Anime is no longer a niche interest, so people of all ages are watching it.
Series with adult protagonists are doing well and are relatable for grown-ups.
The most popular shounen titles, however, feature underage protagonists.
Back when anime used to be a niche interest, teenagers were the target demographic for this type of media. Adults thought anime was just stupid cartoons for kids, and not many people really knew what it was about.
However, times have changed, and anime has become an international phenomenon. And with that, the demographics has also changed. People of all ages watch anime now, and they all want to relate to the characters they see in the series.
On top of that, anime fans who were 12 to 16 years old when most people didn’t care about anime have grown up and are adults with jobs and families now. So it’s a no-brainer that they want to see characters that represent them in anime.
That is where the big question comes from: do we want the protagonists to be underage or are we a little tired of teenagers and want someone more mature in our anime?
Adult protagonists
Let’s start with the adult ones. We all know how well Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) and Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi) are doing right now, and these are the series with grown-ups as leads. Frieren, of course, also has Fern and Stark, who are younger, but Frieren herself is over 1000 years old.
These series don’t involve any high-school romance or teenage problems; they are not about coming of age and learning basic things that kids are learning, and it’s refreshing.
Some new isekais, like Sasaki and Peeps, for example, have an adult protagonist as well, and it makes you want to relate to the lead so much. Sasaki is an office worker who’s bored with his life and job and just wants a companion to make his life more interesting. Something many grow-ups can relate to!
Underage protagonists
But we shouldn’t forget that the target audience of shounens are teenagers, so the most popular series such as Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece or Chainsaw Man feature underage protagonists.
There are various advantages to having such protagonists because they have so much to learn due to their age, and it provides a lot of space for character growth and development.
They’re also relatable for younger audiences, and let’s admit it, there are still an immense number of teenagers watching anime. Why would they even care about a middle-aged office worker?
But the point with these series is that the characters in them are teenagers only by name. They often act in a mature way (at least most of them), they struggle with adult issues and are put into situations where kids and teenagers should never be.
Still, perhaps this is exactly the beauty of it. We just take teenagers and force them to grow up. While we can’t really do the same thing with an adult protagonist.
What do you prefer?
Do we prefer adults?
Summary:
Anime is no longer a niche interest, so people of all ages are watching it.
Series with adult protagonists are doing well and are relatable for grown-ups.
The most popular shounen titles, however, feature underage protagonists.
Back when anime used to be a niche interest, teenagers were the target demographic for this type of media. Adults thought anime was just stupid cartoons for kids, and not many people really knew what it was about.
However, times have changed, and anime has become an international phenomenon. And with that, the demographics has also changed. People of all ages watch anime now, and they all want to relate to the characters they see in the series.
On top of that, anime fans who were 12 to 16 years old when most people didn’t care about anime have grown up and are adults with jobs and families now. So it’s a no-brainer that they want to see characters that represent them in anime.
That is where the big question comes from: do we want the protagonists to be underage or are we a little tired of teenagers and want someone more mature in our anime?
Adult protagonists
Let’s start with the adult ones. We all know how well Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) and Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi) are doing right now, and these are the series with grown-ups as leads. Frieren, of course, also has Fern and Stark, who are younger, but Frieren herself is over 1000 years old.
These series don’t involve any high-school romance or teenage problems; they are not about coming of age and learning basic things that kids are learning, and it’s refreshing.
Some new isekais, like Sasaki and Peeps, for example, have an adult protagonist as well, and it makes you want to relate to the lead so much. Sasaki is an office worker who’s bored with his life and job and just wants a companion to make his life more interesting. Something many grow-ups can relate to!
Underage protagonists
But we shouldn’t forget that the target audience of shounens are teenagers, so the most popular series such as Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece or Chainsaw Man feature underage protagonists.
There are various advantages to having such protagonists because they have so much to learn due to their age, and it provides a lot of space for character growth and development.
They’re also relatable for younger audiences, and let’s admit it, there are still an immense number of teenagers watching anime. Why would they even care about a middle-aged office worker?
But the point with these series is that the characters in them are teenagers only by name. They often act in a mature way (at least most of them), they struggle with adult issues and are put into situations where kids and teenagers should never be.
Still, perhaps this is exactly the beauty of it. We just take teenagers and force them to grow up. While we can’t really do the same thing with an adult protagonist.
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