Tohru is as popular as the boys I think. so manga readers were pretty mad when that happened.
Also, the anime love its wide shots for some reason it's literally everywhere when it's not in the manga.
Good to know that manga readers love tohru!
In the anime, tohru's selling point is her endearing kindness which unfortunately gets across as sth you should emulate & copy, kinda like the " learning lesson" from furuba, " be like tohru, kids!" & less than a characteristic trait that is both positive & negative. By cutting the bulk of tohru's emotional struggle, you fail to see how most of her kindness, while truly genuine, is also part of a shield she constructs to immerse herself in other's lives to escapee her own loneliness.
In ch 108, tohru cries thinking of kyo mentally accepting his imprisonment & says " If he's gone, I'll be so lonely": notice how she's talking abt herself more than kyo. This is NOT a tale of girl saves boy. Tohru is thinking of herself which is sth tohru is actively ignoring in the manga & anime, but only the manga shows her gradually being forced in situations where she eventually becomes self-aware & selfish. In the anime, it only comes out when she talked to Isuzu to confess.
Again, tohru's anime fame is her fixer magical charm, it is what the anime is fascinated with, the angelic mother & the fixer friend that, you guessed it: saves others. The anime, also, presents her as a stubborn lover which is way better than the (the angelic mother & the fixer friend), altho not as deep as the manga, but still, due to the shallowness of her "fixing others" role, her being a lover with agency & determination comes off strong in the anime compared with her "fixer" role, which is why tohru's scenes with kyo are one of the rarest times when tohru has a character/personality & individuality in the anime without just being " kind & nice". but those scenes are always in wide shots & focus shifts to yuki's & shigure's reaction even when it IS abt tohru!! ugh!
As for wide shots..... It is a tool, among many tools, that should be utilized to help tell a story visually. One tool should not become the designated " artistic choice" to tell a deeper emotional story, especially not when it comes to character depth... Wide shots on particular are great with comedy or closing scenes... not the go to tool to express trauma & depth.
Thank you for the info, anon<3.