It’s difficult to deny that part of the reason people watch anime, or any storytelling in general, is to indulge in escapism. People like to see characters do what they can’t in real life. Not caring about the expectations that are placed on them, and ignoring the high expectations placed on them by others—those are the kind of characters that all viewers fall in love with at one point or another.
Sometimes these characters don’t care because they’re simply so powerful they don’t have to care, as there’s nothing anyone else can do to them in the first place. Other times they don’t care because they’ve resolved to live their lives the way they want, something everyone would love to be able to do.
10 Shikamaru Would Rather Live An Easy Life Than Be Admired (Naruto)
Shikamaru is what most anime fans think of when they think of talented but lazy. The Nara clan ninja is easily the smartest of all the Konoha 11, proving his talent for tactics in his victories during the Chunin Exam. But regardless of Shikamaru’s skill, he’s never shown himself to care about anything people want from him.
More often than not, Shikamaru prefers to avoid the spotlight completely, and goes out of his way not to show off how smart he is because of the possibility that it might result in more work. Granted, this plan didn’t work as he’s swamped in work anyway after he became the assistant to the Hokage.
9 Yami Sukehiro Ignores The Tradition Of The Clover Kingdom (Black Clover)
Yami Sukehiro accidentally found himself in Clover Kingdom, and since then he’s had to fight for everything. You’d think that would have made him a more determined guy with a very clear goal. And in some ways it has—he formed the Black Bulls after the commander of the Grey Deer gave him control over his own Magic Knight guild.
But the Black Bulls are an organization that’s done what it wants since the very beginning. They were the only Magic Knight guild with negative gold stars because of their consistently poor performance. Yami not only never seems to care, but continues to recruit the strange mages of Clover Kingdom.
8 Spike Spiegel Approaches Everything With A Laid-Back Attitude (Cowboy Bebop)
Formerly of the mob, Spike Spiegel spends most of his time now either on the Bebop or looking for a new bounty. If Spike really cared what people thought of him, he would’ve remained in the mob and kept climbing his way up the ladder until he was a leader. Leaving the Syndicate was supposed to result in death for any member, and Spike still didn’t care. Instead, he sought out freedom and joined the crew of the Bebop, wanting to figure out if anything he knew or cared about was real.
7 Yuno Only Cares About Surpassing His Rival Asta (Black Clover)
Yuno became a member of the Golden Dawn despite having the lineage of a commoner, or at least that’s what everyone believed. With the Golden Dawn being the top guild, everyone looked down on Yuno for his parentage...but Yuno never once paid any of them any attention.
Someone even challenged him during the Royal Magic Knight quiz based on how quickly he was rising in the guild, and Yuno not only barely noticed but easily won his fight. The only people Yuno cares about are the people who grew up alongside him in the orphanage.
6 Jotaro Kujo Goes Through The Series Largely Unbothered By Everything (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders)
Jotaro is introduced to everyone in a jail cell for having beat up four random gang members. He’s not freaking out, he’s not even annoyed about it—he’s simply aware of the facts going on around him and operates accordingly. He doesn’t speak much, always remaining completely relaxed no matter what new situation he’s in while he’s battling the Stand users coming after him and his grandfather. The only thing he cares about for certain is his mother, but even then his introduction is telling her to shut up. He cares more about making sure she’s safe than whether or not she likes him.
5 Gildarts Prefers Traveling The World Over Accepting Anyone's Responsibilities (Fairy Tail)
Gildarts is the most powerful member of Fairy Tail...but he’s never actually a part of the team. His magic is so incredibly strong he can’t control it, and he’s never even bothered to learn how to reign it in. Instead, he makes Magnolia Town reshape itself around him so they don’t get hurt. Eventually, he was asked to take over the guild, but rather than stay and lead them, Gildarts ducked out and immediately dumped the responsibility back onto Makarov. He’ll fight for Fairy Tail, but he won’t be tied down by anyone.
4 Goto Kiichi Is The Relaxed Leader Of Division 2 (Patlabor)
Goto is the quiet leader of Section 2 Division 2, the crew responsible for most of the destruction the Mobile Police cause. Goto always seems laid-back, commanding respect even without having to yell.
Don’t get fooled by his demeanor though—he’s not just aware of what’s going on around him, he’s usually several steps ahead of everyone else. The general belief is he was placed with Division 2 to keep him from causing too many problems for the higher-ups, but he’s never complained about it, seemingly happy just to do his job leading a team and never having much asked of him outside of that.
3 Gintoki Doesn't Care How Anyone Else Sees Him, So Long As He's Living Life How He Wants (Gintama)
Gintoki really seemed to care about his country in the war against the aliens, but after they were defeated, he learned to find a new way to live life. He began the Yorozuya, an odd-jobs company that he uses to pay for food, rent, and the latest copy of Weekly Shonen Jump. People look down on him for being lazy, but that never seems to make Gintoki change his behavior. Instead, people realize how awesome he is and come around to respecting him instead.
2 Setsuna F. Seiei Wants To Become A Gundam And Erase Conflict (Gundam 00)
Setsuna F. Seiei has one desire: to become a Gundam. Though that seems more comedic than anything else, and the character is basically a walking meme, he takes this goal literally. The 0 Gundam eradicated all conflict around Setsuna, saving his life as a child. Now, the only thing he wants is the ability to eradicate conflict everywhere so no one has to deal with what he dealt with. To that end, Setsuna never has time to waste on wondering what everyone around him might think of him.
1 Goblin Slayer Cares More About Wiping Out Goblins Than What Anyone Else Thinks (Goblin Slayer)
Goblin Slayer had everything taken from him by goblins when he was only a child. He only narrowly survived because his sister hid him, and in the aftermath he had nothing more than an intense hatred of goblins going forward. Since then, he’s spent the rest of his life training to defeat goblins. People look down on him for taking such low-tier jobs, but he’s not in it for accolades or even money. The only thing Slayer cares about is his job, and doing it as well as he can.
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