10 Anime Characters Clueless About Love

In anime, you will occasionally come across characters who are completely clueless about love. It’s an interesting trope that was especially popular in the 1990s and the 2000s. While it still exists, it’s not as common as it used to be, especially for the protagonists. It’s understandable if you don’t enjoy the stereotypical clueless character, as it can definitely get frustrating after some time.

However, there’s a certain charm to these characters that we might occasionally want to appreciate. Especially if the trope is executed well and makes logical sense. Anime characters who are oblivious to love have arguably gotten better over time, with deeper writing and reasoning that makes more sense.

10

Gon Freecss

Hunter X Hunter

Gon is an interesting case because, according to him, he has gone on many dates with women who came to his island. While he has no idea what he’s talking about, he certainly has experience in the field of romance. All while being completely clueless about love.

This is further shown through his date with Palm, as he plans out an entire day of various activities and executes them perfectly. Sure, Gon is a child, and it’s completely natural for him to be clueless about romance. But, it’s quite a feat for a character to be completely clueless about love and still be a master of romance.

9

Junichiro Kubota

Tomo-Chan Is A Girl!

Junichiro’s childhood friend, Tomo, confesses her love to him under a beautiful cherry blossom tree. Out of all the reactions Jun could’ve shown, he chooses to think that Tomo only likes him as a friend, and it’s just a natural thing to do so. At this point, it’s actually impressive that he’s this clueless.

But thanks to Jun being oblivious, it creates some hilarious moments between the two. Of course, Jun does have experience in relationships and is a normal high school student. But just for Tomo, he has regressed into the classic clueless anime character trope. As the anime progresses, we get a deeper look into Jun’s feelings, and his treatment of Tomo starts to make sense. This is a great example of the clueless anime character trope that was executed well.

8

Monkey D. Luffy

One Piece

Luffy is one of the iconic examples of the Shonen protagonist trope of characters eating a lot and being completely uninterested in romance. After all, Luffy has turned down Boa Hancock’s advances several times. While Luffy is certainly not completely clueless, his lack of interest in romantic love often makes him struggle when it comes to romantic encounters.

Luffy strikes the perfect balance between the classic Shonen protagonist trope and also someone who has a basic understanding of relationships. Knowing that people get together and love each other does mean he’s not completely clueless. However, he still has a long way to go when it comes to romance.

7

Tanjiro Kamado

Demon Slayer

Tanjiro might not be as oblivious as the rest, but he’s definitely clueless. We have not seen Tanjiro show romantic interest in anyone. He does blush a few times with Mitsuri around, but we all know the reason behind that certainly isn’t love. On the other hand, Kanao develops feelings for him later on, but Tanjiro is naturally clueless about those feelings too.

Tanjiro is likely closer to Luffy when it comes to not knowing much about romantic love. We’ve seen Tanjiro show a deep understanding of human emotions many times. He has so many other things to worry about that there is no time to look around and find love, even if it’s right in front of him.

6

Saitama

One Punch Man

Saitama is another intelligent character who seems to be either clueless or completely disinterested in love. Not once in the entire anime does Saitama have a romantic encounter with any of the female characters. He does come close in a Manga scene, but is still completely expressionless.

Knowing what type of show One Punch Man is, romance is not something we should expect from it. However, Saitama does not show even a slight bit of acknowledgment of love. It’s quite likely that he has been so obsessed with getting stronger, and now trying to find meaning in his strength, that he has completely overlooked romance during his adult life.

5

Tobio Kageyama

Haikyuu!!

Even among the whole cast of volleyball-obsessed characters, Kageyama sticks out as the sore thumb who has no understanding of love. Even the protagonist, Shoyo Hinata, shows interest now and then. However, Kageyama is a hard shell to crack. He has never shown to be attracted to any female characters. The only thing he is interested in is volleyball.

Kageyama is both clueless and disinterested. His love for volleyball and attachment to being the best setter is his only goal. However, Haikyuu isn’t the type of anime to flaunt this trope, as there haven’t been any girls who show interest in Kageyama either.

4

Maomao

The Apothecary Diaries

Maomao is the type of character who knows everything about relationships and romance as long as it doesn’t involve her. Jinshi has dropped every hint possible that he likes Maomao, but she still does not understand. It could either be a defense mechanism or something she understands deep down but doesn’t want to acknowledge.

Regardless, she’s one of the most clueless characters at reading the air and understanding hints being dropped by the other person. Otherwise, she’s a genius detective who can pick up even the most subtle things and solve mysteries.

3

Shoto Todoroki

My Hero Academia

Todoroki is the type of character who takes everything very literally. His lack of social skills is likely the result of isolation during his childhood. Because of that, he doesn’t quite understand love either. The only type of relationship Todoroki is aware of is the one between his mom and dad. But we all know how that turned out.

Todoroki did slowly start opening up to other people while trying to move on from his past. He’s still far away from being able to understand love, but he’s getting there. Although his pure and straightforward nature might not change at all.

2

Sasha Braus

Attack On Titan

Sasha is a character who might love food more than anyone. She’s not the smartest one in the room either. Despite this, Nicolas ends up falling in love with her and keeps cooking delicious meals for her. Of course, their relationship doesn’t go anywhere from there, because the only thing Sasha can look at is food.

This doesn’t mean Sasha has no care for her friends. She loves them more than her own life, but is completely clueless about relationships and romance. However, it’s part of what makes Sasha’s character great.

1

Frieren

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Frieren is likely the most clueless character on the list, but this lack of understanding of love doesn’t come from some old Shonen trope. As an elf, Frieren lacks romantic feelings due to her genetics.

Despite having lived for over a thousand years, she still doesn’t understand human feelings very well.

She’s now trying to change this by going on a journey to better understand humans. Frieren is most likely the best-written character when it comes to her reasoning for being clueless about love.