The Side Characters Who Deserved the Whole Show: A Case for Anime Spin-Offs That Need to Happen

Let's be honest with each other for a second. You've watched an anime, loved a side character to an irrational degree, and then sat there frustrated as the camera swung back to the protagonist for the forty-seventh training montage. We've all been there. There's a whole ecosystem of compelling, layered, deeply interesting characters living in the margins of anime's biggest franchises — and most of them will never get the spotlight they deserve.

That feels like a waste. Not just creatively, but commercially. Spin-off series, OVAs, and prequel arcs are a proven format. Boruto exists. The Rising of the Shield Hero has sequels. Studios clearly aren't afraid to expand universes. So why aren't more of them digging into the goldmines sitting right in their supporting casts?

Let's make the case, character by character.

Kisuke Urahara (Bleach) — The Spin-Off That Practically Writes Itself

Urahara is introduced as a quirky shopkeeper with a fan and a bucket hat. Within a few episodes, it's obvious he's operating on a completely different level than everyone around him — including the audience. His backstory involves being framed for crimes he didn't commit, fleeing the Soul Society, and spending decades in exile building technology that would eventually save the world. Oh, and he created the Hōgyoku. Casually.

A Bleach prequel series centered on Urahara's years in exile — building relationships, developing inventions, navigating a world that had cast him out — would be equal parts spy thriller and character study. It would also give us more time with Yoruichi, which is never a bad thing. The framework is already there in the manga's lore. Someone just needs to animate it.

Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100) — Comedy Gold With Unexpected Depth

Reigen is technically the mentor figure in Mob Psycho 100, but calling him a mentor is generous. He's a con artist who stumbled into a genuine relationship with an extraordinarily powerful kid and somehow grew into a better person because of it. He has no psychic abilities. He's running a scam. And yet he's one of the most emotionally intelligent characters in the whole show.

A Reigen-focused series — maybe set before he met Mob, when he was just a guy with a business card and a very flexible relationship with the truth — could be a brilliant slice-of-life comedy with genuine heart underneath it. Imagine watching him bumble through fake exorcisms while slowly developing a moral code he never intended to have. Mob Psycho already proved that anime about everyday human struggles can be just as compelling as psychic battles. Reigen deserves the same treatment.

Historia Reiss (Attack on Titan) — The Queen Who Got Sidelined

Historia's arc in Attack on Titan is one of the strongest in the series. She goes from a meek, self-erasing girl to a woman who confronts her entire family's legacy and chooses her own identity. And then the later seasons kind of... park her in a farmhouse and use her as a plot device.

A Historia-centered story — either expanding her pre-Survey Corps years or exploring what it actually means to be queen of a traumatized nation — could be genuinely powerful. She's navigating political intrigue, a complicated relationship with her own survival instincts, and the impossible weight of leading people who don't fully understand what she sacrificed to be there. That's rich material. The show gestures at it. A dedicated series could actually dig in.

Vash the Stampede's Past (Trigun) — A Prequel the Fandom Has Been Asking For

Vash is the protagonist of Trigun, sure, but the most compelling parts of his story are the ones we only get in fragments — his early years with Knives, the development of their opposing worldviews, the slow fracturing of a relationship between two beings who should have been each other's only family. The original series drops us into a present that's already haunted by decades of tragedy.

A full prequel series charting Vash and Knives from their earliest days through the catastrophic split in their philosophies would be extraordinary. It's essentially a tragedy about idealism vs. cynicism, and how two people with identical origins can arrive at completely different conclusions about humanity. Trigun Stampede took a step in this direction, but there's so much more story to tell.

Why Studios Keep Leaving Money on the Table

Here's the frustrating reality: developing a spin-off requires studios and publishers to take a risk on a character who hasn't been proven as a lead. It's easier to greenlight another season of a known property than to bet on a supporting character carrying their own narrative weight.

But fandom has been sending clear signals for years. Fan fiction, fan art, community discussions — the characters getting the most creative attention from fans are rarely the protagonists. It's the Urahara fans writing 200,000-word fic archives. It's the Historia fans making infographic timelines of her psychology. It's the Reigen fans creating entire alternate universes. That energy is a market signal, and studios are slow to read it.

What a Great Spin-Off Actually Needs

Not every side character can anchor their own series — and that's okay. What separates the characters worth expanding on from the ones better left as supporting players comes down to a few things:

• Unresolved tension. The best spin-off candidates have questions the main story never fully answered.
• A distinct voice. They need to feel like themselves, not like a protagonist-shaped hole filled with someone else's personality.
• A world worth exploring. Their story should open new corners of the universe, not just retread familiar ground.

Urahara, Reigen, Historia, and Vash's past all check every box. They have history, complexity, and narrative potential that the main stories could only gesture toward.

Give Them the Spotlight

Anime has never been afraid to get weird, ambitious, or experimental. The medium has given us stories about bread-making, competitive cycling, and literal trash disposal. There is absolutely room for a Kisuke Urahara exile thriller or a Reigen Arataka con-artist comedy.

The side characters are ready. The fans are ready. The only thing missing is someone willing to make the call. Until then, we'll be here — rewatching their best scenes on repeat and writing letters to no one in particular about how much they deserved better.