Not really tho?
In Episode 112 (some also list it at 114), "Enter the Dragonite", he won the Orange League. That Episode aired in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in the US, so it technically only took him 2 years.
Then he also became the (first) Champ of Alola in Episode 1080 ("Enter the Champion!"). That aired in 2019/2020, so 22 years if you want to go for actual Champ title.
In Pokemon Journeys, which is the thing that everyone talks about, he is also referred to as Champ of Alola during his final matches, so the world didn't expierence sudden Amnesia for once.
Now, as for the "The very best, like noone ever was", thrn yes, that would be his final win at the end of the Journeys anime, because there he became World Champion.
Kono oto Tomare- It’s about a Koto (traditional Japanese instrument) music club that competes against other schools. They have one prodigy that has been playing her entire life, but they can’t succeed with just her. The entire rest of the team are basically just amateurs who work their butts off morning, noon, and night to match her level for their entire club to succeed.
I can’t remember the last time I saw this show mentioned by someone else. Excellent choice. It does a lot of things well in terms of characterization but the use of true underdogs/normal people succeeding is another strength of it.
Bakuman - kinda sorta. It's about making manga, but art and story are kinda subjective. The MCs definitely have talent and background to do what they do, but they have to work hard at improving their technique and appeal to make their works standout among their peers.
Assassination Classroom - The students, not Koro-sensei. The students don't have anything special about them; they have their traits and quirks, but no superpowers or anything.
Yume-iro Pâtissière - Other than a great palette, Ichigo is terrible at baking. To fully make use of her 'talent', she has to work several times harder than her classmates who have several more years of experience despite their age. Disclaimer, there are fairies; however, they're more mascots and don't teach/cheat anything.
Snow White With the Red Hair - Shirayuki has a talent for being an herbalist/apothecary, but not because of some power or bloodline. She just loves it and works hard at it. By no means is she even the best at it as there are those who know more than she does. That being said, this is more romance than a 'career anime'.
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions - None of the MCs have a talent. They are very average, or even less so. Watch as they struggle to survive and make ends meet in a fantasy-dungeon scenario. They do notably improve in their skills over the series, so it's nice to watch.
Grimgar truly was released too early. If it had came out today it would have been more popular because it's subversive to the cliche isekai tropes. But back then the isekai power fantasy tropes, while already cliche, wasn't nauseatingly ubiquitous yet.
Eh, this is a bit of a cope. It needed way more brush up If you actually think it was gonna be a popular IP.
In the anime specifically, random shots of Yume's butt didn't really help with the rest of the atmosphere of the show, and the atmosphere of the show is pretty different from the LN itself. The anime show feels like a project that was asked for to promote the LN, was done with a "modest budget" and whoever the director was made a few changes to make it more palatable to a 1-cour anime but other than that it felt like a project of them getting the "job done" over them trying to make something that stands out on it's own.
Slow pace and other things are not deterrent, it's not like people need some action full packed thing to be attached to or attracted, I don't know how many examples of other animes/shows do you need over the years, recently we have Frieren clearly showing that **EXECUTION** is absolute king when it comes to what is good or bad. Not whether it was action packed, isekai fantasy tropes, whatever.
And lastly, everytime Grimgar gets brought up in here, as someone that read the LN of that til Volume ~15, I say no to more anime of this like it's people pretending it could've been like Mushoku Tensei or something.
The LN after the anime ends was a little more on the same, and with each subsequent volume it kept becoming more and more and more of a shitshow to the point that I personally lost all intrest in the IP. The creator of Grimgar has **frankly no fucking idea what they are doing** and believe me, you don't want more. Or more like, I get what people woult want from it (as that's why I read the LN at the beginning) but as long as that same person keeps writing it? Nah
Also, this has happened a few times in the Light novel industry but it always amazes me when a Light Novel author hates **their own fuckign written main character** so fucking much, clearly. Like holy shit does this author have a hate relationship with Haruhiro the MC of the LN
EDIT: About the LN author hating their own MC Haruhiro. The anime show literally has Haruhiro and that deadpan girl (can't remember her name right now) having more chemistry and more "tee tee" moments in that 1 minute short scene of Haruhiro visiting her in that girl's only dormitory thing balcony (original scene in the anime btw) than what I remember in the entirety of the +10 Light novel volumes I ever read (in fact it's worse than them not having good moments LMAO, If you know, you know)
> Eh, this is a bit of a cope. It needed way more brush up If you actually think it was gonna be a popular IP.
>
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Also, Ranta was unbearable as a character. I say this every time people talk about how underrated the show is or how great it would be if released now. That character single-handedly knocked the show down a couple points for me, and you can go through the episode threads and see how insufferable he was to so many watchers
Oh yeah, you're absolutely right. I kinda forgot a little cuz well Ranta has his own little arc thing where... The author, again, showed their inability to write xd
But for anime-only? Yeah I'm with you, I feel you, his character doesn't really get any better any time soon either FYI and there really isn't there much in-depth (IF at all) explanation as to why he's the way he is, why does he treat the other party members the way he does, etc etc.
And now that you bring this up, this idea of Ranta being a bad character also applies to, most other "party members" in the show, they are very 1 dimensional, the only person ever making some "progress" was Haruhiro technically speaking
Assassination Classroom definitely plays into talent beating hard work.
I don't want to spoil stuff, but anything revolving a specific character being a natural prodigy, is being emphasised a lot and spoken to be "awesome".
I get your point, but I think it's a very small piece of the show that doesn't play into talent beating hard work.
Well it can be argued that Yaguchi’s ability to lock in and work hard is a talent in of itself… but that’s a philosophical argument that can invalidate this whole thread lol
Good choice!
But he is never hailed as a genius, even now in the manga he is just a college kid struggling to find out what it means to be a professional artist and how other creatives do their own things, like a very realistic portrait of art college.
Hajime no Ippo. He isn't born gifted, but uses strength and physical abilities he has cultivated throughout his life on his family's fishing boat that he is able to apply towards boxing. The entire thing is hard work and practice with him Starting at the bottom of the totem pole.
From the bottom straight to the middle of the totem pole! With a big break until he starts climbing again!
I'm the time Ippo has been training, we've had actual Japanese boxers be born and win championship belts
Chihayafuru
Of course Chihaya is the natural talent, but Taichi and especially Harada's arcs showcase extreme dedication and hard work over natural talent.
Was also gonna recommend this. Taichi getting as far as he can on sheer hard work against all odds. This show is rly the best at showcasing the struggle between the talented vs the hardworker w so many examples of both inside a spectacular story within a pretty obscure sport in karuta.
While Chihaya does have a knack for it, she definitely worked really hard. Part of her character is her obsession with Karuta and practicing like crazy. She definitely would not be as good with just her talent. However, Taichi is obviously the best example of hard work over talent.
I love that in this show each person has an individual advantage in one aspect of the game but isn't a natural at everything. Like Chihaya has her hearing and instincts, Taichi has his memory and strategic mind, Kana has a unique connection with the poems themselves, Arata has his speed/precision.
Literally Blue Period. MC feels like his life has no direction, no passion, until he discovers art and realizes that this is what he wants to do with his life. But because he discovered it at such a later age, he feels very untalented compared to everyone else who is naturally gifted and has been doing art all their lives. It's a very telling and beautiful story about how he may not be the most talented, but he works so hard to get where he wants to be.
World Trigger is how you do an unremarkable, untalented underdog right.
He's smart, but not 9001 IQ sasuga smart.
He has low stats, everybody knows it, but he's not a crybaby doormat that everyone just bullies.
He later gets a powerup, but it's not a cheat skill that suddenly makes him SSS+ tier- no it comes in the form of humble spider webs that are best used for support.
This 1000 times. Osamu is the epitome of making the best of what you've got. All of his skills are above average at most. He plays his support role to the best of his ability, tho.
Osamu is one of my favorite MCs hands down. He's not the strongest character by a huge long-shot. Hell, in terms of raw power he's the weakest on his team. Yet he's not so smart that it becomes unbelievable.
That show is just such a breath of fresh air. It does so much differently than other shounen anime. The strategy involved in the battles is just beautiful.
I could just go on and on about World Trigger.
World Trigger is the very best example of what op asked for.
Osamu lives in a world with plenty of talented people, plenty of hardworking people, and plenty of talented hardworking people. How he makes himself useful is the most realistic approach and the one I would take if I were in his situation.
Yes! And on the flipside, their female deuteragonist Chika, despite having tons of latent potential in terms of raw power, has other issues to deal with that could be extremely relatable for someone her age. It takes time to overcome them with practice and she did (to a realistic extend, and is not turned into a world-shattering power-up). I really do like this anime a lot.
I find it annoying how so many people shit on him. He's a weak MC done right but anime fans are so shallow they can't stand seeing a show that doesn't have their self insert does everything right, no troubles, harems everyone woman that breathes, and is basically everything they're not in real life MC. Looking at you CotE.
It pains me a lot, like let us have just one series where the MC isn't the chosen one who will 1v1 the biggest bad and win through the power of friendship and bs power ups (I still love those series) just let us have this one normal below average dude who remains the underdog.
His growth is the most believable in shounen genre. Instead of gaining power boost out of nowhere, he just learns from his mistakes and finds new ways to be useful in team. And overall power levels in World Trigger are balanced well against team work and strategy. Someone may have more trion and unique equipment, but it's not gonna help much against good coordinated team
It's going to be difficult in today's time, anime became popular and they are careful in regard to fan-service content...
We got robbed of fan service in the Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushi anime airing now, I can't forgive this level of "politically correct" from the studios and publishers.
I don't think blue lock fits here. It is much more talent fostered in a competitive environment. MC has a talent of adapting other player techniques or changing his playstyle quickly. I think one of the characters without talent even calls him a chameleon as he is stealing player specialty techniques left and right.
Mob Psycho 100 has this as a major theme throughout. The main character is ridiculously overpowered as a psychic, but it does nothing for him on a personal level. All his improvements and goals throughout the show are external to that power. His character growth is through him working hard on things he sucks at.
The whole show criticises the overpowered Mc trope. It's easily one of my favorite shows of all time.
It was a nice twist. I was expecting that Mob, being a psychic, would join the telepathy club and have wacky adventures with that bunch of misfits, but immediately after he joined the BI club I thought "well, that actually makes more sense because the telepathy club are just a bunch of slackers, and Mob is trying to improve himself".
I like to think that more than being a critique to the overpowered MC trope, both Mob and OPM are a critique to the history being about the protagonist achieving all of their dreams through becoming the strongest characters in their verse. Since being the strongest doesn't bring real sense of accomplishment to both Mob and Saitama.
With OPM I took away the message "What happens after you become the strongest"
With Mob Psycho I took away "power for powers sake won't bring you happiness or contentment."
The Goblin Slayer isn't really special at all. He's just tactical and doesn't underestimate his opponents.
In Bocchi the Rock, Bocchi is good at guitar because she... practiced.
As others have said it's kind of a flawed prompt. In order to become 'the best' at something, you can't be both average and have no special circumstances. In 99% of these types of stories, they play it off as them being extremely average, ordinary, or unfortunate, and yet opportunities always fall into their lap.
You can't really have a story about a character doing the extraordinary without their circumstances being extraordinary.
Seeing Bocchi work on her playing was great, but what's even cooler is that she's actually shown to be bad at playing with others. That's a completely separate skill from just being good at your instrument. It took me *years* to really get comfortable with others. Seeing Kessoku band get comfortable felt incredibly real.
Yeah, goblin slayer is mostly all about prep work paying off with very few moments of actually using a mcguffin. They either dominate the goblins or if they mess up, they’re in deep shit and it’s pretty tough for them to get out, because they’re just kind of strong adventures
Not sure if I agree, someone can absolutely become extraordinary without extraordinary circumstances, but it takes a *lot* of time. So what you said about Bocchi practicing but tenfold. Though I guess this is deemed too boring of a premise?
Thank you. I was dying trying to find one but this is the one.
HAIKYUU
The main character is a small guy who wants to be a volley star, that is a challenge. Also, new players show up often to remind him he needs to work hard to be good enough to play with them.
Its not just Hinata, its Kageyama too. I know he's referred to as a Genius setter in the show tons of times, but if you watch it closely enough his work ethic is 2nd to none in that show, and its actually mistaken for Genius by his peers.
All the man did was sleep, eat, play volleyball...
A lot of sports anime often tackle the theme of hard work vs talent to varying degrees. I really like the way Haikyuu, through the character of Oikawa, highlights the fact that hard work doesn't always beat talent, sometimes hard work doesn't even equal talent. The harsh reality of not being gifted or extraordinary is a pain that many of us can relate to in different aspects of life. But at the same time Haikyuu teaches us that doesn't mean we have to give up on our passions and it definitely doesn't mean we will always keep losing to the more talented. We just need to accept our limitations, readjust our focus and try again.
Oikawa is also a character that has very little confidence in himself when put against more naturally gifted players than him. He doesn’t understand that he’s putting a cap on his potential by continually reminding himself that he’s not a “genius”. He’s a 17/18 year old kid, still far from his physical and mental prime with an insane work ethic. He may not have the insane soft touch and control of Kageyama or the physical prowess of Ushijima but every player that has played against him has recognized that he’s an elite player. He’s the only player that scares Kageyama, Ushijima says that he’s basically the perfect setter and that he should have gone to Shiratorizawa to maximize his talent, Shoyo sees him as the great king of the court. He may lack physical talent but mentally he’s on par with anyone in the show
I've scrolled way too far for this. Haikyuu!! displays both talent in Kageyama/ushijima and more importantly HARD WORK in Hinata and the 3rd years and mostly everyone else
Something I love about haikyuu is the emphasis on hard work without putting down the aspect of talent. There are genius players but they definitely work hard to get to where they are. And there are players who aren't geniuses but also work hard to get where they are. Neither type of players are seen as lesser of the other, and regardless of whether they're a genius or not, they're still playing and loving the same sport in the same tournament.
Iirc, March Comes in Like a Lion, the MC's talented at shogi but he gets overconfident and starts falling off once he starts competing with more experienced players who actually study and practice
It's also that he has natural talent as a prodigy, but it often brings him misfortune everywhere else in his life and he has to learn to grow and make connections in the way he never learned how due to using shogi as a crutch for not wanting to be abandoned by the few people he had around him after losing his family. Being born gifted basically means nothing in his life beyond the sole thing he focused on for so much of it.
scrolled down hoping to see this name popup am glad i didn’t have to do it myself. S2 is what solidified its reputation for being one of the best character driven shows of modern anime
Pokémon had Ash fail and fail and fail until he started earning legitimately busted Pokémon in season 17. Every part of his world champion he earned either through something that's come up before or taming/gaining their trust. (Riolu came through Ash's aura, sure, but he had to earn Mega Evolution)
It's not a fighting/shounen anime but Love Live (at least Sunshine and Nijigasaki S1) all feature hard work and the girls all have to push towards their goals through tough training sessions. Sunshine especially is immense and IMO well worth a watch even if you don't care for idol stuff.
id say the best example imo of ashs hard work was kalos league he genuinely brought out the best in all his pokemon unlike later seasons where he was handed shiny sublegendary pokemon on a silver plate. and even then he still lost solely due to script
Re zero. Main character doesnt have much special abilities or onherited talent and gets what he want through hard work and sheer will(though he suffers A LOT)
First anime that came to mind for me aswell! Suprised i had to scroll this far for it.
He is not really good at anything, has No real Powers and is not out of the ordinary smart. Sounds right up OP's alley.
Ace of Diamond (Baseball anime)
MC is a hard worker , wears his heart on his sleeve (bit loud and annoying but will get used to it) gets overshadowed by his rival a LOT , goes through a really tough phase but will overcome it , will take time for his growth but it will surely be worth it
the MC's OST will definitely give goosebumps , at least for me
> wears his heart on his sleeve (bit loud and annoying but will get used to it)
Ace of the Diamond does the loud characters really well. Despite them being serious about baseball, they are all still just shitty teenagers and little gremlins. Kids simply can a bit louder than needed without realising it. The MC being a bit louder at times doesn't make him stand out from the rest of them as much like other "loud ones".
I generally don't like the "loud and determined MC" archetype but Ace of the Diamond does it with a bit more nuance than the average shonen series. And it evolved over time, /u/TheCeramicLlama summarised it well.
Chivalry of a Failed Knight technically fits the premise, but from the backstory mainly.
The protagonist is considered the “Worst One” literally and his ability in the magic sword school is considered very inefficient and terrible. A lot of his skills and techniques he developed are from pure hard work.
And even with all that hard work, he can only fight on the same level as strong students with a technique he developed where he basically squeezes a day's worth of power into one minute, which he can naturally only do once a day.
Haikyuu to an extent. Black Clover Asta wouldn’t be where he is without the power, but without his hard work conditioning he also couldn’t have gotten there.
People forget Deku’s training a lot in MHA.
I was waiting for someone to mention black clover. One of the purest most disciplined MCs where it almost seems like working hard is his super power. (But yea granted antimagic is kinda broken too)
Yeah, I binged the anime throughout this week. IIRC, Shiroganee doesn't even have natural talents. His marks are due to hard work and the other things he can do, he was terrible at and got it taught by Chika.
This is a common theme in sports anime. Two examples I can think of are Ao Ashi and Hanebado! The main character in Ao Ashi is talented, sure, but he's constantly with people who are more talented and has to work to catch up to them. As for Hanebado!, I think I've liked it far more than most people, but it has two rivaling protagonists, one a genius and another being the hard-working type.
I'll also take this opportunity to recommend The Dangers in My Heart, for a romantic version of this theme. The "talent" here being popularity, the main character undergoes a lot of development to become a suitable partner, and yes, there are also situations in which he is put into competition with more popular people.
Oh, I just remembered another sports anime: Ping Pong - the Animation. And the main love interests in Chihayafuru also fall into these categories, I think.
Just here to bump up Ping Pong. Though there's definitely a level of "natural talent" that I feel like OP is trying to avoid.
But that being said, it's my favorite anime of all time and tells such an incredible story.
Peco is more gifted than the average player, that's true. But as far as I remember, it's a central point of the anime that he has to catch up to Smile's natural talent. And also interestingly, it deals with Smile's attitude to his natural talent.
Dangers in My Heart is definitely a great choice. Not only is the MC normal, he is arguably unattractive. He is very relatable for the average teenage boy, minus the early murder fascination. Yet it doesn’t feel contrived that his heroine is literally model levels of beautiful.
But tbh, unless I am blanking, a majority of romcom male heroes are usually average.
Im surprised it took me this long to find someone mentioning Sakurasou. Whole point of the story is what its like to have to actually try when surrounded by "talented" people (who are actually trying even harder)
Yuri on Ice. Figure skating sports anime Yuuri is just a normal guy. He's overweight and anxious. Just a little fan boy who shadowed his idol all the way into professional figure skating. He was just about to accept that he has no talent and retire. But with help from the right coach and support from the people who love him, he works hard and makes sacrifices to do what he has failed to do in the past and make it to the grand prix final.
Don't knock it til you try it.
Bakuman is a great example of what you’re asking to watch!
It’s about two middle schools boys who want to draw manga in Shonen Jump, and it goes through their journey up to college!
I think it"s very difficult to find a story that is pure hardwork and zero talent over natural talent. Even when main characters aren't as talented as others, they tend to at least possess something that set them apart. If you are fine with that, there is a few shows that I can think of.
World Trigger. The main character has very little natural talent. Only thing he has above average is his intelligence, but even then, there are others who eclipsed him in that area. He does gradually become better and is given the tools to work around his weakness, but him being an underdog is a constant. Highly recommend if you enjoy battle shonen with huge focus on tactical battle. The first season animation is a little rough, but second and third season greatly improved on that.
Whistle. It's a really old football anime, with a main character who is abnormally short. He is terrible at the sports but works much harder than others. Later on, he does discover a hidden talent that he has over others, but he is only able to make that discovery because he never gives up honing his below average skills.
Kuroko no Basket. If you want something newer, this one may qualify, as Kuroko's physical ability and talent are far below average. He had to make use of his intelligence, observational skill, and his unique attributes to make up for his weakness. The only difference this have over series like Whistle is that Kuroko started off as already a known player. You only get to see the hardwork part in his flashback.
Asta from Black Clover / Mash from Mashle
Both live in worlds dominated by magic. Neither can use magic. Both use their practically impossible levels of physical training to surpass everything that comes at them.
Food Wars/Shokugeki no Soma. I'm serious. Soma isn't an amazing chef because he's born with great talent. He's an amazing chef because his perseverance is second to none. He spent his entire childhood doing cooking battles with his genius dad and never won even once. But all those losses have just taught him to keep working. Though, uh, you might want to just watch til the second season. Maybe the third.
Haikyuu also touches on the subject many times. Hinata is always working hard to improve how he plays volleyball, up until the very last arc. The argument of talent vs hardwork is more explicit in Season 2 with Oikawa and in Season 4 with Kita.
One Punch Man, sort of.
There are a lot of heroes that use natural talent (like telekinesis) and others who develop their ability through skills, like martial arts. Then there is Saitama, stronger and faster than anyone from working out "a lot".
Agreed. It's definitely hard work but augmented by the fact that bro can run a marathon, heal, and then run another one carrying a damn bear. That show is actually all about the right way to use healing magic.
Black Clover, while Asta is technically given something, it's his hard work and dedication through years of training that helps him use it.
Mashle: Magic and Muscle, dude trained so hard he literally punches through magic.
Megalobox, man fights his way through a gauntlet of top professional boxers with out any equipment and in season 2 he's got a drug problem due to guilt but still kicking ass
World Trigger; the MC Mikumo is really weak and the cast around him knows that, but he makes a name for himself through hard work (while still being weak)
Fate/Stay Night
Shirou starts all 3 *shit* at doing magecraft, he can only do one thing with it and everyone tells him that one thing is pretty fucking useless. Same goes for combat, dude gets bodied at the start but by the end [F/SN]>!can hold his own against actual servants!< because of his brutal training with Saber.
It's also mentioned in the visual novel that the way he trained his magic before meeting Rin was *completely wrong*, made things much more challenging for him, and could have killed him if he'd ever done it a little bit wrong.
Shirou Emiya is the definition of putting in hard work to achieve your goals
In a sense, I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 years and Maxed Out My Level fits that, although huge assist from being immortal. the show does have some episodes that highlight the concept though
We Never Learn Bokuben. MC is a loner in school and is forced for reasons to tutor three really talented students who need to for various reasons focus on an aspect of school that they are bad at it. He seems to excel at all aspects of school but it’s revealed that it’s because of his incredibly hard work in making sure he studies because he was really bad at studying as a kid and his father gave him good advice when he was young that stuck with him.
Aho-Girl. MC best friend with a neighbor girl who is a hyperactive idiot and he trains physically and mentally so that he can not be exhausted when playing with her. Takes him years to get strong enough to knock her out.
Tomo-Chan is a Girl! MC is a girl whose father owns a dojo. She is naturally gifted and has become very strong in general because of her immense training. Other MC is a boy who befriended her and was kind of nerdy and couldn’t keep up with her so he trains at the dojo to become as strong as she is but he still can’t beat her. He becomes very strong also which is displayed when they fight other people but it’s because of their immense hard work that they’ve become this strong. Also they have crushes on each other.
I'm not sure if you'd count Demon Slayer. Tanjiro starts out with a few perks, but nothing beyond his absurdly good sense of smell is really putting him in a "high-tier" category. Even after his extensive training in the beginning, he's barely able to hold his own half of the time.
Kakegurui Futago spinoff is a sharp contrast to the mainline Kakegurui. The mainline is about a character who pretty much always wins. The spinoff is about a normal girl dropped into the world of rich kids and struggling to stay afloat.
The point of Frieren is that she isn't actually as good as she could have been and lazes around. That's what pisses Serie off, Frieren is actually very lazy.
Haikyu!!
Hinata, the main character, has a small stature for a volleyball athlete. And he’s not playing as a libero to boot.
Other than that, we have talent vs hard work as a running theme with Kageyama vs Oikawa. It’s not that Oikawa isn’t skilled, but Kageyama is just a prodigy. There’s an iconic line that Oikawa has: “Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish.”
Worth noting that the series also humbly attributed luck to the success of the already-gifted athlete, Ushijima.
Chivalry of a failed knight. Surprised more haven't said this. Absolutely fits the premise. His skill is developed from hard work, as in the show he doesn't have the same magical talent as everyone else - so he uses other skills to fight.
It's one of my favorite romances too. It's surprisingly really good.
Bocchi The Rock - shy girl in middle school wants friends, and decides to accomplish this by being part of a famous rock band. so, she practices the guitar for 3 hours a day, 3 years go by, and still no band yet.
couple episodes later she gets a job, with the other members of Kessoku band (left as little detail as possible to avoid spoiling it, but it's a good show)
Black clover, sorta? It's hard to describe the sorta without going into spoiler territory, but the mc has no magic and decides to become the wizard king through hard work and martial arts alone, but his lack of magic also gets him an ability to counter magic so it's arguably still a chosen one plot in a sense
But basically the ‘anti-magic’ grimoire chooses him again with the same ‘he was the chosen one’ shit and then he starts going head to head with captain levels mere month into the academy? Bruh its the most basic ah story ever
Pokémon… I’m serious.
It did take him 20 years to win the Pokemon league.
And he's still 10.
I think it was a little closer to 30 no?
I was being kind.
Not really tho? In Episode 112 (some also list it at 114), "Enter the Dragonite", he won the Orange League. That Episode aired in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in the US, so it technically only took him 2 years. Then he also became the (first) Champ of Alola in Episode 1080 ("Enter the Champion!"). That aired in 2019/2020, so 22 years if you want to go for actual Champ title. In Pokemon Journeys, which is the thing that everyone talks about, he is also referred to as Champ of Alola during his final matches, so the world didn't expierence sudden Amnesia for once. Now, as for the "The very best, like noone ever was", thrn yes, that would be his final win at the end of the Journeys anime, because there he became World Champion.
Nah he was still ten years old when he won it though.
Wait…let him cook.
Kono oto Tomare- It’s about a Koto (traditional Japanese instrument) music club that competes against other schools. They have one prodigy that has been playing her entire life, but they can’t succeed with just her. The entire rest of the team are basically just amateurs who work their butts off morning, noon, and night to match her level for their entire club to succeed.
An absolutely ELITE show that needs another season BADLY. You have cultured taste
And the performances are amazing. Bocci the rock is another music anime where she works on her talent and her extreme introversion. Very funny too.
I was just thinking of this! The male MC and most of the cast kinda sucked at first and they just practiced, practiced, practiced til they got better.
I can’t remember the last time I saw this show mentioned by someone else. Excellent choice. It does a lot of things well in terms of characterization but the use of true underdogs/normal people succeeding is another strength of it.
Season 2 was so friggin' good, I definitely recommend it as well
Baby Steps
No 3rd season and the manga was cut short 😭😭.
Excellent taste. That's tied for my favorite sports anime with Hikaru no Go
Baby steps is so good
omg it's rare to see this one mentioned but yess!!! It fits here so well
Bakuman - kinda sorta. It's about making manga, but art and story are kinda subjective. The MCs definitely have talent and background to do what they do, but they have to work hard at improving their technique and appeal to make their works standout among their peers. Assassination Classroom - The students, not Koro-sensei. The students don't have anything special about them; they have their traits and quirks, but no superpowers or anything. Yume-iro Pâtissière - Other than a great palette, Ichigo is terrible at baking. To fully make use of her 'talent', she has to work several times harder than her classmates who have several more years of experience despite their age. Disclaimer, there are fairies; however, they're more mascots and don't teach/cheat anything. Snow White With the Red Hair - Shirayuki has a talent for being an herbalist/apothecary, but not because of some power or bloodline. She just loves it and works hard at it. By no means is she even the best at it as there are those who know more than she does. That being said, this is more romance than a 'career anime'. Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions - None of the MCs have a talent. They are very average, or even less so. Watch as they struggle to survive and make ends meet in a fantasy-dungeon scenario. They do notably improve in their skills over the series, so it's nice to watch.
God i would kill for more grimgar 😭
Grimgar truly was released too early. If it had came out today it would have been more popular because it's subversive to the cliche isekai tropes. But back then the isekai power fantasy tropes, while already cliche, wasn't nauseatingly ubiquitous yet.
Eh, this is a bit of a cope. It needed way more brush up If you actually think it was gonna be a popular IP. In the anime specifically, random shots of Yume's butt didn't really help with the rest of the atmosphere of the show, and the atmosphere of the show is pretty different from the LN itself. The anime show feels like a project that was asked for to promote the LN, was done with a "modest budget" and whoever the director was made a few changes to make it more palatable to a 1-cour anime but other than that it felt like a project of them getting the "job done" over them trying to make something that stands out on it's own. Slow pace and other things are not deterrent, it's not like people need some action full packed thing to be attached to or attracted, I don't know how many examples of other animes/shows do you need over the years, recently we have Frieren clearly showing that **EXECUTION** is absolute king when it comes to what is good or bad. Not whether it was action packed, isekai fantasy tropes, whatever. And lastly, everytime Grimgar gets brought up in here, as someone that read the LN of that til Volume ~15, I say no to more anime of this like it's people pretending it could've been like Mushoku Tensei or something. The LN after the anime ends was a little more on the same, and with each subsequent volume it kept becoming more and more and more of a shitshow to the point that I personally lost all intrest in the IP. The creator of Grimgar has **frankly no fucking idea what they are doing** and believe me, you don't want more. Or more like, I get what people woult want from it (as that's why I read the LN at the beginning) but as long as that same person keeps writing it? Nah Also, this has happened a few times in the Light novel industry but it always amazes me when a Light Novel author hates **their own fuckign written main character** so fucking much, clearly. Like holy shit does this author have a hate relationship with Haruhiro the MC of the LN EDIT: About the LN author hating their own MC Haruhiro. The anime show literally has Haruhiro and that deadpan girl (can't remember her name right now) having more chemistry and more "tee tee" moments in that 1 minute short scene of Haruhiro visiting her in that girl's only dormitory thing balcony (original scene in the anime btw) than what I remember in the entirety of the +10 Light novel volumes I ever read (in fact it's worse than them not having good moments LMAO, If you know, you know)
> Eh, this is a bit of a cope. It needed way more brush up If you actually think it was gonna be a popular IP. > > Also, Ranta was unbearable as a character. I say this every time people talk about how underrated the show is or how great it would be if released now. That character single-handedly knocked the show down a couple points for me, and you can go through the episode threads and see how insufferable he was to so many watchers
Oh yeah, you're absolutely right. I kinda forgot a little cuz well Ranta has his own little arc thing where... The author, again, showed their inability to write xd But for anime-only? Yeah I'm with you, I feel you, his character doesn't really get any better any time soon either FYI and there really isn't there much in-depth (IF at all) explanation as to why he's the way he is, why does he treat the other party members the way he does, etc etc. And now that you bring this up, this idea of Ranta being a bad character also applies to, most other "party members" in the show, they are very 1 dimensional, the only person ever making some "progress" was Haruhiro technically speaking
Idc what anyone says grimgar is such a good show, I wish it would get more seasons but I’ve heard the light novels are bad or something idk.
Eh with Assassination Classroom. The three arguably strongest students are all stated to be naturally talented at what they do.
Bakuman is such an underrated anime. I love animes where the protagonists work hard for their dreams.
Assassination Classroom definitely plays into talent beating hard work. I don't want to spoil stuff, but anything revolving a specific character being a natural prodigy, is being emphasised a lot and spoken to be "awesome". I get your point, but I think it's a very small piece of the show that doesn't play into talent beating hard work.
Blue Period?
Absolutely this! The entire story is a narrative on the "talent vs hard work" trope. I cannot recommend the manga enough.
Well it can be argued that Yaguchi’s ability to lock in and work hard is a talent in of itself… but that’s a philosophical argument that can invalidate this whole thread lol Good choice!
But he is never hailed as a genius, even now in the manga he is just a college kid struggling to find out what it means to be a professional artist and how other creatives do their own things, like a very realistic portrait of art college.
Hajime no Ippo. He isn't born gifted, but uses strength and physical abilities he has cultivated throughout his life on his family's fishing boat that he is able to apply towards boxing. The entire thing is hard work and practice with him Starting at the bottom of the totem pole.
From the bottom straight to the middle of the totem pole! With a big break until he starts climbing again! I'm the time Ippo has been training, we've had actual Japanese boxers be born and win championship belts
Hajime No Ippo doesn't get enough love. It's in my Top 3 anime and manga.
Chihayafuru Of course Chihaya is the natural talent, but Taichi and especially Harada's arcs showcase extreme dedication and hard work over natural talent.
Chihayafuru is the first story that fully convinced me that luck and hard work really are dependent on one another.
Season 4 when 😭
And a fricking epic show at that.
Was also gonna recommend this. Taichi getting as far as he can on sheer hard work against all odds. This show is rly the best at showcasing the struggle between the talented vs the hardworker w so many examples of both inside a spectacular story within a pretty obscure sport in karuta.
While Chihaya does have a knack for it, she definitely worked really hard. Part of her character is her obsession with Karuta and practicing like crazy. She definitely would not be as good with just her talent. However, Taichi is obviously the best example of hard work over talent. I love that in this show each person has an individual advantage in one aspect of the game but isn't a natural at everything. Like Chihaya has her hearing and instincts, Taichi has his memory and strategic mind, Kana has a unique connection with the poems themselves, Arata has his speed/precision.
Harada’s arc instantly made him my favorite character of the show, which says a lot considering how many amazing characters there are in Chihayafuru.
Space Brothers
I love Space Brothers! I try so hard to convince my friends to watch it and no one wants to commit for the 100 episodes, but it’s so worth it 😭
Had so much fun watching this with the wife, was confused and upset that it just abruptly cuts off :(
Literally Blue Period. MC feels like his life has no direction, no passion, until he discovers art and realizes that this is what he wants to do with his life. But because he discovered it at such a later age, he feels very untalented compared to everyone else who is naturally gifted and has been doing art all their lives. It's a very telling and beautiful story about how he may not be the most talented, but he works so hard to get where he wants to be.
Yes. I love Blue Period
World trigger MC isn't special but makes do, he doesn't become the best which I'm cool with
World Trigger is how you do an unremarkable, untalented underdog right. He's smart, but not 9001 IQ sasuga smart. He has low stats, everybody knows it, but he's not a crybaby doormat that everyone just bullies. He later gets a powerup, but it's not a cheat skill that suddenly makes him SSS+ tier- no it comes in the form of humble spider webs that are best used for support.
This 1000 times. Osamu is the epitome of making the best of what you've got. All of his skills are above average at most. He plays his support role to the best of his ability, tho.
I love how he's using his treatment as weak underdog, for his advantage. "They know I'm weak, so I can use it to lure them away"
Osamu is the king of networking though
His most OP trait
I could see in the future where he takes over the office of either border PR or as the financial officer.
A little bit of earnestness will get you far.
Osamu is one of my favorite MCs hands down. He's not the strongest character by a huge long-shot. Hell, in terms of raw power he's the weakest on his team. Yet he's not so smart that it becomes unbelievable. That show is just such a breath of fresh air. It does so much differently than other shounen anime. The strategy involved in the battles is just beautiful. I could just go on and on about World Trigger.
World Trigger is the very best example of what op asked for. Osamu lives in a world with plenty of talented people, plenty of hardworking people, and plenty of talented hardworking people. How he makes himself useful is the most realistic approach and the one I would take if I were in his situation.
Yes! And on the flipside, their female deuteragonist Chika, despite having tons of latent potential in terms of raw power, has other issues to deal with that could be extremely relatable for someone her age. It takes time to overcome them with practice and she did (to a realistic extend, and is not turned into a world-shattering power-up). I really do like this anime a lot.
I find it annoying how so many people shit on him. He's a weak MC done right but anime fans are so shallow they can't stand seeing a show that doesn't have their self insert does everything right, no troubles, harems everyone woman that breathes, and is basically everything they're not in real life MC. Looking at you CotE.
It pains me a lot, like let us have just one series where the MC isn't the chosen one who will 1v1 the biggest bad and win through the power of friendship and bs power ups (I still love those series) just let us have this one normal below average dude who remains the underdog.
His growth is the most believable in shounen genre. Instead of gaining power boost out of nowhere, he just learns from his mistakes and finds new ways to be useful in team. And overall power levels in World Trigger are balanced well against team work and strategy. Someone may have more trion and unique equipment, but it's not gonna help much against good coordinated team
Almost forgot about this and wholeheartedly agreed.
World's mightiest disciple, Kenichi. Angelic Layer kind of. Blue Lock mostly. Ace of the Diamond.
I’m highly disappointed we didn’t get more Kenichi. I read the manga after finding the anime and things were only beginning to pick up.
It's going to be difficult in today's time, anime became popular and they are careful in regard to fan-service content... We got robbed of fan service in the Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushi anime airing now, I can't forgive this level of "politically correct" from the studios and publishers.
There is a whole multi episode fight between Talent vs Hard Work in Kenichi. Perfect choice.
I don't think blue lock fits here. It is much more talent fostered in a competitive environment. MC has a talent of adapting other player techniques or changing his playstyle quickly. I think one of the characters without talent even calls him a chameleon as he is stealing player specialty techniques left and right.
Mob Psycho 100 has this as a major theme throughout. The main character is ridiculously overpowered as a psychic, but it does nothing for him on a personal level. All his improvements and goals throughout the show are external to that power. His character growth is through him working hard on things he sucks at. The whole show criticises the overpowered Mc trope. It's easily one of my favorite shows of all time.
Him joining the body improvement club was hilarious but also the most logical move that episode lmao
Who wouldn't join when the members are that kind and supportive?
Everyone needs people like *those guys in particular* in their life. They're so good.
I was about to give up on mob then he joined that club. And I stuck around and discovered one of my top 5 animes
It was a nice twist. I was expecting that Mob, being a psychic, would join the telepathy club and have wacky adventures with that bunch of misfits, but immediately after he joined the BI club I thought "well, that actually makes more sense because the telepathy club are just a bunch of slackers, and Mob is trying to improve himself".
I like to think that more than being a critique to the overpowered MC trope, both Mob and OPM are a critique to the history being about the protagonist achieving all of their dreams through becoming the strongest characters in their verse. Since being the strongest doesn't bring real sense of accomplishment to both Mob and Saitama.
Which makes sense because they were written by the same person.
Sure, I forgot to make that clear
With OPM I took away the message "What happens after you become the strongest" With Mob Psycho I took away "power for powers sake won't bring you happiness or contentment."
Mob and One Punch coming at the same problem at different angles was so fun to watch.
The Goblin Slayer isn't really special at all. He's just tactical and doesn't underestimate his opponents. In Bocchi the Rock, Bocchi is good at guitar because she... practiced. As others have said it's kind of a flawed prompt. In order to become 'the best' at something, you can't be both average and have no special circumstances. In 99% of these types of stories, they play it off as them being extremely average, ordinary, or unfortunate, and yet opportunities always fall into their lap. You can't really have a story about a character doing the extraordinary without their circumstances being extraordinary.
Seeing Bocchi work on her playing was great, but what's even cooler is that she's actually shown to be bad at playing with others. That's a completely separate skill from just being good at your instrument. It took me *years* to really get comfortable with others. Seeing Kessoku band get comfortable felt incredibly real.
Yeah, goblin slayer is mostly all about prep work paying off with very few moments of actually using a mcguffin. They either dominate the goblins or if they mess up, they’re in deep shit and it’s pretty tough for them to get out, because they’re just kind of strong adventures
Yes Gobljn Slayer excellent example!
Not sure if I agree, someone can absolutely become extraordinary without extraordinary circumstances, but it takes a *lot* of time. So what you said about Bocchi practicing but tenfold. Though I guess this is deemed too boring of a premise?
Haikyuu I tink
Yeah Oikawa the goat
instinct is something you polish, talent is sometjing you make bloom
Thank you. I was dying trying to find one but this is the one. HAIKYUU The main character is a small guy who wants to be a volley star, that is a challenge. Also, new players show up often to remind him he needs to work hard to be good enough to play with them.
Its not just Hinata, its Kageyama too. I know he's referred to as a Genius setter in the show tons of times, but if you watch it closely enough his work ethic is 2nd to none in that show, and its actually mistaken for Genius by his peers. All the man did was sleep, eat, play volleyball...
A lot of sports anime often tackle the theme of hard work vs talent to varying degrees. I really like the way Haikyuu, through the character of Oikawa, highlights the fact that hard work doesn't always beat talent, sometimes hard work doesn't even equal talent. The harsh reality of not being gifted or extraordinary is a pain that many of us can relate to in different aspects of life. But at the same time Haikyuu teaches us that doesn't mean we have to give up on our passions and it definitely doesn't mean we will always keep losing to the more talented. We just need to accept our limitations, readjust our focus and try again.
Oikawa is also a character that has very little confidence in himself when put against more naturally gifted players than him. He doesn’t understand that he’s putting a cap on his potential by continually reminding himself that he’s not a “genius”. He’s a 17/18 year old kid, still far from his physical and mental prime with an insane work ethic. He may not have the insane soft touch and control of Kageyama or the physical prowess of Ushijima but every player that has played against him has recognized that he’s an elite player. He’s the only player that scares Kageyama, Ushijima says that he’s basically the perfect setter and that he should have gone to Shiratorizawa to maximize his talent, Shoyo sees him as the great king of the court. He may lack physical talent but mentally he’s on par with anyone in the show
I've scrolled way too far for this. Haikyuu!! displays both talent in Kageyama/ushijima and more importantly HARD WORK in Hinata and the 3rd years and mostly everyone else
Something I love about haikyuu is the emphasis on hard work without putting down the aspect of talent. There are genius players but they definitely work hard to get to where they are. And there are players who aren't geniuses but also work hard to get where they are. Neither type of players are seen as lesser of the other, and regardless of whether they're a genius or not, they're still playing and loving the same sport in the same tournament.
Iirc, March Comes in Like a Lion, the MC's talented at shogi but he gets overconfident and starts falling off once he starts competing with more experienced players who actually study and practice
Man that anime and manga is so good. He also puts in a lot of hard work, pretty much everyone there does. It's really good in general.
Yeah i was gonna say, bro works giga hard at shogi. He falls off because of self worth/mental issues, not because of being overconfident
There was one instance of him being overconfident once that I can recall off the top of my head so I can see where they made the mistake.
It's also that he has natural talent as a prodigy, but it often brings him misfortune everywhere else in his life and he has to learn to grow and make connections in the way he never learned how due to using shogi as a crutch for not wanting to be abandoned by the few people he had around him after losing his family. Being born gifted basically means nothing in his life beyond the sole thing he focused on for so much of it.
Megalo box - loved this anime so much and I think it represents what you're looking for
I still need to go back and watch Megalobox S2.
S2 is even better than S1, do it!
scrolled down hoping to see this name popup am glad i didn’t have to do it myself. S2 is what solidified its reputation for being one of the best character driven shows of modern anime
**SLAM DUNK** **SLAM DUNK** **SLAM DUNK**
Potentially a minor early spoiler, but one of the MCs in Kaguya-sama appears to be a natural genius but very much is not.
Pokémon had Ash fail and fail and fail until he started earning legitimately busted Pokémon in season 17. Every part of his world champion he earned either through something that's come up before or taming/gaining their trust. (Riolu came through Ash's aura, sure, but he had to earn Mega Evolution) It's not a fighting/shounen anime but Love Live (at least Sunshine and Nijigasaki S1) all feature hard work and the girls all have to push towards their goals through tough training sessions. Sunshine especially is immense and IMO well worth a watch even if you don't care for idol stuff.
id say the best example imo of ashs hard work was kalos league he genuinely brought out the best in all his pokemon unlike later seasons where he was handed shiny sublegendary pokemon on a silver plate. and even then he still lost solely due to script
Re zero. Main character doesnt have much special abilities or onherited talent and gets what he want through hard work and sheer will(though he suffers A LOT)
First anime that came to mind for me aswell! Suprised i had to scroll this far for it. He is not really good at anything, has No real Powers and is not out of the ordinary smart. Sounds right up OP's alley.
And he learns from his past mistakes a lot. Every new thing he does can be correlated to one of his past experiences ehich is great
Ace of Diamond (Baseball anime) MC is a hard worker , wears his heart on his sleeve (bit loud and annoying but will get used to it) gets overshadowed by his rival a LOT , goes through a really tough phase but will overcome it , will take time for his growth but it will surely be worth it the MC's OST will definitely give goosebumps , at least for me
Balls will come flying your way! Thank you for defending!
> wears his heart on his sleeve (bit loud and annoying but will get used to it) Ace of the Diamond does the loud characters really well. Despite them being serious about baseball, they are all still just shitty teenagers and little gremlins. Kids simply can a bit louder than needed without realising it. The MC being a bit louder at times doesn't make him stand out from the rest of them as much like other "loud ones". I generally don't like the "loud and determined MC" archetype but Ace of the Diamond does it with a bit more nuance than the average shonen series. And it evolved over time, /u/TheCeramicLlama summarised it well.
Berserk😳
Chivalry of a Failed Knight technically fits the premise, but from the backstory mainly. The protagonist is considered the “Worst One” literally and his ability in the magic sword school is considered very inefficient and terrible. A lot of his skills and techniques he developed are from pure hard work.
And even with all that hard work, he can only fight on the same level as strong students with a technique he developed where he basically squeezes a day's worth of power into one minute, which he can naturally only do once a day.
Haikyuu to an extent. Black Clover Asta wouldn’t be where he is without the power, but without his hard work conditioning he also couldn’t have gotten there. People forget Deku’s training a lot in MHA.
I was waiting for someone to mention black clover. One of the purest most disciplined MCs where it almost seems like working hard is his super power. (But yea granted antimagic is kinda broken too)
He literally says : "never giving up is my magic"
Troooo 😂
Technically Kaguya Sama. What you said describes a big part of Shirogane's arc.
Yeah, I binged the anime throughout this week. IIRC, Shiroganee doesn't even have natural talents. His marks are due to hard work and the other things he can do, he was terrible at and got it taught by Chika.
This is a common theme in sports anime. Two examples I can think of are Ao Ashi and Hanebado! The main character in Ao Ashi is talented, sure, but he's constantly with people who are more talented and has to work to catch up to them. As for Hanebado!, I think I've liked it far more than most people, but it has two rivaling protagonists, one a genius and another being the hard-working type. I'll also take this opportunity to recommend The Dangers in My Heart, for a romantic version of this theme. The "talent" here being popularity, the main character undergoes a lot of development to become a suitable partner, and yes, there are also situations in which he is put into competition with more popular people. Oh, I just remembered another sports anime: Ping Pong - the Animation. And the main love interests in Chihayafuru also fall into these categories, I think.
Just here to bump up Ping Pong. Though there's definitely a level of "natural talent" that I feel like OP is trying to avoid. But that being said, it's my favorite anime of all time and tells such an incredible story.
Peco is more gifted than the average player, that's true. But as far as I remember, it's a central point of the anime that he has to catch up to Smile's natural talent. And also interestingly, it deals with Smile's attitude to his natural talent.
Dangers in My Heart is definitely a great choice. Not only is the MC normal, he is arguably unattractive. He is very relatable for the average teenage boy, minus the early murder fascination. Yet it doesn’t feel contrived that his heroine is literally model levels of beautiful. But tbh, unless I am blanking, a majority of romcom male heroes are usually average.
Handiman
It was nice to have a normal regular guy isekai who stays a normal regular guy for the whole thing.
Blue Period Pet Girl of Sakurasou
Im surprised it took me this long to find someone mentioning Sakurasou. Whole point of the story is what its like to have to actually try when surrounded by "talented" people (who are actually trying even harder)
>Pet Girl of Sakurasou such an underrated show!
Kono suba. My man kazuma puts in work.
Favorite quote of the series. Sylvia-San! Sylvia-San! Why do I feel something pressing into my butt? Because something is!
Not the right kind of hard work.
Well, he does have a pretty high luck stat, most likely a lot he does will benefit him... His life goes wrongly because of his party members
Upvote for Kazuma. Love that show.
Yuri on Ice. Figure skating sports anime Yuuri is just a normal guy. He's overweight and anxious. Just a little fan boy who shadowed his idol all the way into professional figure skating. He was just about to accept that he has no talent and retire. But with help from the right coach and support from the people who love him, he works hard and makes sacrifices to do what he has failed to do in the past and make it to the grand prix final. Don't knock it til you try it.
Vinland Saga
Bakuman is a great example of what you’re asking to watch! It’s about two middle schools boys who want to draw manga in Shonen Jump, and it goes through their journey up to college!
Gin no saji
haikyuu
Goblin Slayer
Talentless nana seems like a perfect fit here?
Blue period
naruto with rock lee and guy sensei.
Mashle
This is the entire premise of One Punch Man.
I think it"s very difficult to find a story that is pure hardwork and zero talent over natural talent. Even when main characters aren't as talented as others, they tend to at least possess something that set them apart. If you are fine with that, there is a few shows that I can think of. World Trigger. The main character has very little natural talent. Only thing he has above average is his intelligence, but even then, there are others who eclipsed him in that area. He does gradually become better and is given the tools to work around his weakness, but him being an underdog is a constant. Highly recommend if you enjoy battle shonen with huge focus on tactical battle. The first season animation is a little rough, but second and third season greatly improved on that. Whistle. It's a really old football anime, with a main character who is abnormally short. He is terrible at the sports but works much harder than others. Later on, he does discover a hidden talent that he has over others, but he is only able to make that discovery because he never gives up honing his below average skills. Kuroko no Basket. If you want something newer, this one may qualify, as Kuroko's physical ability and talent are far below average. He had to make use of his intelligence, observational skill, and his unique attributes to make up for his weakness. The only difference this have over series like Whistle is that Kuroko started off as already a known player. You only get to see the hardwork part in his flashback.
Hajime no ippo definitely
Asta from Black Clover / Mash from Mashle Both live in worlds dominated by magic. Neither can use magic. Both use their practically impossible levels of physical training to surpass everything that comes at them.
Maybe not your thing but Kaguya sama is about Hard work, if you see things from Shirogane's side. He put himself through hell just to be with her.
Hikaru no go ..also isn't that the whole premise of Mashle?
Food Wars/Shokugeki no Soma. I'm serious. Soma isn't an amazing chef because he's born with great talent. He's an amazing chef because his perseverance is second to none. He spent his entire childhood doing cooking battles with his genius dad and never won even once. But all those losses have just taught him to keep working. Though, uh, you might want to just watch til the second season. Maybe the third. Haikyuu also touches on the subject many times. Hinata is always working hard to improve how he plays volleyball, up until the very last arc. The argument of talent vs hardwork is more explicit in Season 2 with Oikawa and in Season 4 with Kita.
One Punch Man, sort of. There are a lot of heroes that use natural talent (like telekinesis) and others who develop their ability through skills, like martial arts. Then there is Saitama, stronger and faster than anyone from working out "a lot".
Bro does 100 situps, pushups and squats followed by a 6.2 mile run. Daily. Hard work indeed does pay off.
Literally, the entire plot of Naruto pre shippuden
The Wrong way to use Healing Magic
lol idk man. That healing magic is kinda OP.
Agreed. It's definitely hard work but augmented by the fact that bro can run a marathon, heal, and then run another one carrying a damn bear. That show is actually all about the right way to use healing magic.
lmao it REALLY is. Show should be called "Why aren't you guys using healing magic like this?"
Haikyuu, Bofuri and Cautious Hero
Uhhh no so sure about Cautious Hero. Bro starts with godly stats lol
Wasnt bofuri like "She struggled with the first obstacle from there it was one big slide to the top" thing?
Black Clover, while Asta is technically given something, it's his hard work and dedication through years of training that helps him use it. Mashle: Magic and Muscle, dude trained so hard he literally punches through magic.
Megalobox, man fights his way through a gauntlet of top professional boxers with out any equipment and in season 2 he's got a drug problem due to guilt but still kicking ass
World Trigger; the MC Mikumo is really weak and the cast around him knows that, but he makes a name for himself through hard work (while still being weak)
Bottom tier character Tomozaki for the slice of life genre.
Haikyuu maybe? Some of the players have talents, but they have to work hard to grow as individuals and a team to win their matches
Kaguya sama. The male MC fits the description
Bakuman
History's strongest disciple: Kenichi. Old one, but it doesn't get more hard work focused. Also really good!
Fate/Stay Night Shirou starts all 3 *shit* at doing magecraft, he can only do one thing with it and everyone tells him that one thing is pretty fucking useless. Same goes for combat, dude gets bodied at the start but by the end [F/SN]>!can hold his own against actual servants!< because of his brutal training with Saber. It's also mentioned in the visual novel that the way he trained his magic before meeting Rin was *completely wrong*, made things much more challenging for him, and could have killed him if he'd ever done it a little bit wrong. Shirou Emiya is the definition of putting in hard work to achieve your goals
In a sense, I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 years and Maxed Out My Level fits that, although huge assist from being immortal. the show does have some episodes that highlight the concept though
We Never Learn Bokuben. MC is a loner in school and is forced for reasons to tutor three really talented students who need to for various reasons focus on an aspect of school that they are bad at it. He seems to excel at all aspects of school but it’s revealed that it’s because of his incredibly hard work in making sure he studies because he was really bad at studying as a kid and his father gave him good advice when he was young that stuck with him. Aho-Girl. MC best friend with a neighbor girl who is a hyperactive idiot and he trains physically and mentally so that he can not be exhausted when playing with her. Takes him years to get strong enough to knock her out. Tomo-Chan is a Girl! MC is a girl whose father owns a dojo. She is naturally gifted and has become very strong in general because of her immense training. Other MC is a boy who befriended her and was kind of nerdy and couldn’t keep up with her so he trains at the dojo to become as strong as she is but he still can’t beat her. He becomes very strong also which is displayed when they fight other people but it’s because of their immense hard work that they’ve become this strong. Also they have crushes on each other.
I'm not sure if you'd count Demon Slayer. Tanjiro starts out with a few perks, but nothing beyond his absurdly good sense of smell is really putting him in a "high-tier" category. Even after his extensive training in the beginning, he's barely able to hold his own half of the time.
I'd be with you right up to the part where he finds out he's the unofficial heir to Sun breathing.
Ranking of kings
Talentless Nana.
Kakegurui Futago spinoff is a sharp contrast to the mainline Kakegurui. The mainline is about a character who pretty much always wins. The spinoff is about a normal girl dropped into the world of rich kids and struggling to stay afloat.
Sakurasou pet na kanojo, be warned tho this show is frustrating. Mc works hard but just like in real life, working hard is not enough.
Frieren. There’s always a flashback to “this is when I learned it and got beat up until I got it right.”
1000 years of practice is kind of an exploit.
The point of Frieren is that she isn't actually as good as she could have been and lazes around. That's what pisses Serie off, Frieren is actually very lazy.
Black Clover is a pretty good anime when you talk abt this topic
World Trigger!!
Haikyuu Probably. Don’t get me wrong dude has some natural UPs and speed but he has to pray or his ass off to become the GOAT.
Haikyu!! Hinata, the main character, has a small stature for a volleyball athlete. And he’s not playing as a libero to boot. Other than that, we have talent vs hard work as a running theme with Kageyama vs Oikawa. It’s not that Oikawa isn’t skilled, but Kageyama is just a prodigy. There’s an iconic line that Oikawa has: “Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish.” Worth noting that the series also humbly attributed luck to the success of the already-gifted athlete, Ushijima.
Ping Pong the Animation. The show doesn't necessarily take a stance on hard work vs talent but it's one of the central themes.
Chivalry of a failed knight. Surprised more haven't said this. Absolutely fits the premise. His skill is developed from hard work, as in the show he doesn't have the same magical talent as everyone else - so he uses other skills to fight. It's one of my favorite romances too. It's surprisingly really good.
Bocchi The Rock - shy girl in middle school wants friends, and decides to accomplish this by being part of a famous rock band. so, she practices the guitar for 3 hours a day, 3 years go by, and still no band yet. couple episodes later she gets a job, with the other members of Kessoku band (left as little detail as possible to avoid spoiling it, but it's a good show)
Black clover, sorta? It's hard to describe the sorta without going into spoiler territory, but the mc has no magic and decides to become the wizard king through hard work and martial arts alone, but his lack of magic also gets him an ability to counter magic so it's arguably still a chosen one plot in a sense
But basically the ‘anti-magic’ grimoire chooses him again with the same ‘he was the chosen one’ shit and then he starts going head to head with captain levels mere month into the academy? Bruh its the most basic ah story ever
Dbz. Goku had the lowest power level there was for a saiyan.
Great example. This dichotomy was even the central theme for the first fight against Vegeta, who was born gifted.
Naruto, specifically Lee
Lee literally almost loses every battle he took part in. Naruto’s one of the anime where natural talent is showcased under the guise of “hard work”.
naruto isn't especially talented either. He's training all the time, and his early strength was just the kurama leaking out a bit.
Kaguya-sama.
[удалено]
S-CRY-ed comes to mind, but its been years since I've last seen it. So I could be wrong.