Anime and manga fans have always been in disagreement over whether the anime is better than the manga and vice versa. While mostly it is a matter of preference, there are times when the anime adds extra scenes, which tarnish the character and their reputation.
The manga is the most authentic source, as it is not drawn out, which makes it easier to follow than the anime. The manga offers a completely unadulterated experience, which shows the protagonists for who they are. For this reason, certain characters are better in the manga than in the anime, so in order to get a better understanding of an anime protagonist, it is better to read the manga.
7 Guts (Berserk)
Guts is the main character of the Berserk series. His childhood was terrible as he had absolutely no one who loved him. His adoptive father sold him to another mercenary, which forced Guts to kill him after an altercation. Guts' life did get easier for some time, but eventually, disaster struck again when Griffith brought forth the God Hand, which resulted in the death of almost all the members of the Band of Hawk.
The anime for Berserk is subpar, and it does not do the manga justice. In the manga, Guts was able to express his feelings in a better way and the gore isn't censored either, which helps the fans to understand Guts better.
6 Saitama (One Punch Man)
Saitama is everyone's favorite bald hero. One Punch Man's first season left a huge impact on the anime community and because of this reason the expectations were high from season two. However, due to the congested schedule of the studio, the second season suffered from a massive drop.
In the manga, Saitama's fights have a very high level of detail, which is almost impossible to replicate in the anime. For this reason, Saitama's character can be enjoyed more in the manga.
5 Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)
Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Currently, Luffy is among the strongest characters in the series, and it is obvious that he will only improve with time. One Piece anime has added extra scenes many times, and it hasn't always turned out to be a good idea.
The most recent victim of this idea was Sanji when the anime studio decided to put Sanji's gag just when the members of the Worst Generation were getting ready to fight Kaido and Big Mom. This has happened to Luffy as well, but there is no such content in the manga, which might confuse the fans. As the manga doesn't have any of these unnecessary scenes, Luffy's character remains consistent.
4 Ichigo Kuraski (Bleach)
Ichigo is the main protagonist of Bleach. Bleach is a part of the shonen "Big Three," but unlike the other two, Bleach anime had to be dropped because of low ratings, but thankfully the anime is finally making a return, which will allow Bleach fans to see their favorite characters in action once again.
Out of the 366 episodes, Bleach anime has 164 filler episodes, which is a lot. It is not a secret that too much filler content always affects the quality of the series and when there are over a hundred filler episodes, it also makes it difficult to follow the story and understand the characters. Due to this reason, Ichigo is a protagonist who comes off better in the manga.
3 Emma (The Promised Neverland)
After the highly successful first season, the fans were expecting the next season to continue at a high level, but the second season completely shocked the fans. The studio skipped multiple arcs, which affected the character development of all the characters, especially Emma.
The fans had absolutely no clue how Emma changed and what caused these changes. Due to this mishap, the anime also suffered and most of the fans stopped watching it. Furthermore, the second season had very bad pacing as they stuffed hundreds of chapters in a handful of episodes.
2 Jolyne Cujoh (Stone Ocean)
Jolyne Cujoh took the world by storm when Stone Ocean anime came out. She is the first female protagonist in the JoJo series, which placed a lot of pressure on Stone Ocean, but Jolyne managed to surpass all the previous protagonists.
She is an outstanding character, who was able to accept her flaws and own up to her mistakes. She was not blessed with an overpowered Stand and in fact, she had to rely on the help of her friends many times. The anime skipped multiple scenes from the manga already, which has baffled the fans. The anime hasn't finished airing, so there will be scenes that will be skipped or changed for sure. The manga helps clear all the confusion and makes it simpler to follow Jolyne's character development.
1 Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
Naruto Uzumaki is one of the most popular anime characters of all time. Currently, Naruto holds the position of the Seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. His journey to the very top was full of hardships, but Naruto never allowed the problems to affect him.
The first part of the anime was great, but once the second part started to air, things went downhill quickly. The anime started producing an unhealthy amount of fillers, which ruined the series for many people. It also confused the fans and made them question Naruto's character. The manga did not cause any such problems, and it allowed the fans to experience Naruto's story without any unnecessary details.