Deku, Naruto and the Insecure Shonen Protagonist 

Something really sad about Naruto's lack of understanding about love is that if you think about it, Naruto would really have no concept of what romantic love is since he grew up with nobody. No parents. No friends. He associates love with ramen because that's what always made him feel good and the only person who treated him like a human being was the guy who sold him ramen.

Also, side note, i feel like people dont give Naruto enough credit for how genuine its emotions feel. I still cry like a baby every time i watch the episode of Shipuden where Gaara is barely clinging to life and the thing he thinks about is how grateful he is for Naruto's friendship.

I'm surprised you didn't mention Sasuke at all especially when talking about Naruto's anxiety and depression. Sasuke is often just as insecure as Naruto. They both bring out each other's insecurities, they are quick to point them out as well but they also inspire one another and give each other confidence at times. Kishi acknowledges that I believe through Kakashi and Jiraiya's conversation about the two.

Deku obviously has a quirk. Unlimited, high pressure tears.

Naruto is completely about how he deals with depression from being emotionally abused by his entire village except a handful of people. Like I mean hell does anybody remember when he straight-up started hyperventilating and fell down due to stress?

“…the low-key harem [Deku's] building” I'm pretty sure that harem only exists in Uraraka's mind

I've been racking my mind trying to figure out what Deku's character flaw is, and I think i've finally done it. He’s seriously too much of a good guy. More specifically, he's crazy. He constantly crosses the line between heroic self-sacrifice and suicidal tendencies. He’s so focused on saving everyone else that his arms are on the brink of permanent paralysis at 15yrs old. He fails to realize the emotional impact his hospitalizations have on his mother, caring only about being All-Might's successor. There’s an interesting scene where he saves Toga, the villain, and she says something that the show hasn’t gotten the opportunity to explore yet: “Will you save anyone? Where do you draw the line? What’s the boundary?” I think the series is going to start to explore that Deku's "purity" is actually his greatest weakness. It reminds me of the scene where All-Might is in the hospital, and Gran-Torino has to talk him out of wanting to save Shigaraki. The dude would fucking disintegrate All-Might, but All-Might can only think about trying to "show him the light." I think this spills over to love too. Uraraka shows that she loves Deku, but I think Deku is only flustered because she's a girl. He does the same thing with Hatsume Mei. In fact, the scene where Uraraka is floating and fawning over Deku, Deku is outside with an intense look of focus on his face as he trains. I think he's so focused on his hero's journey that he's gonna blatantly reject her, and probably even come off as insensitive. Well, maybe not insensitive. He's pretty smooth, low-key.

Naruto definitely had some form of anxiety/depression in his early youth. The scenes of him sadly looking on at the other kids with their parents speak volumes. You can have a positive outward demeanor and still have these issues.

When it comes to MHA, I actually find the trait of anxiety to have a nuanced portrayal in the form of Bakugou himself. From the beginning the kid was literally a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. He at first had the logical reaction to being put on a pedestal with high expectations, overconfidence and a superiority complex. He developed an unhealthy philosophy that crumbled as soon as the heroes vs. villains training arc began. He saw others his age that were better than him (which he at the time had never seen/didn’t believe existed), lost a battle to somebody he had believed to be inferior to him for so long, and completely freaked out. If all Might hadn’t stepped in, he likely would have had a full on anxiety attack. After the hideout raid arc, it was amplified. It affected his ability to complete the license exam, he completely broke down fighting with Deku, and even referenced his own flaws very explicitly to someone he barely knew which was unheard of before. Honestly, it’s been there from the beginning. When he thought Deku was looking down on him, it reminded me of the awful feeling in the back of my head that everyone is judging me and if I screw up anyone trying to help just sees me as pathetic. He sees the unhealthy end of compliments “wow you are amazing, wouldn’t it be awful if you screwed up”. Even from the first scene when they were kids. He’s always lashed out at people as a result of being raised that way (which should get more attention) and as a product of his own insecurity. A subconscious reason he hated Deku was that a part of him could relate to Izuku. I really like the parallel between them in regard to anxiety, because at the beginning of the series Deku showed his feelings of anxiety pretty vividly and bakugou simply internalized the feelings and only showed violence externally. In season three, Deku shows progress in overcoming it because he communicated it but bakugou showed progress in the fact that he brought it up at all. However, he also did it in the only way he had ever expressed it before, violence. Bakugou and Deku also have another interesting parallel with deku’s lack of self preservation and bakugou’s self destructive tendencies. So ya, there’s my two cents about that narrative element. Geez that was long...he’s not a protagonist but he is in my opinion an interesting example that’s at least relatable to my specific experience.

Naruto is loneliness and acceptance. Which spoke to me because when I was a kid I was totally ignored

I actually like the fact that Deku's insecurities are somewhat small compared to someone like Naruto. I guess as someone who goes through some of the struggles Deku does, his story just hits home for me.

Naruto was more depressed than insecure.

This actually helped me with a video that I’m working on. Thank you. Proper shoutouts will be given.

I agree with the comment about Bakugo being a better depiction of anxiety, but to me, Deku suits my depression more than my anxiety. (look forward to a lot of self-projection) Deku seems to have no regard for his own life, and that's something I feel, it's that he has no value outside of helping others, and that hasn't been challenged as far as I can tell. The only reason he values himself more now, isn't because he values his own life, but because he recognizes himself as able to help others, and that's not healthy, I his entire identity is that of a hero, and I don't think he has any worth to himself without that. I genuinely think that if allmight hadn't stepped in, Deku would've been dead, or attempted suicide very soon after the "I don't think you can be a hero" scene, I mean the heros weren't far off with the "are you trying to die kid?" when he goes to Bakugo. And the underlying reliance on his usefulness as a hero for his will to live has not left, and it hinders him, he can't step back, because he doesn't see putting himself in danger as a true problem. He fundamentally doesn't seem all that scared of dying. When he seems convinced he's about to die at the hands of muscular his internal monologue (in the dub) is "I'm sorry mom, I tried my best" that's what you say in a suicide note, not what a young person with a healthy fear of death would say. And from what I can tell most people except maybe Inko, and definitely Aizawa, are complicit. I highly doubt this is particularly intentional, it doesn't seem like this external self-worth is going to get challenged, outside of, you can't help people if you're dead. But Deku is also dealing with the society he grew up in, in which dying trying to save someone is the best way to die. In my imagination-land, where this is the main driver of the plot, Aizawa, being the least focused on public perception person in the whole cast, serves as a mentor for moving that burden of why exist from others to Deku himself. Deku won't be health until he values his life, and I don't think Allmight, or anyone else in the cast can teach him that in the true way he needs to learn it.

To me, Deku seems to be more about impostor syndrome than anxiety. He's strong enough and smart enough to be where he is but he's so used to being inferior that he feels like he's not supposed to be there.

you should explore black clover, where as deku is always sad, the main character of Black clover is always happy but his frustrations with his life still show and are never forgotten about. Being a poor commoner person born in a world of high elitism and where magic is everything he has none, he still aims to be the wizzard king, but not for his own selfish ambitions but to support his family of poor orphans and the village he lived in. ASTA AND DEKU are somewhat the two personality traits of Naruto split in half if you get what im saying

One thing that Deku and Naruto do have in common is their desire to reach out to others, even if it’s someone they’re fighting against. I mean there’s Naruto with his talk no jutsu, and then there’s Deku when he tries to reach out to Todoroki and tells him that his fire quirk is a part of HIM, he’s not an extension of his father.

Naruto anxiety can also be shown in how he didn’t want to sigh his autograph

A video accurately dissecting Gohan Deku and Naruto I appreciate this ALOT Much respect fam✊🏿✊🏿

Naruto will always be my favorite character in anime

Also I'll never not be annoyed by the fact that Gohan didn't take over as protag of DBZ. Toriyama considered it briefly but opted to keep bringing Goku back and keep shelving Gohan. The idea of Gohan as a reluctant protector of earth always fascinated me, him trying to balance the normalcy he wants and the responsibility he needs to accept (almost like Spiderman), and him being simultaneously a campy/nerdy character at heart while being able to get serious and kick ass like he did at the end of the Cell arc, etc., I just really love Gohan and it sucks how any potential he could've had as the MC of DBZ was snuffed out.

Next to Gon, Naruto is the shonen protagonist with the most growth. Prove me wrong. Even though I love all these shows I'm about to mention I still gotta be honest: Compare episode 1 Luffy to current episode Luffy and they're almost the exact same character maybe a few changes here and there. Compare Episode 1 Goku to Current Goku and it's also pretty much the exact same character. Compare Episode 1 Ichigo to Current episode Ichigo almost the exact same except he got slightly more serious. Now compare episode 1 Naruto to Hokage Naruto or hell even Shippuden Naruto. The growth and maturity is so much more noticeable without sacrificing his personality.

the exchange that Hinata and Naruto had before Nejis fight was for the romance relationship that kishimoto wanted to build since in his interviews he said he always wanted Hinata to go with Naruto. I liked this part of the manga cuz Hinata helped Naruto who was in despair like he was in the war against Obito. yea it builds relationship. And on the video itself Naruto is my favorite character for his depth. How low he was and how high he becomes. How he values bonds instead of discarding them. Also I like that from the beginning of the manga Naruto said he wanted to earn the respect of the people in konoha instead of just seeking revenge against them for treating him like an outcast in his childhood. I found it something courageous to do. Another thing I find interesting is that people think that Naruto is a go lucky guy who is always happy and loves everyone where in the series it's shown that he has a wide variety of negative feelings that most of the people have such as jealousy, hatred, envy ,anxiety and despair. Many people don't like him because of his lack of progress in the beginning of shippuden, of his talk no jutsu, him trying to save Sasuke but I think these things makes Naruto as he shows how he deals with different struggles in life.

I love MHA and Naruto both, but Naruto has gone through A LOT MORE than Deku has. Even from the young age, Naruto dealt with a lot more bullying a lot more consistently than Deku did before getting into UA. Maybe if MHA goes on long enough for Deku to go through real tremendous loss and get lost, and it to not last for only like 2 chapters, then maybe it could work. But I dont think theres a lot of room in the current narrative with the exception on one person.

Ippo is kinda close to what you're looking for, though I don't think it explores it in the way you'd prefer. and idk I think Ashita no Joe has this thread too, albeit not a central theme by any means. Joe sort of has fake confidence in himself, and guards himself from getting attached to anything cause he knows it would eat at him if he loses that. He acts tough and cool but still extremely vulnerable. Still probably not what you're looking for haha

How come the more popular a show gets the more "Too mainstream so it's bad", did everyone purchase a ticket to the bandwagon or what?

You keep bringing up Neji's reading of Hinata as something he could've done to Naruto but I don't think it makes sense. Neji has known Hinata for most of his life, he's seen her failures and shyness for years so he knows how to get to her. They are cousins after all. Neji has no information on Naruto besides what he heard about during the Exams.

Every Mathwiz video ever - "yadda yadda yadda Naruto is the only show there has ever been"

Green Naruto and Blonde Sasuke

Deku may be my favorite shonen mc, but a part of me wanted him to completely rage at Bakugo at one point, but I'm fine with what his character arc is going.

Good analysis, made me realize that despite the love/hate relationship I have for the series, the one thing that remained constant was/is my attachment towards Naruto as a character. It also made me realize why I always felt the same way about Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender. I recently revisited that series and I just couldn't put my finger on why I felt attached towards Aang's struggles and progression as a character. But now I know since he practically went through the same character progression as Naruto did. He had the same episodic depressions, almost the same burdens placed upon him and even the way they acted as adults is kind of the same. I remember when Naruto said to Minato how everyone expects too much of him and he just can't take it, it heavily reminded me of Aang's struggles of not wanting to be the Avatar since it's such a huge responsibility. It's kind of a stretch but even the way the Fire Nation constantly went after Aang because he's the Avatar kind of reminds me of the way the Akatsuki always went after Naruto because he was a Jinchuuriki. Heck, even the way their children reacted to their roles as the respective savior of their worlds is quite similar in their respective spin-off series lmao

Mathwiz, once again, you turned out an incredible Naruto theme video. Thank you so much! I admit, sometimes I am really simplistic when I watch these shows. My number one goal is entertainment so I can ignore as much BS as I can take at the time. But watching videos like these helps remind me why some of my favorite anime are my favorite anime. AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND EFFORT!

16:27 I'm sorry, but you're very wrong here about deku's status. The concept of the "popular kids" isn't really a thing in UA because of how focused everyone is on their goals but deku is definitely one of, if not, the most popular kid in his class. This was very bluntly stated by aizawa in s3 when he mentioned how much deku and kacchan inspire the rest of the class.

A great example of a shonen anime more subtlety covering depression is the final arc of Digimon Tamers. It's also worth mentioning that it was largely written by Chiaki J. Konaka of Serial Experiments Lain fame.

Wow. A video with shipping in it that doesn’t have a comment section solely about shipping. I may just have found true happiness.

Deku is one of my favorite characters in all of anime because I can relate to him so much in so many ways. I’ve heard some people mention that they don’t like how he still is overly emotional and still lacks in confidence but I personally really enjoy that it’s taking him a lot of time to build it up. As someone who was bullied for a large majority of his childhood, I know what it’s like to feel worthless and to feel like you’re nothing. And I think that’s how Deku feels. He spent his entire life before the series seeing everyone around him be biologically superior to him in every way and he couldn’t do a thing about it. He was constantly put down, and felt like he was nothing compared to his peers. And so can relate to that feeling so much, and I can say from personal experience it IS NOT EASY to come back from feeling so low for so long. You mention how Deku cries a lot in different emotional situations and while that can seem annoying to someone who doesn’t have reactions like that, it’s incredibly relatable to those who do. I tear up easily myself because of how emotionally battered and beaten I was. When you go through life for so long feeling so low, it’s hard to move beyond that low feeling. That’s why I believe he cries even in happy moments like when he succeeds and gets praise or his friends are there for him. It’s because he spent so much of his life believing he was nothing that I believe in his mind, he feels he doesn’t deserve that joy. He might feel that he’s not allowed to be happy. I felt that way for a while when I first entered high school and made my first real friends for the first time in many years. Self confidence IS NOT something that comes back or grows easily, especially after long bouts of hardship and emotional weight/abuse. For me personally it’s been almost 6 years since I’ve been seriously bullied and I still have massive self esteem and confidence issues, it’s not something that comes back right away and that’s why I like Deku so much, it takes time for him to grow and change. It might be harder to tell for people who don’t have the same experiences, but as someone who relates so much to this guy, I can tell that the Deku at the end of season 3 is a VERY different person from who he was at the beginning of the show. And I don’t think he’s gonna stop changing for the better any time soon Plus I certain the idea behind Deku isn’t anxiety. Deku doesn’t suffer for symptoms of anxiety if anything Bakugo suffers more from anxiety, Deku suffers instead from massive self esteem and confidence issues

Great video lots of good things I've been thinking but not being able to put into words

Deku does not feel popular despite being the most popular kid at UA. I mean he is totally, the top kids like him, everyone in the class does. The girls do. The dudes do. He is admired and loved by everyone but he does not like himself enough to see it.

As someone who has had a similar childhood to Deku, I relate my depression far more to Deku than to any other shonen character. If Deku was a real person, then I am sure he would have had suicidal thoughts after All Might tells him he can't be a hero. Deku really has no self worth other than being a hero. His entire worth, at this point, is tied to him being All Might's successor. So, I feel like it's very understandable that he is so incredibly insecure all the time. Yes, he has grown a lot since the beginning in terms of controlling his power to some extent but he definitely feels that if the power was transferred to someone more gifted like Todoroki, then they would have been much better at it by now than where is at. This insecurity is going to be further explored in season 4 so I am really excited about it.

I’m a little bit salty that you didn’t mention how Deku, after his fight with Bakugo, responded to Bakugo as an equal. Bakugo states that he was going to be better than Deku, and Deku states that he was going to be better than that.

A shonen battle series that deals thematically with anxiety? Well, that sounds like Rokudenashi Blues, the best selling delinquent manga that also ran in Jump. The entire manga deals with anxiety, social pressure, and insecurity with all of the characters having problems related to those 3 ideas that lead to them becoming delinquents and getting into fights. The main character, Maeda Taison when he gets anxious, or pressured he begins to stutter, hr gets angry, he lashes out, and even gets into fights, in the first chapter he accidentally punched a teacher because he was getting anxious around a girl while also being stressed out by the teacher. Despite being a delinquent and acting like a tough guy, he easily gets emotional so much so that Tv dramas get him to cry. The manga sounds like your type of thing so this is my way to tip my hat to it and gush about the manga.

Good to have you back! Hope you get out of your funk and keep it up!

1:31 The point of Netero’s sacrifice wasn’t “humanity is evil” It is “humanity is capable of malice, but with our strong wills, we will always overcome” It’s not so much as damnation as it is celebration, no matter how dark it may be

Really bro Naruto is perfect for this

I love this analysis a lot. It echoes a lot of my personal feelings on Naruto and Deku specifically. It also is probably why as a character i just prefer Naruto and can't really motivate myself to be invested with Deku's character. I understand that for a lot of people, these are minor hangups that they can easily overlook. However, for whatever reason I still have trouble getting myself interested in these other protagonists. I haven't watched a lot of shonen, so perhaps my problem is that I dont have a large enough well of information to use when watching but I dont know. Great video as always. Looking forward to the nest one.

Naruto has never had a family , never had any friends , he was hated by the whole village After that when he finally got friends , one of them tries to kill the other (sasuke and Sakura) He got a person who is like a father to him and that person dies So it’s pretty normal for him to cry !!

Love when u post vids ur commentary is always super analytical and makes me notice things i otherwise wouldn’t have

Video couldn’t have come out at a better time for me. Major thanks~

Naruto isnt perfect but as far as Shonen protagonists go, he is the best in my book!

Tsuna from katekyo Hitman reborn is also a pretty intressting and well written insecure protagonist, because the character tsuna is full of flaws,but he still manage to overcome many obstacel with the personality of His,he thought is completle useless and manage to convince people to follow him and lend him their strength, despite the fact that the same people didn,t recognize him at all,disrespect him or even tried to kill him in the past, furthermore he discoverd during his jurney way more about himself,more than he ever would have Imagine.

You earned a subscriber, I really enjoy the way you compared those protagonists, you seem to have a good understanding about it.

Great vid I really enjoyed the topic more then I thought and all your info you put in this was great. Thx for the hard work u did.

Now I'd love to see an updated top 10 anime characters vid

"Lowkey harem hes building" that's great

Finally I been waiting on your next video for a while

This was a good video about story. Thanks for this!

And people say naruto is trash 🤦🏾‍♂️

Basically your asking for is basically a shonen version of Spider-man.

Hey, thanks for the video! Your video...was charming. Gonna recommend it to others too!

This really helps me out a lot with one the characters from comic. I know very little about what certain people with anxiety go through, but I really feel for them, especially after helping a close friend of mind try to overcome her insecurities, I can't completely change her, but she's really making progress.

I don't really think izuku being a crybaby is an issue. Even if he is just quick to cry. I don't really see how that would cause problems for him. Crying is actually a relatively healthy thing to do because it brings cartharsis.

Deku kinda reminds me of kid Obito, especially with the crying and all

Love your opinion on Gohan's wasted character writing potential

As soon as you said that deku doesn't lash out or push people away I started laughing my ass off considering what's on deck for the show and more specifically what comes after the war arc.

Naruto truly hits all the high notes

Naruto was SUICIDAL from a very young age uo until the chunnin exams so yeah

This is one of the better studies of Gohan’s character on this platform!

This was a good video, I would be totally down with an anxious shonen protagonist like you proposed. Soul Eater has insecure characters, but not like the kind you asked for (mostly Maka not feeling worthy for having Soul as a partner). There also might be some superhero comic out there to fit what you want, but none than I can think of which do exactly what you want (Daredevil, Animalman, and Miracleman pop into my head, but again not what your looking for). Perhaps serialized storytelling like this isn't the best for fully fleshing out a conflict like this. Writing that story is a good idea though.

DEKU IS A GOOD BOY BECAUSE HE'S A HERO!!!!!!!! THAT'S HOW HEROES SHOULD BE!!!!!!!! Also, it's called being friends with your classmates regardless of gender, not a "harem". How is it a harem!?!? There's only one character who shows any romantic interest in him!!! ONE!!! Unless you're counting the psychopathic murderer who wants to kill him and drink his blood...

I can't really say much for Deku, since I really haven't watched MHA, but Naruto? Bruh. Literally his entire village hated him and mistreated him for a demon fox sealed within him and no actual parental guidance, how do expect him to be confident when my boy can hardly pick himself up

Yay we've got a comparison video!

It feels good when you feel represented in fiction. Here's hoping you find that series with a character you can relate to in that sense someday. I liked your dive into this subject and I like you pointing out alternatives routs these stories could have taken.

You do realize that Saiyans get really cocky and aggressive when they first get a new transformation. His character never changes just his saiyan DNA becomes more apparent when he fights a serious battle.

I really did feel for Naruto back then. Very compelling tragedy when it wants to be.

WRITE YOUR OWN... it’d be fantastic !

I'm happy jump force allows me to have deku Naruto and jotaro on the team # never thought i would want that

in the confrontation w naruto and hinata, the words "i was feeling depressed but now im better" are replaced with "I used to not like you that much but youre actually kinda cool" at least for the sub i was watching

Mha succeeds in having their characters have huge ass eyes.

I feel like the conpetitive, trying to be the best story so common to shounen battle series is naturally suited to dealing with characters with deep insecurities. In real life, high achievers usually struggle a lot with never feeling good enough because their standards for themselves are so high.

This is what I've been waiting for.

You should definitely watch Hitman Reborn and make a sequel to this video!

OH MY 7 QUIRKS

Thank you for putting into words how much I love Naruto Uzumaki.

You gotta feel bad for naruto bro. He basically had to become a military weapon for the village to not hate him😭

Oh yes Mathwiz out with an new shonen related video cool Edit: 8:47 I don't think the "Not Shonen Jump" tag was needed because shonen jump is just like any other shonen magazine just more popular I guess and I don't think that's were "Shonen" definitions start to break down 8:54 I wouldn't call Ichigo confident since I remember him having more emotional breakdowns than Deku but I might be misremembering since I like Ichigo more than Izuku but yeah I guess it's kinda uncommon 9:46 Oh yeah I forgot about that 17:16 Kinda sad that you didn't mention Mob 17:33 I know you didn't connect to Ichigo but since he's my 2nd favorite protagonist ever Luffy exists after all I gotta say I feel like Ichigo's inner conflict while not presented the same as Naruto's sorta works in a similar way though I did connect to Ichigo more to be fair I haven't revisited Naruto in a while so I wouldn't say no shonen that you've read has even attempted that sort of thing

The protagonist you're looking for sounds a lot like John from UNrdinary a webtoon as he is extremely hypocritical of himself and the actions of others as the tragedy of his past keeps him from moving forward and his emotions are always bottled up and burst forth in fits of anger, sorrow and lashes out at others who want to help him. His father even wrote a book for him to have the rolemodel his father could never become. He is a tragic character trapped in a sociey that wants to keep him down and its available on webtoons for free and yes it is an action series with plenty of interesting concepts and fighting READ IT PLZZZZ.................... Spoiler: It starts out similar to HunterXHunter and I know you understand what I mean.

I am so glad to see that someone else agrees that a character with flaws that are too clean and nice can make for a not as compelling character as they could've been with more darker (and I'd dare say, more realistic flaws). I think you summed it up best at 12:22. Deku doesn't do things that affect his kindness in a negative way or have things that affect his mental health to cause that like Naruto does. He's a good boy, but he's too much of a goody two shoes in my opinion to be as relatable as someone like Naruto could be. You don't see many people in reality that have flaws like Deku's, but there's tons of people that've done things like push others away or struggle with anxiety from their failures like Naruto, hence why I find Naruto more compelling and relatable of a protagonist in that way. (Note: I'm not saying Deku is a bad character at all, but I feel he's not as compelling as someone that makes more realistic mistakes and has more realistic issues that people of the audience would on the whole be more likely to struggle with in their daily lives, rather than being the "Too pure for this world" kind of character.)

Deku's anxiety continues to be explored in the manga, though not in a way you might expect.

damn i love your analysis videos dude. Keep up, and sorry but outside what you mention i don't know either serie that portray insecurity mixed with battle that good. Except maybe, a certain character that you will met very soon in One Piece, but i know from your Nen Show podcast that you are not here right now.

i think, deku's insecurities and flaws are more realistic... I know, it sounds weird. but hear me out. he has been belittled and bullied throughout his childhood. making him feel like the his existence wasn't that important, that people didn't exactly care about him. That's why when all might recognised him, he cried so much. xuz all might was the person he looked up to the most. and having him recognize deku was the best thing that could happen to him. now, deku being the insecure and bullied kid he was, latched onto all might. he did everything in his power to live up to all might's expectations, to fill his shoes. even if it meant breaking his body beyond repair. it was almost a sick admiration where deku forgot that he himself was just a kid and had time to slowly improve. All might was the first to acknowledge him, and he would rather die than disappoint his hero. and that reckless, self harming way of protecting others comes from this insecurity and admiration. the reason i say it's more realistic, because that is exactly how I would act. being emotionally bullied and belittled from a young age, bein told that it would've been better had i not existed, all those things have developed a deep rooted insecurity in me. which causes me to latch onto people who acknwldge me or are kind to me. i want to please them as much as possible, not bothering bout what it might do to me emotionally or physically. because i want them to keep on acknwldging me, to keep on being proudof me. i might be reading too much into this, but i could just understand the psychology behind deku better. while naruto drained my tear ducts, MHA stuck deep cords in my heart

good analysis

Got a message for Mathwiz. Sasuke haters are what's wrong with this world.

I've read/watched most battle shonen series and based on this video I don't think what you're looking for exists. The fact that Luffy and Goku are some of the most liked characters in anime and manga should probably tell you why that is the case.

17:57 as an aspiring writer i admit to the accuracy of that statement also, oof

I think you should write it even if you cant draw it. One's drawings are quite crude but his wonderful writing, characters and exploration of interesting and unique themes are awesome. Stories about mental illness and overcoming them or accepting it are phenomenal and will likely resonate with the the community.

Damn dude you hit bullseye. In this very moment I'm using your video to procrastinate because of my anxiety and everything you said just hit home. I hope someday we get the battle shonen protag you (and now I as well) wish for. Good luck with battling your demons, and remember: you are not alone. Side note: what do you think of Aang from ATLA?

Dude, if you want pretty much the greatest depiction of depression and anxiety in an anime protagonist, watch March Comes In Like A Lion. It may not be shonen but it’s writing is top tier. It’s one of my most favorite anime series of all time and it’s so easy to get so invested in the characters. DEFINITELY check it out because I think you’d really dig it.

The my hero academia was anti-naruto Oh yeah NARUTO is always be my no.1 ANIME I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW YEAH YOU THE ONE WHO IS READING THIS NOW IF YOU KNOW ALREADY ITS OK☺️🙂

What are you looking for exactly? Btw I love your videos like these, it makes me understand and see the these action animes n protagonist on a deeper level. It even makes me see the flaws n hypocrisy in myself.

I don't remember too much from it, and I never completed reading the manga, but it sounds like Soul Eater would probably be a good series for what you are looking for. I doubt I am remembering it perfectly, but I know it did have themes about anxiety and fear prevalent all throughout it's run, so maybe it has more than I remember.