Ready_Player_1 said:So character is ugly, fat, self conscious, but good at heart and brave enough to stand up for others, if not himself. I can get behind that but am disappointed that he get's good looking. I kind of think it cheapens things for the push over being bullied for being ugly to have his bad life fixed by becoming good looking. They don't exactly show his life being fixed. The bullies are confronting him, along with his shitty family members. But pretty girl he saves while ugly is there and if she become his love interest after he got good looking it takes a lot away from the potential story. I think stories like Accel World, Ore Monogatari, and Isekai Ojisan have the right idea of making a pretty girl fall for a ugly guy despite him being ugly.
With Accel World the girl is interested in his ability in a game world so she doesn't care what he looks like in this one. Not really sure if that is good or not. She is kind of unrealistic as a character and even though he is not famous for his skill it is similar in feeling to having a crush on a ugly celebrity because they are famous. He also has a small support system in his 2 best friends who are kind of attractive and dating each other making him a third wheel until he starts dating the pretty girl.
Ore Monogatari the girl is saved by the big ugly guy and finds herself attracted to him. Not sure if she has a fetish or not or if it really matters. He also has a really attractive male best friend that his crushes have been throwing themselves at. The rest of the series is about other people getting past their prejudices and ether falling for ugly guy or atleast understanding how she could find him attractive. Fun series and did a good job.
Isekai Ojisan is kind of like the later half of Ore Monogatari with women falling for the ugly guy or at least respecting him, but he is too dense and obsessed with his own interests to care about or even understand their feelings. It is also fun and does well but the uncle's single mindedness and obliviousness make him feel more "Ace"(Asexual) or "Incel"(Involuntarily Celibate) because of his treatment of the women in his life, it gives the impression that either doesn't care about women or hates pretty women because he feels scorned by them.
Fruit of Evolution did the ugly guy become hot and gets the girls, but it is not really a good anime and has a lot of problems. Hopefully the rest of the series doesn't follow that one's example.
Remembered another ugly protagonist one Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy. Like Ojisan he is so ugly in a world full of pretty people that he gets treated as a monster and this one seems to have non-human women falling for him and taking on human forms like Fruit of Evolution, but not because he is nice or anything to do with the right reasons to be with someone. Instead it is because he is strong. I am glad this one chose to not make the character get attractive but it still it would be nice if the protag got someone who likes him for him.