Spring 2008 (Not-Exactly-)Bishoujo Rankings

I was about to do yet another post continuing the trend of my previous 2 ones in a continuous bid to alienate male readers from this blog, but it seems that someone else has beaten me to the chase. So instead of a 'Spring 2008 Princely Rankings' of sorts like I initially planned, here's something else to highlight the obvious lack of goggly-eyed moe-incarnates from Kyoto Animation in a season of plain-looking-girls-next-door and where feminism would rule if not for Kanokon and To-LoveRU! (there are still a smattering of bishoujo around, but they're mostly from the shoujo animes and are being outnumbered by the manservice machines of Code Geass alone)


11) Crystal Blaze girls (Crystal Blaze) - Only applies to the girl with the scratchy voice really. I might have remembered their names if I was still watching this.

Blurry and hastily cropped screenshots aren't doing them any favours

10) Jinko and... Satomi, was it? (Itazura na Kiss) - What's this, side characters that don't steal the thunder from the main characters at all? *coughsSpecialAcoughs* Well in the next episode they (and the rest of the F class) seem to be getting a bit more attention, so I'll forgive them for now for not being on par as Nobu and gang in Lovely Complex.


9) Amachi Nanako (Himitsu) - Who? I just remember Nonaka Ai voicing her :P If I hadn't started watching Himitsu and realized that Maki was actually a guy (and voiced by Seki Tomokazu no less OTL), she would be here instead.


8) Midarezaki Gekka (Kyouran Kazoku Nikki) - She's 'voiced' by Satou Rina, so she counts?


7) Irie's Mom (Itazura na Kiss) - Not at all MILF material (thankfully), but her schemey-ness in bringing Kotoko and Irie together is pure win. (Plus points for cross-dressing the bugger as a kid XD)


6) Miderazaki Hyouka (Kyouran Kazoku Nikki) - Oh, it's a trap? (Just needed an excuse to put more KKN characters in so that I can finally remember all their names!)


6) Maka Alban (Soul Eater) - Can't say much about her since I've not watched past the 1st episode (despite it being on a convenient time slot on TV for me on Mondays... If only I wasn't busy watching anime everywhere else but my room -_-"). On the list for being a female protagonist on a shounen show, but isn't higher up because I'm not a fan of her seiyuu (though some praise her flat-ness as fitting the character *shrugs*).

So sue me for reusing pics, she's only had one scene so far -_-"

5) Nina (Code Geass) - R2 has made her look years older really. Probably the only female on Code Geass who could qualify for this list (post table hump anyways, and only if you're not into the meganekko-psycho-stalker thing)


4) Ahmey (Tower of Druaga) - More GAR than moe, but then again we had a bunch of Claymores in Saimoe last year too (Ahmey isn't Claymore-class yet, though). At least she's not one of the air-headed/bitchy/loli female characters in the show.


3) Midarezaki Kyouka (Kyouran Kazoku Nikki) - I'm not sure what megalomaniac cat girls do for feminism, but she makes a surprisingly 'good' (if unconventional) mother for a very unconventional family.

I just couldn't bring myself to crop Shibasaki from the pic

2) Kasahara Iku (Toshokan Sensou) - Tomboy 4tw? A lot of Toshokan Sensou is about Iku being beaten down by the harshness of the Library Task Force Doujo who really just cares too much about her :P and how she has to eventually rise above all that - but almost always after a lecture from Shibasaki only, and thanks to the OP sequence we see her shed tears at least once per episode so far. Hence, she's not a Kou Shuurei (Saiunkoku) in terms of being a feminist beacon in anime just yet. Hopefully the next episode where she has to protect against the Media Communists on her own sees her showing her true stuff (Princes be damned!). Plus points for protecting books =P


And finally...

The pigtails make me think Yumi from Marimite... Perhaps that's why I first thought it could be Ueda Kana voicing her instead of Mizuki Nana -_-"

1) Aihara Kotoko (Itazura na Kiss) - Perhaps if Itazura na Kiss didn't look as 'retro shoujo' as it did, Kotoko would be considered a bishoujo no contest. But what I absolutely love about her character (and why she's my number one female character this season) is that even in terms of anime characters, she may be rather plain looking somewhat plain acting, yet her human qualities more than redeem her. Sure she's head over heels in love with the biggest jerk in anime male leads since the last one Hirakawa Daisuke voiced, but she's not blinded by that fact alone and acknowledges it as it is. Early on she understands the futility of her situation after being rejected by Irie, and despite acting for the best by trying to move on, she later acknowledges the fact that it's not going to be that easy to forget about a crush you live under the same roof with. What I really love though, is how Kotoko refuses to just be a doormat to Irie's douchebag personality and does manage in her slightly clumsy way to still hold her own and put him in his place. She's human to me in the way that she's neither very mature (as her homework habits show) nor too flawed a character, making her an easily understandable character and a major factor to the appeal of the show (Also, Mizuki Nana =P)


Well that turned out to be more fun than I expected, maybe I should do these lame excuses for gimmick posts more often XD.