10 anime characters who cheated on their partners

While the world of anime is filled with numerous memorable world-building characters and stories, some studios and authors are known for exploring more controversial topics. Some themes that might be deemed a little inappropriate in the west are quite popular in Japan.

"NTR," also known as Netorare, translates to "cheating." Viewers who might feel insecure, inferior, or inadequate in their daily lives often relate to the scenarios and the pain that gets relayed. This further makes the genre more popular among a specific audience.

The following article lists characters that follow such tropes, known for destroying their relationships by cheating on their partners.

These anime characters become hopeless over time due to infidelity

1) Sola from Fate/Zero

Sola Ui Noada Re Sophie Ri (Image via Ufotable)

Sola was the daughter of the head of the evocation division in Clock Tower Mage's Association. She was married off to the Lord of Mineralogy, Kayneth El-Melloi, to salvage her family name. Although her fiance did love Sola to some extent, she began to fall in love with Lancer, Kayneth's servant.

Lancer is also known to hold the Mystic Face Variety, a curse that helps him take the form of a beauty spot on his face. This can also lead any woman to fall in love with him instantly. Sola tortured her fiancee while he was bedridden with severe injuries to transfer the magical bond with Lancer to her.

2) Shoji from Nana

Shoji Endo as seen in the anime (Image via Nana)

Initially introduced as a struggling artist and part-time waiter in the anime, Shoji Endo was described as "kind and dependable" by Nana Komatsu, his girlfriend at the time. However, everything changed when Shoji started to fall for one of his colleagues and a fellow university student, Sachiko.

Shoji ended up cheating on Komatsu, eventually breaking up with her. Even after a confrontation, Shoji chose to stay with Sachiko by abandoning the girl who was loyal to him and even moved places for him.

3) Takayuki from Rumbling Hearts

Things become a little disturbing when a show's protagonist is portrayed as a cheater. In Rumbling Hearts, Takayuki Narumi, known for being an ordinary high school student, began his relationship with Haruka Suzumiya when they met at a bookstore.

However, things got depressing for the protagonist after Haruka went into a coma after an accident. During this time, Takayuki and one of their best friends, Miyuki, grieve together, eventually bringing them closer.

The two became more intimate with time, which led to Takayuki cheating on his girlfriend during her time in a coma.

4) Machiko from Death Parade

Machiko, as shown in the anime (Image via Death Parade)

Despite getting introduced as a caring wife, Machiko was guilty of cheating on her husband and having an affair. She was shown to care for her husband constantly, and she would often check on him to see if he was okay or not.

However, upon cheating, it became unclear whether the baby she was carrying was her husband's or the person she was having an affair with. Since Death Parade was a show about the afterlife, Machiko was sent to the underworld for her sin, and her husband was sent for reincarnation.

5) Hotaru from Netsuzou Trap

Hotaru and Yuma as shown in the anime (Image via Netsuzou Trap)

Although Netsuzou Trap was advertised as a Yuri anime, Hotaru and Yuma were already in a relationship from the start of the show. Hotaru's personality was shown to be somewhat secretive and unpredictable.

Despite being in a relationship, Hotaru convinced her friend to indulge in physical activities, which led to their developing feelings for each other. Both of them ruined their relationships with their respective boyfriends by cheating.

6) Haruka from Yosuga no Sora

Haruka Kasugano as shown in the anime (Image via Yosuga no Sora)

You might have heard about Yosuga no Sora among the community for being one of the most unwatchable shows. The story follows twins who move in to live with their grandparents after their parent's death. However, things started to get out of hand when our protagonist, Haruka, cheated on his girlfriend.

Things got worse when the one he fell in love with was none other than his twin sister, Sora Kasugano.

7) Akane from Scum's Wish

Akane as shown in the anime (Image via Scum's Wish)

Despite the overall narrative around cheating, Scum's Wish is still a well-crafted show. Akane's character was introduced as a music teacher who cared for her students and was gentle. This led to one of her colleagues, Narumi, falling in love with her.

However, outside of school, she had physical relationships with her students while flirting with other men. She did all this while dating Narumi and carried him around to make one of her students in school jealous.

8) Makoto from School Days

Makoto, as shown in the anime (Image via School Days)

School Days introduces viewers to another cheating protagonist, where Makoto Itou cheats on his girlfriend, Kotonoha, for lack of intimacy. He even lied to one of his friends, Sekai, and told her that he loved him only to have a physical relationship.

This selfishness got the better of him in the end, leading to a brutal death.

9) Toya from White Album

Toya as shown in the anime (Image via White Album)

White Album follows the story of Toya Fuuji and his idol girlfriend, Morikawa Yuki. Both are university students, with Yuki having to leave now and then for her work. Toya doesn't like that he can't spend more time with his girlfriend, which makes him feel he can cheat on her.

He did cheat later on with anyone who showed interest in him.

10) Shotaro from Skip Beat

Shotaro as shown in the anime (Image via Skip Beat)

Skip Beat is a romance story that follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Kyoko Mogami, who is madly in love with her childhood friend. However, the feeling isn't mutual for the childhood friend, Shotaro Fuwa. He was shown to keep Kyoko around only to use her and often rudely talked to her with no real feelings.

While this can't be considered cheating since neither of them was in a real relationship, Shotaro's affection for someone else while using Kyoko has been deemed toxic by many fans.