Series with a strong cast of characters

Starra

Starra

Well-Known Member
Basically the opposite of the shows carried by a single character thread: series that you feel, in your personal opinion, have, overall, entertaining characters in one way or another. You don't have to like every character in a show for this to apply, of course, cases where you like the majority of characters definitely count.

Here're my picks, in the order that I thought of them:

Kuroko no Basket:
Even some of the minor characters are compelling, which doesn't always happen in sports anime/manga. Yeah, some characters are really forgettable, but overall I think this is my favourite cast of characters I've come across. Years later, I still don't know who my fave is because two characters have completely won me over.

Free!:
Okay, so S3 does suffer from the problem of having too many characters, but the ones it does have are (mostly) great. There's something for everyone, at least if you're watching for the guys, lol. And in an interesting scenario, the few female characters that exist aren't completely useless either.

Yuri!!! on ICE:
Like with Kurobas, it does have some forgettable characters, but most of the cast is pretty unique and I love the character dynamics. This is a case of where my least fave character is my least fave because they're annoying as fuck but haven't done anything wrong. (Note: it's JJ.)

Banana Fish:
I feel weird putting this here because a lot of characters are rapist pedophiles, but please know that I'm not including any of them in this list. It's everyone else. Considering the manga was written in the 80s, the series does a good job (at least in my opinion) of portraying different ethnicities, and nobody felt like a racial stereotype to me. Everyone has an interesting (albeit over-the-top tragic, lol) story and the interactions are all well-done.

And, saving the best for last...

Shingeki no Kyojin:
Everyone knows how I feel about this series already. And I know it does have a lot of disposable characters (at least in the beginning) but the recurring cast are pretty great. Even if you hate someone, you at least feel strongly one way or another about them (for the most part). I also really like the grey morality surrounding some of the characters, where you don't know who's good or evil or if there even is a good and an evil. The characters also have a lot of depth to them if they're actually around long enough to be developed, lol.
 
Nana has a pretty fantastic cast. The show obviously spends most of its time focused on the drama in the lives of the two Nanas, but almost all of the secondary cast members get their moments to shine and often I end up liking them more than the central duo.

Honey and Clover is like an indie rom-com with a great soundtrack, quirky sense of humor. The show follows the lives of several different romantic pairings. The central romance is pretty dull, but the other characters more than make up for it.

I posted these two first because I didn't want to be boring and post Legend of the Galactic Heroes first, but yeah, most of the secondary characters in that show could carry their own series.
 
This is probably "cheating", but oh, well. I feel that most ensemble fighting shows fall into this: your JoJos,FMAs, Fist of the North Stars, Kill la Kills, Yu Yu Hakushos etc. There are just so many characters that even if you dislike some, the scattershot approach is going to end up working most of the time.

In the world of sci-fi, we have Infinite Ryvius, Space Battleship Yamato 2199, TTGL, EVA, and some Gundams also apply. Lots of colourful and distinct personalities on display, and they do far more than just spout technobabble or grunt light novel platitudes.

More melodramatic shows with casts I love (or love to hate) are Dear Brother and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
 
Most recent examples I can think of are the new Baki, where some of the villains are so damn evil and despicable they would constantly stab the person who spares them or saves them in the back.

Another one is Eccentric family, especially the second season. The show's cast is really charming and the interactions between them can be very heartwarming.
 
I think Free! certainly qualifies. Each of the boys has a distinct personality and each has his own troubles. I also like how in Season 2 they introduce a new character and develop him really well.

I also like how in Season 1, Makoto, Rei, Haru and Rin are the characters who get development, then in Season 2 the focus is more on Nagisa, Sosuke and Haru has a different problem. I'm interested to see how Season 3 will go.
 
After looking at your list:

Bungou stray dogs, durarara, baccano are the ones I'm thinking you'll like.

Baccano is short but it never focuses on one of its characters for too long and all of them are pretty interesting.

Dr is long and I'm not a fan of it but it's known to some to have really entertaining characters.

Stray Dogs is a favorite of mine, its detectives with superpowers named after famous writers and all the characters there are fun IMO.
 
Hmm...I think my choice would be Rakugo Shinjuu Descending stories. The side characters play a really important role in the series. It’s very impressive.

My other pick would be Detective Conan. There are so so many characters in that series but they aren’t wasted. It’s not unusual that characters that were introduced ages ago return to contribute to the plot along with a revelation of a bag load of background information about themselves. I guess this shows how much of a good writer Aoyama Gosho is.
 
HasseRovdjur said:
This is probably "cheating", but oh, well. I feel that most ensemble fighting shows fall into this: your JoJos,FMAs, Fist of the North Stars, Kill la Kills, Yu Yu Hakushos etc. There are just so many characters that even if you dislike some, the scattershot approach is going to end up working most of the time.
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I was gonna say Naruto and One Piece for this as well. The benefit of having a long series like that is being able to fit in multiple character arcs.
It is a mighty feat to get people to genuinely care for this guy
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Bakuman and Haikyuu are other Shonen Jump titles I think have a really robust and interesting cast.

The Monogatari series has been able to dedicate mini-series for almost every supporting girl and has fleshed them out over time.

Can't forget the brilliance and complexity of the cast in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu either.
 
HasseRovdjur said:
In the world of sci-fi, we have Infinite Ryvius, Space Battleship Yamato 2199, TTGL, EVA, and some Gundams also apply. Lots of colourful and distinct personalities on display, and they do far more than just spout technobabble or grunt light novel platitudes.
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Hasse, you shitweasel, you forgot all about Patlabor, with its cast that, while not as colourful as some others, have clear and defined personalities and also work in different contexts, unlike the rest of most mofos populating anime. For instance, the TV show is more on the wacky side, and the original OVA is great and sometimes-serious, and the two films (THERE ARE ONLY TWO ALALALALALALA) are Oshii at his navelgazing best. They're like GitS, but actually awesome.

I was actually reminded of Patlabor because I saw Ash got first place in character popularity polls in 1991 as well as 2018 -- proving that people have shit taste now and shit taste then -- but Goto was actually in fifth place, after Ash and the Legend of Galactic Heroes peeps. Mind blown.
 
randomredneck said:
Sengoku Basara. I mean for cripes sake, you have:

An Engrish spouting samurai who holds his swords like Wolverine.
A shirtless dude who dual wields spears and yells at his mentor constantly.
A guy who can ride horses up walls while standing on them.
Honda Tadaktsu as a goddamn feudal Gundam.
Norio freaking Wakamoto as possibly the most overtly villainous version of Nobunaga to ever exist.
A dude who can part the freaking sea with a punch.

I mean, I can go on.
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i gotta bump this up my 'to watch' list...
 
HasseRovdjur said:
This is probably "cheating", but oh, well. I feel that most ensemble fighting shows fall into this: your JoJos,FMAs, Fist of the North Stars, Kill la Kills, Yu Yu Hakushos etc. There are just so many characters that even if you dislike some, the scattershot approach is going to end up working most of the time.
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The first thing that came to my mind is right along these lines: My Hero Academia. So many great characters, and really the worst we get for the most part are ones that just aren't very fleshed out and I hope will get a bigger character arc later on.

GenSan said:
Gekkan Shoujo and Saiki-san, comedies like this, usually just live or die to me with their ensemble cast. How good their character chemistry is, and how well they play off of each others quirks.
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I need to watch these... But it does make me think of Hinamatsuri. So good, and you could pretty much put any two characters together and something hilarious would ensue.
 
I'd say the Danganronpa series has a pretty damn strong (and crazy) cast of characters in it, though I'm really referring to the games and not so much the anime based on it. Still close enough for me though, and I still remember just about all of the characters even long after finishing the (currently) last game in the series.
Still my number 1 waifu in a series filled with waifus:
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MistLiigh said:
The first thing that came to my mind is right along these lines: My Hero Academia. So many great characters, and really the worst we get for the most part are ones that just aren't very fleshed out and I hope will get a bigger character arc later on.
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Yeeah, seems starra already has that on her list though as stalled. Honestly IDK if i can reccomend that anymore for this, it just keeps adding characters while making its old characters slightly lamer each time as it goes, and while i was into it in the beginning the only characters i really like are all might and, hell, bakugo of all characters.

Buuut i guess thats just me since everyone and their mother loves it still.
 
HasseRovdjur said:
This is probably "cheating", but oh, well. I feel that most ensemble fighting shows fall into this:
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I think that shows with teams of protags doing stuff, in general, usually count, unless there's very lopsided "coverage" of the characters.

I should probably make special mention of The iDOLM@STER, which arguably has about 14 main characters, each of which gets at least one episode in the limelight, though three of them also get extended character arcs.
 
TurkeyGami said:
After looking at your list:

Bungou stray dogs, durarara, baccano are the ones I'm thinking you'll like.
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I've read most of the Bungou Stray Dogs manga and it's pretty neat. Lovecraft is the most interesting one to me, and I don't really know what that says about me lol.

As for BnHA, I just couldn't get into it. It's got good characters, but it didn't pull me in. I'm not entirely sure why. I get why people like it, though.

Also, I agree about Haikyuu!!, even if it's not one of my faves. Lots of solid characters there.

GlennMagusHarvey said:
I should probably make special mention of The iDOLM@STER, which arguably has about 14 main characters, each of which gets at least one episode in the limelight, though three of them also get extended character arcs.
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Original iM@S has a strong cast but I only like a handful of them lol. Cinderella Girls has almost 200 characters (in the game) and I'd argue that they do a good job of making most of them unique but I don't care about most of the girls they try and push.
 
Starra said:
As for BnHA, I just couldn't get into it. It's got good characters, but it didn't pull me in. I'm not entirely sure why. I get why people like it, though.
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Probably because it's so in-your-face. No other show has quite that amount of constant energy to exhaust until it gets old without slowing down. Also it doesn't do a whole lot new. But I still like it for the characters that are funny and the kewl superpowahz that are sometimes actually kinda lame but we dont care because SMAAAAAAAAAASH
 
TurkeyGami said:
Probably because it's so in-your-face. No other show has quite that amount of constant energy to exhaust until it gets old without slowing down. Also it doesn't do a whole lot new. But I still like it for the characters that are funny and the kewl superpowahz that are sometimes actually kinda lame but we dont care because SMAAAAAAAAAASH
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You're talking to someone who likes idol anime, Turkey. I generally don't mind that kind of thing lol. Also, from what I watched of it, I really enjoyed All Might.
 
Starra said:
You're talking to someone who likes idol anime, Turkey. I generally don't mind that kind of thing. Also, from what I watched of it, I really enjoyed All Might.
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Maybe then it's because everything it does is done better in stuff you've already seen? That's a majority of my problems with it even in the beginning.
 
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