This week I’m turning my attention to Jean Otus from ACCA. As an employee of the inspection department, ACCA, Jean gets the fun job of touring each district in the kingdom for the purpose of inspection (he also gets to eat some really good food). However, while Jean goes about his job rumours of a coup get stronger and in each district Jean is given a cigarette by people unknown.
Now, I’m not going to spoil the end of ACCA for people who haven’t seen it, though I strongly recommend you hop onto Crunchyroll and give it a go, if nothing else the theme song will have you bopping along for weeks. But, that does make it difficult to discuss Jean’s character in a huge amount of depth.
Jean Otus – Still waters run deep
One of the things I remember from when the anime was airing were the number of people who found Jean to be a bit of a boring protagonist. And you can kind of see why given his incredibly passive nature. Even his closest friend calls him out on it mid-way through the series when it becomes clear a lot of what is happening revolves around Jean but he just doesn’t seem to care.
However, Jean isn’t just an oblivious idiot. He’s incredibly observant and shrewd and while he isn’t particularly interested in the intrigue that surrounds him, he is most definitely aware of it. On numerous occasions throughout the anime we see that Jean navigates a tricky situation or pulls someone up short through his keen observations. It catches the other characters even more off guard because they don’t expect it from him.
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While most of the characters have a set distance from Jean, determined through rank or position, Jean does have a younger sister who is more than happy to call him on his bad habits. Lotta is a bright ray of sunshine in Jean’s life and it is clear that he dotes on her more than a little.
There is also Nino who has been a persistent presence in Jean’s life and is one of the few people Jean lets the neutral mask slip with from time to time.
Jean Otus may seem like he is taking little action but for him, preserving the calm life that he has, is a priority. His actions, or lack of actions, constantly work to maintain his status quo and being pushed to do more or having to deal with things outside of that scope are things he works hard to avoid even if he never looks like he is putting in all that much effort.
An interesting and layered character, where there is definitely more than meets the eye, Jean ends up being a fun guy to follow through the political shenanigans of ACCA and provides an interesting perspective on the events as they unfold.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
- Maka Albarn – Soul Eater
- Kuronuma Sawako – Kimi Ni Todoke
- Yato – Noragami
- Takeo Gouda – My Love Story
- Zen Wisteria – Snow White With The Red Hair
- Yamato Kurosawa – Say I Love You
- Sebastian Michaelis – Black Butler
- Madoka – Madoka Magica
- Rimuru Tempest – That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
- Yuki Soleil – The Price of Smiles
- Emma – The Promised Neverland
- Subaru – My Roommate is a Cat
- Xianming Lin – Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
- Haruhi Fujioka – Ouran High School Host Club
- Hestia – Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
- Haruitsuki Abeno – The Morose Mononokean
- Reiko – Natsume Yuujinchou
- Angelo Lagusa – 91 Days
- Jean Otus – ACCA
- Saitou Kazuki – Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
- Liliruca Arde – Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
- Diamond – Land of the Lustrous
- Naofumi – The Rising of the Shield Hero
- Itsuki – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Ririchiyo Shirakiin – Inu X Boku SS
Great post. The OP for this series is still one my favourites and Jean is a great character, but then I’ve always enjoyed characters who clearly one of the smartest people in the room, but so unassuming that you don’t notice until it’s too late.
Yes, the OP alone makes this anime worth watching but I really enjoyed the story and Jean was one of my favourite characters of the season. He’s understated to be sure but there’s a lot going on with him.