K
Hrm. First look at the forums, i was reading grimgar. Made it through three volumes and reading this im kind of glad i didn't continue... there's ways to do the "crappy mc", but any story is supposed to be about growth. Doesn't even have to be the main characters growth either. Akumetsu and one punch man are good markers for that because they are both about growth in the situation around the character. They focus in part on how the character got there, but mostly on how everyone else deals with them and how society ends up changed because of them. Going by the pitiful mc idea, one good example from years ago was ramza beoulve of final fantasy tactics. Favorite character of mine who is absolutely pitiful at the start but grows over the course of the story. There's even a more typical mc next to him (delita) who the story glosses over by and large. I stopped reading grimgar because it felt like the party would never change. Sure they might get stronger, but they would remain exactly who they are and the situation around them wouldn't really change... and that's terrible for a story. By dropping it i picked up some others, specifically through here (via bookwalker), namely unwanted undead and archdaemon. Undead especially has a similar weak mc to start but hes growing as the story progresses. Not just in strength, but in personality. Much more relaxing read because i can actually stay interested.
As a different note though i would not say you have to be able to identify with the character specifically, but something in the story or characters has to click and make you want to find out what happens next. I don't identify with saitama, i just like seeing everyone's reactions to him, and want to see if he ever gets his "epic battle". Akumetsu was a question of why is he killing corrupt people? What's his secret? His past? His actual goal? Because removing corruption only creates an opening for more corruption, probably more inept at that. I didn't identify with either of them or most of my truly favorite characters. I just want a glimpse into another world and life.
