Has anime changed? Maybe. The trend on
protagonist characterization certainly have.
There currently seems to be an increase of the "ordinary student guy", the one who at the beginning is perfectly normal, maybe even bland. nothing special, no great talents, not good at making friends, some even going so far as being losers.
And then the "call" happens, something like
accidentally finding an artifact of HAXX that suddenly makes him a major player in an epic war.
But...he stays normal. He joins the adventure and kicks ass, but that's because he has the HAXX power to kick ass, not because he's experienced or trained.
I miss shows like Patlabor, where the heroes were not the ones with some uber-powerful mechs - with shows today, whenever a hero kicks ass I tend to think "that's not him being awesome, that's his
mech being awesome". And the protagonists are not the Chosen One or someone who accidentally found a Plot Item of Destiny, they're people who consciously enlist for the job and become good at what they do because they constantly practice for it.
Just a theory, but I think this is another type of otaku-pandering. With these kind of protags, the viewers then got their wish fulfillment, and when the question "why can't I be awesome?" arise, the answer became "hey, I just haven't get the call of destiny yet!"
Now get this straight, this kind of wish fulfillment has been there for a
long time, as early as
Doraemon, maybe even older. But there seems to be a great increase on these kind of protagonist lately. Somewhat related, there is a sudden spike of harem heroes who collect chicks just by being
nice - he's not particularity athletic, nor is he smart, and more often than not even aware of the attention he's getting. And yet girls
swoon every time he's there.
Is this trend good or bad? Well your mileage will definitely vary on this one, but as for me, I have far more respect on those who
earn their place that those who got it on a silver platter, so you can guess my opinion on the subject
