Thread: There were some questions about who is the main character...

So I'll try to answer them here.

Now that this thread is here let's limit all the discussion about this issue to this thread: there were like hell a lot of discussions like that in other, sometimes complitely irrelevant, threads. It's kinda tiring to tell people the same things over and over again, so lets just say it once and then simply redirect those who are new to this place to this thread.

Now, lets start.

Introduction
Before starting to debate, lets see who the hell is protagonist, so that we all will be talking about the same thing, not different ones. For that we can simply look in Wikipedia on page called "Protagonist". If you have complaints about the source please post them in this thread. But remember that they will be simply ignored if you do not suggest other, more reliable, source.

So:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

A protagonist is a term used to refer to a figure or figures in literature whose intentions are the primary focus of a story. Classically, protagonists are derived from good will, however, this does not always have to be true. Protagonists cannot exist in a story without opposition from a figure or figures called antagonist(s). Classically in literature, characters with good will are unusually the protagonists, however, not all characters who assist the protagonist are required to be fundamentally protagonistic.

Discussion
OK. Now we can start debating. The question is - who is protagonist, Tenma or Eri? Lets see how they both fit the difinition of protagonist.

1) primary focus of a story

Eri: For the last ~200 chapters, yes. Before that hardly appeared. Is in love with secondary protagonist (Harima), her feelings changed and progresseed through the story.
Tenma: Was postulated as focus by author, appeared often while story progressed. Didn't get much development though, was in relationship that has nothing to do with secondary protagonist (Harima). Her love in that relationship is static, was postulated in the beggining of the story, never progressed.

We can see that thier relationships are quite different - while Tenma's is constant which was never in doubt, Eri's grow from nothing to what it is now though hardships. The only serious hindrance for Tenma is Karasuma's leaving (and we do not even know if it really is an obstacle or not) that was overcome by the first time in the very beggining and now (~230 chapters later) seems to be rising again.

2) opposition from a figure or figures called antagonist(s)

Tenma: No antagonists in her current relationship. May appear if she ever falls in love with secondary protagonist.
Eri: Mikoto, Tae, Yakumo, Tenma.

Tenma as protagonist clearly doesn't answer our expectations here. At least for now (ch237).

Now lets go further in Wiki's article.

3) In some nineteenth century novels, for example, Wilkie Collins' "No Name," the protagonist, Magdalen Vanstone, is introduced with an extended description, and thereafter simply expresses the qualities given in the description. Similarly, in much "formula fiction" (as critic John Cawelti calls it), the protagonist will remain essentially unaltered for the duration of the story; no value judgement need be implied by an author's use of either type of protagonist.

Eri: No, she doesn't simply express the qualities given in the discription. We saw her changing through the story together with hers' drawing style.
Tenma: Simply expresses the qualities given in the description.

Lets now see: is SR an 19th century novel? Hardly. Could KJ use methods from 19th century when wrighting SR? Hardly, but possible. Now, what is "Formula fiction"?

In popular culture, formula fiction is literature in which the storylines and plots have been reused to the extent that the narratives are predictable. It is similar to genre fiction, which identifies a number of specific settings that are frequently reused. The label of formula fiction is used in literary criticism as a mild pejorative to imply lack of originality.

While SR is the part of a genre that is the most typical for formula fiction, it itself is pretty original and totally unpredictibal, which makes attributing it to formula fiction extremely hard.

Conclusio: SR is not formula fiction, therefor protagonist should be changing while story goes on and can't be static.

4) A refinement can be introduced by an author using the first, evolving, type of protagonist as in Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener";

This is clearly our case.

5) though a novel may center on the actions of another character, it is the dynamic character who typically allows the plot to progress in a manner that is conducive to the thesis of the work, and thereby focuses the attention of the audience.

Tenma: No, her actions are not the center of novel. Though some of them (like kicking Harima of her house) are moving the story forward.
Eri: Her actions are center of story and are moving it forward.

This part suggests that Eri can be seen as dynamic character, but only if her personal story is not the center of novel.

6) It should be pointed out that the protagonist is not always the hero of the story. Many authors have chosen to unfold a story from the point of view of a character who, while not central to the action of the story, is in a position to comment upon it.

Eri: Does not comment on story.
Tenma: Same.

7) However, it is most common for the story to be "about" the protagonist; even if the Main Character's actions are not heroic, they are nonetheless usually vital to the progress of the story.

Seems to be our case.

Neither should the protagonist be confused with the narrator; they may be the same, but even a first-person narrator need not be the protagonist, as they may be recalling the event while not living through it as the audience is.

We do not have narrator here. Akira and Itoko can be seen as the most close to this position characters.

9) The main character is often faced with a "foil", a character known as the antagonist who most often represents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. As with protagonists, there may be more than one antagonist in a story.

We have already reviewed this part. Note that in Eri's case there are 4 foils.

10) Sometimes, a work will initially highlight a particular character, as though they were the protagonist, and then unexpectedly dispose of that character as a dramatic device. Such a character is called a false protagonist.

Noone died, left or was taken away from story yet.

11) When the work contains subplots, these may have different Main Characters from the main plot. In some novels, the book's main character may be impossible to pick out, because the plots do not permit clear identification of one as the main plot, as in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle, depicting a variety of characters imprisoned in and living about a gulag camp.

We clearly have 3 "main" subplots, that can't be easily separated from each other - Oudou, True Oudou, Flag. Others (like Apple) have nothing to do with main ones and could easily be removed from the story.

Conclusion
We can see both of then appearing rather often, we can see thier actions moving the story, we can see the fighting for thier love. BUT. Tenma's actions are moving another girls love story - Eri's, which suits for dynamic character but not for protagonist. Her own love story is with a guy different from secondary protagonist which would be rather strange for protagonist. And she hasn't made much progress in her feelings which are constant since the beginging. In contrast, Eri's actions are moving only her own love story, she loves secondary protagonist and her feelings changed from the begining of novel. So I do not see anything that prevents us from calling Eri protagonist.

wow that was a very long and interesting topic

i agree with your facts to why we should call eri a main protagonist
tenma's pretty much overshadowed in growth by now and behaves in a repetitive nature to everything

i have no idea what i wrote
because i have a really bad toothache so i'll stop right now

A very interesting idea Reinard. BTW why is Harima called secondary protagonist ( I assuming he is the second protagonist ) ? . He has a bit of antagonist, his action is quite vital to the progress of the story. He is the focus of the story too.
I mean in every story no matter that Eri or Tenma that being hot spotted. Harima is there. Harima seems to narrate things alot too ( at least about him self ).
Could it be that Harima is the main protagonist while the other ( Eri or Tenma ) becomes a secondary protagonist ?
But that just my thoughts about this matter.

Originally Posted by strange_chameleon

wow that was a very long and interesting topic

i agree with your facts to why we should call eri a main protagonist
tenma's pretty much overshadowed in growth by now and behaves in a repetitive nature to everything

i have no idea what i wrote
because i have a really bad toothache so i'll stop right now

Thanks. I agree about Tenma behaving in the same way from the very begining.

Originally Posted by liekiamhiung

A very interesting idea Reinard. BTW why is Harima called secondary protagonist ( I assuming he is the second protagonist ) ? . He has a bit of antagonist, his action is quite vital to the progress of the story. He is the focus of the story too.

He was called secondary protagonist by KJ, if I recall correctly. It makes sense looking at how his feelings were static for around 200 chapter and main conflict was between Eri and girls who she suspected to be his "lovers".

He is antagonist to who? Of course his actions are vital for story progress, just as actions of protogonist are supposed to be.

Originally Posted by liekiamhiung

I mean in every story no matter that Eri or Tenma that being hot spotted. Harima is there. Harima seems to narrate things alot too ( at least about him self ).
Could it be that Harima is the main protagonist while the other ( Eri or Tenma ) becomes a secondary protagonist ?
But that just my thoughts about this matter.

Well, while all actions are really spinning around him he is not the one getting the most development. His "Tsukamoto war" goes on without serious changes from the begining, it haven't changed.

Basically I see Harima and Eri as pair of protagonists. Who is secondary here is not that impostant to me.

Your honour, I rest my case.

Aye aye aye...another long debate is coming...

A bit of a warning, I'm gonna use examples of other Novels, Movies, and such. I will most likely spoil the endings of those works.

First of all if you are going to list a definition of a word, then shouldn't you use a dictionary? Wikipedia's fine and good, but it written by regular people. Dictionaries like Webster's is the leading authority on the English Language. I show you what I mean:

Originally Posted by Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Protagonist
1 a : the principal character in a literary work (as a drama or story) b : a leading actor, character, or participant in a literary work or real event
2 : a leader, proponent, or supporter of a cause : CHAMPION

Okay, this is a much simpler definition then the one you gave and gives a wider area of interpretation. Why do I believe that this definition is better then the one you gave? Because not all stories are the same. Wikipedia repeatedly uses the word "Classically," but School Rumble is far from a classic story.

Side Note - Structure of a Plot (this is more of a guideline then a strict set of rules)

Originally Posted by masconomet.org

I. Introduction: Several things may be introduced at the beginning of the story.
A.Setting: Where and when the story takes place
B.Protagonist: The main character of the story; who the story is about; this character sets the action in motion.
C.Mood: The emotional feeling the reader gets from the setting and character description; the atmosphere.
D.Tone: The attitude of the speaker or narrator.
II. Rising Action: This essentially the point where the protagonist meets the antagonist.
A.Conflict: One force meets an opposing force.
1. Person vs. Person (External Conflict)
2. Person vs. Nature (External Conflict)
3. Person vs. Himself or Herself (Internal Conflict)
4. Person vs. Society (External Conflict)
5. Person vs. Fate, Destiny, God (External Conflict)
B. Antagonist: The character or force which opposes the protagonist.
III. Climax: The point at which the reader can see who will inevitable win the conflict. This can often not be seen until the story is over and the reader looks back on the plot. The climax is not the most exciting part of the story! Some stories do not have exciting parts.
IV. Denouement: This is French for “unknotting” and is essentially the wrapping up of all the loose details of the plot in order to satisfy the reader or audience.

Lets start things off with who the true main protagonist is: Harima Kenji. Without a single doubt, that is who the story is centered around. Since the very beginning Harima's goal has been to tell Tenma that he likes/loves her. We'll save who or if the secondary protagonist is for later.

Now, antagonist:

Originally Posted by Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Antagonist
1 : one that contends with or opposes another : ADVERSARY, OPPONENT

Now, when you list who are the Antagonists for Eri and Tenma, you list people who are standing in their way. That's fine but your forgetting something very important, true conflict doesn't always occur between humans. Sometimes the protagonist has challenges/hurdles they must overcome that are far more difficult then human opposition could ever be. And in some stories, there is no true antagonist, just the protagonist overcoming the challenges they come across in their life.

ex. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, he was a loyal and righteous knight until he learned of the fate that awaited him from the three witches. Sure, there were people who stood in Macbeth's way, but the original and main challenge for him was to overcome fate, which unfortunately, he did not.

In Harima's case, his greatest opposition is Tenma's dullwitedness and her unrivaled ability to misunderstand things. By far it is her character flaws that hampers Harima's success. People who you could call antagonists would include: Karasuma (the object of Tenma's affection), and Eri (a constant hurdle in Harima's path).

Quick examples of why Eri is Harima's atagonist: she shaved his head and he lost his confidence; she's often together with Tenma and acts hostile to Harima when he is near, thus preventing the two from interacting.

Going back to your original argument of who is the second protagonist, you believe that Tenma has no antagonist in her goal of telling Karasuma how she feels, but that is completely untrue. Tenma's biggest antagonist: Tsukamoto Tenma. How can Tenma be a protagonist and antagonist at the same time? Simple, character flaws. Flaws she has to overcome: cowardice, dullwitedness, and her misunderstandings.

A simular situation can be seen from Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie are the protagonists who are just trying to get by in the era of the Great Depression. The antagonist to their goal: Lennie and his character flaws. Lennie is constantly getting the pair in trouble due to his child-like intelligence level and massive strength. Unfortunately by the end of the novel, those two flaws cause irreparable damage and forces George to kill his companion.

Going back a little, Tenma also has the above mentioned hurdles/challenges that she most overcome. The biggest hurdle she has to overcome is time. Karasuma is moving to America at the end of the school year (which is incidentally two days away at this point of the manga). This will lead to the epic confrontation that was mentioned at the very beginning of School Rumble and will decided the outcomes of many characters.

Thus it is established that Tenma confession and Karasuma's leaving is a main focal point to School Rumble. Undoubtedly it is the climax to story.

Originally Posted by Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Climax
2 a : the highest point : CULMINATION <the climax of a distinguished career> b : the point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action (as of a play)

It's true that Tenma hasn't had the most screen time, but so much is centered around her character that it's impossible to ignore the importance of her role in School Rumble.

But you mentioned that a protagonist can't be static if it is not following Formula Fiction, and it's true that Tenma is not very different then when the story began.

But the same could be said about Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets. In the beginning he was an obsessive-compulsive, and a general jackass. Towards the end very little of that has changed, but he has discovered what's important and what's worth fighting for. It's as Beverly Connelly (Helen Hunt's character's mother) said, "normal doesn't exist" that leads the two to be together in the end.

Even though Tenma might not have changed much, has the relationship between Tenma and Karasuma changed? Definitely. In the beginning she was barely able to talk to him. Now she goes on dates (well, I consider them dates) with him and was invited to his home, despite the fact that her original goal of confessing her feelings has yet to be achieved.

So, does Tenma have the makings of an protagonist? I believe so. So what about Eri?

What is Eri's main goal? It's difficult to say. She likes Harima, but her friends are more important to her. It appears that she doesn't want to get married yet, but it's kinda unclear if she wants to get married at all. Eri lacks a clear goal, and more or less reacts purely on the situation. The directions she goes with her actions is fairly erratic, but that doesn't make her a bad protagonist.

Who are Eri's antagonists? Seeing that her goals are hazy, that's pretty difficult to tell. Certainly her opposition to Flag are those you mentioned before: Mikoto (actually, I'm not sure why you chose her), Tae(even though she isn't, Eri sees her as one), Yakumo, and Tenma; but Flag doesn't seem to be the most important thing to her.

Inner conflict/character flaws? Certainly her hotheadedness and short fuse are certainly things that cause her problems, and she has worked on them/suppressed herself since the beginning. Interestingly enough, her biggest explosion was prevented by her biggest antagonist, Yakumo. But that's a topic for another time.

Hurdles/Challenges? It seems that Eri's biggest dilemma comes from her arranged married, but the way she dealt with it was sort of anti-climatic (for my tastes anyways). After she dealt with her own insecurities all she had to do was say no and it was done with, for now at least.

So does Eri make a good protagonist? I would say yes, but she doesn't really fit my tastes, though that's more of my personal bias. She certainly has a lot of screen time, and has developed quite a bit, but her lack of a central role in School Rumble as a whole makes her more of an "interesting character" then a protagonist.

So in the greater scheme of School Rumble, I believe that Tenma is more suited for protagonist then Eri mainly for the reason that Tenma's actions effect far more people then Eri's. This upcoming "Karasuma is leaving" chapters should make Tenma's actions deal some heavy consequences that could possibly flip the School Rumble world upside down. Though for the most part we will just have to wait and see.

Originally Posted by aulzon

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/1135/schoolrumblev04ch47p11wi6.th.png

Your honour, I rest my case.

This was true only for the first few volumes, the situation changed. Note that Tenma's main character's bar is far from being complete.

Originally Posted by aulzon

As far as main character goes, since KJ already had written main character under Tenma, secondary protagonist under Harima. It's reasonable to assume unless he tells us otherwise that they are both the main characters.

There is a thing called "difinition of a word protagonist". Whatever KJ wrote in a card, if Tenma as a character fails to fit the definition, that means that she can't be called protagonist and that KJ made a mistake (or that his original plan to make Tenma protagonist changed later). If Tenma approves the deffinition, then she can be called protagonist. Same for every character.

Originally Posted by aulzon

They are the protagonist of the main storylines (which ultraness admit was the main storyline).

I would say: one of two main storylines.

Originally Posted by aulzon

Now this is not to say that Eri doesn't have a big part in SR cause it's not true, but she is not the main character. So I don't see what we are arguing here, anything else is wishful thinking.

If Eri is not the main character, then she won't fit the definition. She does fit.

In this thread we are trying to see if said "main characters" of SR are really main charactres or not.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Aye aye aye...another long debate is coming...

Which is geart, isn't it? We just have to make it interesying.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

A bit of a warning, I'm gonna use examples of other Novels, Movies, and such. I will most likely spoil the endings of those works.

You are welcome.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

First of all if you are going to list a definition of a word, then shouldn't you use a dictionary? Wikipedia's fine and good, but it written by regular people. Dictionaries like Webster's is the leading authority on the English Language. I show you what I mean:

I choose wikipedia not only because its easily accessible but also becasue i don't have a good dictionary with me right now. Also, Wiki's article seemed pretty good to me.

It's good that you used dictionary, though.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Okay, this is a much simpler definition then the one you gave and gives a wider area of interpretation. Why do I believe that this definition is better then the one you gave? Because not all stories are the same. Wikipedia repeatedly uses the word "Classically," but School Rumble is far from a classic story.

Exactly. I belive I said it in my post too.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Lets start things off with who the true main protagonist is: Harima Kenji. Without a single doubt, that is who the story is centered around. Since the very beginning Harima's goal has been to tell Tenma that he likes/loves her. We'll save who or if the secondary protagonist is for later.

Harima is pretty much of a center of universe, everyone else is around him - his love Tenma (poorly developed character), her love Karasuma (...), Eri who loves him (huge development), (?????) Yakumo (developed) and other minor characetrs.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Now, when you list who are the Antagonists for Eri and Tenma, you list people who are standing in their way. That's fine but your forgetting something very important, true conflict doesn't always occur between humans. Sometimes the protagonist has challenges/hurdles they must overcome that are far more difficult then human opposition could ever be. And in some stories, there is no true antagonist, just the protagonist overcoming the challenges they come across in their life.

Thats true, but I don't think SR is the case. There are no things like fate or God or whatever here, source of every conflict lies inside one of characters, anyways.

In Harima's case, his greatest opposition is Tenma's dullwitedness and her unrivaled ability to misunderstand things. By far it is her character flaws that hampers Harima's success. People who you could call antagonists would include: Karasuma (the object of Tenma's affection), and Eri (a constant hurdle in Harima's path).

I would agree with you about Tenma being Harima's anthagonist, BUT here we come to the following - in this case Harima is Tenma's anthagonist as well, since he is constantly "batteling" with Karasuma which leads not only to him fighting for his love but as well to him destroying Tenma's love. Which makes him her anthagonist. Can one characer be anthagonist and protogonist at the same time? If yes then - Eri is clearly Harima's anthagonist and visa verse. They all have complitely different love interests which conflict to each otehr, after all.

Anthagonist should be actively destroying protagonists plans - Karasuma is not doing anything. He doesn't fit into role of anthagonist.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Going back to your original argument of who is the second protagonist, you believe that Tenma has no antagonist in her goal of telling Karasuma how she feels, but that is completely untrue. Tenma's biggest antagonist: Tsukamoto Tenma. How can Tenma be a protagonist and antagonist at the same time? Simple, character flaws. Flaws she has to overcome: cowardice, dullwitedness, and her misunderstandings.

Thats true but it is the same for everyone - Eri is Eri anthagonist as well. Harima - Harima's, and so on. I don't think that we can point out this just for one character.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Going back a little, Tenma also has the above mentioned hurdles/challenges that she most overcome. The biggest hurdle she has to overcome is time. Karasuma is moving to America at the end of the school year (which is incidentally two days away at this point of the manga). This will lead to the epic confrontation that was mentioned at the very beginning of School Rumble and will decided the outcomes of many characters.

I thinks her foil is different here - its not time, it Karasuma, since he is the one who is leaving. Seems that he is the one regulating the time of his departure, so Tenma, by making him fall in love with him, can also overcome "time".

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Thus it is established that Tenma confession and Karasuma's leaving is a main focal point to School Rumble. Undoubtedly it is the climax to story.

Indeed. Very much depends on hw this will be solved.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

It's true that Tenma hasn't had the most screen time, but so much is centered around her character that it's impossible to ignore the importance of her role in School Rumble.

She is important, no doubts.

But you mentioned that a protagonist can't be static if it is not following Formula Fiction, and it's true that Tenma is not very different then when the story began.

But the same could be said about Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets. In the beginning he was an obsessive-compulsive, and a general jackass. Towards the end very little of that has changed, but he has discovered what's important and what's worth fighting for. It's as Beverly Connelly (Helen Hunt's character's mother) said, "normal doesn't exist" that leads the two to be together in the end.

Unfortunately I can't say anything about this example since I never came across this piece of art. BUT: isn't changing life philosophy (what as i got it heppened here) character development? I do not see this occuring for Tenma.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Even though Tenma might not have changed much, has the relationship between Tenma and Karasuma changed? Definitely. In the beginning she was barely able to talk to him. Now she goes on dates (well, I consider them dates) with him and was invited to his home, despite the fact that her original goal of confessing her feelings has yet to be achieved.

Yes, relationship has changed. So did Mikoto's and Asou's. Which doesn't make them main characters. I believe that not only changes in relationship are required, but inner changes o characters soul as well. This goes for Eri but not for Tenma. She feels exactly the same way she did in the beggining.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

So, does Tenma have the makings of an protagonist? I believe so.

This, I belive, is an argueable matter.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

What is Eri's main goal? It's difficult to say.

It looks like she is going to follow Akira's advice and take both - friends and guy.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

She likes Harima, but her friends are more important to her. It appears that she doesn't want to get married yet, but it's kinda unclear if she wants to get married at all. Eri lacks a clear goal, and more or less reacts purely on the situation. The directions she goes with her actions is fairly erratic, but that doesn't make her a bad protagonist.

In the begining friends were less important, then - more important...what now? Maybe, equality? We do not now yet though, lets wait and see.

I wonder, how many girls of her age in Japan are ready to get married right now? BTW, we know her carier plans.

Eri was in dillema until recently, what she is thinking now is pretty unclear. We can only guess and assume.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Who are Eri's antagonists? Seeing that her goals are hazy, that's pretty difficult to tell. Certainly her opposition to Flag are those you mentioned before: Mikoto (actually, I'm not sure why you chose her), Tae(even though she isn't, Eri sees her as one), Yakumo, and Tenma; but Flag doesn't seem to be the most important thing to her.

Mikoto was chosen for the same reasons as Tae (although she isn't an enemy, Eri sees her as one - the very beggining of the manga).

In the begining of Flag it was clearly the most important thing to her - she was ready to crush her friends (ex: Mikoto) if the stood on her way. But now, after conflict with Tenma, she has grown up. Flag is still important, but she won't sacrifice friendship for it anymore. Character development.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Inner conflict/character flaws? Certainly her hotheadedness and short fuse are certainly things that cause her problems, and she has worked on them/suppressed herself since the beginning. Interestingly enough, her biggest explosion was prevented by her biggest antagonist, Yakumo. But that's a topic for another time.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

Hurdles/Challenges? It seems that Eri's biggest dilemma comes from her arranged married, but the way she dealt with it was sort of anti-climatic (for my tastes anyways). After she dealt with her own insecurities all she had to do was say no and it was done with, for now at least.

Yes, to me it seems to be kind of anti-climatic as well. For such a huge problem it was destroyed in a rather easy way. It served its purposeas a trigger of character development though. Also, we can't say that it is complitely finished yet.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

So does Eri make a good protagonist? I would say yes, but she doesn't really fit my tastes, though that's more of my personal bias. She certainly has a lot of screen time, and has developed quite a bit, but her lack of a central role in School Rumble as a whole makes her more of an "interesting character" then a protagonist.

Nobody loves poor Eri, this is what creates this lack of centrism. Which was made (centrism) in Kyoto arc, where everyone danced around her after her fiance appeared.

Originally Posted by Kyto1984

So in the greater scheme of School Rumble, I believe that Tenma is more suited for protagonist then Eri mainly for the reason that Tenma's actions effect far more people then Eri's. This upcoming "Karasuma is leaving" chapters should make Tenma's actions deal some heavy consequences that could possibly flip the School Rumble world upside down. Though for the most part we will just have to wait and see.

As for affection, we can just remember Harima's rejection and Eri's rejection of rejection. It was enough shock for Harima to forget about Tenma until she herself came in.

i think the role that best describes harima is that he is more of an anti-hero

but thats just me

Originally Posted by strange_chameleon

i think the role that best describes harima is that he is more of an anti-hero

but thats just me

Can you please explain what do you mean by anti-hero?

Note that protagonist =/= good guy/guy that is nearly perfect. He can be evil or clumsy easily. Examples: Falling Down and Love Hina.

Anti-heroes as central characters in works of fiction will frequently deal with their flawed characteristics and on those of the characters they meet along the narrative. Another form an anti-hero may take is a character who avoids any idea of heroism, not out of a sense of humility, but due to a genuine fear of danger, or even risk. Therefore, typically, an anti-hero is a protagonist that lives by the guidance of their own moral compass, either striving to define and construe their own values as opposed to those recognized by the society of their world.

One problem with determining if the characteristics of a character fits being an Antihero is that there are multiple definitions, each allowing a different group of characters to be considered Anti heroes.