Fullmetal Alchemist Forum

no you dont have to like the main character to enjoy a series. but you are right when you say a show can be dull when all the protaganists are all nice altruistic guys. its also an area you could debate endlessly. take Evangelion for example: are Rei and Asuka really that interesting characters or do they just appear awesome when compared to Shinji.  
your point about the execution being the important thing is very valid to a show i just watched called gilgamesh. one of the main characters , the Countess, is such a cold hearted bitch when she is introduced and she is very unlikeable. but as the series progressed we learn about her past and we can understand why she behaves in this way and in the end so was one of the most human characters i have come across in a while. i generally dont get that interested in a show if the good guys are all really nice and good people and the villains are just pure evil just because they are and they have no motives. i like a show to have characters ,good and evil, to have layers to them.