>>282218140
I think I can answer that.
>Design
People are superficial and design in anime goes a long way. X is barely a character, but the effort into his presence takes him far. Yang Cheng probably has the best story arc, but his design isn't as appealing to the common denominator as an ikemen. Ghostblade and Nice have that over him
>Backlash
When E-Soul fucked up morally, he just kept getting away with it. He's been nothing but an ironic success ever since he started holding back. This is where he and Nice differ. Nice hesitates and fumbles constantly where E-Soul rose to glory after he stopped doing that. But this also means Nice gets to be a villain that properly faces consequences, in real-time. And he also gets to be multi-dimensional because he didn't want to be a villain. He's just too pathetic to think for himself and takes the abuse from his boss. So what you have is a man who is both victim and offender who carries the essence of the show, and he's no karma houdini for it. Watching him fall on his own sword is funny, sad, and ironic, and it makes people hate him less for the things he tries (and fails) to do.
TLDR: E-Soul keeps getting away with it. Nice is too incompetent at being evil, but doesn't have the strength of character to do better so the story shits on him, and people like that.