I'm actually surprised I haven't reviewed this, let's fix that.
Kae Serinuma is an overweight otaku obsessed with Yaoi, the sight of two men together excites her, but one night while watching her favourite anime, her favourite character is seemingly killed off, the devastation causes her to lock herself in her room for a week, refusing to eat or even move from her bed sheets. After her family finally get her to move she discovers that her body has shredded all it's weight making her look very attractive in the process, with her natural kindness and slimmer build, Kae quickly becomes the most popular girl in school attracting a harem of male students along with one female student, Kae's dilemma is only just beginning.
My standard rule of harems is always on the characters, here's how they rate.
Kae Serinuma - hilarious, kind and always fun to watch, she has way more personality than many other characters like her.
Yusuke Igarashi - Soccer club player who has a very plain nice guy personality, easily forgettable.
Nozomu Nanashima - A bad boy who is a bit of an ass hole, he resembles Kae's favourite character and was gay in another of author Junko's works.
Hayato Shinomiya - A tsundere who hates being treated like a girl for his less than masculine appearance, is also gay in another of author Junko's works.
Asuma Mutsumi - The only character who was already friends with Kae being in the same club and didn't change the way he spoke to Kae when she loses weight.
Shima Nishina - A fellow Otaku also obsessed with Yaoi who knew of Kae's interests through various connections.
Looking at that line up, there is one obvious candidate who is going to be picked which is Asuma, the other males lacking the personalities to hold any clout, this becomes more obvious when Shima joins the harem making it more and more obvious that Kae only sees the other males as yaoi bait, it's a nice twist to the formula that makes Kae an infinitely better harem protagonist than most of her peers.
While the anime does cop out of coming to a solid conclusion it never takes Kae out of character to do it.
Dub is fine but the sub is infinitely more expressive and funnier especially Kae's reaction to the weight loss in episode 1.
Final Verdict: A solid harem anime that takes advantage of it's bland male characters to avoid falling into the genre's obvious pitfalls.
So characters you point to and say, that's so relatable, whether it be life luck or just embodying certain traits you share, it's in these characters.
10. Ryoga Hibiki from Ranma 1/2
Ryoga can never catch a break, he's eternally the unluckiest character in Ranma 1/2 either constantly being turned into a little pig at the worse time or his horrid sense of direction sending him on an unintentional world tour.
Weeks of constantly being unlucky is something very easy to relate to and Ryoga is the one who embodies it.
9. Ruri Hoshino from Nadesico
There are plenty of characters who fit the bill of smartest person in the room but the majority are ass holes, Ruri isn't one of those, in fact she just wants to do her job in peace without idiots constantly annoying her, something my job never stops being at times.
8. Miss Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
Kobayashi is the adult protagonist for the adult viewer, she plays the role of the straight woman so well it's hard not to put yourself in her position.
7. Saitama from One Punch Man
Eternally bored after becoming the most powerful being in the series, Saitama when not fighting lives a fairly normal single persons life, everything from just keeping an apartment running to this below.
6. Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara
You try and do a job but you get constantly pissed off by the presence of ass holes who always want to provoke, every punch from Shizuo is oh so satisfying.
5. Harima Kenji from School Rumble
The struggle to confess to the girl you like, the struggle to become a writer, the struggle to shake off a troubled reputation, Harima Kenji can't catch a break but we all root for him to succeed.
4. Nenene Sumerigawa from Read or Die
My dream was to always be a writer but even when trying for so long, I can easily channel Nenene of being soooo done with everything especially in a world surrounded by extraordinary people who make you feel more empty inside.
3. Ryo Kurakiba from Shokugeki no Soma
Ryo is two personalities, fiery when he's invested, tired and unmotivated when he's not, my mind can fire on all cylinders but after a long period of social interaction and trying, I just want to lie about for the next day.
2. Shikamaru Nara from Naruto
Shikamaru embodies the type of mantra that should be the most basic wants and needs of men. A reasonable job, a solid married life and a chilled existence is what Shikamaru always wanted and he's smart enough to achieve that on his own.
1. Kiyone Makibi from Tenchi Muyo
Everyone has been in this position at least once, you are stuck with that one particular friend who is to put it nicely stupid and said stupidity is the reason why you aren't progressing in your life, add another batch of chaos from the rest of the cast and you get Kiyone, someone who just wants to succeed but never can, the rare moments she does succeed, can be such a special moment of happiness that you grasp in your hands and keep for a long time.
Okay, I don't remember if I ever did this kind of list but it's been long over due, so time for worst female anime characters, yes there is a male characters list it's just ten times longer and harder to shorten into a top ten.
Updated: Tomo Takino from Azumanga Daioh is now forgiven in favour of a much worst character.
25. Kirino Kosaka from Oreimo
Do I really need to give a reason? But for those who didn't see it lets just say she's pretty much patient zero of the little sister craze and gives otaku a bad name.
24. Nina Einstein from Code Geass
She makes me really uncomfortable, she's a racist with unstable emotions, capable of building nuclear weapons and her unhealthy obsession led to her pleasuring herself with a table.
23. Honoka Kousaka from Love Live
She is no different to about 50 other female protagonists and yet I fail to grasp her popularity.
22. Kohana Aigasaki from Magic Kyun Renaissance
Kohana is proof that not even female harem protagonists work, her problem is she's just a wilting flower ready to faint, I even call her anti feminist just for how weak a female she is.
21. Flay Allster from Gundam Seed
Turned against her boyfriend using emotional manipulation to bed Kira Yamato, while alot of this can be pinned down to loss of her father there's only so much you can get away with.
20. Petralka Eldant III from Outbreak Company
What is it with bratty monarchs? No where near as bad as Louise but in her case her voice was ten times worse rather than her actual actions.
19. Sarah McDougal from Love Hina
The series was worse for her appearance as she contributed nothing to the plot other than a distraction.
18. Kodachi Kuno from Ranma 1/2
Speaking of contributing nothing, Kodachi was the weakest for personality among the cast of females who were after Ranma, an extra character no one really asked for especially when her brother was a better show stealer.
17. Sakura from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Oh Clamp what did you do? You turned one of the best female characters in Anime history into a boring princess who can't do anything, plot or not, she derserved better than this.
16. Miyabi Aizawa from Great Teacher Onizuka
This is the case of manga vs anime for this character, she leads the crusade against all teachers in her class, pushing away anyone who fails her all because one teacher wouldn't notice her, the anime version is a bit more complicated but either way her actions as a bully are unforgivable, particularly when all the teachers before Onizuka were just trying to do their job and didn't deserve to be driven out.
15. Mizuki Takase from Comic Party
Anyone who knows my works knows how much I hate Comic Party and it's because of this character.
14. Haruhi Suzumiya from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Same reason as Tomo but way more annoying, I even wonder how the others put up with her.
13. Female Maze from Maze the Megaburst Space
She is basically gender swap Shinji Ikari. Even dresses like him.
12. Zazie Rainyday from Negima
She did absolutely nothing for 90% of the franchise and when she does do something it's not clear that it's even her, she speaks less lines than a monster of the week on Sailor Moon and finally, her role could've been done by a better character. What a waste.
11. Inaho Hitomebore from Master of Mosquiton
Annoying voice, annoyingly selfish, treats her beloved vampire like a slave and incapable of ever being liked by anyone, I'm glad she never gets a happy ending.
10. Reccoa Londe from Zeta Gundam
She joined the Titans by choice, who does that? Then she gassed and killed an entire colony. Then she dies blaming men for her bad choices. You are making worst Gundam characters look noble.
9. Yasuna Oribe from Kill Me Baby
She's that irritating friend who keeps annoying you to the point of snapping, the only reason she's not higher is because she gets what she deserves whenever her friend Sonya does snap.
8. Charlotte LinLin from One Piece
Big Mom is a terrible villain, in a series where the biggest villains can change the world in one battle, Big Mom is just a glorified psychopath with practically no respect for her ridiculous family and were supposed to judge her on the same level as Whitebeard.
7. Isanami from Brave 10
Probably the most pathetic female character to ever come out of a shounen anime in my entire reviewing career. She's pandering, she's a coward, she's useless, she can't do anything without Saizo and when she does do something, she goes all wilting flower and woobie on us. Just terrible.
6. Louise from Familiar of Zero
Worst tsundere ever, it's bad enough she smacks around Saito for the littlest hiccup but justifies it by using her nobility status saying that Saito is less than human to her, the only reason she's not higher is because Saito is dumb enough to still fall for her.
5. Kaede Sakura from Kampfer
She drove the entire plot of Kampfer by turning Natsuru into a girl, yet thinks boy Natsuru loves girl Natsuru. Lets not forget her horrible taste in stuffed animals and the fact that her villain reveal just destroys any dignity the show had.
4. Ringo Oginome from Mawaru Penguindrum
Falls in love with her older sister's former lover who is also her teacher in an insane plot that thinks that by doing this her family will come back together going as far as drugging and attempting to rape him and all she can say is crap about Destiny!
3. Malty Melromarc from Rising of the Shield Hero
My inspiration for this list, in the first episode she robs the main character of everything and gets him falsely accused of rape and still spends more of the series continuously tormenting him and yet this is considered a point of controversy in the anime community because of the whole funimation case. Saying that her comeuppance is so satisfying, spoilers she gets stripped of her name and title for her crimes and gets renamed Bitch.
2. Akito Sohma from Fruits Basket
Yes she counts despite the first anime ending before the reveal of this fact. I get that Mental Health is a complex emotion that can hurt people unintentionally but Akito's is so extreme that the line between unintentional and outright bitch gets crossed, the other characters did nothing to warrant her aggression, it made that part of the manga really hard to read, worst thing about it is some fans actually like her. Why?
The anime doesn't do her any favours as there is no talk of her backstory so she just comes off as a villain without a cause, which is even worst.
1. Ume Shiraume from Ben-To
But this is by far the worst female character ever. She beats up main character Sato for no reason not even for comedy, she abducts other women to be her dress up doll and play thing and the anime gives her a full episode that is 50 Shades uncomfortable where she seduces comedy relief Hana Oshiroi against her will in the most cringy yuri scene in anime history. I had a hard time returning to ecchi anime after this. Worst thing about it, she gets away with it; everyone else at least gets punished.
Sometimes it's better just to stick with the trailer.
In the 1920s, Inaho revives the vampire Mosquiton alongside his servants the fire demon Honoo and the snow woman Yuki.
Inaho obsessed with the anaemic Mosquiton desires the O-Part, an artifact said to grant immortality so she can stay with the scrawny vampire forever, drawn to a mysterious pyramid in London, Inaho goes after the O-Part, what begins is a quest to discover the true meaning of the pyramids as well as the unwelcome return of Mosquiton's first bride Camille.
Yeah my disappointment is obvious that I really didn't like this anime, it's not totally unsalvageable as the TV series takes a different path but this OVA is just painful to watch.
Inaho is the most selfish brat in all of anime, not that we haven't seen this type of character before but no where is it explained why she loves Mosquiton nor have we seen any feature in her that makes anyone want to support her, I'm kind of glad that Camille shows up as a rival and that Honoo and Yuki aren't so willing to put up with her shit unless Mosquiton says so which considering he dies nearly every episode its impressive the two servants bother to stick around, I've completely lost control of the plot by the end and I'm actually happy Inaho never got her way.
The dub just made Inaho even worse due to no indoor voice as well as Mosquiton sounding way too goofy to be taken seriously as a vampire. It's a shame really, the trailer made this anime look way more interesting.
Final Verdict: Horrible protagonists become so annoying that the plot is lost in frustration, the TV series may save it but I'm not looking forward to it, especially if nothing changes with the tone.
While researching, I've come across anime that never followed the trends at the time of their release, this could be a number of reasons, they were ahead of their time, they missed their time, can't be described as matching any trend or missed the point entirely.
10. Sakura Wars
The Steampunk genre never actually caught on as an anime trend despite many fans liking the aesthetic for costume design. Period piece anime often covered drama, romance or popular masterpiece stories and even those stories set in Britain were more based on British myths and legends. Sakura Wars was popular but didn't last.
9. Saiyuki
Journey to the West has been covered dozens of times but not in the way Kazuya Minekura did, the band of four males led by a disgruntled priest more resembling Final Fantasy 15 than anime. Way ahead of it's time.
8. Fancy Lala
Adapted from the prototype Fashion Lala, Fancy Lala is a magical girl series where the lead character uses a magical item to become a young adult to either solve problems or become a star, they were very popular in the 80s but died off thanks to Sailor Moon, Fancy Lala missed the boat by a decade.
7. Yokai Watch
Much like Fancy Lala, it arrived a decade after it's trend had passed, for Yokai Watch it's the Pokemon clones, although it had reasonable popularity, it was really short lived.
6. G Gundam
While every Gundam series is an epic war space opera, G Gundam is a testosterone fueled robot battle tournament, as I consider Gundam it's own trend, this one really feels out of place.
5. Angelic Layer
You make an anime about fighting toy dolls but don't make it an actual toyline at a time where toy anime was in fashion. Another poor decision from Clamp.
4. Stop Hibari Kun
The anime itself was trendy as a romantic comedy in the early 80s when Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku were king. It's themes on Gender Identity were 40 years ahead of it's time.
3. Tenchi Muyo
More of a Western perspective on this one, why introduce a sci-fi romcom that popularised the harem genre on Toonami among shows like Gundam Wing and Dragonballz? Yeah it had action but not that much, most episodes of Tenchi were very sitcom like in presentation, it's alternate name No Need For Tenchi is a quip on lead character Tenchi's lack of presence despite being the lead.
2. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is an 80s manga franchise that took 20 years to see an anime adaption that came in as a force of nature no one saw coming that ignored all the trends and could never be imitated, only one older series surpasses it.
1. Lupin the 3rd
Lupin the 3rd has been in every era of anime since 1967 and has never had to change anything, it's never been imitated, it's never followed trends, it's the most original IP in all of Anime next to only Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.
