Much like voice actors, though to a lesser extent, good character designs can get me through an otherwise mediocre anime. Atsuko Nakajima is responsible for me enduring some exceptionally boring shows (Trinity Blood from the sales thread for one). Some series also have the problem where they are based on a manga drawn by an artist with limited character differentiation skills. Vibrant rainbow hair colours can help mask this, but it's still obvious, and sometimes it stretches across series and certain characters from one Rumiko Takahashi series sort of look like characters from another one, in cosplay.
I enjoy reading about the artist of Zetsubou-sensei berating himself in his comments in the manga, as most of his female characters look the same with a gimmick thrown in. It's cute.
The generic main male character in harem/romantic comedy shows tends to be a very recycled character design, though I appreciate it when the designer bothers to make them slightly more interesting even limited by the "must look like a normal guy with short dark hair and glasses" brief.
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