Welcome to the Anime Walk of Fame, a series of retrospectives on the many characters of the anime world. You'll see all your favorites along with a few that deserve more than their reputations give.

So sit back relax and enjoy the show.

Topaz is the Perfect Foil and Friend for Rouge

The human cast of Sonic X were never going to make anyone's top ten list, they seem so out of place next to Sonic and his friends and even Robotnik who actually is human but there is one human character who is not only a good character but is actually the perfect foil for Rouge the Bat and that is Topaz.

Originally designed as a catalyst for Rouge joining the GUN organisation, Topaz can be best described as the straight woman to the antics of her partner Rouge, the squeaky clean professional against the teasing cat burgler persona of Rouge, in fact their first meeting, Rouge teased Topaz about being in to S&M, (Japanese only) from there they become inseparable partners throughout the series.
I've always been into female duos, the character dynamics between Rouge and Topaz are a perfect yin and yang, I just wish that the games realized this and give Rouge a proper partner, although her role with Shadow and Omega is just as effective.
I'm still very critical of Sonic X and with good reason but I can appreciate when they do something different that's actually decent and works really well.

Asahi's Friends are True Bros

One of the anime titles I watched last year was Actually I Am or My Monster Secret for it's manga name, it's a harem series about a guy bad at keeping secrets ending up in harem shenanigans with a vampire and an alien, but despite looking like a series destined to be forgotten, it pulled an element I didn't expect. Lead male Asahi's Friends are true bros.

From left to right we have Okada, Sakurada and Shimada; usually in harems, the protagonist's friends are ass holes or unfunny comic relief and while this trio do frequently make fun of Asahi for his inability to keep secrets they don't abandon him for it or bully him, most of their dialogue is in jest and they do actually root for him, there's no jealousy either which has plagued other harem shows.
In reality I have friends from school who are still friends today who share alot of the traits these three do and even Asahi.
I know someone like Asahi who can't keep a secret and can be read like a book.
I know someone who can look intimidating like Shimada but is quiet and good natured.
I know someone like Sakurada who can talk pervy alot.
I myself can relate to Okada who has a firm grasp on the scenario but embraces and helps in the chaos instead of avoiding it.
It's a nice change of pace and soarly needed in a genre that is often subjected to unfair criticism.

Sasuke has Grown out of his Emo Phase

Depending on your age and your taste in anime, Sasuke was either a misunderstood outcast or a whiny little emo bitch, the end of Naruto saw him abandoning the village only interfering if necessary from the shadows, but when he came back proper in Boruto, Sasuke was a changed man.

Gone were many of the traits that associated him with much of the angst of the contrived backstory of his clan and in it's place is an adult who appears to be at peace with his past and is slowly coming around to the peace time that his best friend Naruto as Hokage helped build following the end of the war.
Slowly making connections with his daughter and even training some desperately needed wisdom into Boruto himself, Sasuke is proving to be a much better character than his original incarnation back in Naruto.
As polarizing as the series is, most people agree that the grown up OG cast has been fantastic to the point where I no longer hate Sasuke Uchiha, I even sympathise with him a little knowing that his whole story has allowed him to evolve into this character, a testament to the franchises staying power even when Boruto is causing too many uproars among the fanbase.

Cure La Mer is a Blessing and a Curse

Our return to the character world of Walk of Fame begins with the latest season of Precure and the gremlin mermaid herself Laura.

Each season of Precure brings a new set of heroines and after a poor showing from Healin Good Precure came Tropical Rouge Precure along with it's standout star Laura, who not only brings the precures together but joins them as well.
She starts off as quite smug, has a high opinion of herself and really is only in it for self interest but quickly evolves into the most dependable character in the series even going as far as surpassing the lead pink cure in not just the series but the movie as well.
She has her faults but that comes from her own natural character development rather than anything that the audience picks up on; altogether she's the best written character in the whole franchise on par with only a handful of other cures.
So why is it a curse?
It's because a team based magical girl series doesn't support her design, the DNA of these shows is shared with Super Sentai and there's usually a plethora of fans for each character, Tropical Rouge Precure struggles with this, not helped by an anaemic plot which just makes Laura's presence stronger as well as the other cures not really being as standout as previous Precures, nothing wrong with them design wise or personalities, it just boils down to careless writing.
While Cure La Mer is a big upgrade for a franchise starting to show it's age, it's at the cost of the other Precures becoming redundant.

Reopening Walk of Fame

Walk of Fame has returned which will become a bigger feature in 2022, I have a couple to put on before hand, look for them in the coming three days.

For those who don't know, this is the character review world but rather than just throw praise at everyone, for better or for worse, these characters made a significant impact to me or to others, you may even find new appreciation for certain characters.