towards, possibly because there aren't very many characters in that OVA either. Indeed, in ROD The TV she got relegated to side character position, but my liking for her didn't change (except in the positive direction, possibly). I strongly suspect that it's the traits that draw me to the character, and some sort of market research places those traits usually in the role of the side character. @0rion: I actually really like Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, possibly due to the cute character designs of the girls. The vocal presence of Chiwa Saitou and Mizuki Nana did not hurt, of course. (Or, I suppose, Norio Wakamoto, especially since I know him primarily through his roles as Chiyo's "father" in Azumanga Daioh, and Ninja Nonsense's Onsokumaru.) @IrishNinja: I think part of why I tend to pay more attention to side characters is because that's where I'll find the quiet (female) characters. "Quiet", in this context, meaning volume-wise. Possibly a psychologist may draw some conclusions from my family members being, quite often and quite unintentionally, very loud.

By: Irishninja

Irishninja — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:45:01 +0000

I think like you I find myself drawn to certain types of characters, which usually seem to be supporters. If they are the main characters, great. If not, that's fine too. For example, I love Haruhi. She is my favorite character of the show (although I adore Yuki because, well, she's adorable). So I totally understand where you're coming from here. For shows that lack the tropes we've grown accustomed to, my interest generally tends to be drawn toward strong female characters (primary or secondary, with my definition of "strong" depending on the character and the show and its genre).

By: 0rion

0rion — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:03:04 +0000

That's a really interesting observation, although one I can't personally identify with well. I'm rather the opposite, personally. I tend to identify more strongly with main characters (as not doubt the writers intend me to), and in entirely too many anime I end up feeling that the side characters are just filler more than anything else. Of course, that is whole different kind of problem unto itself, but it does make me question what kinds of individuals may tend to gravitate more strongly towards certain types of characters in a show. After all, we wouldn't keep seeing more repetitions of the same cookie cutter tsundere, or quiet meganekko, or outspoken genki girl, or whatever stereotype if they didn't appeal strongly to somebody. I definitely did feel that Skuld was always an under-appreciated character in AMS. Also, wow...somebody besides me watched and actually remembers Gargoyle of the Yoshinoyas? =O

By: TheBigN

TheBigN — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:34:13 +0000

Which just makes it that much more special when you find that the main character of the series is actually your favorite one. :P

By: ETERNAL

ETERNAL — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:56:06 +0000

I think coincidence is a good way of summing this up like you said, because I've noticed the same thing with myself; one moment I'm gravitating toward the center of attention like Nagisa in Clannad and Matsuri in sola, but the next moment I find myself thinking that Yoshida Kazumi needs more screen time. I guess it's just in the nature of stories to assign different attributes to different "positions" – in one show you might not even care about the main character, and in the next the main character might be all that matters to you.

By: GreyDuck

GreyDuck — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:17:14 +0000

Absolutely excellently stated.

Let's face it: In the case of most shows, the lead character is either a blank slate or simply a force either upon the plot or upon which the plot acts. It's the side characters, secondary and/or tertiary, who make a show loveable.