Zoopraxiscope

Here are the nominations:

Akane (Ranma 1/2)
Alpha (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou)
Amuro Ninagawa (Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho)
Arai Chie (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
Atsuko Chiba (Paprika)
Balsa (Seirei no Moribito)
Eineus (Macademi Wasshoi)
Falis (aka Alita) (Murder Princess)
Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
Ginrei Von Vogler (Giant Robo)

Grand Duchess Laetitia (Tytania)
Grandis Granva (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)
Haruka Urashima (Love Hina)
Horo (Spice & Wolf)
Ifurita (El Hazard)
Kan’u Unchou (Ikki Tousen)
Kei (Dirty Pair)
Kyoko Otanashi (Maison Ikkoku)
Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke)
Lafiel (Crest/Banner of the Stars)

Lexshue (Crest/Banner of the Stars)
Lina Inverse (Slayers)
Lum (Urusei Yatsura)
Luxandra (Divergence Eve/Misaki Chronicles)
Lyar Von Ertiana (Divergence Eve/Misaki Chronicles)
Madoka Ayukawa (Kimagure Orange Road)
Mai Kawasumi (Kanon 2006)
Meia Gisborn (Vandread)
Mikuru Asahina (adult version) (Haruhi Suzumiya)
Mio Sakamoto (Strike Witches)

Misato Katsuragi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Mitsune Konno (Love Hina)
Musubi (Sekirei)
Rena Sayers (Mai Otome Zero)
Mutsumi Otohime (Love Hina)
Naomi Armitage (Armitage the Third: Poly Matrix)
Nausicaä (Nausicaä)
Pirotess (Record of Lodoss War)
Priss Asagiri (Bubblegum Crisis OVA)
Rin Tosaka (Fate Stay Night)

Roberta (Black Lagoon)
Rushuna Tendo (Grenadier)
Ryoko (Tenchi Muyo OVA)
Ryoko Yakushiji (Yakushiji Ryokou no Kaiki Jikenbo)
Ryomou Shimei (Ikki Tousen)
Sachiko Ogasawara (Maria-sama ga Miteru)
Sayaka Yumi (Mazinger Z)
Setsuna (Shingu)
Shampoo (Ranma 1/2)
Sharon Apple (Macross Plus)

Spoor (Crest/Banner of the Stars)
Teletha Testarossa (Full Metal Panic)
Tsuruko Aoyama (Love Hina)
Urd (Ah! My Goddess TV)
Yoko (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)
Yomiko Readman (Read or Die)
Youko Mizuno (Maria-sama ga Miteru)
Yuki Mori (Nova Forrester) (Space Cruiser Yamato (Starblazers))
Yuri (Dirty Pair)

That’s 59 altogether. I’ll run three rounds of 19, 20 and 20, and the seven top finishers in each round will go on to the final round of 21.

If I wait until I have pictures of every candidates, it will be next year before I start the poll. Therefore, I’m beginning the first round tonight, and I’ll post the pictures when I have them all.

I have a some questions about the candidates in the remaining rounds. First, I am informed that Yoko is 14 at the beginning of Gurren-Lagann. Does she remain 14 through the series, or does she reach an eligible age? And how old is Akane in Ranma 1/2? And Shampoo? Also, there are four nominations from Love Hina. I have no problem with the three from Crest of the Stars because that was an exceptional series, but I am skeptical that there are four worthy babes in LH. Do all four deserve nominations, and if not, who does?

I’m allowing Horo even though she has the human form of a 15-year-old. I figure that her centuries as a wolf goddess count for at least one additional year.

You can vote for up to three candidates in each round.

Addendum: Oh, yeah, about the previous poll: I had expected that Neon Genesis Evangelion would win easily, and it did take an early lead. However, Naruto soon caught up and eventually won the title “most overrated anime,” 35% to 31%. Bleach was a distant third at 15%, followed by The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann and ef: a tale of memories. A total of 199 votes were cast.

Congratulations to Pete, who submitted the 500th comment to The Kawaii Menace.

For those keeping track: the first vote cast in the new poll was for Kan’u Unchou.

Update: Has anyone besides Ubu had trouble voting for more than one? If so, then please either list the other candidates you would have voted for in a comment or send me an email (tancos [at] tancos (dot) net; be sure to include the word “poll” in the heading so I don’t delete it as spam), and I’ll make adjustments.

Update II: I made a change to the template (which should have not been necessary, grrr), and you should be able to vote for multiple candidates now. If it still doesn’t work, let me know, and I’ll bang my head against the wall some more. (If you’ve already voted for one, want to vote for one or two more candidates, and haven’t mentioned them in the comments here, feel free to visit here with a different browser and vote for the others. Given the circumstances, I won’t regard it as cheating.)

Here are the ladies nominated in the comments so far:

Rushuna Tendo (Grenadier)
Meia Gisborn (Vandread)
Setsuna (Shingu)
Kan’u Unchou (Ikki Tousen)
Grand Duchess Laetitia (Tytania)
Urd (Ah! My Goddess TV)
Madoka Ayukawa (Kimagure Orange Road)
Yoko (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)
Balsa (Seirei no Moribito)
Ryoko Yakushiji (Yakushiji Ryokou no Kaiki Jikenbo)
Falis aka Alita (Murder Princess)
Arai Chie (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
Lafiel (Crest/Banner of the Stars)
Lexshue (Crest/Banner of the Stars)
Spoor (Crest/Banner of the Stars)
Mio Sakamoto (Strike Witches)
Horo (Spice & Wolf)
Amuro Ninagawa (Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho)
Lyar Von Ertiana (Divergence Eve/Misaki Chronicles)
Luxandra (Divergence Eve/Misaki Chronicles)
Ryomou Shimei (Ikki Tousen)
Mai Kawasumi (Kanon 2006)
Rin Tosaka (Fate Stay Night)
Naomi Armitage (Armitage the Third: Poly Matrix)
Ryoko (Tenchi Muyo OVA)
Teletha Testarossa (Full Metal Panic)

To these, let’s add the Brickmuppet’s list:

Roberta (Black Lagoon)
Yomiko Readman (Read or Die)
Yuki Mori/Nova Forrester (Space Cruiser Yamato (Starblazers))
Sayaka Yumi (Mazinger Z)
Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke)
Nausicaä (Nausicaä)
Kyoko Otanashi (Maison Ikkoku)

And a couple more from Arson55’s:

Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Lina Inverse (Slayers)

Finally, let’s let most of the rest of the previous top ten have another chance: ((Sailor Venus is underage, and kinda flaky, too))

Sharon Apple (Macross Plus)
Priss Asagiri (Bubblegum Crisis OVA)
Grandis Granva (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)
Pirotess (Record of Lodoss War)
Ifurita (El Hazard)
Misato Katsuragi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Ginrei Von Vogler (Giant Robo)
Lum (Urusei Yatsura)

And a few of the runners-up:

Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
Shampoo (Ranma 1/2)
Kei and Yuri (Dirty Pair)

That gives us 47 candidates, if I counted right. Most of the ladies I had in mind have been nominated, but let me toss out a few more names to consider:

Sora (Oh! Edo Rocket)
Kirika Yumera (Noir)
Eineus (Macademi Wasshoi)
Rue (Princess Tutu)
Alpha (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou)
Chane Laforet (Baccano!)
Nice Holystone (Baccano!)
Atsuko Chiba (Paprika)

What I think I’ll do is run three rounds of about 17 or 18 candidates each, and then a final round with the top seven from each of the preliminaries. I’ll probably start the polling this weekend after I locate pictures of all the candidates. Until then, nominations are still open. If there is a worthy babe not listed above, please mention her in the comments.

Thank you, everyone who responded, and thanks again, all you who included links to pictures.

Oh, yeah — Rei Ayanami is not eligible for three reasons. 1. She has no “attitude.” 2. She’s underage. 3. She creeps me out.

Update: By all means keep the nominations coming in. And please do point out those who are under sixteen; it’s not always easy to tell. Utena, for instance, seems much more mature than fourteen, and Gurren-Lagann‘s Yoko doesn’t exactly have a fourteen-year-old’s figure.

The classic list of anime babes is a bit outdated. I think the most recent woman mentioned there is Faye Valentine. There’s no mention of such memorable characters as Lyar Von Ertiana from Divergence Eve/Misaki Chronicles, or Lafiel and Lexshue from Crest/Banner of the Stars, or Yoko from Gurren-Lagann. Therefore, my next poll will be of babes in anime.

I could use a little help here. I’ve watched a lot of anime, but there’s much more that I haven’t seen. I’ve undoubtedly missed some of the more distinctive women. So, who do you think is the outstanding anime babe of all time?

A few rules:

• She must be at least sixteen years old.

• She doesn’t necessarily have to be human, but she must be unequivocally female. I.e., no traps. Sora from Oh! Edo Rocket would be worth considering, but not Genzou. (Reverse traps, e.g., Sailor Uranus out of uniform, are acceptable.)

• She must an anime character. Women who are primarily known as video game characters or appear only in manga are not eligible.

Please leave your nomination in a comment. Be sure to mention what anime the character is from. ((Please be precise;, e.g., do you mean Priss from the original Bubblegum Crisis or from Bubblegum Crisis 2040?)) It would be helpful if you could include a link to a good quality, safe-for-work picture of the lady. You can nominate more than one babe, but please don’t get carried away. Thank you.

Addendum: Steven inquires about the criteria for babe-ness. Cute, sexy, competent and intelligent are all desirable characteristics, so I would say “all around.” But really, do I have to define what a “babe” is? ((“A female from the anime universe who possesses great beauty, a marvelous attitude, and the ability to act upon her desires to acquire that which she wants most (whatever that may be).”)) Here are the original rules, which might might clarify things.

Rule Number One: She must be made out of pencil and paint [or pixels —ed.]. No flesh and blood girls here.

Rule Number Two: She must be attractive and not merely “cute” (meaning the judges decide what is “hot beauty” and what is simply “kawaii”) (so according to the judges all “Noriko Takayas” are out). While this may be open to interpretation by you, the viewers, the judges’ decisions are final.

Rule Number Three: The contestants’ taste in men has no relevance on them being considered an “Anime Babe”. Since all anime girls are doomed to love total geeks or other social outcasts, the subject of boyfriends has no bearing on the judges’ final decisions (especially because most of the judges are social misfits too).

Rule Number Four: There must be more to an “Anime Babe” than just looks. She must have “attitude” and the “ability to achieve and maintain” all that her attitude alludes to (don’t ask). Not one or the other (so no Rei Ayanami’s).

Yes, let’s make it official. Rei Ayanami is no babe.

And, yes, you can nominate Rushuna.

Clarification: the original list is not mine.

*****

In the current poll, after several weeks of being neck-and-neck, Naruto has pulled ahead of Neon Genesis Evangelion by five points. I’m a little surprised; I had figured that Evangelion would be an easy winner.