Today I'm thinking about the stories that have a bland male lead only to avoid giving the protagonism to a woman. More especifically, I was thinking about the anime adaptation of Haruhi Suzumiya, since she's clearly the main character but we're forced to hear the thoughts of a bland guy that wouldn't hurt the story if he wasn't there. Persona 5 is a far better example, though. It's shameless that he's just a self insert.