Top 13 Anime Women

Hello again. Well, it's time for another top 13 list. What will it be on this time? Well, I think it's high time I honor the women of anime. These are the ladies that helped make each viewing possible.
So, without further ado, here's the Top 13 Anime Women.

13. Rika Nonaka (Digimon Tamers)

Rika was definitely a departure from the typical female Digidestined. While Sora and Kari were optimists and Mimi was a lovable ditz, Rika was a pure cynic that didn't see the connection between caring for your Digimon and their growth. As Digimon Tamers went on, however, her experiences with Takato and Henry helped her understand that Digimon are more than just data; and they truly do have feelings. Regarding why I'm using her to open the list, though? I plan to include women like her to prove that beauty isn't everything, and I like female characters with flaws as well as strengths.

12. Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)

I decided to buck the trend of how other Bleach fans choose their favorite female characters. I just felt that Matsumoto had more in the way of cleavage than she did in fighting ability, Kukaku looked like a tramp, and even though Orihime is pretty; she didn't have much in the way of character. That's where Rukia comes in. From the moment she climbed up to Ichigo's window, she proved what kind of character she was going to be. Rukia wastes no time in telling Ichigo that she's just doing her job, protecting the world from Hollows (represented by doodles of bunny rabbits). Even as she's forced to relinquish her powers to Ichigo, she retains the same no-nonsense attitude about fighting throughout her time with Ichigo. That's good enough to get her the #12 spot on my list.

11. Trixie (Speed Racer)

Speed Racer is one of the few anime that seems to be common knowledge among people, and Trixie is right at the forefront of that. She was never far behind Speed in her chopper in races, sometimes even fighting alongside him. In the 2008 film adaptation by the Wachowskis, she even helps drive one of the cars on his team when a teammate is poisoned. She is one of the finest women that Tatsunoko Production put on celluloid.

10. Lisa Hayes (Robotech: The Macross Saga)

Lisa Hayes is a grand working girl in the military in the world of Super Dimension Fortress Macross; which was adapted into Robotech: The Macross Saga. Being ever-supportive of Rick Hunter, as well as showing initiative in the SDF-1 and the war against the Zentraedi, Hayes is one of the strongest women in anime; and again, she was a product of Tatsunoko Production.

9. Kaname Chidori (Full Metal Panic)

Kaname is not your typical female lead. Assigned to the protection of male lead Sosuke Sagara, she is none too thrilled about each school day being filled with Sosuke bringing guns and explosives about to settle each conflict. That said, she's one of the few high school students I know that will stand up and slap a man whose pockets are full of automatic weapons. Kaname is audacious and honest, and honestly wants the best for Sosuke even though she doesn't always agree with him.

8. Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)

A young woman in training to be a Death Meister at the DMWA, Maka is yet another woman that portrays a no-nonsense attitude in dealing with her targets and peers. She will bluntly hit them with a textbook for acting stupid; and is a woman that rarely needs rescuing. Even the upskirt shots of her that were prevalent in the manga were cut from the anime. That is a true statement to how fanservice can be successfully eschewed in favor of making the character herself better.



7. Lynn (Spirited Away)

Spirited Away was the movie that cemented my liking for anime, and encouraged me to check out the Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli catalog of films. Chihiro goes through a transformation from a whiny brat to a well-behaved young girl over the course of the movie, and being put in the care of Lynn helped make that happen. A worker at the bathhouse that much of the film takes place at, Lynn is another woman that takes very little from others; and encourages Chihiro to help pick herself up and find the courage to grow as she works at the bathhouse. Lynn is gruff, but caring and motivated in her duties and her dealings with her peers.

6. Panty Anarchy and Stocking Anarchy (Tie) (Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt)

I've talked about many strong women on this list so far, now I shall start on women that are strong AND sexy. I've mentioned before that I've had a huge appreciation for the strides Studio Gainax made in anime; and nowhere is that more apparent than with Panty and Stocking. Modeled after heroines of the Genndy Tartakovsky/Craig McCracken/Man of Action cartoons of the early-to-mid-2000s; Panty and Stocking are not your typical heroines. Panty loves men, Stocking loves sweets, and both have incredibly foul mouths and nasty hits. With their enchanted garments in hand, they start taking out Ghosts like nobody's business; and are very pretty for such simple character designs.

5. Misty (Pokémon)

Misty was one of the first anime girls, if not THE first anime girl I was attracted to when I was younger. A water Pokémon specialist and gym leader, she has a very straightforward way of dealing with people and Pokémon. She is quite tomboyish, readily getting into battles and arguments with other female trainers; but she is quite capable of being a lady when she wants to, dressing up for festivals and formal events with ease. She spends much of the original series trying to earn her sisters' respect, finally doing so at the end of it; getting promoted to a full gym leader. In the games, she also gets a redesign with a one-piece swimsuit and her hair down (but still resembling her original hairdo). Misty is the ideal woman to start off the top 5.


4. Clare (Claymore)

I just started this anime about a month ago, and I'm already impressed with what Clare has shown she can do. She shows grand fighting prowess against the Yoma as a Claymore; easily laying waste to them. I may only be 5 episodes in, but I'm looking forward to what else she can do.

3. Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Of the two main women of Evangelion, I chose Rei instead of Asuka like most people. While Asuka is the obvious choice, I just felt more sympathy for Rei with her being experimented on as a pilot for the EVA units. She needs to be loved a lot more, and I plan do so as I go through Evangelion (I plan to finish the original 26 episodes and watch End of Evangelion).

2. Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga (Azumanga Daioh)

Osaka is by far the strangest anime girl I've put on this list, and for good reason. Her real name being Ayumu Kasuga, resident jerk girl Tomo took to calling her by her hometown of Osaka, and the name just stuck (to the point of the school's bureaucracy listing her by her nickname). She is a definite cloudcuckoolander, with her words and actions having little basis in the real world. Over the course of the series from her introduction onward; she has some of the most bizarre and hilarious actions ever put in an anime. She ends up attempting to do weather fortune telling with her shoe and loses it on top of a truck, tries to wake up everyone at Chiyo's summer home with pots and pans and grabs a knife instead, goes swimming for gym class and deduces she has to drown in order to learn to float (as corpses float), and ends up having one of the strangest visions ever put into an anime. She is the strangest girl to make this list.

1. Yoko Littner (Gurren Lagann)

Now, I present my top choice for anime women, Yoko Littner. Misty was the type of girl I was attracted to at age 9, and Yoko was the one I was attracted to at age 19. While I'm not sure of the practicality of her outfit is in a future where much of humanity has been forced underground (a flame-pattern bikini top, tight shorts, stockings and boots); the gesture is very much appreciated. Yoko is not just a pretty girl, she is also the strongest female character I've seen. Always having a firm grip on the situation and her enormous assault rifle. Never needing to be rescued (in fact, she's often the one doing the rescuing). Helping others of Team Gurren/Team Dai-Gurren get their head in the game; whether it's against the Beastmen or the Anti-Spiral. Even after the timeskip in the second part of the series, she's still a force to be reckoned with. With all this, she is my favorite anime woman, and she will be for a very long time.

So, there's my top 13 anime women. As for what I want to do for my next recap, I think I'll do the fourth episode of Gurren Lagann. As in, the one that was drawn in a rougher art style due to the episode having a different lead animator. I also have another piece or two of anime news to share that I will before I start writing that recap. Also, I've gotten through a good chunk of Haruhi Suzumiya, and I'm still not seeing why everyone values it so highly. On the other hand, Bobo-Bo is by far the most weird and wonderful show I've seen in a long time; and I love it for that. I'm thinking about starting Hell Girl; and I'm also looking for old episodes of Hamtaro (which has not been easy, as of the 296 episodes, only 104 got dubbed, and only 9 got released on VHS and DVD). After that, I will get through more of the series I said I was going to do this year. See you space cowboy.