Summary
Support characters give that extra spice a fantasy universe needs to become more than just background, and they also add some wholesome moments to the plot that are worth seeing. In isekai anime, these characters roam the world wherecheat-skill users are rampaging, and on more than one occasion, they end up entangled in their shenanigans.
This topic has anime with the best support characters that add real value to the plot instead of just being part of the decor. From the classic comic relief to an apparently retired adventurer who gives random advice and solace to new members of their guild.
The world ofKonosubais vast and colorful, but that doesn’t mean it lacks strong background characters and solid world-building. Among the myriad of support characters the show has, YunYun, Sena the Prosecutor, and Claire are fine examples of great secondary characters that are recurrent, but still add a lot to the plot. Another example is the show’smany recurrent and often incompetent villains.
Then viewers have the Mohawk guy, an anime-exclusive character that is not present either in the light novels or the manga and gives unsolicited advice to Kazuma every chance he has. Though he has gained the hearts of the audience (since he’s the only cool and collected guy amid all that craziness) and keeps coming back each season. Minor villains like the dreadful evil Nymph are other examples of howKonosuba’s zany humor deals with the darkness of its world surreptitiously permeating Kazuma’s lucky run.
The Eminence In Shadowhas such a large casting of charactersthat sometimes it is difficult to keep track of them all, especially the secondary roles that appear once or twice during an arc. Fans saw this clearly during Season 2 during the Lawless City arc, where viewers see many secondary but important characters making their appearance and slowly but steadily adding to the overall worldbuilding.
During Season 3, many other important secondary roles appear with the developments of Shadow and Beta traveling to Earth and discovering a devastated post-apocalyptic scenery. It remains to be seen how different this arc will be from the ones depicted in both the manga and light novels, but they will surely bring lots of new secondary characters crucial to the development of the main story.
The Rising Of The Shield Herois a fine example ofhow well-developed Japanese modern fantasy is, with a myriad of support characters that grant balance and firmness to an overarching epic tale of redemption, revenge, and, of course, the power of friendship and love. With so many living and breathing creatures of various races, creeds, ages, and colors, the world of this anime feels painfully real.
This is not only reflected in all the subsidiary plots that diverge from the main storyline, but also by the intertwined world background narrative that speaks louder about discrimination, violence, and a corrupt society that privileges humans above other races. It is a complex and certainly dark fantasy world, where support characters play a crucial role in the development of the story, and the future of the Shield Hero himself.
Every fan ofOverlordknows that the show is not all about Ainz Ooal Gown, but the game world itself and the inhabitants of this fantasy universe that seem to have been brought to life as living and breathing beings instead of NPCs. The anime always plays with this concept: the contrast between what it felt for Ainz to play the game against what it actually is to live in it.
Though the main character had to make a lot of difficult choices throughout the many arcs of the series, it all comes down to how the world responds to his every action. The show has a lot of secondary but important characters andminor antagonists who oppose the rule of the Sorcerer Kingdomenvisioned by Ainz, and who constantly attempt to thwart his efforts during the plot.
The Devil Is A Part Timer, a reverse isekai, is aparticularly fresh take on an overcrowded genre, and a great example of how support characters play a fundamental role in the direction of the main storyline. The best example of this is none other than Miki Shiba, one of the few truly ordinary humans in the show, who also doesn’t know about the existence of Ente Isla, its denizens, or their presence on Earth. She is a sort of confidant for Chiho and offers her wisdom and listening ear every time she can.
But there are plenty of great secondary characters like Rika, Emi, and Shirō who are also fundamental for the underlying plot behind the main storytelling. Overall, the show handles well the balance between humor and the complexity of fantasy characters having to adapt to a world with a harsh reality, with bills to pay, mouths to feed, and nothing coming free of charge. In that sense,The Devil Is A Part Timeris quite grounded if fans compare it to other isekai shows, and much more deep and meaningful.
