12 Anime Series With Self-Insert Protagonists

In all media that tells a story, the protagonist is the character through which we see the world. We follow them through their story, see the world the way the see it, and learn about it as they learn about it. The protagonist is a crucial story-telling tool. However, not all protagonists are characters of their own. Some are meant to be blank slates. Yes, they may have a backstory and even goals for the world, but they are written to be rather bland and very relatable so the audience can essentially slip into their skin. It means you can feel like a protagonist of a more eventful story than your own.

There is still quite some debate on what does and does not qualify as a self-insert protagonist. I’m here to tell it to you true. If you have one quality in common with a protagonist, you can insert your self int their shoes. If a character likes eating food an not murdering people, they could be you! Despite the extreme example for comedy, this means if you see something in them that you see in yourself, you could self-insert into their story.

In essence, any anime can have a self-insert protagonist, but some are more obvious than others. You see them in certain anime adaptions more than others. Anything where making a protagonist is not as important as making someone relatable enough to allow a wide enough audience to be able to slip into. Otome games or visual novels that task you on making decisions for the main character, light novels, and harem/ecchi series are the big culprits for what should be obvious reasons.

Regardless, self-insertion has a place in media because reality can often suck big donkey dick. Or rather, it can simply be less exciting than fantasy for most people. There is nothing wrong with a little escapism when done in moderation. If you are looking for a tight little protagonist skin you can slip into, here are some solid anime recommendations.




Amnesia

This series was based off a rather good otome game, but made a rather poor anime adaptation. Such is the fate of most otome game adaptations because the main character remained oh-so-passive in the anime series since no one was behind the steering wheel making decisions. Self insertion with her is really the only thing you can do because it is just a series about ogling pretty, color coded, yet damaged boys.

Clannad

The interesting thing about Clannad is that is is self-insert as a visual novel adaptation, but in After Story, the main character does get his own arc in which he deal with his (still very relatable) daddy issues. Yes, it is a series about helping mostly pretty girls with their traumas and that is easy to jump into, but it is nice to see they didn’t sleep on the main character’s own story in this one.

Angel Beats

Much in the same vein as Clannad, as it was made by the same people, Angel Beats follows a main character that helps people deal with their own problems, mostly because he has amnesia and can’t remember his own. Like Clannad, they also handle his story at the end too. Again, it is good to see and is likely why both Angel Beats and Clannad are such popular series. Self insertion and feels are a very heady mix.

Outbreak Company

Imagine being an otaku.  I know, so hard, right? Well, imagine all that useless knowledge of anime, manga, and games being useful as an ambassador to a fantasy land filled with fantasy females. Well, that’s the dream. This series allows you to live that dream vicariously through the everyman otaku main character.

Sword Art Online

This is the most debated self-insert show likely because it is so popular and people hate opinions that differ from their own. Regardless, I am will to cede that Kirito does occasionally manifest non-self-insert characteristics. However, he is effortlessly good at everything, doesn’t need no guild’s help for the most part, and women inexplicably are drawn to him. It is a Gary Stu you want to crawl into. There is a middle part where he attempts to grow a personality, but then is rendered into a coma and girls literally sit around him talking about how great he is as his dribbles down his own chin. It’s a real Bruh moment.

Isekai Cheat Magicians

Isekai is the new moe art. It is literally everywhere in anime now and following a formula that makes for truly bland shows. Yet, what are bland shows with bland characters if not something the audience is supposed to insert themselves into. You are transported to a new interesting world with a babelicious childhood friend and discover that you have godly powers. The plot is just as generically written and it provides easy distraction from your standard work/home cycle.

Another

It is actually rather rare to find a self-insert protagonist in a mystery series, but Another found a way. The protagonist is a new transfer student who gets put in a weird class where no one tells him anything that is going on. Of course, curiosity demands that he look into this mystery and ruins everything, causing people to start dying. Another and its protagonist are a way for you to slip in and satisfy your curiosity, then feel bad about it when the dying starts, and try to fix everything. He has very little personality of his own and you only don’t notice at first because of how mysterious and shifty everyone else is.

In Another World With My Smart Phone

Many isekai series have started to follow a formula and have manifested a distinct blandness from it. In Another World With My Smart Phone is part of that. The main character gets isekai’d and is given an edge when reincarnated into a new world. In this case, it is a smart phone so he can be like you. Yes, even in a fantasy world, you can stare mindlessly at your smart phone, occasionally looking up to spout some knowledge unknown in this world and collect a new member for your harem.


Monster Musume

I can name most of the monster girls in this series off my head, but I had to look up the main character’s name. In those cases, chances are good that the character was a self-insert protagonist. In Monster Musume, Kurusu is literally no one with nothing special about him, no special skills, and looks like every other Japanese man in anime. Yet, he is heaped on with unique monster girls that end up falling in love with him because, like you, he is just the right amount of nice, perverted, and presumably doesn’t beat them.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

This one is only partially true. You see, in the first season, Hachiman is pessimistic and snarky to the youth that is going on around him. Something that the many, many loners who watch anime can firmly grasp onto as he begins to gather a group of friends that get to know him through circumstance. However, in the second season. Hachiman actually has some character growth and rises above a self-insert. He thrusts you out of his skin and takes his own body back. It wasn’t a bad thing.

Haganai

As a harem series, you know what to expect. Except, this one is a little insulting. The main character is supposedly hated for looking like a thug, but unlike legitimately mean-looking Ryuuji from Toradora for example, he doesn’t actually look like a thug outside of having blonde hair. His “misfit” status allows him to found a club for misfits, all of them being pretty and only just mildly odd women. From there, it has no plot, only harem antics.

Oreimo

I personally struggle with this one. Kyousuke is really nothing more than a window for the audience to watch his little sister. He doesn’t have many characteristics of his own, but he is not exactly relatable to an audience that doesn’t lust after their sisters either. A protagonist is a window, but they should also have their own stories. So in this respect, Kyosuke is both a protagonist and a form for self insertion. The same can be said with its sister series, Eromanga Sensei. It’s really just the same thing, but with a much younger stepsister. However, the main character in that series at least has the goal of being a writer that he is working towards.

Do you have more self-insert anime series for fans bored with their own reality? Give them their anime recommendations in the comments section down below.

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