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Why ‘Those Without’ Resonate So Deeply in Anime and Manga: A 15-Year Analysis of Talent, Limitation, and Human Struggle

After analyzing over 500 anime series and 300+ games across 15 years, one recurring narrative theme stands out: the portrayal of characters who lack inherent talent or advantage. This exploration examines why the struggle of ‘those without’—characters facing insurmountable talent gaps and environmental disadvantages—creates some of anime and manga’s most emotionally resonant moments.

What Happened

The theme of ‘those without’ (持たざるもの) has emerged as a central narrative device across anime and manga, particularly in sports-focused series. This theme goes beyond simple depictions of defeat; it captures the fundamental human conflict of confronting personal limitations. From Eyeshield 21 to My Hero Academia, creators have explored how characters respond when effort cannot bridge the gap between themselves and the genuinely talented.

Why It Matters

This narrative theme resonates universally because it reflects a truth many viewers experience: the reality that hard work alone cannot always overcome inherent disadvantages. Whether talent-based, environmental, or circumstantial, the struggle of ‘those without’ speaks to anyone who has felt outmatched. Understanding how anime and manga portray this struggle reveals deeper truths about human resilience, acceptance, and the redefinition of success beyond conventional measures.

Background

The author’s engagement with this theme began in 2009 while watching Eyeshield 21 during university entrance exam preparation. Witnessing characters like Sakura Haruka struggle against naturally gifted competitors mirrored the author’s own experience of being outpaced by ‘talented’ peers. Over the following 15+ years, this initial observation evolved into a comprehensive analysis spanning hundreds of anime, manga, and games, revealing consistent patterns in how creators approach the theme of limitation and perseverance.

Key Points

• Universal Theme Across Sports Narratives: Series including Eyeshield 21, Kuroko’s Basketball, and My Hero Academia center on characters confronting talent gaps, making this a foundational narrative device in the genre.
• The Cruelty of Talent Disparity: Even identical effort cannot close the distance between ordinary individuals and the genuinely gifted, a reality these works depict with unflinching honesty.
• Environment and Circumstance Matter Equally: Talent alone does not determine outcomes; access to resources, supportive teammates, and favorable circumstances play equally crucial roles in success or failure.
• Acceptance as Strength: The most powerful portrayals show characters not overcoming their limitations through willpower, but rather accepting them and discovering alternative forms of value and contribution.
• The Complexity of Motivation: Characters continue striving not because they believe they will win, but because they have no choice—because they have already committed emotionally to their goals.
• Relativity of ‘Having’ and ‘Not Having’: The definition of lacking something shifts depending on context; a character might possess talent in one domain while lacking it in another, creating layered narratives of partial success and partial failure.

Narrative Patterns Across Anime and Manga

Sports Manga and the Genealogy of Struggle

Eyeshield 21 introduced the author to this theme through Sakura Haruka, a character with physical attributes yet unable to match the genius of Shin. The scene of Haruka’s tears conveyed not just defeat, but the specific anguish of being close enough to see the gap yet unable to bridge it.

Battery explored similar territory by placing characters in the shadow of a monstrous talent. The work meticulously depicted the suffering of standing beside someone fundamentally superior, even when that superior figure’s abilities were artificially limited.

Grappler Baki‘s Jack Hammer embodied a different variation: the character who shouts ‘I can do it too!’ while pushing himself to extremes, representing the subtle agony of possessing genuine ability yet remaining subordinate to true genius.

Haikyu!!‘s Tanaka Ryunosuke demonstrated that value need not come from scoring ability. His true contribution—maintaining team momentum and emotional temperature—represents the last weapon of the talentless: the ability to inspire through presence and commitment.

Beyond Talent: Multifaceted Depictions of Limitation

The theme extends beyond simple talent gaps. Hunter x Hunter‘s Kurapika in the Succession War arc shows characters forced to expend every resource available, not from lack of talent but from facing an opponent so overwhelming that conventional advantages become meaningless.

Kuroko’s Basketball‘s Kuroko himself symbolizes the experience of standing beside the Miracles—a group of inhuman athletes. The series poses the central question: why continue striving when the gap is this vast?

My Hero Academia‘s Midoriya Izuku articulates this struggle through a single line: ‘I couldn’t help but admire him.’ In a society organized around supernatural abilities, his lack of a quirk represents absolute disadvantage, yet his response is not despair but stubborn determination.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann demonstrates that the definition of ‘having’ and ‘not having’ is contextual. When power levels become absurd, returning to human baseline reveals what ‘true strength’ actually means.

The Dual Structure: Talent and Environment

Eyeshield 21 reveals that ‘those without’ encompasses more than talent alone. Characters may possess ability and ambition yet lack the environmental support—the right team, the right circumstances, the right opportunities—that transform potential into achievement. This dual structure suggests that limitation is not purely individual but systemic.

In Sumo, the protagonist faces opponents with absolute physical advantages. Yet his willingness to stake everything on a single miracle, knowing he will lose 100 times out of 100, represents a form of strength that transcends talent: the strength of accepting reality while refusing to surrender.

The Psychology of ‘Those Without’

The emotional core of this theme lies in its psychological complexity. Bakuman‘s portrayal of characters with artistic vision but insufficient technical skill captures the specific torment of seeing the goal clearly yet being unable to reach it. More subtly, the series shows that the motivation behind struggle is not always simple ambition—sometimes it is love, loyalty, or the desire to support someone else’s dream.

Gintama‘s approach differs: rather than lamenting what one lacks, the character quietly hones what remains as a weapon. This represents a mature acceptance of limitation—not resignation, but strategic redefinition.

Mob Psycho 100‘s Reigen possesses no supernatural abilities yet navigates complex problems through social intelligence and life experience. His competence despite lacking the expected qualifications suggests that ‘having’ and ‘not having’ are not absolute categories.

World Trigger‘s Wakamura Roku demonstrates that intelligence and obsessive determination can substitute for raw ability. His existence within the narrative proves that talent gaps can be narrowed through strategic thinking and relentless effort.

The Paradox of False Possession

Attack on Titan‘s Floch believed himself special and chosen, only to discover he was ordinary. This inversion reveals a paradox: the pain of becoming ‘those without’ is sharpest when one believed oneself to have been ‘those with.’ The loss of imagined advantage creates deeper despair than never having possessed it.

The Aesthetics of Sports Narratives

Hajime no Ippo begins before the first step is taken, questioning whether the protagonist can even begin. This frames ‘those without’ not as a talent problem but as a courage problem—suggesting that the ability to act matters more than the ability to excel.

Bamboo Blade captures the cruelty of hope: after a tournament loss, the protagonist resolves to win next time, only to face immediate defeat again. The gap between hope and reality generates the deepest despair.

March Comes in Like a Lion‘s Kawada Tetsuya lost the path to professional shogi because his younger brother surpassed him. In a domain where strength is brutally measurable, his story encompasses not just personal failure but family fracture.

Sound! Euphonium depicts a different cruelty: the talented individual’s indifference. When the admired senior responds to the protagonist’s feelings with ‘I can’t imagine what you’re thinking, so I don’t care,’ the rejection is not angry but dismissive—a form of erasure more devastating than direct opposition.

From ‘Without’ to ‘With’: Transformation and Acceptance

Haikyu!!‘s Okadera works desperately to match talented players, even scores in crucial moments, yet remains cut from the national team. The series demonstrates remarkable courage in depicting this outcome honestly—showing that effort does not guarantee reward.

Oshi no Ko reveals that Hoshino Ai’s apparent talent was illusory. Her adult consciousness in a child’s body created the impression of genius; when that advantage disappeared, she became ordinary. This narrative suggests that ‘having’ and ‘not having’ are often misidentified.

Chainsaw Man‘s Denji grows up with almost nothing—not even basic human experiences. When he finally eats udon and a frankfurter, he experiences profound joy. This inversion suggests that those who have lacked everything find value in what others take for granted, discovering victory in small moments.

Resignation and Strategic Retreat

Some characters demonstrate wisdom through strategic withdrawal. Upon recognizing their limitations in a particular domain, they redirect effort toward areas where they can contribute meaningfully. This is not failure but adaptation—a form of strength often overlooked in narratives celebrating perseverance.

Blue Lock‘s protagonist initially climbs through analysis and adaptation, then confronts a genius he cannot match through any conventional means. His realization—that he cannot become a genius, only a modified version of himself—marks genuine growth. Understanding one’s ceiling is not defeat; it is the beginning of authentic development.

The Rawness of Genuine Deprivation

Inazuma Eleven‘s Someoka represents the athlete who fights desperately against talented opponents, scores crucial goals, yet remains excluded from the final selection. The series treats this outcome with unusual honesty for a children’s program, depicting the raw unfairness of meritocratic systems that still exclude based on factors beyond individual control.

Tokyo Ghoul‘s Takizawa finds no place in human society, then gains power through transformation into a ghoul. The irony cuts deep: only by becoming something other than human does he acquire strength. This reflects the experience of those who find no acceptance in conventional hierarchies.

The Essential Truth

After 15+ years of analysis, a central conclusion emerges: the theme of ‘those without’ is not fundamentally about defeat. Rather, it captures the essential human experience of confronting limitation. The most resonant portrayals do not show characters overcoming their constraints through willpower; instead, they show characters accepting reality while choosing to continue forward.

The most powerful depictions contain simultaneous elements of rage and resignation—the character who is angry about their situation yet proceeds anyway, not because they believe they will win, but because they have already committed to the struggle.

The theme reaches its aesthetic peak when characters accept their lack without lamenting it, discovering alternative forms of strength and value. Like Gintama‘s approach, this represents maturity: not the fantasy that effort erases disadvantage, but the reality that disadvantage can be transformed into a different kind of weapon.

Importantly, this is not an inspirational message about effort guaranteeing reward. It is a more honest message: effort often fails to produce reward, yet people continue striving anyway. This is simultaneously cruel and beautiful—a reflection of how humans actually navigate limitation.

As anime and manga continue evolving, this theme will likely become more complex and multifaceted. The question of what it means to ‘have’ or ‘not have’ will expand beyond talent and environment into psychological, social, and systemic dimensions. The enduring power of this theme suggests that audiences will continue seeking narratives that honestly depict their own experiences of limitation, struggle, and the quiet strength required to continue forward despite knowing victory may never arrive.

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JP version (original article)