The Righteous Fall of Adam: The Anime Protagonist Nobody Asked For but Everyone Needed
In the electric chaos of Osaka, Japan—a place where even the pigeons look like they've seen some things—there lived a dude. Just a dude. Not a legendary hero, not the chosen one with a mysterious scar, not even the final boss in a Persona game. Just your average absurdly good-looking, outrageously kind, "didn't skip the side quests" type of guy.
His name?
Adam.
Yeah, just Adam. No tragic past, no secret lineage. He didn't train under a waterfall or fuse with a magical beast or whatever. He was just... absurdly nice. So nice it was honestly a little concerning.
Adam IRL: The Walking Side Quest
Adam was the human equivalent of a Sakura Blossom filter and a Studio Ghibli OST. Crystal-blue eyes that looked like they were rendered in 4K Ultra-HD. Hair that cascaded down like golden noodles in a high-budget shōjo anime OP. Lean build. Soft smile. Voice like he was perpetually giving ASMR affirmations.
And he was wholesome.
Not "likes puppy videos" wholesome. Nah. We're talking "spends his weekends knitting sweaters for stray cats" wholesome.
Let's run the list:
Donated blood so often the Red Cross started sending him birthday cards.
Delivered umbrellas to people caught in the rain, and gave them little laminated cards with motivational quotes. ("You are braver than you believe, and wetter than you intended.")
Once paid for someone's ramen, bowed, and disappeared into the night like a shōnen mentor figure who just dropped life-changing advice.
Helped a crying middle schooler with a broken Switch, fixed it on the spot, and then gave them a new game cartridge "just in case."
Got hit by a bike, apologized to the cyclist, and gave them a bandage.
One time at the park:
"Sir, that's a wild tanuki."
"It looked cold. I gave it my scarf."
"...It stole your wallet."
"Let him have it. He probably needed the money more."
He was a walking comfort NPC. The kind of guy who'd get S-Rank friendship in every route. Even the villain liked him and didn't know why.
Tuesday: Anime Tragedy Arc
Anyway. It was Tuesday. (Because all plot-relevant tragedies happen on Tuesdays.) Adam was walking past a construction site, carrying a bag of stray cat snacks, homemade rice balls, and a Switch Lite he was donating to the orphanage (complete with Stardew Valley already installed).
Life was good.
Until it wasn't.
Above him, a construction crane was having a rough day. The steel container it carried was swaying like a drunk JoJo character mid-monologue.
And below it?
One lonely construction worker. Headphones in. Probably listening to a Naruto remix AMV. Zero awareness.
Adam's eyes narrowed. He saw the container dip. The danger clicked in his brain like a quick-time event.
Dialogue time.
"HEY! MOVE! YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE FLATTENED LIKE A GOOMBA, BRO!"
No response. Just airpods and ignorance.
So Adam did what any true main character with no self-preservation instinct would do.
He booked it.
Full sprint. Hair flying like he was unlocking a transformation. Heart pounding like the opening boss music in Final Fantasy XV.
As time slowed, Adam thought,
"If I die, at least I won't have to finish that group project."
He launched forward with the force of a friendship speech mid-battle arc.
"YAMEROOOO!" he probably didn't yell, but spiritually did.
He slammed into the worker, knocking him out of the way just in time.
And then…
WOMP.
The container fell. No dramatic anime cutscenes. No heroic last-minute dodge. Just Adam. Squished like the final puzzle piece in Tetris.
The Aftermath: "Did That Just Happen?"
Silence.
Then screams.
The worker, coughing dust, sat up.
"What the hell? He just—he just—he got hit instead of me—who does that?!"
An old woman nearby gasped, "Wasn't that the boy who knits socks for injured crows?"
"Yes! He helped me find my cat last week! Even though I don't own a cat!"
Someone whispered, "He once stopped a fight just by smiling..."
Mr. Tanaka arrived, slow and solemn.
"That idiot. He brought me pudding every Thursday. I hate pudding. I never told him. I ate it anyway."
The construction worker blinked, still in disbelief.
"He didn't even know me…"
Epilogue: Respawn Denied
If this was My Hero Academia, Adam would've gotten a Quirk posthumously and saved the world.
If this was Undertale, he'd get a secret pacifist ending and come back as a ghost who gives people hugs.
If this was Genshin Impact, he'd be a 5-star support unit with a healing ult and passive aura of serotonin.
But this was real life. Sort of.
And karma? Karma was AFK.
The container fell. Adam died.
No divine phoenix revival. No angelic cutscene. No "press F to continue."
Just... gone.
But weird thing?
The construction worker he saved started volunteering at the orphanage.
That café owner started giving away free bread on Fridays in Adam's honor.
The stray cats? Still getting fed. No one knows by who. Some say it's the tanuki. Some say it's just people remembering Adam.
And so his kindness didn't vanish. It just got patched into other people. Like DLC for the soul.
So yeah, he's gone.
But he left a buff on humanity.
And maybe that's the most overpowered ability of all.
Toodles~.
And maybe-just maybe there's a sequel where karma is a thing and Adam wakes up in an isekai world and immediately starts saving orc children from tax debt?