The Hero

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

Before I start, lets make it clear what I mean by 'The Hero'. Since this is an animeblog, the topic here is obviously not DC and Marvel superheroes. And although I'm sure there are lots and lots of awesome male leads in short animes, this time I'm addressing the more popular shounen ones - which leads us to the creation of 'The Hero'.

The Hero

Notice how there isn't a Goku in there? Yeah. It's because he's the daddy of all epicness. Competing against him would be futile. End of that story.

Anyway, in most shounen animes we follow the male lead through his ups and downs, victories and defeats, training and battles - you get it. This continues up to a point where the entire anime is actually about this one boy/man and we start seeing everything from his point of view. So when I think of Bleach, I automatically form the connection in my head: 'Ok, this is Ichigo's story'. It becomes rather hard distinguishing the hero from the anime in general. Like: there would be no Naruto, the anime, without Naruto, the hero - the boy who carries Kyuubi inside him.
While that seems clear and natural - 'Yea of course this particular anime is about this particular hero, what's your point?' - it becomes a little bit disturbing when I start thinking about character compilation in these stories.

I already know what I'm getting for the hero: lean guy, ridiculously ripped for his age (I mean really - the others - okay maybe. But Ichigo is 15? Being currently almost 10 years older, I feel like I'm on the borderline of pedophilia here, looking at his massive abs), never gives up, soul of the group, cares for his friends, wants to protect and/or be the best. So the main lead kind of blurs into the anime - you obviously have to like the protagonist or you wouldn't be watching it at all. 
Based on this deduction, what makes up the rest of the story are the characters gathered around the Hero. Let's say you take Edward out from FMA and stick him into Bleach. He'd probably go protecting his town and family and saving Rukia all the same, with a few minor variations compared to Ichigo (hihi, he'd probably marry Rukia afterwards, eh?). In that meaning, the rest of the characters make up the entire environment of the anime, determine the style of it. Wether it's Sakura-Kakashi-Jiraiya, Mustang-Armstrong-Winry, Rukia-Urahara-Renji or any other combo.
Right? Sense, it's making it.

And so, when someone asks which characters I like in animes, this typical setup automatically makes me skip the hero and think of other, more memorable personalities. I'll give a few examples.
"Do you watch Naruto?" "Yeah, sure!" "Which character you like best?" "Well Kakashi is awesome!"
Or similarly:
"Who do you like in Once Piece?" "Zoro!"
Do I think the main characters aren't good enough? No. It's just so apparent that it's not even worth mentioning.
Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

But now, I'll try to set my usual mindset aside and actually look at the Hero. You will not see this happening very often as I'm way more likely to rant on about magnificent supporting characters, who are usually more interesting - or less mainstream.
When I do think about them one by one, I guess the heroes are pretty amazing. Strong-willed, powerful, skilled. But today I'll set aside the regular reasons - since everyone already knows how well they fight and how fast they learn.
Today, I'm approaching from a female perspective.
Let's pretend for a moment that we're actually in a setting with 'the Hero' - and within a reasonable age difference. Seriously. None of us wants to get locked up over this.
Would we fall for the hero? I think we would. And when I say that I mean we would even if there are other very eligible candidates around. Even if we don't find him to be the most interesting or intelligent one. Sorry other nice and awesome guys.

I mean, he's passionate, strong, probably saves us a few times... Even if he is silly, eats like a horse and rushes head first into the dumbest situations. Of course at the same moment we'd be doomed, since 'the Hero' has no such feelings to return (with the exception of Edward and maaaybe Naruto). What would probably make matters worse is that when normal guys realize a girl likes them and they don't feel the same, they'll start avoiding the girl. 'The Hero' would probably be just as kind and awesome as he has always been - and so wrap us in deeper and deeper. And there's very little we could do about it too, since there would probably either be another female character ahead of us or if not, he could just completely ignore our efforts.
So keeping that in mind, which one would you choose? And how would you handle it?

 I'm guessing my choice would be:

Natsu

Why? I'm not entirely sure.
Maybe it's because he is portrayed through Lucy's journey and that gives him a wholesome character instead of becoming blurred in with the anime. Although he is the living representation of the Fairy Tail spirit, he also has a dynamical connection to the female lead Lucy, and together they manage to pave a wider than usual path into the story. He may be oblivious to the emotional part of life, but he did have a make believe family with Lisanna and he treats Lucy as his partner. So where the other heroes are shown to be very narrow-minded, Natsu dislpays a wider range of probable evolving directions while maintaining the carefree image of a young hero.
Or maybe it's cause he's the son of a friggin' dragon. And he breathes fire. GG.

How would I handle it? Uhhh... I really feel sick even thinking about it. I think there would be nothing else to do than to keep my mouth shut and remain very good friends. I mean even if I were to confess, it'd likely have no effect at all. If he at some point discovers that he's not a child anymore and/or becomes interest - great! If not, well... then I guess I'm not the heroine of this story.

I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile you can share your opinion  - who would you choose and how would you handle it?