edwardsdv's Top 50 Anime Characters

Written in the "Top 50 Anime Anime/Manga/VN/LN Characters Fatal 4-Way: Angelo vs. edwardsdv vs. Mac vs. Zea" topic made in February 2011.

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50. Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Sengoku Basara 2)

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-10/art/sb2-toyotomi-hideyoshi2.jpg

Starting this list off with quite possibly its most manly resident. At the end of Sengoku Basara I wondered to myself how they could possibly top the shotgun-in-one-hand- giant-claymore-in-the-other Devil King, Oda Nobunaga. Sure enough, the season opens with this pretty typical battle between Shingens Forces and Kenshin’s with the young bucks battling it out else where when Hideyoshi descends on the scene like a badass. From the moment he appears on screen he has such a presence that just makes you feel that there is no way any of these other guys can even touch him at this point. Yet if its just badass presence that I were looking for Hideyoshi would probably not be on this list. He takes it that step further by having an awesome patriotic goal: Unify Japan and make it the strongest nation and then “ crack open the world.”

Quite the goal. He ends up gaining allies not through intimidation but through the appeal of his vision for Japan and those who oppose him, primarily our protagonists from season 1 look as though they might actually be in the wrong. His discussions wit several of the other characters such as Motochika, Motonori, and Keiji Maeda make him a much fuller and interesting character than his predecessor. Throw in that he manages to have one of the best fight scenes ever with Masamune in the finale where he just uses his giants fists to fight a man with 6 swords, crushing most of them and you end up with one of the best characters in anime.

I mean look at him, the guys so manly he even makes HeroicKrauss swoon.

49.Nozomu Itoshiki ( Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb282/diananosakka/1199043053688.jpg

Following up one of the manliest men ever, is one of the least manly people of all time. Nozomu, known by the monikers of Pink Supervisor and Zetsubou-Sensei is one of the funniest characters I have had the pleasure of watching. SZS is largely an ensemble show with Nozomu serving as the straight man for much of the series. When he isn’t trying to “grow taller” he is a high school teacher teaching a class that , presumably, has only a single male and a cadre of girl students who are in love with him. I know, it sounds just like SantaRPGs naughtiest dreams, but stay with me here.

What makes him so great is thee way he comes into the class every episode and flips the role of the teacher on its head, seeking to break the hopes and dreams of all of his students and alerting them as to how awful the world is. His episodic rants about things like future careers and changes and even “impurities” are some of the funniest parts of each episode and you can feel them all coming straight from the mouth of the most self-loathing person imaginable. Not exactly a deep character, but that’s not what I watch comedy for. Instead he is just hysterical and the engine that really makes this fantastically funny series go

48. Yuri Mihalkov (Planetes)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/9/54294.jpg

SPOILERS THIS WRITEUP RELIES ON SPOILERS*

Planetes, for those of you not in the know is a pretty fantastic show held back by lackluster characters driving the plot, but to compensate some absolutely amazing side-characters. Perhaps the besto these side characters is Yuri. Planetes follows the Debris division of a major corporation in space. Their jobs are to collect space trash and dispose of it, to prevent it from being a hazard in a future world where space tracel is commonplace and the moon is colonized. He is one of the 4 main members of the debris division and starts the show of f very terse and doesn’t really engage anyone. However, as his story unfolds it becomes clear the debris collection means a lot more to Yuri than the others. As WishMeLuck915, age 15, might say, it is "hauntingly beautiful".

His wife was killed during a space passenger flight when a small bolt busted through the window. Yuri survived because he happened to be in the bathroom at the time and was one of the very few survivors. He joined the debris division because his wife was never found and he was hoping to recover a memento from her. Yuris journey and development where he searches for the compass and ultimately gets over the loss of his wife is my favorite part of the series and is one of the more touching moments in anime. Oh yeah and he takes care of like a hundred animals on the space station which is pretty cool.

Favorite Moment: When he literally almost gets himself killed trying to retrieve a piece of space debris that he thinks might have belonged to his wife.

47. Miu Asakura (Bungaku Shoujo) http://tunaspikes.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/vlcsnap-222825.png

This is probably the first controversial addition to my list. Miu is a pretty awesomely done Yandere, but like all of the best Yanderes she is pretty well-justified in her desperation and rash actions. She is one of the main characters of Bungaku shoujo, which revolves around the nominal character, who eats books. That’s not Miu. Miu is the childhood friend of the main male character. He was, essentially, her only friend. Well she goes a little nuts and sucks the entire cast of the show into her machinations.

While her tendencies toward awesomely over the top Machiavellian tactics in securing the MC for herself has earned her the coveted “ *****-face” nickname from b8poisson, she brings a lot of emotional energy to the drama and makes it fairly compelling. Of course, Bungaku Shoujo’s kind of a mess because of how they try to mesh the tragic romantic drama of Miu with the silly antics of a book-eating girl, but hey I guess it works on some level.

46.Yukito Kanasaki(Air) http://www.sssanime.com/catalog/pa581.jpg

Key seems to be very fond of the "delinquent" main character.Usually this allows the protag to have justification to be the typical high school VN protag who has no real interests or defining characteristics.. I feel that with Yukito they actually managed to get this whole delinquent thing right. If you're going to have a main character who is a delinquent, why stop at school age. A NEET who wanders from town to town is much more pathetic and delinquenty and I feel this gets across pretty well with our traveling puppeteer Yukito. Furthermore, its much more interesting. Thus, this makes him the best Key protagonist.

Anyway, Air itself has somewhat abortive paths in the anime but throughout it serves to continue building this insane and vague mission he was given by his mother and about dreams and love in general. His relationship with Misuzu is pretty interesting by harem romance standards in that it is as much about Yukito and his issues as it is about our "key-diseased" heroine.

Favorite moment: When he finally gets over his some of his personal issues and finally figures out how to make his puppet show entertaining for Misuzu's sake. Also his great drinking "parties" with Misuzu's mom.

45. Azai Gonzou ( G Senjou no Maou) I couldnt find a good picture of him so here's a picture of a grizzly bear, its roughly the same. http://web.archive.org/web/20040814213341/http://www.exzooberance.com/virtual%20zoo/they%20walk/grizzly%20bear/Grizzly%20Bear%2042099.jpg Imagine that hes going to push the other bear down the waterfall and then go sleep with his wife before killing her and their children in their sleep you already have a pretty good idea of what the character is like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiTiSVZhijM And there is an actual picture of him in a youtube video spouting his incredibly manly theme song.

Gonzou's inclusion on this list is a bit premature as I am not actually all that far in Gsen, but if he continues at the rate he has been or gets even better he can only climb the ranks. He is the MC of Gsens father and the leader of a Yakuza family and their front organization, the Azai corporation. He is introduced to the story in the most badass way imaginable. I wont spoil it but it involves chopstick, shashimi, a business card, and a bloodied arm.

His utterly ruthless personal philosophy and his sorting of all life into "human" ( by which he means only himself and other completely over the top alpha males) and "livestock " (everyone else). He does not flinch at ordering even the most amoral off the wall things. And is more than willing to completely eviscerate our main character when he hesitates to commit capital crimes. Just completely over the top unapologetic grizzly bear of a badass. I would add more but all the cool moments I can think of are at least a little spoilery and I haven't gotten that far in the story yet.

44. Kallen Stadtfeld(Code Geass) https://archive.is/20131016025247/www.se51.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/kallenPilotsTheGurenM2-400x225.jpg

Unlike that hoser Superangelo128, I stand by my beliefs and convictions. Kallen is actually my favorite Code Geass character and unlike angelo im not afraid to say it.

I will say that unlike most of the characters on this list, Kallen is one I am rather disappointed in. For a character with as much potential as her, the show really failed to deliver, especially in season 2 out side of a few key moments where she went from the most interesting character to basically being Ms. fan service. From the beginning of the show I had extremely high hopes for her, especially considering that I was really drawn to how interesting her situation was, being sandwiched between the haves and have-nots in a way no other character really had to deal with, thus creating much of the best drama in R1. Most either clearly identify with the rebels or clearly identify with Brittania. And while Kallen is from the outset one of the leaders of the rebel forces and not to mention their most competent warrior, she, like Lelouch, has to lead a double life that is very fun to see unfold.

What I appreciated about her is the way that unlike Lelouch she had the courage of her conviction and the ability to materialize them. For as evil and downright Machiavellian as Lelouch's actions were, Kallen's person and development made it very clear that they still benefited some very deserving people enormously. However, unlike Suzaku, she wasn't literally throwing kurt"fit"sos every time she felt cornered or betrayed. She just "manned" up and dealt with it. She was able to eventually see the moral dilemmas and deal with them to an extent that no other character did(again, see Suzaku Kururugi the infuriating). If Kallen had managed to deliver on the promise of her early development or even had a few more of the more sober moments she enjoyed in R2 she would easily be towards the top of this list. As it stands, I still really like her.

Plus she has the best mecha in the series:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Kallen%20mech%20gif/Darthwin1/knightmares/DGurenFlight-EnabledVersion.gif

43. Manami Amamiya(Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxir8mDpmx1qzy93oo1_500.jpg

Manami is one of those plucky main characters that for one reason or another is unusually compelling to me. She is kind of a goofy over the top kind of character whose silly antics are great. The first episode of the show is pretty fantastic and in it Manami has one of the best moments in anime. She is a transfer at the school and runs for president of the student council because no one else wants it and sings the school anthem while explaining why becoming president of her new school means so much to her. You basically have to watch it to get it.

Oh yeah and she runs people over with her hover scooter, just basically bullies some people and has some awesome adventures in running a school with her nakama. Its a pretty great series of SoL with tons of great and heart-warming moments, mosto f which are facilitated by Manami.

42. Akio " The Ty Cobb of Baking" Furukawa (Clannad) http://www.wolfhurricane.com/images/screens/clannad_after/episode1/clannad_after1_1.jpg

Unlike most people I dont view Clannad as being the most amazing thing on the planet , but if there is one great thing to come out of Clannad it is Akio. Akio is one of those characters who just takes an otherwise uninteresting character in Nagisa and makes her presence ok, because at least it means you get to see more Akio.

The scenes of Akio running the bakery and his antics with his wife are some of the funniest moments in the show(Ive never read the VN) and happened just often enough to be funny without wearing out their welcome. Also, the thought that he went out to baseball with the kids in the park all the time was just very endearing. Just imagine like a 30-40 year old man going to the park and playing baseball with a bunch of middle schoolerd and dominating them and then bragging about it to everyone. brings a smile to my face every time. However, in addition to all of this he does happen to have few of the better serious scenes in the Vn as well,especially his discussions with Tomoya about Nagisa's past.

Best Moment:
*SPOILERS*

When Tomoya comes to ask for Nagisas hand in marriage and he bullies him by making him hit a baseball Akio throws. This and the whole sequence that follows is just the right combination of hilarious and heart-warming.

Spoilers*

41. Tsukimi Kurashita (Kuragehime) http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/322/4/a/tsukimi_kurashita_by_tovio911-d332z1b.jpg

Tsukimi is a pretty interesting girl. The concept of Kuragehime is one of my favorites in some time: a house full of Otaku NEET girls who are all horribly socially inept and mega-nerds.One of them is obsessed with asian dolls, one of them is obsessed with older men, another loves model railroads, and well you get the picture. It would be like living with members of OT, only a bit more varied.

As the picture suggests, Tsukimi's obsession is jellyfish. She has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of them, loves to draw them, loves to look at them, and even corrects a pet store owner about the improper storage of a jellyfish. He development throughout the story is pretty nice to watch. the main boy, a cross-dresser breaks her out of her shell a bit and she wins up making and selling jellyfish paraphernalia and starts to become a contributing member of society, if still nerdy as hell.

Its hard to really explain whats so endearing about some girl who has an obsession as niche as jellyfish but somehow the show pulls it together and entertains quite well, but hey at least I try unlike ange who every other writeup goes " I don't feel I should have to explain whats so cool character X."

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40. Ganryuu Hanakiri (Otome Youkai Zakuro) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Fsshd0IgasQ/TMZffAdTJDI/AAAAAAAAGjc/K7_gVl61HxE/s1600/the+twins.jpg

Man what to say about Ganryuu. When I startedthee show he was probably my least favorite of the main six, as i allowed his size to fool me into thinking he was the token wimp of the military dude half of the group. Man was i wrong. Ganryuu as it turns out was the most manly of the three, engaging in absurdly manly antics.

First of all, completely effortlessly he bags a pair of blonde twins, what an alpha. Without even trying, without even pretending to express an interest.

Secondly, MULTIPLE times he watches as the god-level powerful spirits go and attack his friends and his women and even though the pair of blonde twins is more powerful than him by a ton and EVEN THOUGH he just saw them tank something that most monsters die from he picks up his sword and rather than run away, runs DIRECTLY AT the enemy to "protect" his women.

So not only is he a total badass in disguise, but hes just an all-around good guy at the same time.He and his bros Agemaki and Riken are pretty awesome all things considered as they spend most of their time hunting down paranormal anomalies with their magical girlfriends. Its pretty awesome and more of you needed to see it for yourselves.

39. Charles and Ray Beams(Eureka 7) http://ghostlightning.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/eureka-7-op2-charles-and-ray-beams.jpg

light Eureka 7 spoilers below, it cant be helped*

Their arc in Eureka 7 is probably my favorite arc in anything ever. I mean that may not be true but i'm having a hard time thinking of developments i liked more than the ones involving these two. Ray and Charles are basically a mercenary, ex-military married couple who pilots their mechs on their own after being released from the military after some kind of an accident.

The two of them encounter a beleaguered Renton Thurston after he has split up the gekkostate and they take him under their wing and really enjoy his company, even offering to adopt him. The three of them have an arc together where they encounter some of the darker points of E7's settings and all the while you can just feel the warmness coming off of these two otherwise pretty badass mech pilots.

However, when Renton decides to leave and go back to the gekkostate to be with Eureka, he triggers one of the more tragic situations in the series as the two have a long-standing grudge with Holland , the leader of the gekkostate AND the ywere hired to deal with him by the military.

The ending of their arc was the one and only time I shed manly tears while watching E7 and i really do believe it is largely due to how human awesome the two felt. It felt extraordinarily unfair that Holland got to live in all honesty, which is a sign of great drama and of attachment to a pretty great duo.

/Spoilers*

38. Takagi Akito(Bakuman) http://www.otakuako.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/bakuman1-1.jpg

Takagi is a bros bro if ever I saw one. he is the writer half of the manga/writer duo that stars in Bakuman. He writes up all kinds of crazy off the wall kinds of stories and has always dreamed of being a mangaka. So to fulfill his dreams, he basically twists Saiko's arm so that hell draw manga with him.

Hes definitely the funnier half of the duo and the more easily relatable to boot. He does a lot for their duo, going to a worse high school, writing literally dozens of ideas that will never get used, for instance and pretty much ignoring his girlfriend( again, what an alpha) to get stuff done. Usually hes the one who keeps the duo on track and helps to ground Saiko.
Best moments: He has quite a few but the way he handled two women confessing to him simultaneously was pretty awesome.

37. Nino (Arakawa Under the Bridge) http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kgz8YbYdBtg/S8cYhTMFJiI/AAAAAAAANZs/NU-Mf7ktsrM/s1600/01.jpg

As we continue with this list I am beginning to notice a trend forming. I like somewhat bizarre women. Nino here is very much proof of this trend and its one im surprised to see developing myself. Nino is a homeless woman, who claims to be a Venusian, Venetian? From Venus.. Shes literally insane. ~or is she?

She and her completely wacky friends make up the cast of arakawa under the bridge, not to mention one of the goofiest communities of people ever. She helps Ric for no reason in the first episode, but he insists on paying her back so she makes him her lover. Cue the rest of the story. The two of them for all of their near-misses and miscommunications due to have completely freaking different views of the world, they end up having a pretty decent relationship and gives you this feel of simplicity as a virtue. This is in the middle of a freaking bonkers comedy show. Yeah. But it works really well and I really do believe it is because of how well Nino is pulled off.

36. Sumida Kanae (5 cm/s) http://static.minitokyo.net/view/12/28/328912.jpg

It feels kind of strange having a favorite character who exists only in on 22 minute span on this list, but , in fairness they are a really great 22 minutes. Kanae in essentially one episode's span of time has more development and is more awesome than like 90% of characters and the entirety of angelo's list. ;)

Kanae is an awesome surfer girl and is just the right amount of philosophical and has the accompanying dissatisfaction. She has a crush on a guy who, for whatever reason, wont get over this girl he was in a distance relationship with. She tries, in vain to get his attention and, well talking about her too much more gives away the entire plot of 5 cm/s. If you havent seen it, go see it. She really is quite endearing and by the end of you feel ever bit as heartbroken as she is.

35. Yurie Hitotsubashi (Kamichu) https://archive.is/20131016025039/www.bakotak.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/647_3.jpg

Yurie, aka the middle school Goddess, is quite literally that. She has godlike powers of control over wind, which she activates by yelling KAMICHU. This somewhat shounen sounding concept is attached to our meek and adorable protagonist Yurie. She is really not suited to having this kind of power and has her own , "unique" tastes in boys and all the normal things a middle schooler does...but you know AS A GODDESS. Meek, nerdy, and so normal and shy that it hurts. It really is a magical little Slice of Life that captures the best parts of a show like Aria and combines them with a Miyazaki film.

She doesnt exactly do a whole lot badass or even ultra exciting to tell about, at least not without ruining several of the show's better episodes. She is more under the "heart-warming" category, so instead Im going to list a few of her best moments vaguely:

The poverty god. Just the way she dealt with the poverty god was basically the moment I decided i loved this show.
The episode where she was a transfer student so she could attend a meeting of gods.
Fortune telling- the fortune telling sequences of the show are some of my favorite parts.
The ending.

34. Tachibana Kanade (Angel Beats) http://animenauts.com/files/2010/10/tachibana_kanade-Tenshi.jpg

Ahh, Tenshi. The titular "angel" of Angel Beats. She is another installation of one my favorite archetypes-- the kuudere. She is the single character who serves as the focal point of the show and she takes being a kuudere and makes it plot-relevant . While she doesnt say much, nearly every line she is very important to the show and its ever-changing plot. Ith as the effect of makingthe viewer hang on her every word and appearance.

I also really like the way she is portrayed through the show's changes and watching her relative constancy as the show rapidly evolves around her. However that isn't entirely accurate, as she goes from being cold and distant and, well, angelic and as you see more and more of her becomes human. And I really liked watching it happen.And uh, well talking about more of the reasons I like her would be spoilersy, but just suffice it to say i was really blown away by the reality of her situation

33.Nana "Hachiko" (NANA) http://www.azhag.net/pta/nana/hachi3.gif

Nana is a pretty fun character. I am only a small portion of the way through the story but Nana has already wormed her way into my heart. She is one of those over-optimists that basically create all the misers in the world. Anyway, she moves from the sticks to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend despite having no skills and not being in training. Just sort of pursuing her love. And while that all sappy and good its kind of generic. Or is it.

See Nana, is one of those typical girls that you probably know a bunch of, bouncing from crush to crush, convincing themselves they have "fallen in love" over a dozen times by the time they're 18. Nana devotes herself to the relation she has now because it is the one time where she let a love naturally develop. However, she also refuses to live with him, and instead moves in with a total stranger to prove that there is more to her than just her relationship. Overall its kind of a touching blend of weakness and inner-strength that is very compelling. I cant wait to keep watching tonight.

32. Akari Mizunashi http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6263/akari524ig9lx0.png

Mac and I are in complete lock step. Theres not really too much I can add here since I am damn near certain angelos going to have a fantastic writeup for her., but I will say it was very refreshing to have an MC who was just a sweet girl, rather than a tsundere, nor an airhead.

Shes a total sap, and one so saccharin even her friends can hardly stand it and she causes so many of the shows utterly heart-warming moments. Great character, but not Arias best...

31. Takeda "The Tiger of Kai" Shingen (Sengoku Basara) http://img.mugimugi.org/char/H2440.jpg

I f one character defines what, exactly,Sengoku Basara is, it is our friend the Tiger of Kai here. On the hand he is the absolute epitome of manliness. he is big, strong, wields a huge freaking axe, for starters. He is not afraid to just headbutt Yukimura silly when he says something thats wrong and his classic yelling fits are legendary:

"YUKIMURA" *PAUNCH*

Behind that, his fighting seems on the surface, to be largely for its own sake and he seems defined by his rivalry with Kenshin and is mostly existing to perpetuate one last good fight with his old rival. The two of them dont even seem to hold that much ill will towards each other, as they join forces in both S1 and S2. It is more about romanticizing the one good, manly honorable fight and in each other, they have found the perfect match.

Finally, in the conversations he has with Kenshin and Yukimura throughout the series he is one of the few characters who truly "gets" what the Sengoku era is about and, while he seeks to unify himself, he doesn't want to achieve it through improper means. Despite begin a fierce, "tiger" of a man he is also almost vaguely philosophical. It was nice and it was a side to the series that, while present, doesn't see very much expression outside Takeda and Kenshin.

Also, did I mention the mans a badass for whom even gravity and horses cannot resist obeying, no matter what

http://littleimg.com/files/34699_tgrff/wtfriding.jpg

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30.Holo (Spice and Wolf) http://media.animevice.com/uploads/0/167/165403-spice_and_wolf2_super.jpg

Holo is a pretty decent character. I always find it interesting when shows try to pull of characters with just completely different sets of norms and attitudes than the rest of the cast. Done poorly it can be the worst thing in the world, but done well and, well you get characters like Holo. She is smarter and more cunning than just about anybody else, but her nature makes her a liability since she is hunted by certain individuals and her status as a beautiful woman can cause some serious problems. Her interplay and relationship with Lawrence is honestly the best part of Holo, but she is definitely the star of the relationship.

Sheh asa lot of really great moments most of them showing off her prowess as someone on a completely different level than even the most cunning merchants that Lawrence encounters. Watching her develop is pretty rewarding and seeing a person free-spirited and whimsical consider the eventual serious drama as well as petty jealousies she ends up harboring is fun to watch.

29. Youhei Sunohara (Clannad) http://www.japanator.com/elephant/ul/user/5-5530-14939-27817mjpg-620x.jpg

Ok I said earlier that if there was one good thing to come out of Clannad it was Akio, well I lied. There are actually at least TWO good things about Clannad, and the second one is Sunohara.

The "token male friend" is basically a trope in these sorts of VNs and , by extension, the anime based on them but with Sunohara ,we got a perfection of the science of this. Every token male friend after him is shaped by how well done he is. If I had to describe him, it would be "utterly enjoyable loser." I mean this man is an absolute trainwreck of a man. Arrogant without cause to be, willing to do just about anything hes told will work. He is a bros bro, which is also nice but hes also really outspoken.

His antics, including hitting on Tomoyo, and trying to expose her as a man, are absolutely hysterical. As Zea said, his arc probably has the dumbest Drama, but thats clannad after story for you. Oh yeah and when he dyes his hair black I about lost it. The situation he described when the gang has their reunion in after story sounds a fair bit more entertaining that AS itself was. Not to take anything away from AS, but seriously that stuff sounded absurd.

Sunohara, thank you, for being funny.

28. Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent http://kyouray.free.fr/wp-content/isaac-miria_top2007.jpg

I had an awesome writeup for these two,but then firefox crashed, so you get this half-assed one instead.

Isaac and Miria are really funny, serving as the sole comic relief i nshow featuring lots of gore and serious mobster business. Their robberies are quite simply fantastic and the level to which Isaac can completely misunderstand simple concepts is pretty great.

best moments:
The "Billy the Kid" speech he gave to Jacuzzi
Stealing the door to a museum
Being, in most ways, a Spanner in the works
"Saving" Czezlaw
Saving the day with powdered balls
"Train Robbery"

27.Takumi Mayama (Honey and Clover) http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/4/55031.jpg http://ecatalog.dlpdomain.com/docs/albums/3027/9782505001638.jpg

Takumi Mayama is one of my favorite characters and everytime I think of him I wonder why hes not higher on this list. Then I realize just how much I love most of the list. Anyway, I digress.

Anyhow, Mayama is the oldest and most mature of the trio of men in Honey and Clover. He is an architecture student, if I recall, similar to Takemoto. He is the coolest and calmest and most put together of the people in the show. He also deals with some of the best drama. He is involved in two love triangles and his reactions to both of them are fairly realistic. The object of hisaffection is an older emotionally damaged woman, but like any great man, he doesnt really care about her damage, and cares about her anyway. Simultaneously he has to deal with the advances of a woman in Yamada who he both cares for dearly, but is not attracted to. Deciding whether Mayama is a huge hypocrite or simply having trouble making difficult decisions is an interesting development to track throughout the show.

Possibly my favorite part about Mayama is how he plays the aloof character who is somewhat detached from it all, and is serious. This results in a few of the shows best moments, particularly his conversation with Takemoto about how a man should approach a serious relationship and the realities of them. However, it is also clear that he is simply acting the part as well. He is very easy to tease and his desperation to be included when it becomes clear hes not are some of his funnier moments.

26.Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of Galactic Heroes) http://i.imgur.com/ZYnuJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/MfDyN.jpg

Reinhard is a total badass. Like seriously. He is one of the two generals that LoGH is based upon and he is so much better than Yang that its ridiculous. Who cares about corrupt democracies and silly elections and "pacifism". Reinhard von Lohengramm is here to topple an empire, and assert one of his own all because someone messed with his sister for money. Probably a lot. So he is out with his best friend taking on all enemies both within and without and doesn't afraid of anybody. What he does that is so great is that he is able to see to the heart of all of these situations both political and military and is able to push them to his ambition. He trusts only one person and is able to see like three moves ahead. He is one the great dark or anti-heroes out there most because he is so justified in his position and the people he is against are almost all huge asses anyway.

I have only gotten about 20 or so episodes into the series but that's longer than most series. He is a great general and his tactics are great and his role in the intrigue within the Empire has been incredible. I cant wait to see more of him.

25. Honoka Yukishiro ( Pretty Cure) https://archive.is/20131118232039/img.imgcake.com/hka3jpgdu.jpg https://archive.is/20131118232011/img.imgcake.com/hkajpgtu.jpg

Ahh Pretty Cure, welcome to the list. I honestly was not expecting to like Pretty Cure that much when I set out to watch it. But I wantedto give a vanilla-ish Magical girls show a try and at the behest of Lisel_Testify( and over the strong objection of Mac " but Nanoha is better" Arrowny) I ended up watching Pretty Cure.

BEST DECISION EVER. but right, on to why I like Honoka. She is the brains of the operation and the nerdy half of the girls are awesome duo. She is also evidently wearing the pants in the duo, if certain screencaps are to be believed. She is all about technical skill and i really like how its reflected in her fighting style. Nagisa always goes in guns ablazing and without tactics, but Honoka will use take down and precise moves when she can. She is also the more traditional of the two and I really felt like you got a feel for what a more traditional style japanese girl was like with her. Oh yeah, she also has the worst parents ever. Whether its beating up giant fishmen, men with 80s hairstyles or *SPOILERS falling in love with a demon *SPOILERS* , or having a fight with her "partner" she almost always handles herself with style and class.

Best Moments: Befriending a couple of bank robbers and singlehandedly stopping them from robbing the bank and making them cry like little girls in the process.

Or possibly the way she solved Japans legacy of the atomic bomb in like 20 minutes.

24. Sepia "Isono" Uzuki (Sharin no Kuni) http://chii.nu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/isono.jpg

MILD SPOILERS FOR SHARIN NO KUNI*

If Sunohara sets the standard for the "token bro" in VNs, Isono takes that standard, stands on top of it and does something even more amazing. Isono, first of all, is freaking strange. He is, supposedly, a fairy tale writer and right from the get go that's where things get blurry with him. He says all sorts of things throughout the VN and he is lying through his teeth every bit as much as our protag is.

See at first, he seems to be just another Sunohara, kind of a dumbass friend type, which are okay but Sunohara is inevitably going to be the best. But then you realize, hes not just a dumbass, hes like actually insane. Delusional. Saying things that don't make any sense at all. Then you realize there's an even deeper level to him, which I wont spoil and it turns out he is the best bro ever conceived. Hes always in the right place at the right time,because as it turns out hes pretty damn smart. Anyway, most of his awesome moments happen post spoiler, but yeah, Isono is basically the best fictional bro.

23. Tsugumi Aoba (Kannagi) http://www.japanator.com/elephant//ul/13516-confessions-18-tsugumi-aoba/kannagi-2-620x.jpg

Tsugumi is one of those characters that I cannot really explain why i like her as much as i do. Probably because in the context of Kannagi with its completely over the top kinda wacky harem routine, Tsugumi fills what should be just a standard role of the long-suffering childhood friend. At best, she should have been likable but nothing special, sort of like Manami from Oreimo.

Well, uh, something funny happened on the way to the forum and she just happens to be one of the best executed childhood friends around, which happens to be an archetype I've always liked, but often suffers from being rather generic. The thing I like best about her is that unlike most childhood friends who sort of watch the person they've longed for for so long quickly slip away when the new people enter his life, she actually steps it up and gets some what aggressive in her pursuit. Not like, yandere aggressive, just the right amounts of deciding to make her move. In so doing, she manages to keep up with two basically goddesses. The other thing is, since Kannagi the series ends before the harem is resolved, there is no choosing. In fact, at one point it seems the main character was going to choose and ended up with a two girl harem forced upon him, something Tsugumi handles pretty interestingly.

22. Konata (Lucky Star) http://blog.codefront.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/konata-relax_thumb.jpg

Everybody watch out. Sometime, somewhere, Chrono1219 is going to read this and explode with Joy that a Lucky Star character is on one of these lists. Well chill out Chrono1219. I'll tell them why Konata is good. Konata is basically the key component to Lucky Star that makesi t funny. Without her, its just an "okay" slice of Life. She is our eroge obsessed otaku hanging out with an otherwise generic moe cast. With her though, you get a large and wide variety of self-aware jokes that she continues to tell without mercy. I mean, sure, some of the stuff she says is kind of dumb and some the plots surrounding her like the " any manga she buys becomes popular", but she is still rather funny in spite of it. She also brought us the cat face and bullies her friends, especially Kagami, quite well. She is one of the rare instances of referential humor in anime and "getting" the jokes is half the fun in watching.

Favorite series of jokes: When she is late to class several times in a row and uses excuses stolen from several VNs, including Kanon.
When the girls discuss love, she ends up framing it in terms of Dragon Quest V.

21. Yotsuba (Yotsuba&!) https://archive.is/20131016025225/xspblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Yotsuba01.jpg

For the second time me and Mac have the same character with the same ranking. Weird.

She is the sole manga character on my list, and im not saying thats because shes the best manga character ever, but more because I havent read much manga. Anyway, She is just one step funnier than Konata, mostly because of the absolute vigor and comedy she brings to such mundane and everyday things. The way she can just cut to the core of everyone in her life and just have them figured out, even if for the wrong reasons. For instance, her neighbor has a friend who acts pretty tough and hardcore, but when Yotsuba actually thinks shes cool she cant handle the compliment. The "murderous rampage" is probably also my favorite part of the manga, though a close second would be when she learns how to ride a bike.... umm with a crash course. Anyway she brings this hard to resist combination of heart-warming and hilarity to every situation that I am hard-pressed to think of any better examples of.

20-11[]

20. Chihiro Shindou (ef a tale of Memories) http://static.zerochan.net/full/17/02/97617.jpg

Chihiro is one of my favorite harem heroines. Part of this may be because of ef's generally more dramatic nature than most romance anime adaptations of VNs. Poisson finds her to be too much and completely over the top with her blight, but i feel that she pulls it off very well. Chihiro has a debilitating mental disorder and handles it, well like any girl might. Shes scared she frustrated, but ultimately, she perseveres. She is able to overcome her terrible debilitation and even realize some of her dreams.

Throughout ef she is the part of that you look forward to seeing how she develops and handles her romance. Also, the decision to tell the audience how she was feeling and what problems she was facing through her novel was an excellent storytelling device. While she put on a strong front, the emotions portrayed in her book were betraying her true emotions. My favorite moment is when the girl does something strange and Renji calls it cute, she reprimands him for misinterpreting the character's mental state and decides that if the acts could be interpreted that way she must have written them badly. The way she could be portrayed simultaneously as so strong and weak without resorting to tsundereness makes her unbelievably good.

My favorite moment with her is a single line in the last episode, but stating it here would be pretty heavy spoilers.

19. Nagisa Misumi (Pretty Cure) https://archive.is/20131118232000/img.imgcake.com/KamenNagisajpgab.jpg http://danbooru.donmai.us/data/4958da5b005a0f7db6ceba20b6667ef8.jpg

Yes that's right, both of the original Pretty Cure girls made my list and pretty high. Maybe you should go check this magnificent series out , since I know very few of you have actually seen it. Anyhow, Nagisa is the muscle of the operation. Where Honoka brings a certain air of elegance to the team, Nagisa brings all of the hot-bloodedness and the soul. She isnt afraid to step into it and just pound on anyone.
She, to me, is supposed to embody a modern Japanese woman. She is not dependent or meek, but instead has a wild self-deterministic streak. She also apparently watches wrestling and routinely beats on her little brother. Her dad even gives her pointers! She does things that a traditional woman wouldn't do, like Lacrosse. i really like that her sport is lacrosse too, since that's a sport that is also more modern in nature than ,say, soccer. Ultimately, she is above Honoka, because well I in general like the more modern feel that she projects.

The best parts of Nagisa is she is routinely the one to go into the fight winging and who will inevitably take it personally. " You would even try to hurt my teammates WE' LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU." Is basically one of her best lines and not forgiving people is basically par for the course with her. I also appreciate the way that, after her and Honoka were made Pretty Cure that she didnt instantly accept Honoka as a friend, since she already had a social life and friends and didn't just change herself over night because she got hit by a meteor-cellphone thing.

18. Alice Carroll http://gallery.fanserviceftw.com/_images/15fa679089315822497fe993519a209d/2147%20-%20alice_carroll%20aria%20dekkai%20gondola%20water.jpg

Next up is the last of the Aria girls on my list, and even at this height she might be too high but oh well. Alice is my personal favorite of the bunch as I just generally enjoy the perspective she brings to the group. While the other two are merely pursuing a career normally, Alice is a prodigy and bigger things are expected of her. Just about everything about her is bigger, shes with the bigger company, she has more rules to worry about, etc. Despite being somewhat distant and rather severe on herself at times , she remains rather endearing as a character.
Though it early in the show, her "left hand punishment campaign" defines who she is pretty well and is one of my favorite episodes of the show. Watching her slowly let go of her cold ways and open up to become a caring and warm person ( though still Akari warm) is one of my favorite parts of the show. God writing up Aria characters is difficult I dont know how ange does it.

Favorite moment: Her arc in Origination is pretty good.

17. Hotori Arashiyama (Soredemo Machi wa Maitteru) http://www.thiseuphoria.com/anime3/soredemo-2-0.jpg

I know I said that the best comedy protag was Yotsuba but, in fairness, there is some SoL elements to soremachi....
Anyway, Hotori is awesome. She takes the typical moe "clumsy maid" thing and turns it on its head. first of all. The maid uniforms are ugly. They are, well like any other work uniform. You were them because its just what you wear at work. Honestly, I would say Hotori is the furthest thing from moe, which instantly made soremachi extremely interesting to me since it was defying all of my expectations for it.
Instead Hotori is, in all aspects of life, a freaking awesome character. I mean she runs down policemen with her motorized scooter rams him in the crotch and then gets into a shouting match with him, she accuses everyone she knows of sexual harassment, etc. She also has an obsession with detective stories and writes "the best" detective story ever. Basically, it seems that rather than the typical clumsy moe waitress, instead we get a character who is clumsy because she just doesn't give a ****,which is awesome.

She drives virtually everyone she knows insane because she is constantly forgetting things. Also , when she plays detective in the one episode ti drives her coworkers bonkers and is just fantastic. Oh yeah, she s also the best older sister in anime the way she bullies her brother all the time. She also really "cares" for her pets, ie the raccoon dog thingy and thats pretty awesome. Oh yeah and she is terrible at math, not because she cant do it,but because math is extraordinarily boring and she refuses to focus on it at all. She'll literally get bored in the middle of the problem and write down what she had at that point. What a badass.

16. Sawako Kuronuma (Kimi ni Todoke) http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/9000000/Sawako-Kuronuma-kimi-ni-todoke-9082698-768-1024.jpg

My how the mighty have fallen. If I had made this list in the fall she would have been in the top 5. Well, then KnT2 happened. She may have fallen off the list altogether after the shows most recent few episodes. But heeeere we go.

First the good, she is probably one of the most extreme example of a character with absolutely no social skills. Watching her go from the very beginning of the show being this feared girl who knew no one . Instead they saw a kinda weird looking girl and called her Sadako after the name of the girl from the japanese version(original version i guess) of The Ring. Then throughout the show she slowly develops into a more social person making a couple groups of friends and even befriending a woman who hates her guts, she is this pure kind of person. She even embraces the horror moniker and practices ghost story telling. Shes sweet and just pretty awesome.

....and then next season happened and Sawako went from being a girl finally coming into her own and figuring out how to live life to being....more or less defined by a terrible romance angle with Kazehaya. It was always there and a part of her but it was secondary to the rest of her character development. It seems to just throw out most of her character to make her part of an extraordinarily generic shoujo romance angle. I mean hope fully, it gets better and she can climb her way out of this hole, but for now bleh. What a waste.

15. Yumi Fu-kuzawa (Maria-sama ga Miteru) http://web.archive.org/web/20071110103043/http://www.gokigenyou.com/2nd/chara/c_yumi02.gif

I seem to like stories about girls and their friends who are also girls. Anyway, Yumi is the main character of Marimite. She starts off very timid and rather plain actually. Shes a girl with little in the way of interests or distinguishing characteristics, other than a relatively warm personality. She finds herself drawn underthe wing of her upperclassman and , essentially student council member at her all-girls school, Sachiko. The story follows Yumi as she is associated with the much more exceptional and almost otherworldly Sachiko.

Marimite is more based around conversation and is moved almost entirely by dialogue, so it is difficult to describe why exactly Yumi is so good. Basically, it is that despite being so plain and so aware of how she doesnt measure up in comparison to the rest of her peers, especially her "big sister". However, rather than be completely disheartened, she just approaches every situation with openness and honesty and is just generally good to everyone. Best of all she does this without seeming like a Mary-Sue.

Favorite moment- this is just the nature of the show but her arc choosing a petit souer is pretty great stuff.

14. Renji Asou (ef) http://img3.lln.crunchyroll.com/i/spire2/09112008/e/8/3/e/e83e4ba9e58090_full.jpg http://www.kakeracomplex.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Renji-Chihiro.jpg

Renji is the rare romance protag that I actually enjoy greatly. I think that he actually manages to even outshine Chihiro which is a pretty controversial opinion I guess. Unlike most protags, he actually is a fairly believable guy. His personal struggle as he in his first year is that he cannot decide what he wants to do with his life. See, he doesn't really have any career interests. He doesn't really feel that strongly about very much, but he loves to read and apparently likes old movies. His trouble is trying to figure out whether or not he needs to have a realistic goal or if he can just pursue something he likes and deal with the difficulties and impracticalities of that decision.

As he is grappling with this life cross-roads he meets Chihiro, a girl who he falls for just before he find out about her debilitating mental handicap. His reaction to this straddles the line and he does struggle with it, and even feels bad that he is struggling with it, when she is the one with the problem. For instance, he has a total breakdown when he realizes how bizarre his romance with Chihiro is and refuses to let things happen when they feel so off. He decides to help himself and Chihiro by assisting her in writing her novel. Through their experiences together and the blossoming of their love he comes to realize that doing what you enjoy in life is the best thing you can do.

Their amazing and co-mingled development makes Renji and chihiro probably my favorite couple in anime, but I think Renji's problems and the way he deals with them, while more ordinary, are also more moving.

Favorite moment: Renji laying out, diving, to catch a paper airplane....

13. Kyou Yamada (Binbou Shimai Monogatari) https://archive.is/20131016025638/img300.imageshack.us/img300/6285/paperkyobs0.png

The elder of the Yamada sisters, i prefer Kyou for some reason to her sister. The two sisters live on their own ,in this run down apartment building with their eccentric neighbors and basically on the goodwill of everyone around them. I really appreciate this show and watching the sisters as they struggle, successfully to live. Especially since, they do more than just live, but they actually manage to find happiness despite just having each other. Kyou has a bit more personality than ayu. She works delivering newspapers and earns the income that allows the sister to keep living in the apartment and eating food. She also hasthis hysterical fear of lightning and is just overall the moe interesting to watch of the sisters.

Favorite moments:
The cell phone episode

12. Matsuri Saegusa (Kamichu) http://yusa.imouto.org/sample/8c2d6221977cfa04c6545ff463a73c5d/moe%2070464%20sample.jpg

Man Saegusa is awesome. I have already spent some time explaining what Kamichu is, and Saegusa was pretty much what made the show so great. I mean, yeah, Yurie is pretty cute goddess d'aww look at her go. Whatever. Saegusa, immediately saw the MARKETABILITY of having a a best friend who is a goddess. Hence she instantly asserted herself as Yuries new best friend and bullies her boring old best friend out of the way. Saegusa is a shrine maiden at the local shrine and its struggling financially.

It is, essentially, up to her and her sister ( and I just noticed I put two older sisters in a row on the list, huh) to run the shrine and to help it out of its hole. While her younger sister is the actually competent shrine maiden, Saegusa is the one scheming to make it profitable. Some of her schemes are simple like using Yurie to tell fortunes and charging for it, or say establishing a traditional Japanese alternative to christmas. All told, she's pretty awesome.

11. Ensei Rou (Saiunkoku Monogatari) http://static.minitokyo.net/view/44/21/388594.jpg

Ensei Rou is easily the best thing about Saiunkoku Monogatari. i mean sure, the story is basically about the main love triangle and all of that, but the real intrigue that encompasses the show is most prevalent with Ensei. He is an old friend of Seirun's and is also a wildly competent person despite little to no training. Due to an emergency, he was the governor of the Saa province and managed quite well. The truth about him is that he is the one character who can bridge the high class politics that dominates the show with a more common perspective, which he brings to everything ,including the love triangle and how silly he obviously thinks it is.

Hes also a really talented fighter and good bro, able to watch out for Seirun and the princess at all times and do things no one else can do.

best moment: When he and Seirun are captured temporarily and they disarm him, only for him to reveal that his Bo-staff is a manliness handicap and that his true specialty is barehanded combat.

10-1[]

10. Nanami Kiryuu ( Revolutionary Girl Utena) http://media.animevice.com/uploads/0/674/125664-09_nanami_as_duellist_large.gif

Nanami is the most hilarious part of Utena. She is one of the duelists, and one of the best ones. She is the only duelist to have multiple arcs going against Utena and one of the only female duelists besides Utena herself. Oh yeah and shes a total *****, completely unapologetically just enjoys messing with Utena because she can and because she doesn't like Utena. Well not just that, she has a huge brother complex and her brother is pretty obviously into Utena.

Oh yeah and she is the subject of nearly every comedic episode of Utena, which are arguably the best parts of the show. This includes the episode where she intercept a "designer" cowbell and well this happens: http://eyevocal.ottawa-anime.org/beingupfront/pictures/rgumnanc.jpg

So in addition, to the comic moments, shes actually involved in some decent drama and well it just works out to make Nanami pretty cool.

9. Yuuta Takemoto (Honey and Clover) http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll355/Parcerita84/Solo%20manga%20y%20anime/honeyandclover2.jpg http://xxxalmaxxx.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/6a00d4141c3e8a6a4700e398d6bfc50001-500pi.jpg

Takemoto is a character who I first came to love based on his character development and was sustained by how well I thought it worked.
The show itself basically revolves around Takemoto falling love with Hagu in the first episode. It is, essentially, the story of his love with her. And while I thought that was an okay plot device I wasn't really blown away by it. But the situation that allowed him to go to Art school in the first place, allowed him to think about finally becoming independent and having something of his own, and his love with Hagu seems to be what he settled on.

Despite this, it becomes pretty clear that Takemoto is just using this love as a sort of escapism. Hes in his twenties, in college, and he still doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life. Hes an architecture student, but unlike Mayama, he doesnt really want to be an architect. He is an architecture major because he used to build things with his late father and its something he enjoyed. I really enjoy watching Takemoto come to terms with his love and his life and finally when he just cant take it anymore and finally forces himself to find himself.

I also enjoy Takemoto because he is one of the few men to get friendzoned in anime. Usually, its the female characters who get friendzoned by the alpha male lead and this serves as a sort of excuse to still have her around. With Takemoto, however, it becomes clear from early on that Hagu views him asa brother figure and not as a romantic interest, making completely unreasonable demands for her dollhouse from him, for instance " BAAAAROOOOOOQUE @_@". The romance between he and Hagu is probably one of my favorites for some non-obvious reasons, that I wont explain cus SPOILERS.

Best moments: His arc at the end of S1.
The very last moment of S1.
The train scene in the S2 finale
The Tower of Adolescence

8. Mai Kawasumi (Kanon) http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll126/judessamai/kanon_mai043.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iT-bVG2E4PI/SgW2_0HMFFI/AAAAAAAAAM4/o1skJBvu4cw/s400/IMG_0267.jpg

Now for a character on my list that swordz9 probably doesn't like. But who knows he might.
Mai is a rather special character for me. See I only just recently got back into anime and it was after watching Kanon(2006) that I decided it wasnt all shounen and that there was a lot of stuff out there worth watching. So i came to b8anime like right after and that' pretty much how I got here and came to have over 100 shows on my MAL already.Mai's arc of Kanon is pretty much why.

I really loved that arc enough that shortly after clearing the anime I ended up DLing and reading the Vn more or less specifically to play her path. So Mai here is a senior at the high school, and at night she is hunting demons in the high school. Our protagonist becomes fascinated with her and drawn into going to visit her every night to learn more about her. This is a development that goes slowly, as Mai here is a kuudere who just in general doesnt seem like to people very much. Asa result of her attitude and her behavior, she gets blamed for a lot of the bad things that happen in the school. Mai only has one friend, Sayuri, who has her own little bundle of issues and the two make a pretty great pairing.

SPOILERS

However, the best part of her is how her past feeds into her story and personality. See, when he used to visit as a child, Yuuichi was friends with Mai. Even back then, she was friendless because she possessed these strange powers that people were afraid of. But, Yuuichi didnt care and was friends with her anyway. However, yuuichi was only visiting back then and when he went to leave, Mai made up this story about demons in the wheat field they played in. Yuuichi had to go but told her to just go fight them herself until he came back. Well, due to events relating to Ayu, he never came back until Kanon started. The school was built on top of the wheat field, and the Demons Mai fights, she materialized them with her powers, to give herself the demons she made up, without even realizing she had done it. It was unusually powerful and well, the result of her emotional turmoil from Yuuichi abandoning her back then was why she was so silent and guarded in the present.

/SPOILERS

Anyway, I just found her really compelling and her drama and story highly interesting and even if the aren't as good as I think they are its the kind of thing where, "it got there first" and so other characters have a hard time surpassing her.

7. Lady Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (Rose of Versailles) http://danbooru.donmai.us/data/e8003f0271e1ad2a7e4cf56815d18441.jpg

WARNING-- This Anime is really freaking old-- many of you haven't seen it.;

In fact, i believe Mac is the only other person I know of that has seen it. But it is a veritable classic and Lady Oscar has always been one of my favorites. Described by her peers as " Manlier than any man" Lady Oscar was the daughter of a man who wanted his daughter to be a captain of the guards and raised her as a man to be his successor. She gets herself embroiled in all of the politics and intrigue of the dying days of the French Monarchy just prior to the French Revolution.

She is most interesting in terms of her relationships with other people. Seeing her react to people like Marie Antoinette, who she has absolute loyalty to despite her incompetence, her childhood friend, even the foreign nobles in the court. Overall, seeing a person completely earnest as she is interact with events as grand in scale as the French Revolution.

6. Sakura Matou (Fate Stay/Night) https://archive.is/20131016025320/cdn.myanimelist.net/images/clubs/1/18223.jpg

For the first two paths of Fate Stay Night, I was convinced I was playing the most overhyped piece of trite since The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya. However, the one bright spot in each was that I always thought that Sakura made such a good counter to what most of the action was about. Her scenes with Rin and Saber in Fate were basically the only good parts of that path. Like Angelo, I was sort of naturally drawn to her mix of shy girl and childhood friend and enjoyed the Sakura and Shirou scenes at the beginning of each path.

And then Heaven's Feel.

My god, Heaven's Feel. I don't understand how anyone can claim to like UBW or Fate better. There is just such a noticeable jump in the quality of the writing and the quality of the drama that you'd have to be in FSN for the action alone to enjoy UBW more, and lacking a brain at all to prefer Fate. Sakura in that path moves into the spotlight and you get to see how her picture perfect girl next door act is just that, an act hiding a much more difficult and frankly disgusting past. It takes her seemingly "boring" personality and makes it interesting by virtue of it being a reaction to much more interesting and complex inner thoughts. The inner monologue portions of the Sakura interludes are fantastic, frankly (well except the one) and are one of the only times that FSN takes on the deeply psychological bent that you just know he loves to write.

Anyway, the relationship between the two of them feels the most real and least tacked on of the three and I appreciated that as well.
My favorite part about their relationship is spoilers, but if you ask me I can tell you.

5. Hitagi Senjougahara (Bakemonogatari) http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk200/itachirhen21/Senjougahara_HitagiBakemonogatari.jpg

Theres not a whole lot I can add about her that the other people who have listed her havent already said. I really enjoy her character development and personality. I like the way she using sexuality to try and completely shock Araragi into submission. Shes the omnidere great character in a great show. YA GO MY EPISODE 12. I also really like the contrast between her Tsubasa, as it really help makes the final arc of the show really cool.

4.Noda Megumi (Nodame Cantabile) http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/3/77145.jpg

Nodame is another of those Konata-esque characters. her mere presence in Nodame Cantabile makes it a thousand times better than it would be without her. This gets made crystal clear in the later seasons where the emphasis on her is lessened and nobody characters get to steal the spotlight from time to time. She is the rare character who is presented as a dirty, filthy, stalker, who is possibly a little nuts who is presented in a positive light.

Nodame is a very gifted pianist who lacks any sort of motivation or drive to pursue music and dreams of being a kindergarten teacher( much like our very own niorapth). Aside from that she is a very heart and soul, warm kind of person, in contrast to Chiakis hyper-efficient, almost mechanical personality making such a great foil for him. Shes really really quirky yelling strange noises, believing in ghosts, designing and wearing a mongoose costume. She is a fun and rather endearing character and every moment she is on the screen is pure gold, either comedically or dramatically, and she can do both without seeming off. a very rare well done in all ways character whose personality I happen to really enjoy.

3. Kenzo Tenma (Monster) http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AMTB4op3MmY/SQy5TTJoOSI/AAAAAAAAAU4/3dvKWrULknE/s400/kenzo-tenma-sniper.jpg

I hate you zea!

Anyway, i like Tenma alot. First of all, in the dub he is voiced gloriously by Liam O'Brien. So even if the show had sucked having liek 70% of the lines delivered by Liam Obrien makes him worthwhile. But oh yes. The actual reasons I like him. He's like a paladin of a man in world that needs a hero. In a world run by corruption and in a scenario where people are promoting the second coming of adolf hitler himself, Tenma has the courage to stand up and oppose him, for no reason other than he feels guilty and feels that it is his duty.

He goes from place to place trying to solve the mystery of the person of Johann and along the way makes some excellent nakama. He and his band of nakama solve the thing, but basically Tenma, despite growing from timid surgeon to world 's greatest hero remains at all times a good man and I really wasn't expecting that. Further, I wasn't expecting to like him for it. Just an excellent dark-ish hero.

2. Jacuzzi Splot (Baccano!) http://wagaa.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/anime-bacc-jacuzzi.jpg

Jacuzzi Splot, is quite frankly better than anyone at being an action star. Our Poor Jacuzzi here is a simple guy, hes a liquor bootlegger and the leader of a gang called the NAKAMA(so instantly you know hes basically the good guy of our story.) If each of the three timelines has a main character, it is Firo in 1930, Jacuzzi in 1931, and ehh, probably Eve or Luck in 1932, but who cares because thats the worst one anyway. While Firo's story is cool and all, Jacuzzi is basically our protagonist for the best plotline ever, the flying *****foot(thanks gfaqs) train disaster.

Anyway Jacuzzi is a pretty extreme crybaby when we are introduced to him. He tries to introduce himself to Isaac and Miria and breaks down in tears out of nervousness. he is also easily spooked by a ghost story and fully buys into it immediately after hearing about the rail tracer. However, his reaction to finding out there was a rail tracer is pretty much what defines him. he ran directly to the conductor's car to find out if there was a way to stop it. Upon figuring out that the two gangs were firing their guns on the train and both were angling to do bad things, he personally decided it was his duty to protect the passengers. He stares down the psychopath Ladd Russo and threatens to take him out when he has the time. He rises so magnificently to the challenge that you half-forget this is the same crybaby you meet early on.

However, what puts Jacuzzi over the top for me, are the few moments he has in the last episode, which are pretty much spoilers, but any fan of the series knows exactly what Im talking about:

SPOILERS:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3325/3256851070_481d27c397.jpg?v=0

Yeah seriously, what a badass. Taking on a guy with a flame thrower. UNARMED. Hes tiny, and has no combat training. Then, not knowing what else to do, he willingly offers himself up to the rail tracer at the end, before being spared just to save his woman. Anyway he is at all times likable, heroic, and just a joy to watch. There is no character in anime that enjoyed watching as much as Jacuzzi Splot.

1. Tortinita "Torta" Fine (Symphonic Rain) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0dLDkvNl4d4/TWTfzt4v4KI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/r8i_svHVDwk/s400/torta+rain.jpg http://img.neoseeker.com/screenshots/R2FtZXMvUEMvUm9sZS1QbGF5aW5nL0ZhbnRhc3k=/symphonic_rain_image10.jpg

Well my favorite genre is romance, so it is only fitting that my favorite character is from a romance/harem VN. Torta is absolutely wonderful. The game begins with Chris in a long distance relationship with her sister, while the two of them are this conservatory together. So she has this interesting dynamic where she is a childhood friend, but shes been edged out by her sister. She is frankly at all times pretty likable and attempts to make her feelings known for Chris over time. She is the long suffering, long-term romantic interest done right and done with a slow play. Unfortunately, the rest of what I have to say about her is spoilers.

SPOILERS*

However it turns out she takes this idea of the "long-suffering love interest" and turns it on its head. See something happened in the past, but basicaly Arietta, the girl Chris thinks he is dating has been in a coma ever since Chris came to the conservatory. In order to keep him from having a total breakdown, she pretends to be Ari, writing letters as her, even "visiting" Chris and learning how to bake bread so she keep up the charade of being ari. Obviously this more or less break her heart as she is in love with chris, and chris is in love with ari, who is also her. All of this you find out in Al Fine mode as you play through the story as Torta, as opposed to chris.

Playing as her is one of the best experiences I've had in fiction. Watching as a person does something so extreme for the sake of love and does it without even hesitating. She sees the moral problems with what she is doing ,but she loves chris too much to stop, no matter how much it hurts her and how much it would kill him to find out the truth. So much romantic drama is built on these stupid "will they/ wont they" or miscommunication plotlines. To see such powerful and emotional romantic drama unfold from the perspective of both players was just fantastic and the kind of thing that moved me so much i lowered a ton of my scores on MAL immediately after finishing.