Discussion I hate novels where everything goes the mc's way and gets everything handed to him.

I too enjoy stories where the MC has to struggle through conflicts but sometimes overpowered protagonists are fun too when they're written in a comedic fashion or they have really broken personalities.

One punch man is a good example of a fun overpowered protagonist and Main Character Hides His Strength is a decent example of an OP MC that has to deal with mental and issues.

Good stories with struggling MC's though would be Possessing Nothing as some others recommended as well as Grimgal of Ashes and Illusions, Dungeon Defense, Life Mission, Rakuin No Monshou, Shen Yin Wan Zuo, The Tutorial is Too Hard. There are some others I can think of but they're easily debatable depending on personal opinion.

Honestly a lot of the ones even with tragedy tags tend to have MC's powering up through massive plot devices after something bad happens to them so having bad things happen to the MC or those around him aren't really a good indicator of actual struggle.

 

Amen! After a long stressful day, I just want to overdose on a heaping dollop of wish fulfillment and see the MC bulldoze all the suckers. Seeing the MC struggle might be interesting, but nothing is quite as satisfying as seeing the lowlifes get a good ass paddling.

 

Struggles are nice in general, helps the character grow.

Having everything handed to them can also be nice though, the author just needs to know how to use it... IMO, it works well on Slice of Life novels.

But even on those, some struggle is still necessary to keep things interesting... But a different source of struggles.

 

Welp, I also don't really like such novels, it somehow made the novel seems predictable...
But if it take too long for the character to grow then I wouldn't like it either.

It's good if the struggle is rewarded with more or less equal to the hardships...
Though if the author knows how to take advantage of it the story might be interesting.