Top Ten Most Memorable Anime Characters - 2013 Version

I did a post on the Top Ten Most Memorable Anime Characters back in 2009. I've seen a lot of anime since then, so I thought it was time to do a new post covering the anime I've seen since 2009.

Like the first list, this 2013 version is a list of what are the top ten most memorable characters for me, as opposed to a top ten "best" list of some kind (best shonen heroes, etc.). So it's a very eclectic list that reflects what appeals to me or intrigues me personally. The list consists of three creatures, one man masquerading as a creature, two samurai, one gender-ambiguous person, one female and two paranormal warriors.

Oddly, many on the list are from just this past year. It’s been a great twelve months for anime.

10. Kamanosuke/Brave 10

Kamanosuke is possibly the most genuinely gender-ambiguous anime character ever. By the end of the 12-episode series you’re still not quite sure which gender s/he is. S/he’s a violent gang leader who joins Saizo and Sanada’s group, and is the receiver of much speculation throughout the series that s/he’s actually female, though s/he claims to be male.

Kamanosuke’s seiyuu is Motoki Takagi, who appears to be a male. There’s been no sequel to Brave 10, so I guess Kamanosuke’s sex will just have to be left a mystery. ;-)

9. Elizabeth/Gintama

Even if you don’t watch Gintama, you’ve seen Elizabeth (on the left, above) in pictures or merchandise from the series.

Elizabeth is actually a human man under that odd duck-like outfit. In numerous episodes you can see hairy legs peeking out from under his white cover as he walks. The Renho Arc in Season Four reveals Elizabeth’s true identity in Gintama’s take on Star Wars complete with a Renho version of Darth Vader, “Dark Vader.”

Elizabeth has his dramatic moments in Gintama, most notably in the Benizakura Arc. But for me it’s just his completely strange appearance that lingers in my mind (whether I want it to or not XD).

8. Don Valentino/Cuticle Detective Inaba

Don Valentino is an unforgettable villain. A one-foot tall miniature goat, Don tries so hard to be evil, but usually just winds up failing in the funniest ways.

Toru Okawa is Don Valentino’s seiyuu. Okawa usually plays authoritative adult roles like Roy Mustang in the first Fullmetal Alchemist series or Kondo in Hakuouki, but here with Don he gets to chew the scenery left and right. He even sings the deeply dramatic ending song. XD

7. Andy Hinomiya/The Unlimited – Hyobu Kyosuke

Okay, he’s hot. But I swear that’s not the only reason why Andy Hinomiya is on my list. ;)

As I wrote in a recent post on The Unlimited, Andy reminds me of a time when Americans were portrayed as fascinating, unique heroes in popular culture. American men in particular were looked upon by world audiences as being uncomplicated, sincere and manly, from a vast country that had just won World War II that many knew little about but found enthralling.

Andy has that same post-WWII kind of innocence to him, which added to his attractiveness for me, and provided a perfect counterpoint to Kyosuke Hyobu’s cynicism in the story.

6. Kamo Serizawa/Hakuouki Reimeiroku

In Hakuouki Reimeiroku, the prequel series to Hakuouki, the conflict between the Shinsengumi’s first leader Kamo Serizawa and Kondo and Hijikata is played out.

Violent and brutal, Serizawa nonetheless lived by his own samurai code to the very end, to the point of teaching Toshizo Hijikata a thing or two about courage. You may not like Serizawa, but you can never forget him.

5. Sloth (Namakemono)/Polar Bear’s Café

And here we come to the second of our three creatures – the slooow-moving Sloth of Polar Bear’s Café.

Sloth is responsible for some of the funniest and sweetest moments of Polar Bear’s Café. His slooow manner of speech and sleepy, happy-sounding voice are just a joy to listen to. Here’s Sloth singing his part in the Shirokuma Café Song:





If you listen to the full cast singing the song, you can hear Sloth as a vague echo in the background, singing along at half-speed. XD Kudos to seiyuu Kishou Taniyama. It’s literally impossible to think of Sloth without smiling. =D

4. Polar Bear (Shirokuma)/Polar Bear’s Café

And finally for the creatures – Polar Bear from Polar Bear’s Café.

Polar Bear’s Café features animals who live among humans just like humans themselves, with jobs and families and friends, going to karaoke, the summer matsuri and the beach. At the center of Polar Bear’s Café is Polar Bear himself, the café’s genial host.

In some episodes the main focus, in others the silently supporting figure in the background, Polar Bear never fails his friends—and everybody is his friend. His dry humor, love of ridiculous puns and acceptance of animals and humans just as they are—make him not only “human” but actually better than most humans. ;)

3. Aika Fuwa/Blast of Tempest

Blast of Tempest not only had a great story and two strong lead characters in Mahiro Fuwa and Yoshino Takigawa, but two equally strong and impressive female main characters in Hakaze the Mage of Genesis and Aika Fuwa, Mahiro’s adopted sister—and Yoshino’s secret girlfriend.

At the beginning of Blast of Tempest, Aika Fuwa has been deceased for a year, murdered by a person or persons unknown. As the story involves time travel and magic I can’t say too much more about the plot without spoiling things, but Aika is featured prominently toward the end of the series.

I’m seldom captivated by female anime characters. I would like to be, but most of them are weak, stereotypically “girly” and/or uninteresting compared to the male leads. Aika Fuwa is none of those things. She’s amazing—and what’s more—she’s not only strong and fascinating but also deeply feminine and saucy and self-possessed, making world-changing decisions with a shrug and a smile and keeping Mahiro and Yoshino guessing till the very end.

By the end of the series, I wanted to see more of Aika. I would have loved to have seen Blast of Tempest told from her point of view.

2. Kyosuke Hyobu/The Unlimited – Hyobu Kyosuke

I’ve written enthusiastically about The Unlimited and its lead character Kyosuke Hyobu a lot lately, but I have a few additional thoughts.

What makes Kyosuke Hyobu so memorable for me are his relationships, particularly with Andy Hinomiya and with his “queen,” Kaoru. In Andy, Hyobu sees his own innocence as a boy, his trust in his team leader Captain Saotome that was so brutally betrayed. This is why he can forgive Andy’s betrayal and the two become true allies later on. Seeing Andy’s change of heart in a sense heals Hyobu’s old wound and leads to his more humane decisions toward the end of the story.

With Kaoru, whom Hyobu sees as his future Queen in the esper vs. human rebellion, it’s easy to say he’s a loli (when they met, Kaoru was a child – she’s now in junior high) – and maybe he is. ;-) (But not an abuser – he’s keeping his hands off her until she’s an adult.)

Hyobu is not only pinning all his hopes on the prophecy coming true—that he and Kaoru will lead the esper rebellion—but there is a real romance to his waiting long years for Kaoru to come of age, while quietly watching from afar. In traditional romance novels, one trope is where the guardian eventually marries his ward. Those stories aren’t for everybody – I don’t particularly care for them myself – but here it truly works. I can feel Hyobu’s longing for Kaoru and there’s something almost sweet about it. It’s another side of a very complex and fascinating character—Kyosuke Hyobu.

And finally… my number one most memorable anime character…

1. Gintoki Sakata/Gintama

And I’ve written a lot about Gintama as well, and its main character Gintoki. But just a few more thoughts. ;)

In some ways, Gintoki is the typical shonen hero. He’s a samurai, an incredible fighter, has a somewhat dark past and usually a ready physical response for the bad guys.

But he’s also—despite being a team with Kagura and Shinpachi—a loner, someone who assesses situations on his own before acting, again often on his own.

Gintoki is sometimes like Kagura and Shinpachi’s irresponsible big brother and at other times their teacher, always showing by example.

Paradoxically, although he’s a loner, Gintoki has gained a community of loyal friends in Edo, due not only to his forthright courage and fighting abilities but also to that “peculiar charisma” that Tae-chan mentions in the Kintoki Arc. There’s an essence to Gintoki that can’t be possessed by anyone else, even those closest to him. Perhaps it’s that he was an orphan, or that his teacher who was like a father to him died in the war that their side eventually lost. Each of Gintama’s opening credit sequences features a moment where Gintoki stares off in the distance, seeing something only he can see.

In the past four years of anime-watching, Gintoki Sakata is the one character I would never be able to forget.

Top Ten Most Memorable Anime Characters

Initially, I thought to call this my “Top Ten Favorite Characters” list, but then I thought: how does one define one’s “favorite” anything? There are a lot of reasons why certain characters would be my “favorites.” If I did a list of my favorite cute characters in anime, it would include Pikachu, Chi the kitten, Honey-senpai from Ouran, etc. A list of favorite heroes would be okay, but a little boring maybe. And my list of favorite bishonen characters would be a mile long – and pointless – since I doubt any reader of this blog really cares which anime characters I find attractive. ;) Again – the reasons why a character might constitute a “favorite” are many, and so the word feels almost useless to me as a category.

So this list is going to be the ten anime characters that I find most memorable. Some of them are also favorites of mine, but they’re on this list because something about them made me keep thinking about them after watching the series. Where I’ve watched the anime in both Japanese and English, I’ve listed both voice actors, in order of which version I’ve mainly watched.

10. Suzaku Kururugi – Code Geass

Seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai/English Dub Actor: Yuri Lowenthal

Suzaku is by far the least popular of the main characters in Code Geass. Fangirls hate him because he keeps thwarting Lelouch’s plans (even though Lelouch’s plans are usually evil). ;) Suzaku makes mistakes, but he always comes from his conscience and tries to do what he thinks is the right thing. When I was working on the first Code Geass novel, Entrance, I found out that Suzaku killed his father because he was about to assassinate Lelouch and Nunnally. This fact was never made clear in the anime, and I think that omission did a disservice to Suzaku.

What strikes me the most about Suzaku is how horribly alone he is through the entire story of Code Geass. Lelouch has C.C. to confide in, but Suzaku has no one. Suzaku and his lonely quest to do what is right make him the one character that I still think about from the Code Geass universe.

9. Major Motoko Kusanagi – Ghost in the Shell

English Dub Actor: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn/Original Seiyuu: Atsuko Tanaka

I realize she’s a man’s wet dream, and that she basically wears a G-string as part of her everyday work outfit, but I admire Motoko for her freedom. With a woman’s soul in an android’s body, Motoko is what a woman could be – if she had no physical vulnerabilities and was free to be completely, absolutely fearless.

8. Tsunade – Naruto

Seiyuu: Masako Katsuki/English Dub Actor: Debi Mae West

Just when I was beginning to think Masashi Kishimoto had no respect for females whatsoever, Tsunade made her appearance in Naruto. She is one of the legendary fighting ninjas of Konoha, a top medic, and has a punch that can knock down a building. Now fifty years old, she spent many years wandering, playing pachinko and gambling, before returning to Konoha to become the leader of the village.

In anime, where I’ve often found female characters to be a little thin on characterization – Tsunade is a full-blooded character with strengths, faults, joys and regrets. And best of all, she becomes the mentor to Sakura, passing on her medical arts and knockout punch; thus fulfilling her role as elder of the community beautifully.

7. Conrad Weller – Kyo Kara Maoh!

Seiyuu: Toshiyuki Morikawa

He’s the perfect gentleman: handsome, mannered, kind, courtly, protective of his liege – the Maoh – always putting the Maoh’s needs first and defending him with his life. Conrad is on this list, because I’ve never seen a male character who more perfectly embodied what every girl dreamed of at least at some point in her life – and because I am happy to know the ideal man exists somewhere – even if it’s only in animeland. ;)

6. Izuru Kira – Bleach

Seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai

Kira is the Vice Captain of Soul Society’s 3rd Division in Bleach. He is a gloomy young man who usually looks either mildly or moderately depressed.

What makes Kira stand out for me, among all of the characters in the vast universe of Bleach, is his integrity, and his complete lack of enjoyment in what is the main activity of this shonen series: fighting. All of the characters in Bleach either relish fighting or at least take pride in their abilities – except for Kira. Kira is good at fighting: he just doesn’t enjoy it. And there’s a reason behind that. In a recent episode, Kira stated his philosophy: “Fights aren’t supposed to be heroic… fights must be filled with despair. That way people will fear fighting.”

As someone who despairs of fighting, Kira serves as Ichigo Kurosaki’s mirror opposite. If Bleach were a serious drama instead of a shonen adventure story, Izuru Kira would be its hero, and not Ichigo.

5. Akira Touya – Hikaru no Go

Seiyuu: Sanae Kobayashi

He’s a serious, somewhat humorless boy with bad fashion sense and a one-track mind about playing competitive Go. His father is the highest-ranked Go champion in Japan, so he has a lot to live up to. Obsessed with the game, he keeps to himself and has no friends and no outside interests – until Hikaru Shindou beats him in a game – at which point Akira Touya becomes obsessed with discovering the secret of Shindou’s amazing success.

I’ll admit it – one of the joys of Hikaru no Go is watching Touya suffer, because he suffers so beautifully. Every time Shindou pulls another one or does something inexplicable, Touya’s furious and/or confounded reaction is so entertaining that it makes 75 episodes of watching people playing a board game go by like a dream. Touya’s Go-nerd earnestness and bishonen-who-doesn’t-realize-he’s-a-bishonen obliviousness are very endearing. ;)

4. Hakkai Cho - Saiyuki

Seiyuu: Akira Ishida

He’s the pleasant, well-mannered one of the four young men traveling West in Saiyuki. He speaks in a soft voice. Women think he’s nice. He does the cooking and cleaning and takes care of the other three men. Altogether, he seems the most normal of all of them – that is, if you don’t count that: 1) he had a long-term sexual relationship with his sister; 2) when his sister was kidnapped, he killed a thousand youkai (demons) – armed only with a single knife – and hundreds of humans in his own village in order to avenge her, thus; 3) turning into a youkai himself, the thing he hated most, as punishment. He also once gouged out his own eye just to intimidate somebody.

Hakkai is a reminder that anime characters don’t have to be Boy Scouts, but can have amazingly dark backgrounds and still be protagonists. In an American story, Hakkai would be the villain. In Japanese anime, he’s simply another human being – with a past.

3. Gaara - Naruto

Seiyuu: Akira Ishida/English Dub Actor: Liam O’Brien

I wrote extensively about Gaara in my October 15 post. To me, he’s the best example of a villain who redeems himself and goes on to become an authentic hero in his own right.

2. Sasuke Uchiha – Naruto

Seiyuu: Noriaki Sugiyama/English Dub Actor: Yuri Lowenthal

By now, Sasuke has gotten on my last nerve and yours as well, probably. His continuing focus on revenge in Naruto has gone beyond the point where it even makes sense.

But Sasuke remains one of the most compelling and memorable characters in anime. When you consider that he’s been absent from the main storyline for years, it’s a testament to Kishimoto’s writing and art and Noriaki Sugiyama and Yuri Lowenthal’s excellent voice portrayals that we still can’t forget Sasuke. And that when Naruto gets that look in his eye when he misses Sasuke, we believe him. Because – against all reason – we miss him, too.

1. Nobutsuna Naoe - Mirage of Blaze

Seiyuu: Sho Hayami/English Dub Actor: Jamieson Price aka James Lyon

When I first came across Mirage of Blaze, I was a longtime slash fan and curious new viewer of anime. I hadn’t heard the terms “shonen-ai” or “yaoi” yet and was completely unprepared for what I was about to see.

I wasn’t expecting to see a series about two men reincarnating multiple times and having a twisted obsession with each other for 400 years. Having only seen anime where the characters were cute and had big eyes and silly things happened, I wasn’t expecting to see realistically-drawn men and serious drama involving samurai and Japanese history and the paranormal. Since then, I’ve seen other series that contained similar elements, but nothing can match my experience of seeing it for the first time.

Naoe has been victor and victim, a hero, a rapist, a redeemer of souls, and a lost soul himself. (I guess you can cover a lot of ground in 400 years. ;)) The scene in the boat where Naoe embraces Takaya’s lifeless body, agonizing over whether to bring him back to life or to die with him forever, was one of those moments when time seemed to stop around me and I realized that I had come upon something that I couldn’t ignore. In that moment, I could not turn away from the screen.

That moment has lasted four years and counting. If anything, my addiction to anime and manga has only grown stronger as time has passed; and it all began with Mirage of Blaze and its terrible, beautiful antihero – Nobutsuna Naoe.