looking for anime/manga with an older male main character. (2024)

novalis

Like Spice and Wolf, these are more adult, character-driven dramas. You may also want to try Honey and Clover, a jousei slice-of-life drama which features university students.

Hypeathon

dchman

Baman

Legend of the Galactic Heroes too. Yang is around thirty, and most others except for Julian, Reinhard and Kircheis, are in a similar age group.

Zipang, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Ghost in the Shell movies and series, as well as Hellsing Ultimate (Though Alucard might be a bot too old with his 500+).

Also seconding Homunculus, and as for more manga, try;
20th Century Boys, Berserk and Monster.

StarfishTwinkle

Sweetpea

Kippercha

lisnoire

-animeS - The plural of anime is anime. More than one deer is still deer. There is no damn "s".
-epic |ˈepik| noun•a work portraying heroic deeds/adventures covering an long period of time - adjective • heroic/grand in scale or character
Active Military, Prior Service, and Veteran's Anime Club

jacobpaige

Manga
Solanin
Ash*ta no Ousama
Yasashii Sekai no Tsukurikata, maybe, main character is a high school teacher
Oishii Kankei, if you wind up liking AnO
Until Death Do Us Part, split main between middle aged man and high schooler, vast majority of the cast is made up of adults. Mostly an action series
Bakuman, they start in 3rd year middle, but the timeline advances quickly and at the moment they're in their early to mid twenties.
Saijou no Meii, has a shounen feel to it but with the exception of the patients and the main character (who is young but I don't think an actual minor) everyone is an adult.

MizuKagami413

(unless you're looking for a romance series)

dchman

^.^ romance is great too! and thanks

HyperCobaltMax

Now THESE are sureball yes!

bartek7090

SupermanOverGoku

-Utawarerumono. It starts off fairly simplistic, then gets impressively complex with perfect pacing. I was astounded when I found out it's apparently based on an H-game; you'd never ever know just from watching it.

-Lone Wolf and Cub. Another classic, and really pushes the "older main character" angle.

Also, if you're into giant robots, watch M.E.G.A.S. XLR. It isn't anime, but it's worth a mention because it goes out of its way to mock many cliches about the Mecha genre (including the fact that the pilots are always teenagers), and does a fantastic job.

imperlast

RenaPsychoKiller

- Speed Grapher (very good and mature anime, adult male x teenage girl)
- Cowboy Bebop (epic anime with all-adults cast)
- Black Lagoon (badass action series, all the crew is composed of adults)
- The Legend Of Black Heaven (sci-fi, music and romance, young sexy woman x husband x wife)
- Blue Submarine Number 6 (unique sci-fi short anime by Gonzo, older main guy with a younger female partner)
- Sword Of The Stranger (historical movie with a samurai man as the protagonist)
- Darkside Blues (another great movie with a mysterious young man)
- Until Death Do Us Apart (action manga, starring an adult guy and a young girl)
- Gankutsuou (Gonzo's masterpiece, both adults and teens in the cast)
- Berserk (brutal seinen series with a shounen feeling and a medieval setting, all adults)
- Ninja Scroll Movie (bloody ninja journey, adults only)
- Mnemosyne No Musume Tachi (wonderfully kinky supernatural OAV, adult immortal woman x teenage immortal girl)
- Clover by Clamp (sad romance sci-fi story, young woman x older guy x teenage girl)
- Samurai 7 (good sci-fi + historical mecha anime, two teenagers, but the rest are all adults)
- Trigun (a must watch, everyone's above 18)
- Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (sci-fi action anime, +18 girl with older guy)
- Ergo Proxy (slow sci-fi anime with +18 main characters)
- Witch Hunter Robin (slow supernatural anime with a teenage witch x older male combo)
- Great Teacher Onizuka (school setting, but an adult teacher is the protagonist)
- Captain Harlock (classic sci-fi adventure with epic male protagonist in his 30's)
- Black Jack (medical drama with amazing doctor)
- Maison Ikkoku (slice of life romance between an university student and a young widow)
- Nana (beautiful, mature, dramatic romance involving music and characters in their 20's)
- Versailles No Bara (classic historical romance, no teenagers)
- City Hunter (classic, plenty of action and comedy, perverted adult male and his partner)
- Golden Boy (also a funny series with a perverted main guy and mostly adult women)
- Saiyuki (mostly adult characters)
- Michiko To Hatchin (young woman x little girl on the road)

They're all are fitting choices, as they have older main characters and are very good and likeable series (both the original manga & the anime adaptation, for those which have one).