Welcome to the Anime Walk of Fame, a series of retrospectives on the many characters of the anime world. You'll see all your favorites along with a few that deserve more than their reputations give.

So sit back relax and enjoy the show.

Sakura Shouldn't Have Sucked

While Hinata is a good character that didn't suit Naruto, Sakura is a bad character that did suit Naruto.

A first glimpse of Sakura suggests confidence, no nonsense personality and very hot tempted to the point where you would bill her as the physical one amongst team 7, but it didn't go so well.
Her chuunin exam was an absolute joke, she couldn't handle the sound trio, her fight against Ino was little more than a school yard cat fight, she did nothing to help retrieve Sasuke and had way too much screen time in the fillers.
It took until 2005 when Shippuden began officially in the manga for Sakura to live up to her design, that's five and a half years of stories, even beyond that she wasn't immune to her old mistakes still not being able to handle confronting Sasuke.
Sakura's daughter Sarada is a better Sakura than Sakura!
Criticism of Sakura's uselessness is justified especially when her position was meant to put her on the same level as Naruto and Sasuke but only once in the whole series run did they all fight on equal billing and that was near the end of the series.

Hinata Doesn't Belong in Naruto

Continuing my discussion on character design, we start with regular entry in this world, Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto has been around for 23 years with the anime being 20 years old. (yes, that is bloody old) It can be a bit of a hard ask to return so early in the franchise's life because let's be honest, it's a little cringe.
Rather than suspend your disbelief at the fact that the lead character wears orange, I want to bring your attention to early Hinata.
Using the first impressions method, you can tell that she is shy, looks like she wants to make a love confession, usually quiet, doesn't want to be here, really unprepared as a ninja, even when you see her with Byakugan, compared to Neji who looks genuinely intimidating, Hinata looks like someone stole her favourite snack from the fridge.
In Shippuden, she looks like senpai noticed her and is meeting him on the rooftops.
In Boruto, she looks like a proud mother.
Now Hinata is not a bad character, the fact that I can identify her character with her design alone indicates a well designed character, but when you use the setting, plot and universal laws of the series, she does not suit the franchise at all, she belongs in a school romantic comedy or the shy one among a harem.
This also makes her rare moments of bravery all the more incredible and you suddenly get behind her to succeed, this is why she ended with Naruto instead of Sakura, her problem is very different and will be the next entry.

Honey has the Worse Stranger Danger

I feel like some anime heroines of the 80s kinda followed a trend of spunky teen surrounded by fantastic circumstances.

Honey started as an orphan but when her pet cat swallows a ring belonging to a princess, she becomes the target of all the suitors who were after the princess' hand to begin with including a handsome thief.
What begins is a fantastic journey all around the world, discovering her own birth right and being thrown into all sorts of danger, while she is street smart enough not to give in so easily even when presented with a fortune, she ends up in way more frightening situations, at one point being sold into slavery.
Being part of the coming of age shojo generation that popularised early girls anime, there are about ten other girls with the same personality as Honey.
I'm glad this trend isn't popular anymore and even if the plot is used, it's for much older female characters not 13 years old.

This Farmer is a Playable Character

A fun one for you now.

The guy above doesn't have a name but in Dragonballz lore, he's officially the first character to have a registered power level which is a measly 5 and most of that was likely his shotgun.
He appears frequently as the unlucky human who discovers the bad guy by accident amongst his Ostrich farm, his only other trait is a likely homage to other Toriyama work Dr Slump as he bares a striking resemblance to Senbei Norimaki.
The newest Dragonballz game is a survival game in which civilians have to avoid villains like Freiza, Cell and Majin Buu until they are defeated in combat and this unlikely farmer is a playable character.
Crazy how a very minor character can have more appearances than even the strongest movie villains.

The Dirty Pair Were Inspired by Wrestlers

An interesting bit of history from one of my favourite shows.

The story goes that creator Haruka Takachiho was with a special guest in science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler; two studio Nue staffers, Yuri Tanaka and Keiko Otoguro hit upon the idea to bring them to the All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling match, the match they watched featured a tag team duo known as the Beauty Pair.
While watching Chandler remarked with.
"the two women in the ring may be the Beauty Pair, but those two with you ought to be called 'the Dirty Pair'."
Inspiration hit and Haruka created the Dirty Pair, taking the wrestling named duo into a Sci-Fi setting of which he specializes in.
The Dirty Pair were appropriately named Kei and Yuri after the staffers. The characters in the anime refer to themselves as the Lovely Angels, another reference to Women's Wrestling.
Explains why the Dirty Pair are designed in such a way compared to other female characters of the era.