Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5398287-20130814021842/@comment-1387259-20130814023144

I can't really take a guess as to why specific characters are more liked than the main characters, but why a main character isn't always liked the most (especially with shonen manga) is an easy enough assumption. With all all of the really big shonen manga, let's use the Big Three (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece) as an expample, the main character tends to be a bit forced on the readers. Granted, Ichigo isn't quite as much so as Naruto or Luffy, but he still is nonetheless. And when a character is too forced, people seem to be turned off to them, and secondary characters are the "next best thing" per se.