10 Best Anime With Adult Protagonists, According To Ranker

Teenage anime protagonists often dominate the medium but there are plenty of amazing anime series that feature adults as the main character.

With a lot of the more prominent anime series being geared towards a younger audience, it follows that a lot of the shows are centered around young main characters. However, for many anime fans, having an adult protagonist means the chance at a more mature, nuanced, and potentially relatable character to lead the show.

From Cowboy Bebop to Death Parade, there is a wide range of anime centered on an adult main character that use those characters to great effect. Thousands of anime fans on Ranker cast their votes on which of these anime series are the most worth watching.

10 Bungou Stray Dogs

Centered on protagonist Atsushi Nakajima, an 18-year-old who is kicked out of the orphanage where he lives in strange circumstances, Bungou Stray Dogs was one of the most interesting anime series of 2016. After a somewhat slow start, the series quickly falls into an enjoyable rhythm as Atsushi ends up involved in a group of supernatural investigators.

Balancing moments of comedy and drama with a good splash of old-fashioned action, Bungou Stray Dogs manages to overcome some tonal inconsistencies with a genuinely intriguing supernatural storyline. Once it gets going, the series goes by quickly and many viewers will end up wanting more from the short anime.

9 Mushishi

The 2005 adaptation of an award-winning manga, Mushishi utilizes its mature main character to explore complex themes as he investigates the mysterious phenomenon known as "Mushi". Mushi are seemingly a form of life that exists below all others, appearing in countless forms but without anyone knowing why.

As a Mushishi, the protagonist Ginko wishes to uncover some of these mysteries surrounding their unique existence, sending him on a different adventure each episode. There are many great supernatural slice-of-life anime but Mushishi has a very distinctive ethereal feel that sets it apart for better or for worse.

8 Death Parade

Set in a world between life and death where the fate of people's souls is decided by simple games, Death Parade makes it clear from the beginning that it is not afraid to fully involve itself with the darkest subjects. For pairs of people who die at the same time, a bar called Quindecim, where these high-stakes games are played, could await them.

Challenging them in these games, which can be anything from bowling to fighting games, is the enigmatic Decim, who appears to be a young adult. Though Death Parade lacks action, watching the games play out is full of suspense and is part of the reason why it's one of the best dark anime like Attack on Titan.

7 Gintama

As the genre is geared toward a young male audience, shounen anime is dominated by teenage main characters which can start to get old after a while. Luckily, Gintama is one of the most highly regarded exceptions to this. Set in an alternative past where feudal Japan has been taken over by powerful aliens, Gintama centers around the eccentric Gintoki Sakata, one of the only men who still carries himself as a samurai.

Following Gintoki's efforts to help people, along with his small team of equally unusual assistants, Gintama hits all the right notes for a shounen anime. With tons of action and humor, it quickly becomes obvious why Gintama has so many fans.

6 Trigun

Sharing a lot of similarities with Cowboy Bebop, including its late-90s feel and its Western inspiration, Trigun follows the legendary and very much adult Vash the Stampede. With a reputation for destroying entire cities when he gets mad and a massive bounty on his head, Vash can't help but get into trouble.

Even though the series has aged somewhat, Vash is a timeless character that most fans can't help but love. With misadventures that result in hilarious moments as well as genuine life-or-death thrills, Trigun rarely has a dull moment throughout its 26-episode run.

5 One-Punch Man

Although Saitama is an adult in One-Punch Man, he is a main character with a simple, childlike dream of being a hero. Unlike most, however, Saitama's rigorous training means he actually has a chance though it has the downside of costing him his hair. Unfortunately, Saitama goes a little too far, to the point where he can stop any enemy with a single punch.

One-Punch Man goes a long way with this simple but humorous premise, as Saitama is confronted with the fact that no villain can realistically be a threat to him. The series is an effective parody and, for viewers who can see the fun in an absurdly overpowered main character, works well as a show in its own right.

4 Psycho-Pass

An action sci-fi series that effectively explores issues of justice, law enforcement, and corruption, Psycho-Pass was well-received when it was released in 2012. In the 22nd century, an apparently objective means of judging citizens' likelihood to commit a crime is being used, called their "Psycho-Pass" and law enforcement acts swiftly and often lethally on those who are judged negatively.

As Akane Tsunemori soon discovers as she enters the world of law enforcement and partners up with a veteran enforcer called Shinya Kogami, there may be some serious problems with the system, and it makes for a fascinating series. Whilst there may be other media that goes further in examining these themes, Psycho-Pass is still well worth watching.

3 Berserk

Usually, for anime fans looking for series with adult main characters, it's also out of an interest in more mature series that explore themes that shows aimed at a younger audience couldn't. The infamously gory Berserk is perfect then, as it pulls no punches both in the story it tells and in its bloody way of telling it.

Although some shows use heavy violence and undue edginess as a means to distract from a lack of story and character, Berserk isn't one of these, having the substance to back up its uncompromising style. Its central character Guts and the other mercenaries he meets end up being as memorable as the show's intriguing themes.

2 Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo is an action-adventure series following an odd group made up of a clumsy waitress and two very different samurai whom she saved from execution after their intense duel got out of control. Now owing a debt to her, they reluctantly agree to help her on a quest to find a mysterious samurai who smells of sunflowers.

Set in an alternative version of the Edo Period of Japan, Samurai Champloo is a consistently entertaining blend of different cultural influences. With a distinctive hip-hop-infused soundtrack, the trio's quest is a stylish, action-packed, and comedic adventure that remains a must-watch.

1 Cowboy Bebop

With a recent attempt at a Netflix live-action adaptation, there is a renewed interest in the late-'90s series that found a huge cult audience outside of Japan as a result of its unique futuristic, jazz-infused, Western-inspired style. Set in the 2070s, Cowboy Bebop takes place in a world where there are crime-ridden colonies of people throughout the galaxy.

In a show that's deeply centered around characters as well as action, a ragtag group of bounty hunters, strays, and a bioengineered Welsh corgi come together as the crew of a ship called the Bebop. The live-action Cowboy Bebop missed some major parts of the original anime so it remains a great show to watch, and the best ever anime series with adult main characters.

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