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Rom-com anime main characters are widely known for their distinctive and quirky mannerisms, which make them fan favorites. With abundant tropes, main leads pining, and quirky characters, rom-com anime is a very popular sub-genre of romance anime. A common trope in this type of anime, like the popular Fruits Basket and My Love Story, is that they have their leads vying for their romantic interest.
However, a few characters change this dynamic, with the main lead being chased rather than doing the chasing. Here are ten anime main characters who are the center of attraction and romantic attention in their stories.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinion and may contain spoilers.
Ten anime main characters who are the center of attention
1) Ryuji Takasu (Toradora)
Oblivious Ryuji Takasu makes Toradora unforgettable with his unique charm. Ryuji's subversiveness of patriarchal/expected roles set for him makes his character memorable. While most anime would have used Ryuji's father's abandonment as the reason why he becomes aggressive and violent, the creators take a different route.
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Ryuji's cluelessness is caused by how he looks down on himself. That's why he misses many signs from the women in his life. This worsens as the series progresses, and viewers see him struggle with Taiga Aisaka, Minori Kushieda, and Ami Kawashima.
2) Rentarou Aijou (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Love You)
Rentarou Aijou's story has many similarities to Sakuragi Hanamichi from Slamdunk. While both characters have been rejected by most women they have shown an interest in, Rentarou's story begins to look different when he meets the God of Love.
The God of Love tells Rentarou that 100 women will fall in love with him, but those who fail to become his girlfriend will die. Considered one of the kindest anime main characters, Rentarou Aijou defies fate and tries to save all the women. An amusing sequence of events follows as the main lead tries to balance the conundrum in which he has landed himself.
3) Issei Hyoudou (Highschool Dxd)
Issei Hyoudou starts Highschool Dxd with a dream of many women falling in love with him. This fantasy begins to materialize when he is asked out by a girl named Raynare. Little does he know that the girl is a fallen angel. The girl later kills him, and though Issei comes back to life, that trauma never leaves.
While Issei's character appears one-dimensional at first glance, viewers begin to see other layers to his character as the story unfolds. The women around him also see Issei for who he is, a kind soul, and fall for him. However, the trauma Raynare causes never leaves.
4) Bell Cranel (Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon)
Bell Cranel is a typical stereotypical Shonen anime main character. He has his mind set on doing one thing and one thing only, getting stronger to protect his loved ones.
Coupled with his kind and readily accepting nature, he receives much love from the people around him, especially from women. However, he believes many of these women cannot love him due to his low self-esteem, and he acts oblivious to the advances that come his way.
5) Reito Mizuhara (World’s End Harem)
Reito Mizuhara in World's End Harem has the attention of not just a few women but potentially the entire world. He lives in a world where most of the male population doesn't exist due to the Man Killer Virus, and he is a researcher who has been put in cryostasis to try and solve this problem.
Being one of the few men alive makes him subject to the desires of most women. How he reacts to this situation makes him one of the most endearing rom-com anime main characters.
6) Tousuke Rokudou (Rokudou’s Bad Girls)
Tousuke Rokudou remains one of the rom-com's most puzzling anime main characters. Tousuke is in a high school for delinquents but is far from a delinquent. This leads him to be a constant victim of bullying.
He later discovers a scroll that grants him power, making the delinquent women fall in love with him. Due to his good nature, he never takes advantage of their feelings. Instead, he subtly reforms their attitudes, reducing his high school's delinquency.
7) Kamijou Touma (A Certain Magical Index)
Kamijou Touma's struggles are rather unique. He has to deal with the affections of over 9000+ women, most of whom are clones. When Touma saves these women, clones and otherwise, he becomes their object of affection, landing himself in comical situations.
8) Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club)
Haruhi Fujioka is one of the quirkiest anime main characters that viewers would ever come across. She is androgynous and is the center of attention for both men and women. What makes her even more dazzling is how she fits into an exclusive club of men and none of them seem to be the wiser.
Due to her poor background, Haruhi has never taken the time to chase romance, and that is why she doesn't notice the horde of fans she has.
9)Naoya Mukai (Girlfriend: Girlfriend)
Naoya Mukai is one of the few anime main characters to effectively practice polygamy. Unlike most characters who deny the affection shown to them, Naoya Mukai accepts it and brings all of them under the same roof. Things start escalating, however, as the women try to eliminate each other for the role of Naoya's sole girlfriend.
10) Itsuka Shido (Date A Live)
Itsuka Shido is Earth's most unlikely hero. He saves the world from sultry spirits out to annihilate the planet but does this with charm and seduction. Itsuka Shido's quick banter and interactions with these spirits make him one of the funniest rom-com anime main characters.
When the feelings start getting reciprocated, he struggles to manage them and the humiliations that occur with them. What makes Date A Live remarkable is the protagonist, who transforms the anime from ecchi to something more than fanservice.
Final thoughts
Many call these rom-coms with the anime main character being the center of attention, Harem. They are partly right and they are wrong too. Toradora cannot be classified as Harem even though Ryuji is the center of attention, the same is true with Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon.
What makes anything Harem is how the anime's main characters act on the attraction. In Girlfriend; Girlfriend, Naoya doesn't shy away from the affection doled out to him, he welcomes it. Date A Live's main character also welcomes affection shown to him and tries to make as many people as possible fall in love.
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