Shonen anime is the most popular type of anime, and it’s mostlyfilled with teenageprotagonists. There are also many great anime with middle-aged protagonists for the older viewers to feel represented. These characters offer unique experiences and struggles reflecting the challenges of adulthood.
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From tales of adventures to self-discovery and atonement, middle-aged protagonists have brought us a lot of memorable moments in anime. These are some of the best anime with middle-aged protagonists for fans looking for anime series with more mature main characters.
10Spice And Wolf
This story follows Kraft Lawrence, a traveling merchant who dreams of becoming wealthy and settling down. He meets Holo, a wolf deity who can take the form of a mesmerizing young woman.
Holo wants to return home after being worshipped as the Harvest Goddess for many years in a small town. Lawrence agrees to help her in exchange for using her supernatural powers to help him make good trades. They develop a bond and become true partners. They navigate a treacherous world of commerce and politics while keeping Holo’s true identity a secret.
9Golden Kamuy
This anime is set in 20th-century Japan. It follows the adventures of Saichi Sugimoto, also known as “Immortal Sugimoto,”a war veteran knownfor his toughness and ability to survive deadly encounters. Sugimoto hears about a stash of gold hidden by the Ainu people, and he sets out to find it to provide for his dead comrade’s widow.
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He teams up with a young Ainu girl named Asirpa, who has a lot of knowledge about the land and its people. Together, they navigate the dangerous landscape and rival treasure hunters to find the hidden treasure and uncover the secrets of the Ainu people.
8Gangsta
Worick Arcangelo and his friend Nicolas Brown are not your regular handymen in this series. In the city of Ergastulum, where crime and corruption are rampant, a handyman is a codename for a mercenary. Worick is an intelligent strategist with a lot of connections in the city, while Nicolas is a deaf and powerful fighter with a tragic past.
Together, they take on dangerous jobs for different clients, and they end up caught up in a string of violence that threatens to take away everything that they love. They must learn to confront their demons and fight to survive.
7Fate Zero
This is the prequel to the popularFate/stay nightanime series. Seven of the most powerful mages, called “Masters,” summon legendary heroes from history and mythology to fight in a battle royale calledthe Holy Grail War, in which the winner will be granted any wish.
Kiritsugu Emiya is one of the masters, and he’s also a former mercenary and assassin. He wants to win the war so he can use his wish to make the world a better place. Throughout the war, he starts to question himself and his true ambitions.
6Mushishi
Ginko is a “mushishi,” a person who travels through Japan’s countryside studying and dealing with “Mushi,” strange creatures that have unique supernatural abilities. These creatures are invisible to regular humans but can cause illnesses, natural disasters, andevil occurrences.
Ginko dedicated his life to studying the Mushi and helping those affected by them. He encounters a lot of mushi and people on his journeys, each with their unique challenges.Mushishiis an anime that explores the connections between humans and the natural world.
5Planetes
This anime has a futuristic setting and follows the lives of a group of space debris collectors. Hachimaki and Tanabe Ai are the two main protagonists. Hachimaki is a skilled debris collector who dreams of owning his spaceship, and Tanabe Ai is a young and idealistic newcomer who is passionate about space and all it encompasses.
Theyform a close bondas they work together to collect debris and solve various problems in space. They also learn lessons about teamwork and responsibility and the importance of their work.
4Cowboy Bebop
Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are bounty hunters that travel through space in their spaceship, pursuing criminals and collecting bounties. Spike is an excellent fighter with a cloudy past, and Jey is a former cop that lost his arm in the line of duty.
Along the way, they gain new comrades, including a hacker named Ed, a beautiful woman called Faye Valentine, and a genetically-engineered Welsh Corgi named Ein. Cowboy Bebop is a story of their adventures as they face criminals,ruthless corporations, and Spike’s past.
3Usagi Drop
Daikichi Kawachi, a 30-year-old bachelor, attends his grandpa’s funeral and finds out his grandpa has an illegitimate daughter named Rin, who is only six years old. None of his relatives are willing to take care of her, so he decides to raise her himself.
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As he takes on the task of raising a little girl as a single man, he develops a bond with Rin and discovers the joys and pains of parenthood, and he also deals with criticism from others who question his ability to raise a child well.
2Devil May Cry
Devil May Cryis a supernatural action anime based on the popular video game series of the same title. It follows Dante, a demon and human hybrid with superhuman strength and agility, as he battles demons andother supernatural monsterswith a massive sword and a pair of pistols. He runs a business, Devil May Cry, where he takes on jobs as a freelancer to protect humans from evil.
He has a couple of allies, including a little girl named Patty, who is like a little sister to him, and a demon hunter named Lady, who initially doesn’t like Dante but becomes an ally. Dante battles demons and uncovers conspiracies while learning more about his past.
1Hellsing
Alucard is not your average middle-aged protagonist, as he’s actually a powerful six-hundred-year-old vampire. He works for the Hellsing Organization, a secret British government agency that eliminates supernatural threats. Alucard is the only vampire who can shapeshift and manipulate shadows, and he wieldsa pair of deadly pistols.
He bonds with the head of the Hellsing Organization, Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, and a former police officer turned vampire named Seras Victoria. Together, they face off against other supernatural beings, including other vampires and crazed reverend fathers, and fight to protect England from the forces of darkness.
