Shikamaru & 9 More Powerful Anime Slackers, Ranked | CBR

Slackers are those who want to get by in life doing as little as possible. They tend to devote most of their time to leisure, relaxation, and pleasure, whether it's sleeping during the day or spending hours playing video games. They might attend school or have a job, but they are not married to the idea. And the world of anime has its fair share of slackers.

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In fiction, it's common for these characters to just really be that lazy, with it being implied they actually have the intelligence and talent to make something of themselves if they just tried for once. For some of these characters, it's very lucky that they are fictional and not bound to rules of logic, since quite a few of them might have starved to death a while ago. In other cases, however, they tend to have a relative or friend supporting them. But still, characters can still be pretty powerful even when they like to slack off.

10 Pretear: Kaoru Awayuki Is Lucky To Have Married Into Money

Kaoru Awayuki is a bit more sympathetic than others, having once been a romance novelist who turned to a life of drinking after his wife's death. It's shown he and his daughter Himeno barely scraped by as she cooked their meals using what little budget they had, implying she might have been the one to have worked to afford food.

Eventually, however, Karou ends up marrying Natsue, a wealthy divorcee that practically owns the town they live in and who's such a fan of his books that she named her daughters after fictional princesses from them. Thanks to this, his name is now all over their town, since Natsue named things after him.

9 Ramen Fighter Miki: Not Even Employment Keeps Miki From Slacking

At first glance, Miki wouldn't come off too much as a slacker because she at least has a job, working for her mother's ramen restaurant. But that doesn't say much, because she took the job so she could slack off all she wants. She rarely delivers food on time and doesn't seem to earn much money anyway.

It gets to a point that, when she actually gets a day off, she has no idea what to do with herself, especially since, as mentioned, she's low on funds.

8 The World God Only Knows: Keima Katsuragi Puts In Just Enough Effort

Keima Katsuragi spends all of his free time playing video games, even getting away with playing them in class, with him somehow finding the time to run a gaming blog. He has a complicated relationship when it comes to slacking off: instead of outright ignoring his responsibilities, he just puts in the minimal effort needed.

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Despite this, he still manages to excel at things, especially his studies, explaining why his teachers turn a blind eye to him playing games in class. And this is all before he gets recruited to help stop evil spirits.

7 Shaman King: Yoh Wants To Be Shaman King So He Doesn't Have To Do Anything

Yoh is a self-proclaimed slacker and, while his goal of becoming the Shaman King seems to suggest he at least has some initiative. That said, a big reason he wants to become Shaman King is so he can live an easy life.

To an extent, he believes things always have a way of working themselves out, although he kind of uses that as an excuse to let fate do all the work for him while he just looks at the scenery for a few hours.

6 Hamtaro: Snoozer Mostly Jumps Sleeps But Is Very Insightful

Most of Hamtaro's hamster friends are defined by a prominent personality trait. For Snoozer, it's that he almost perpetually sleeps. Boss even found him in what would become the Ham-Ham Clubhouse while he was unconscious.

Granted, being a hamster, Snoozer doesn't really need a job or concern himself with getting an education. However, very little is known about him especially because he spends very little time awake. It's not clear if he has an owner, so it's anyone's guess how he doesn't starve to death. Despite this, he's very wise and sometimes gives the Ham-Hams good advice.

5 Soul Eater: Soul Evans Starts As A Slacker

At the start, Soul has turned himself into a slacker by trying to make himself come off as cool, being reserved, and laid-back. When dealing with an issue, he always goes with the direct approach and generally comes off as careless. He also isn't above cheating on an exam. Eventually, however, he does mature out of these tendencies.

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Surprisingly, he shows himself to be very talented, being a good fighter and strategist, is skilled with weapons, and is even gifted at playing the piano.

4 Himouto! Umaru-Chan: Umaru Doma Seems To Have A Magical Gift At Being Lazy

When it comes to slacking off, Umaru Doma is a complicated case. She's actually an excellent student and she's actually a top gamer. And yet, this seems to come to her effortlessly than from hard work. And, when at home, her slacker nature comes out.

She spends most of her free time devoted to anime, video games, sleeping, and dressing like a hamster. She never lifts a finger when it comes to housework and plans to live off her brother, who she already takes advantage of. Exactly how she manages to keep up her public image is never explained and might actually be supernatural.

3 Sailor Moon: Usagi Dedicates Most Of Her Free Time To Wasting Time

Usagi's hobbies include video games, manga, shopping, eating, and finding new ways of spending her mother's — and later Mamoru's — money. She's also incredibly lazy when it comes to schoolwork. She can do well in school if she puts her mind to it, as seen when she passed her high school entrance exams, but this is not an everyday occurrence. A popular theory for why no one recognizes her as Sailor Moon is because no one could believe humanity's last hope is someone as lazy as Usagi.

While her lack of a job is forgivable given her age, she really doesn't seem to have any long-term career goals, although early episodes of the anime usually toyed with the idea of her entering modeling contests or acting auditions. All in all, she's very lucky that she turns out to be the Moon Princess, as she didn't seem to have too many backup plans in life.

2 The Devil Is A Part-Timer: Lucifer Works Hard To Be Lazy

Lucifer is a fallen angel who schemed to return to Heaven, but after a defeat, finds himself living off of Maou and Alciel. He now spends his life on the internet or playing games, expecting others to feed him, and he is not fine with cheap food, either. Rarely moving his face from his computer screen, he does have some hacking skills and tries to help find sources of magic.

Originally, he mostly stayed inside to cover up the fact that he was wanted for robberies. But then, he grew a little too fond of his new lifestyle and has completely transformed into a lazy bum. He's become a character who actively puts work into staying lazy, like his plan to get Olba's schemes to backfire.

1 Naruto: Shikamaru Nara Lives By "Mendokusē Mendokusē"

Shikamaru Nara's first appearance in the series involves him complaining about having to work at all. He has a genius intellect but is so lazy that his grades are practically as bad as Naruto's. Initially, he spends most of his time playing shogi and doing nothing. His catchphrase, suggesting it doesn't take much to overwhelm him, is "Mendokusē Mendokusē," meaning "How troublesome!" or "What a drag!"

He's not completely apathetic and does eventually grow out of it, especially hoping to become a role model like Asuma. Even so, even if he learns to accept his responsibilities, that doesn't mean it doesn't annoy him.

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