[20] A Loser’s Guide to Breaking Stereotypes

Tags

#animechallenge, Anime, Future Diary, loser

The future diary of a wimpy kid.

This is my first journey through the “100 Days of Anime” Challenge, an ambitious project that I’ll be taking. For the full list of prompts, click here.

“Anime character that gets on your nerves?”

I jumped into Mirai Nikki early in my aniwatching years, right after finishing Sword Art Online. Regardless of personal opinion, I remember distinctly enjoying Sword Art Online; even if Kirito was markedly one-dimensional, there was one thing that made him likable.

He was a badass and we knew it.

Fast forward to the first episode of Mirai Nikki, and I knew Yukitero Amano was of a different breed. Hesitant, incompetent, and almost laughably slow, Yuki was one of the first characters I absolutely despised. Spending most of the earlier episodes moaning about every little trouble that came up while also doing nothing to improve his current pathetic self (relying on Yuno to save him time and time again). I gave up on him early into the show, with each complaint almost causing me physical pain.

I was living in a post-SAO world.

A world where I expected the male protagonist to be impossibly competent, to be strong, to save the girl (or at the very least, save himself). Those stereotypes were shattered coming into Mirai Nikki and I unknowingly hated it. I admit, I wanted another Kirito; someone I knew who could save the day. What I got was a polar opposite, an unsure adolescent who’s also stuck in a death game.

A character that made me feel vulnerable.

Because around every corner of Future Diary laid danger, the kind I wouldn’t find in a show like SAO. A character that I knew couldn’t save the day if the main heroine was taken or his family was in danger. Yuki introduced a tension that broke me out of my comfort zone and dispelled the image I had for most male protagonists. Yes, he was obnoxious in the beginning, but that only gave him more room to grow as the show continued. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate Yuki but…

Thank you, Yuki. For annoying me to no end, and for broadening my horizons.