Tag: Polls

Who is the most heroic character in anime? Vote in the poll at right. There was a tie for tenth place in the second round, so there are 21 finalists.

Ashitaka, Balsa, Simon, Kenshin Himura, Homura Akemi, Meia Gisbourne, Allen Schezar, Alphonse Elric, Rem Saverem and Hikaru Ichijyo advance to the final round. Round two is up now. Who of the twenty-two gallant candidates in the poll at right is the most heroic? Vote for up to three. (If you have trouble voting, please mention it in a comment.)

Lucy/Nyuu is the scariest girl in anime, followed by Rena Ryuugu, Nanami Yasuri and Enma Ai. I haven’t see Elfen Lied or Higurashi, but if Lucy and Rena are more frightening than Nanami, they must be terrifying indeed. Despite her strong showing in the preliminary rounds, Kirika Yuumera received a single vote in the finals; apparently, lethal though she is, she is too sympathetic a character to be truly scary.

There are 45 nominees for the most heroic character in anime. I will run two preliminary rounds. The top ten in each round will advance to the finals. You can vote for up to three candidates in the preliminaries.

These are the nominees:
Aika Sumeragi(Agent Aika)
Allen Schezar (Vision of Escaflowne)
Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke)
Astroboy (Astroboy)
Azuma Tetsuya (Casshan)
Balsa (Seirei no Moribito)
Captain Harlock (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)
Eboshi Gozen (Princess Mononoke)
Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Hajime Murata (Shingu)
Hikaru Ichijyo (Macross/Robotech)
Homura Akemi (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)
Hotohori (Fushigi Yuugi)
Jack Hofner (L/R: Licensed by Royalty)
James Links (Zone of the Enders)
Joe Yabuki (Ashita no Joe)
Juuzo Okida (Space Battleship Yamoto)
Kenshin Himura (Samurai X; Rurouni Kenshin)
Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)
Masane Amaha (Witchblade)
Meia Gisbourne (Vandread)
Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
Nausicäa (Nausicäa)
Rem Saverem (Trigun)
Robin Sena (Witch Hunter Robin)
Rowe Rickenbacher (L/R: Licensed by Royalty)
Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakukra)
Sakura Shinguji (Sakura Taisen)
Sayaka Yume (Mazinger Z)
Shizuru Fujimura (Godannar)
Simon (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)
Son Goku (Dragonball)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Susumu Kodai (Space Battleship Yamoto)
Togusa (Ghost in the Shell)
Tokine Yukimora (Kekkashi)
Vash the Stampede (Trigun)
Wenli Yang (Legend of Galactic Heroes)
Yakuta (Outlaw Star)
Yoko (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)
Yomiko Readman (Read or Die OVA)
Yoshika Miyafuji (Strike Witches)
Yoshimori Sumumura (Kekkaishi)
Yuki Mori (Space Battleship Yamoto)

Update: If you are one of the four people who voted earlier and could only vote for one candidate, let me know who the others you wanted to vote for are, and I’ll update the totals accordingly. 

There are a couple of problematic nominations for the “anime hero” poll.

• Samurai Jack was created in America by the same guy who concocted Dexter’s Laboratory. Does Jack truly count as an anime character?

• Robotech was assembled in America from pieces of three separate Japanese series. “Rick Hunter” is the Macek-ization of Macross‘ Hikaru Ichijyo. Should Hunter be included in the poll, or Ichijyo, or neither?

Here are the nominees so far for my upcoming “most heroic character in anime” poll:

Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Homura Akemi (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)
Kenshin Himura (Samurai X; Rurouni Kenshin)
Masane Amaha (Witchblade)
Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
Nausicäa (Nausicäa)
Robin Sena (Witch Hunter Robin)
Simon (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
Son Goku (Dragonball)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Togusa (Ghost in the Shell)
Yakuta (Outlaw Star?) ((The only character by this name I found was in episode eight of Outlaw Star, which I haven’t seen. Is that the one, or is there someone else?))
Yoshika Miyafuji (Strike Witches 2)

And that’s it. Just fourteen. Note that in previous polls there were 27 villains nominated, 31 scary girls, and almost 60 babes. Surely there are more gallant characters in anime than this.

Here are a few more names to consider:

Balsa
Gourry Gabriev
Priss Asagiri
Ayumu Aikawa
Pretty Sammy
Giroro

Addendum: Shep, from Interstella 5555

Would someone care to second any of these? Who else should be nominated? If I don’t get more names, I’m going to include Sailor Moon and Mao-chan in the poll.

We’ve established through impeccable scientific means that Shinji Ikari is the most annoying character in anime and Light Yagami is the best villain. Current studies indicate that Lucy/Nyuu is probably the scariest girl. It’s time for a more inspirational poll. Who is the most heroic character in anime? Please post your nominations in a comment to this post. You can nominate more than one character, but don’t get carried away. Update: please mention the show the character is from; there’s a lot I haven’t seen, and I probably won’t recognize every name.

Note that “hero” and “jackass” are not mutually-exclusive terms. Few fictional characters exhibit such manly strength as Kamina, and fewer still are such damned fools.

Which of these charming young women is the most terrifying? Please vote in the poll at right. There was a tie for fifth place in the second round, so we have eleven finalists.

Continue reading “Who is the scariest girl in anime?”

Which series will first be licensed for region one DVD: Fractale, Mahou Shoujo Madoka?Magica or Rio – Rainbow Gate!? (Haven’t been watching Rio? Neither have I, but Wonderduck has. You can share his pain here, here, here, here and here.)

Update: And the winner is Fractale. I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t Rio, but bleah.

I ended up with 31 nominees for the title of “scariest girl in anime.” There will be two preliminary rounds, in which you can vote for three. The top five in each round will advance to the finals.

Here is the list of candidates:

Bernkastel (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
Chloe (Noir)
Diva (Blood+)
Dokuro-chan (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan)
Eda (Black Lagoon)
Enma Ai (Hell Girl)
Eva-Beatrice (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
Gretel (Black Lagoon)
Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Hitagi Senjougahara (Bakemonogatari)
Kaede Fuyou (Shuffle)
Kirika Yumura (Noir)
Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain)
LamdaDelta (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
Lucy/Nyu (Elfen Lied)
Maria Ushiromiya (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
Miyabi Aizawa (Great Teacher Onizuka)
Miyu (Vampire Princess Miyu)
Mylanndah Arkar Walder (Battle Athletes)
Nanami Yasuri (Katanagatari)
Punie Tanaka (Magical Witch Punie-chan)
Rena Ry?g? (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
Revy (Black Lagoon)
Rico (Gunslinger Girl)
Road Kamelot (D. Grey Man)
Ryoko Asakura (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Satomi Ozawa (Shadow Star Narutaru)
Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
Tiriel (Shakugan no Shana)
Urumi Kanzaki (Great Teacher Onizuka)
Yomi Isayama (Ga-Rei Zero)

If there is someone missing whom you think should absolutely be on the list, mention her in a comment. I might be able to squeeze one or two more candidates into the second round.

*****

To nobody’s surprise, Cowboy Bebop placed first in the “best opening” poll, and Baccano did very well also. What I didn’t expect was Lucky Star‘s strong showing. I doubted that it would even make the finals, but for a while it looked like it would overtake Cowboy Bebop.

Here are the final standings:

Cowboy Bebop (23.0%)
Lucky Star (17.0%)
Baccano! (12.0%)
Haibane Renmei (12.0%)
Paranoia Agent (9.0%)
Higurashi No Naka Koro Ni (9.0%)
Last Exile (9.0%)
Serial Experiments Lain (4.0%)
Noir (3.0%)
Toradora (3.0%)