Top 10 Best and Worst of Fall 2014

Hideki’s List

So after watching nearly 10 shows this season, I thought to myself, Perhaps I should do a top 10 of the best and worst characters of the shows that i’ve seen this season. And so I did.

Rules for list

1. Has to be from one of the 10 shows i at least began covering. (aka World Trigger, Denki gai, Tribe cool crew, Daitoshokan, Danna ga, Shirobako, Ushinawareta, Girlfriend, Amagi Brilliant Park, Vanadis)

2. No more than 2 characters from the same series on the same list (honorable mentions may break this rule)

Worst 10

Honorable Mentions

Tiramy – Amagi Brilliant Park + Director –  Denki-Gai No Honya-San

1. Ai Kitora – World Trigger

 

Okay, yeah, I  know, she hasn’t been in the series that much. and honestly, this is why she’s only number 10. But the time she WAS onscreen, I wanted to punch her in her stupid face. She’s one of those “Oh, I’m so Much better than you” people and she tries to be all badass and it’s.. it’s just irritating. She fails miserably at trying to be badass, but not in a cute way, in a way that’s just full of fail. I hope she’s not in the series more because I just don’t like her and I don’t care for her as a character.

1. Kokomi Shina- Girlfriend

See…. this is an interesting one. She’s not on the list because I hate her, she’s on the list because honestly, she’s just a bad character. She is the blandest thing that ever blanded. She hardly has any personality of her own and if anyone symbolized the ambien filled environment of Girlfriend, it’s this character, you spend more time with her than any other character, and i don’t really know anything about her whatsoever I mean…she’s a gymnast…and um.. she didn’t want to pose for nude photos and…um.. she… likes having friends? That’s….really all I know. And if that’s all you can tell me in your 12 episode run when at least 4 of the episodes feature her, that’s pretty bad. So Yeah.. I don’t hate her..just…she’s a poorly developed bad character.

8 Kaori – Ushinawareta

Yes, Yes, i put a character from Ushinawareta in here. Yes.  think this character was so boring, so terrible, that she ended up on this list despite the fact that i dropped this series after episode 2. She s so absolutely dull, boring, and annoying all at the same time, that she was one of the  main reasons i dropped this show in the first place. Being the main love interest is a BIG responsibility n a show like this and if you can’t even keep my interest past episode 2 when it involves time travel and your DEATH, something’s wrong. Seriously. You made time travel boring. That’s reason enough to be on this list.

7 Miyamori – Shirobako

This is the one I might get some flack for, but this character is either okay, or really REALLY annoying. Not only is she irritating, loud, and obnoxious, they keep throwing this “i don’t know what i want to do” thing in our face. You already have a job in the industry. I do not care that you don’t know which anime job you want. Stop shoving it down our throats. I do not care. They seem to want to make this a focal point of the series, as if it’s a dire problem that needs to be solved. It doesn’t and it makes your character seem whiny. I’ve been noticing that she’s at least STARTED to become slightly less irritating at times, but most of the time, it’s still boring and irritating.

1. Sayori Shirasaki – Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai

Oh god, this chick. So basically, her whole schtick is that she’s Shirasaki’s sick sister who Shirasaki believes she ha to impress and lie to about having friends. Shirasaki pretends that Kakei’s her boyfriend for Sayori knows it’s a lie and says it’s all right. But when she sees Kakei with Kodachi she gets offended and demands an explanation. Who the fuck are you to ask for one?
I hate this chick. She’s not on screen for very long, (Pretty much the only reason she isn’t higher on the list) but every single second she’s on screen I want to punch her in her sick face. She’s one of those “I’m young but I act like i’m older and know everything” bitch kind of characters. She grates on my nerves to the point that i’m very sad they saved her life. I THINK they wanted you to feel bad for her…but i’m not sure. If I can’t tell if you want me to feel bad for a KID IN THE HOSPITAL,  you’ve got a problem.

1. Broster- Danna Ga

This character….. when I first saw the trailer for this show, I was POSITIVE this was a girl. Then he came into the show and the broster quickly became the creepiest character in the series. All he does is talk about yaoi and how he wants to have sex with his married brother. Every single scene is uncomfortable and not even remotely funny. The only funny scenes are when they send him home for being creepy. Later on in the show he becomes a bit more reserved and it’s slightly less terrible, but the damage has been done and every time he’s onscreen, my face just hurts remembering.

1. Elen – Madan No Ou To Vanadis

There are hardly words to describe how much I hate Vanadis. And there is no more of an infuriating female character in this show than Elen. She is by far the most underdeveloped, stupid, selfish, overpowered female in this series. The series begins and she all of a sudden takes an interest in and trusts her prisoner, Tigre. she just puts her prisoner in charge of her army to stop the same place from being taken over that she was trying to take over herself, because she wants in Tigre’s pants. And then she’s SHOCKED when they call her out for treason. Her dragon powers are broken as FUCK with no counter balance whatsoever. She doesn’t even need an army. She can take down dragons and armies with one swing and that is BORING. She’s also extremely childish comparing boob size to feel superior and looking down on strategies that are not hers or Tigre’s. She hasn’t learned a single lesson from episode 1. I despise her and everything she stands for, but…believe it or not, she’s only #4.

1. Sensei – Denki-Gai No Honya-san

Unlike Vanadis, I really really wanted to like this series. and for a short while, I did. And then this character began to rear her ugly head as one of the “main” characters and she…between her and hiotan, they RUINED the series. But Sensei moreso. I do not understand what they were trying to get across with her. Yes. .I understand she’s not girly. But you CAN’T make that your ONLY JOKE for her. They ran that joke into the ground, then beat the dead horse, revived it with necromancy, and then killed it, and then beat it again. She was literally a one joke character. And the worst part is, they could have given that screen time to a character who deserved it more. Like Sommelier, ero G, Fuu, or Kameko. But all they did was have episode after episode of her crying, being ungirly, and they think we’re just supposed to laugh at that. And Sometimes, she’s just downright CRUEL like in the Valentine’s Day episode. Am I supposed to like her, Because I don’t. I REALLY don’t like her. The reason she’s lower than elen is because I REALLY wanted to like this show. I tried so hard, but her repetative “I won’t finish this manga! wahh!” and her “gah! i’m so ungirly!” with a dash of Hiotan KILLED the series for me. And killing a good show makes it even more painful.

1. Shirasaki – Daitoshokan No Hitsujikai

I was torn for the longest time between this and another character for the worst character spot, but, when it was all said and done, while Shirasaki is a TERRIBLE, AWFUL character, she’s not the worst. Course that’s not saying much. This character irritates me on so many levels. First off, She’s a klutzy, boring, stereotype. When this series first starts out she’s actually supposed to die, but Kakei saves her and for “some reason” she continues to nearly die. That some reason is god saying “You’re a terrible character”. She’s delegated to the background for nearly the entire series and then all of a sudden in the final episodes she gets pushed to the forefront in a terrible attempt to make her the “love interest”. Up until that point I tolerated her, but i dismissed her as a character who would be mildly important to the series but got delegated to the background. I can handle her in small doses. But when she jumped to the front and began telling Kakei how much she hated Shepards and the like, it went from mild annoyance to hate. Her self indulgent little bubble world is so frustrating and painful it almost made me drop the show entirely. Not only that, but her romance is so last minute forced, so terrible, that it seemed like the writers realized 9 episodes in that they didn’t do any sort of relationship development and had to throw some together. And not only was it obvious, it was nowhere near good or believable. This is a combination of me not liking her and her actually being a BAD CHARACTER. She’s completely one dimensional with no depth. Her depth equivocates to her needing to be saved three times and her sister once before she realizes that being a shepard isn’t terrible. However, her bullshit basically prevented Kakei from acquiring his dream of being a Shepard because of her “we have to all be friends” painful stupid bubble world garbage. She single handedly ruined the show. And that’s not an easy feat to do. I hate her. I hate her not only because of who she is, but what she did to a series that could have ended wonderfully. So fuck you Shirasaki.

And number one…you knew this was coming

1. Tigre – Madan No Ou To Vanadis

Now anyone who’s paid attention at ALL this season should have expected this. There are no words to describe how much i loathe and detest this character. There could be a class called “how to make a bad character” and he would be the shining example they would use. Every single thing this guy does reeks of terribleness. He’s overpowered, he is one of those, “I have no flaws” people, and he’s as interesting as a sack of moldy potatoes. Every ingle Scene he’s in basically revolves around people wanting to suck his dick. He kills main bad guys in one shot, nothing he does ever fails and except for one old guy, he never loses anything or shows any sort of hesitation in killing nor shows any humanity or remorse in their murders despite the fact he’s supposed to be such a “nice guy”. Not only that, he’s bland.

Dear Sweet Jesus is he bland. If there were male love interests in the show “Girlfriend” this is how bland they would be. Every single scene this guy is on screen is a painful horrible endurance run where you hope for the sweet embrace of death. As I said in one of my reviews, there was was an episode which actually was halfway decent, and i wondered why that was. Then I realized it was because Tigre was UNCONSCIOUS for that half of the episode.

Tigre is not only a bad character, he is a cloud of bad that when he’s around, he causes everything around him to go bad. the only time the show’s bearable is when he’s not around

There is nothing I like about this character. He is the epitamy of a Gary Stu. He really seems as if a 12 year old self inserted himself into this world as the world’s savior with no flaws or sacrifice. First, he’s a ridiculously good archer, then all the super powerful women in the world fall for him, he gets the super power of archery from the gods, and he’s probably going to become the new king. It’s like….there’s no words to describe the level of disgust I have for this character. He is not only my #1 worst for this season, but he’s in my top 5 of all time. I could go ranting on this guy for an hour, but needless to say, he is well deserved with his spot as worst character of the season.

Best Characters

Honorable Mentions: Takamine: Daitoshokan, Jin: World Trigger

 

1. Konami- World Trigger

Honestly, up until I saw the most recent episode a few days ago, this girl wasn’t even introduced into the series. However, From the second I saw her, I knew I would love this chick. She’s egotistical, but at the same time gullible, and it’s obvious she has a good heart under everything. Really the only reason she isn’t higher on the list is because I’ve only seen her in one episode. But that in itself is worth a commendation. A character that i liked so quickly, I only had to see for one episode. Good job Konami, I hope you are even more awesome in the future.

1. Kanie- Amagi Brilliant Park

See, I like Kanie. He’s not my favorite from Amagi, but I like him. He’s sarcastic and funny, yet he gets the job done. He looks at solving this problem not as a “I have to help because i’m the hero” But sarcastically as he feels as if it’s a challenge. He’s a rarer hero as he’s a reluctant one and that makes him rather charming. I really like his relationship with Latifa but I really don’t care about his relationship with Sento. He develops a lot and some of the scenes with his showing resolve are really good. and the big scene with him and latifa at the end really solidified him on this list.

1. Kaoru – Danna Ga

There is only one word for this character and that is adorable. She may hardly know anything about the anime and gaming world that her husband is into, but when she wants to, she is absolutely adorable. You can tell she really loves him and for the 5 minute shorts we get you really can see how lonely she was before he came along. One of the reasons she gets so low on this list is because of that drunk episode. That episode weirded me out a bit. But every other episode more than balances her out enough for her to be in the top 10. Despite all her husband’s insanity, she does love him unconditionally and just wants to be happy with him. Not to say she isn’t hilarious in her own right. I still say the part where she talks to him like a seme was one of the most hilarious things i’ve seen all season. Love this girl, but not my favorite.

1. Triken- Amagi Brilliant Park

Yeah, Okay, I have to admit, this one was a bit of a wild card for anyone whose read my reviews this season. But, that doesn’t change the fact that I really like this character. First off, I think he’s adorable I like how he’s a chibi Triceratops with glasses who’s also an accountant. He doesn’t do a crazy amount of stuff, but the scenes he’s in are almost always funny. He has a weird recurring joke about “hunching over” which I assume is some sort of sexual innuendo, but it’s so silly I end up laughing every time he says it. Out of all the mascot characters he’s the only one I actually like and he makes me laugh quite a bit. That’s why he’s on the list .He may not be one of the most prevalent characters, but he’s a whole lotta fun.

6.Shizuka – Shirobako

Okay, anybody who reads my Shirobako reviews knew this one was coming. Out of the MULTITUDE of characters in this show, the one that i’m by far the most interested in is the voice acting girl. Her plight is by far the most engaging, she has the toughest time achieving her goal, and she has the farthest to travel. Honestly I do not care about Miyamuri’s “Oh! i’m in the indutry but i don’t know what i want to do!” bullcrap. This voice actor girl is by far more interesting and evokes more emotion from me. Honestly if this show was entirely about her, i’d be okay with that. Not only that, she’s fun and plesant to be around. I can’t wait to see the rest of “Will Shizuka become a voice actor?” the anime.

1. Sommelier – Denki Gai No Honya-san

One of the only good things about Denki is Sommelier. This guy may only speak less than 10 words in the entire series, but he doesn’t need to. i had a feeling from the beginning i’d like this guy, and i was right. Everything he does is sweet, caring, and is nice to basically everyone he comes across. He can see in their hearts and give them exactly the manga they want most. He can turn sadness into joy just by a manga title. He doesn’t have to say anything as his actions are more than enough. You see even when he was a kid he was exactly the same. I really like this guy. I’m only sad the series didn’t focus more on him.

4 – Lourie – Madan No Ou To Vanadis

Yes, this isn’t an error. There’s actually a character from Vanadis on this list And there’s a reason for this. Out of this entire godddamn terrible series, not only is Lourie the only acceptable character, she was obviously misplaced from a much better series. Her character goes through the only development this series has to offer. She’s cold, but has a soft interior. She juggles duty and her feelings but knows what must be done, Unlike ANOTHER war maiden I could mention…
Honestly, she’s only saving grace for Vanadis. If it weren’t for her, there’d be NOTHING reedemable about this show. She’s an oasis in a sea of garbage. So thank you Lourie. Thank you for making this series SLIGHTLY more tolerable with your awesomeness.

1. Yuzuru – Tribe Cool Crew

Know what? I can’t help it. I love this guy. When a series about dancing comes to mind, what kind of characters do you think of? Kumo, the svelt street dancer, Kanon, the scrawny, lanky girl, but do you think of a big fat guy? no, you normally don’t. So when I saw on the poster for this show a big fat guy as a main character in a dance show i was intrigued. An honestly, I fell in love with this character. He’s a tea drinking gentleman who really cares about his friends and is also a pretty damn good dancer. You’d assume he’d be played off for laughs because of his weight, but no, he’s actually a serious main character. It’s as if they ignore the fact that he’s fat and treat him like a normal character. And for anime, that’s rare. I give the show props for that. And i really do like this guy. Everytime he’s on screen you’re like “everything will be all right.”

1. Ero – G – Denki-Gai No Honya-San

Remember how I said that Sommelier was one of the only good things about Denki Gai? Yeah, well the BEST thing about this show is the Ero-G lady. Why she isn’t one of the main characters i’ll never know. I LOVE this character. Every single time she’s onscreen my attention is drawn to the screen and i adore every segment. Episode 1 part 1? love it. Episode 11 part 1? love it. Every single scene she’s in is either heartfelt or hysterical. And the fact that she isn’t one of the main 7 is a TRAVESTY. Couldn’t we have taken out Hiotan or Sensei and put her there instead? Oh, no of course not. Because she’s actually interesting. We have to spend more time making jokes about how not girly Sensei is. Once again, if the entire show was Sommelier, Ero-G, Fuu, and Kameko, not only would I be okay with that, I’d buy the whole series on DVD in a heartbeat. As it is, she made a show that crapped itself and died at least have a few chuckles and heartfelt moments. I love this chick. That’s all there is to it.

And here we are. Finally. My number 1 Character of the season.

1. Kodachi- Daitoshokan No Hitsujikai

Okay, if you didn’t see this coming, I don’t even know what to tell you. Ever since episode 5 of this series I have been in love with this character. First off, she’s sort of a Faux-Tsundere which is my favorite girl trope, however, that’s not the main reason. To me, more than anybody else in this season, Kodachi is the deepest, most interesting, and funnest character I came across. Every girl in this show comes across as a one note one dimensional boy chasing idiot, but Kodachi is different. From her inappropriate comedic side to her love she has to push aside because of her desire to help people. She feels lonely but at the same time is conflicted. Every single scene she’s in makes me glad I discovered this show even if the show itself turned into garbage. She did something that I thought impossible. She took a show I had no feelings on one way or the other and like a dark horse out of nowhere ran in and became my favorite character of the season.
In general though? Seriously, Fuck this show. But damn it do I love Kodachi. She is such a fantastic character. Her personality, voice, art, everything about her makes her absolutely perfect. If Kakei had ended up with her Daitoshokan would have been an amazing piece of anime. However, they squandered it for confusing, stupid status quo. Still, without Kodachi, I don’t know if I could have even made it through the series. I love you Kodachi, you win everything.

 

Phew, well there you have it. My top 10 best and worst of fall 2014. Hope you enjoyed! Time for a new season!

-Hideki

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Vantage’s List

So as I didn’t officially participate in Fall 2014, I thought this would be a great chance to talk about -and rage at- my favourite and least liked characters of the season! Note that by ‘worst’, I actually mean ‘hated’ – as I didn’t have the pleasure of watching (i.e. quickly dropped) both Girlfriend and Vanadis this season, these characters and the shows they were in weren’t necessarily bad. I just specifically didn’t like them for one reason or another.

Worst 10

10. Shirasaki Tsugumi (Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai)

While I don’t have as much hate for Shirasaki as Hideki does, I still don’t like her very much. I too ship Kakei x Kodachi, and really, for a show which ultimately revealed itself to have a fantasy-type plot about Shepherds, putting Shirasaki as the supposed main female lead was a crap choice. I know she’s the ‘first’ girl he met in the series and all, and there’s this odd dicta that the first girl always wins, but she just doesn’t seem like a good fit for him. They were friends, but there was practically no romantic tension between them at all – heck, he took whole episodes to decide whether he wanted to even continue hanging around her and the club or not!

9. Guy (Hitsugi no Chaika)

I was pretty neutral towards Guy for the majority of the first season of Chaika, but he started being a bit of a prick for the second half. He was helpful at first, but his mysterious attitude and how it felt like he was fucking with everyone really got on my nerves – and for good reason, because he really was fucking with everyone in the end. One of the few unlikeable characters in an otherwise fairly likeable cast.

8. Tiramie (Amagi Brilliant Park)

Yeah, this guy was funny for about an episode, before he started getting annoying. Tiramie reminded me every single episode that the mascots were actually equivalent to old men or something – but he was the worst offender. Moffle wasn’t too bad after a while, and Macaron didn’t do anything… but Tiramie. Tiramie’s running gag about being a dirty old perv quickly got rather tiring, especially when it started actively hindering their plans for the park. There was that one time he even outright betrayed them for the sake of something I can’t remember but I’m sure was stupid. I usually don’t mind pervy characters, but this goes into the realm of creepy and thirsty. The only thing that slightly redeems him is that one shot of Muse sleeping, but that’s like a drop of water in a cup full of nope.

7. Watari Ryouta (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)

Everything about Tiramie being too much of a perv applies to Watari as well. No, just because Emi is cute does not mean she’s automatically good at the piano. But what really irked me about Watari was his insensitivity during the earlier stages of the show. To an extent, Tsubaki and Kaori are guilty of this too, but for some reason I seem to remember Watari’s the most – and one line in particular. Arima is up on stage, mentally broken and in inner turmoil after having stopped playing. His worst nightmare has happened, and it’s a direct result of his friends, including Watari, manhandling him up there. Instead of regretting making him play, or even wondering if Arima’s okay, Watari instead calls him out for “ruining Kaori-chan’s performance”. Are you serious?

6. Aoi Akira (WIXOSS)

In retrospect, I liked the Aki-lucky of the first season of WIXOSS. Or at least, I liked her better – she was a mocking, spiteful bitch, but at least she was confident and sure of herself. Bits of her true personality made its way through, and the real Aki-lucky underneath was arguably even worse of a person. But that all crumbled during the second season – when she went from being Aki-lucky to Aki-lovely, she went from being a self-assured bitch to Ulith’s pet bitch. It’s actually a mixture of dislike and pity actually, especially during her lowest moments right after she was inevitably dumped. Akira was a mess for practically all of the second season, and she’s one of the few girls we don’t see a conclusion for in the epilogue of the series. I’m not sure there even is one for her.

5. Ulith (WIXOSS)

Until Ulith’s character was properly carved out, I had thought Aki-lucky was pretty high on the ‘bad person’ list. But Ulith is, or was, genuinely a terrible human being. She positively delighted in the suffering of other girls, seeking out Selectors for the sole purpose of destroying them and seeing their wishes get reversed. While ‘Iona’ wanted to keep battling with Ruu forever, Ulith’s main motive was to crush her so bad she’d never battle again – and she was willing to go to horrible lengths to achieve it. She deserved what she got at the end of the season.

4. Irisu Kiyoka (Grisaia no Kajitsu)

Again, another terrible human being. One of many in a surprisingly dark show. Irisu Kiyoka is perhaps better known as Makina’s mother, who for political reasons had her husband killed by hitmen while she went out to the movies with her real lover. The clincher is that she had her husband beaten to death in front of a young Makina who was barely old enough to understand – and as the hitmen tied her up and forgot about her afterwards, Makina was left staring at the decomposing corpse of her deceased father for god knows how long, wondering why he wasn’t waking up any more. And it doesn’t stop there! After a failed assassination attempt, again orchestrated by Makina’s mother, she tries to get any of Makina’s working organs ‘donated’ to her sister, who’s been deemed heir and inheritor of their estates. Fuck this bitch.

3. Julio (Cross Ange)

With Julio, we’re moving away from ‘bad people’ to ‘wimpy, useless excuses for people’. He’s done a lot of bad stuff, like exposing Ange to the masses and thus indirectly being responsible for the suffering she went through, but I don’t really hold that against him – he was an antagonist of sorts, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. What I really couldn’t stand was his tendency to dissolve into a helpless, pile of wimp whenever he felt like his life was being threatened – and conversely, how he acts like a snobbish prick at any other time. Julio can go from begging for his life at someone’s feet to ordering their execution within seconds – it’s the Matou Shinji disease again, and the reason Julio’s below Shinji is because he’s not established as the latter is. Also he has some weird fetishes.

2. Matou Shinji (Fate/stay night)

Like with Gilgamesh and Kirei below, my hate for Shinji is pre-established – although he displayed a lot of why I hate him this season. Shinji suffers from an insufferable superiority complex, and transitions between that and being a snivelly git far too often. Again, usually when his life is in danger. His jealousy for Shirou borders on the irrational, and Kirei rightfully found it quite funny lending Gilgamesh to him. It was fun watching Shinji think he was in control during that scene, when in reality Gil just happened to not give a shit at the time. And it’ll be even more fun watching his escapades in Spring 2015.

1. Shimotsuki Mika (Psycho-Pass)

Oh, Mika. You were a character practically written for the purpose of being hated. It felt like everything she did was for the sole purpose of tripping up Akane, and it came at the expense of both her morals and her job. I don’t even know if it was initially born out of their different approaches to work or something, because everything she ended up doing was either incompetent or grossly misinformed. I thought she’d start to become more sympathetic after discovering Tougane’s creepy stalker tendencies towards Akane, but no. She didn’t do a thing, much less tell her herself. And when she finally managed to find something useful -some incriminating evidence that would genuinely help the investigation- she doesn’t make good use of it. Instead, she somehow spins it into yet another report pinning the blame on Akane – when she wasn’t even reasonably involved, if I remember correctly. Her only redeeming quality is that she is quite attractive with her hair down, but at the time I found greater satisfaction in watching her get irreparably rekt.

Top 8

Honorable Mentions: Girls from Elementario (Amaburi)

8. Gilgamesh (Fate/stay night)

This guy didn’t even do anything this season, but nonetheless he exuded awesomeness. Just making an appearance was enough for him to get onto this list. All he did was stand outside Sakura’s house, and Rin and Shirou ran and hid from him. As they should have.

7. Kushikawa Hatoko (Inou-Battle)

Were it not for that one scene, Hatoko would have been nowhere near this list. I didn’t hate her, but nor did I particularly like her – she was just sort of there, and I found more fun in Tomoyo and Chifuyu. Until that scene. To be honest, I’m not even sure if this spot belongs to Hatoko or Hayami Saori, whom I now have the deepest respect for – that yandere outburst was incredible. It was like, what – ten years worth of pent-up confusion and frustration? All tumbling out into one long, uncontrolled rant that seemed like it lasted forever. You’d never even think Hatoko would be the kind of person to do this, which made it even more terrifying.

6. Arakita Yasutomo (Yowamushi Pedal)

He’s loud, rude and unfriendly, but in seeing how he’s changed and how far he’s come, I just can’t help but like this guy! His past self was so full of hate and frustration at the world, and yet he found within him a determination to start cycling and keep at it, to the point that he made it all the way to the inter-high after just a couple of years – an incredible growth rate when you consider that so many of the others have been riding for ages. Even though he may not seem too motivated, he has a lot of loyalty to both Fukutomi and Hakogaku in general – his final spurt was glorious, as was his match against Machimiya. Like Onoda, I was quite distressed when he died… I mean, dropped out.

5. White Chaika (Hitsugi no Chaika)

Chaika? Yes, Chaika. Chaika. No character was cuter than White Chaika, and there can be no arguments against that. It’s not like she even does anything in particular, and this is something I mentioned in my review of the series as well – all she’s doing is speaking, but holy shit is it adorable. There was a time where White and Red teamed up in order to escape the place they were being locked up in, and wow. I left that scene feeling light, fluffy and emasculated. Then I watched it again.

4. Ange (Cross Ange)

By ‘Ange’ I mean the strong, tough Ange – the one that takes no shit and gives no fucks, not ‘Angelise-sama’. Ange is still very much a bitch, but she is a nicer, grown-up one that has gone through a whole lot of character development throughout the show. After being treated to a baptism by fire in the form of military life, Ange has come out the other end much improved and far more cynical – because after all, what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Cross Ange was actually something I went into feeling quite dubious about, but as of late it’s far exceeded my ‘guilty pleasure’ standard and become something I really look forward to every week, instead of something I go into expecting yuri sex and strange fetishes. The plot is partially to thank for that, but so is Ange herself.

3. Kotomine Kirei (Fate/stay night)

Yorokobe, shounen! Kirei has returned, with his trademark manvoice – sadly the Church on the Hill soundtrack didn’t accompany him, but hey, at least the circling was there! While Kirei hasn’t occupied a significant role in this season’s UBW anime thus far, I find it really hard to separate both his past and parallel route actions from how he is here – not that there haven’t been some great moments for him, of course. You can practically see the delight on this glorious bastard’s face as he masterstrokes Shinji with Gilgamesh. And he’s right behind Saber in providing implicit shout-outs to Fate/Zero – all they have to do is just look at someone weirdly and you know something’s up.

2. Tohsaka Rin (Fate/stay night) 

Interestingly, I wasn’t much of a Rin fan before ufotable did her – yes, even after the visual novel. Maybe it’s just been too long, but I found lots to like of Rin this season. The tsundere feels like it’s been played down to a nicer level, and we’ve had some great Rin moments like the fully-animated prologue and the anime-only Rin v Illya scene whilst Saber v Berserker ft. Archer was going on. There’s a lot to be gained from hindsight, and I actually found some of the scenes between Rin and Sakura particularly poignant – equally, I liked Rin’s interactions with Archer much more than the ones she had with Shirou.

1. Izumi Shinichi (Kiseijuu)

Shinichi (or Shinji, whatever floats your boat) is here because he is deep. A really intriguing character, even without all the extended metaphors and symbolism for coming-of-age, puberty and the like. It’s been fascinating watching him go from being a frightened, confused child to a cold young man who is increasingly detaching himself from his humanity – while in contrast, Migi has been saying some very not Migi-like things as of late. The change has been gradual, but from vehemently asserting his humanity at the start of the series, he’s now starting to refer to his own species in the third person after a series of losses of varying degrees including his mother, Kana and Murano – which is not a good sign. One of the strongest reminders of this change is how all throughout the series, Murano has been asking him the question: “Are you really Izumi Shinichi?” When you look at things from the context she’s saying it in, the answer is of course, “Well no, he’s not.”

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Berry’s Top 10 List

Out of all the seasons in 2014, I watched the most shows in Fall, even though I only covered 4. There were a lot of great shows, and I’m happy to talk about some characters from the shows I didn’t cover. For my list, I usually take into account how the character was represented in the show and also how they were used, if they did well in their roles or not. For my hate list, it ranges from dislike and disappointment to outright hate, but I’ll make that obvious. Also, I’m so sorry if I mention spoilers and repeat myself.

TOP 10 WORST

10. Tsubaki Sannomiya (Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie)

Coming from an anime with 4-minute short episodes, you can’t expect much. Patisserie is a cute show, and it’s kinda fun to watch. To me, that is. With such short episodes, they really gotta move things along. And with a shoujo like this, you can expect character tropes. And there’s always that one bitch with a couple other girls that hates the main girl. Tsubaki is the bitch. She doesn’t bring much into the show other than she’s a little obstacle for Sayuri, but she’s always made fun of in the end. Which she deserves. She’s rich, but she actually really sucks at making sweets, but she’s still at the academy because she’s rich. All she is is annoying and wastes time in the show whenever she’s actually in the episode. She’s not interesting, she’s dumb and annoying, and she thinks she’s better than everyone else when she’s actually not. But since she hasn’t appeared much in the show, and since the episodes are short, that’s why she’s lowest on the list.

9. Tarou Takanashi (Shirobako)

Shirobako has a hell of a lot of characters, and I either just like some, or am indifferent. But man I cannot stand Takanashi. He’s unprofessional and just plain annoying. He can’t really read situations well, and he handled that part of Exodus with the explosion scene terribly. He’s not really well-liked, as shown with other members on the team. He’s lazy, and I kinda just roll my eyes whenever he’s on-screen, but then again most people on the crew, save for some, are lazy too, but Takanashi just takes the cake. I just don’t like him. Not hate, just dislike.

8. Soo-won (Akatsuki no Yona)

I don’t like what the anime is doing. They keep showing Soo-won with emotion whenever he thinks about Yona and Hak, BUT I’M NOT GOING TO FEEL SORRY FOR HIM. He kills Yona’s father, tries to kill Yona, tries to kill Hak, sends a team out to capture them, and works with the Fire Tribe to force the Wind Tribe to recognize him as king. Like…hell no, I’m not sympathizing just because you may have regrets. You have done terrible things. And he makes me so angry. Yeah, I know he wants to help make the kingdom stronger, but hell no. He’s just awful, and he angers me. I still don’t buy the story about King Il and his father, for some reason I think he had his own motives. We haven’t seen Soo-won in the anime for awhile now, so I’ll just leave him in this spot.

7. Kinjou Shirasu (Donten ni Warau)

Ahhhh man…Shirasu. I’m hurt. His turnaround later in the show really surprised me, and had me yelling “WHAT?!” at my laptop screen for a good 3 minutes. He seemed like such a sweet and caring man that really did care about the Kumohs. And why wouldn’t he, he was saved and spent 10 YEARS WITH THEM. So how in the hell could he just do that to them that easily? Did he seriously feel nothing from them for those 10 years? He was acting the entire time? Why did he even do what he did? I can’t say that I hate Shirasu for what he did, but I don’t really like what they did with his character. His betrayal was abrupt, and we didn’t learn enough about him and his motives. There were still questions about him I had, and I never got the answers to. So this is a mix with him, and his character.

6. Shinji Matou (Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works)

The first 4 people were dislikes, now I’m getting to the hate. What the hell is this bitch’s problem? Seriously, like WHAT is his problem? Goddamn. Every time he enters a room I want to punch his ugly face. And right before you see his ugly face, you hear his stupid smug laugh. He’s a complete asshole, but he always seems to attract people. And he had the gall to try to team up with Shirou and Rin? AND HE TALKED SHIT ABOUT RIDER FOR DYING? FUCK. Wow I hate him. And why the hell did priest man give him hot blonde dude? I didn’t even know blonde dude was a Servant? I thought there was only 7? Who is he anyway? What is going on? If you haven’t noticed, I don’t know shit about Fate/Stay Night. I’m new to all this. Oh yeah, Shinji. He also put those magic cirlce things around the school and almost killed everyone and he’s terrible to Sakura HE JUST SUCKS.

5. Inugami (Gugure! Kokkuri-san)

From the very beginning I just didn’t like this dude. Their (switches from male to female, so I’ll refer to them as they) obsession with poor little Kohina is creepy and gross as hell. This show was fun, but it had some really tasteless and gross jokes at times, like pedophilia jokes coming from Inugami, and that nasty tengu. But Inugami…ugh. They’re cute as hell as a dog, but I can’t stand them. Having kinky, naughty, nasty fantasies about a little girl is just disgusting and disturbing. None of the jokes with Inugami was funny. Their love for Kohina made me uncomfortable, and I always wondered why Kohina never called the police on Inugami like she had did before with Kokkuri. Nasty ass.

4. Machimiya Eikichi (Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road)

I don’t know what it is about Yowamushi Pedal, but the antagonists are always really gross and ugly as hell. We got Machimiya who thinks he’s gonna win the race, and to intimidate everyone he starts rubbing on everyone and talking about “whoooa you got stars” and shit and tries to get nasty with Kanzaki. I’m surprised no one punched him when he did that. He talks shit, he tricks everyone in the pack to work together, and then he just ditches them like I knew he would. And he’s just a plain ass. And his reason for hating Hakone is stupid as hell. He’s just a whiny piss baby that needs to grow the fuck up. I’m glad Arakita gave him hell, and I’m glad he’s going to lose the race. He’s just an ass, and goddamn do I hate him.

3. Ulith (Selector Spread WIXOSS)

We didn’t get much from Ulith in the first season, but I got more than I wanted in the second season. Ulith is a sociopath. She’s the exact definition of one. A manipulative person that acts sweet and innocent, but loves hurting people and feels no remorse for it. In fact, she basically gets off of hurting people. She took advantage of an emotionally-unstable girl like Akira and got hurt for it, like she deserved. When she was telling Ruko her story and her wish, I felt sick to my stomach. She’s tainted so many girls’ wishes and broke them, and she craves it. She causes pain. I absolutely hate her. She totally deserved what happened to her in the end.

2. Togane Sakuya (Psycho Pass 2)

Y’know, I was liking Togane from the beginning. Just like Psycho Pass’ second season, but you all saw how that went. I don’t know why they did what they did, but they did it. And Togane suffered from terrible writing. His creepy obsession with his mother was over the top, I don’t know what Akane saw in him that reminded her of Kogami. I don’t…get it. He was interesting at first, but then when he was tied into the stupid plot of the show, his character went down the drain. And there’s not much else I can say. Because I have more to say on my next person.

1. Mika Shimotsuki (Psycho Pass 2)

Wow, two Psycho Pass 2 characters in a row. Not surprising. Unlike Togane, I just did not like Mika from the beginning. Ever since episode 1, Mika has been jealous and rude towards Akane and the enforcers. She writes up a report trying to get Akane into trouble, but it’s brushed off and she gets bitchy. She tries to get Akane fired. She thinks Akane went cuckoo when the WC? Happened. She wishes for Akane’s hue to get cloudy. I tried giving her the benefit of the doubt when she wrote up that report trying to separate Akane from Togane, but NOPE. NUH UH. Shouldn’t have expected anything. I don’t even know how Mika’s psycho pass hasn’t been clouded yet, from keeping all that guilt inside her. Giving Togane Akane’s grandmother’s information, keeping everything a secret. She went from bad to worst throughout the course of the show and it’s amazing how that happened. Mika was frustrating, she was disrespectful, she didn’t know what she was getting herself into and she payed for it. Just…damn.

TOP 10 BEST

10. Tetra (Log Horizon S2)

Tetra is a crazy guy (yes, he’s actually a guy). He brings a lot of energy into the show. He just talks and talks and always brings me to laugh. The way he climbs all over Naotsugu is funny, and I love his magical girl/idol persona. I can’t say much because he hasn’t been in the show for too long, but I just love him. I don’t always need deep reasons for liking a character, okay? The Log Horizon guild is going to be more fun with Tetra around.

9. Saber (Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works)

Like I mentioned before, I don’t know anything about this series. I’m barely getting introduced into this series with this season, but I grew to really like Saber. She really hasn’t done too much so far, except be a total badass. We don’t know anything about her (well…at least I don’t nervous laugh), but I just love how elegant and proper she is. And I also love how crazy cute and childish she can be, like how she was during the date in the last episode. She’s pretty, she’s cool, and badass, and all that good stuff. I can’t wait to learn more about her. And if we don’t in this season, I’m just gonna watch Fate/Zero after anyway. Honestly I don’t know what to expect from this show.

8. Rita (Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis)

I’m glad Rita became a part of the main group, because they’d probably be dead without her. I mean she’s just so cool. She’s a hundred-something year old zombie girl. She can create zombies out of people by biting them and create a zombie army to fight for her, she can detach her limbs and attack with them, she’s always the level-headed perceptive person. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. And she’s always the hero because Favaro always charges into things, Amira is a little dense, and Kaisar is a little too trusting. Also, she’s smart when it comes to making potions and other things. Rita was the one that made the antidotes in the final episodes. Again, if it weren’t for her the main group would all be dead. I kinda wish she had more screentime in the show, which is why she isn’t higher on the list. But with a hint at another season, I expect we’ll see more of her, which makes me very happy.

7. Arakita Yasutomo (Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road)

Before, all I knew about Arakita was that he was mean, yelled a lot, was always angry, and always looks like he wants to beat someone’s ass. But just in this season so far, I really grew to love this guy. His devotion to Fukutomi is nice, especially after all he’s done for him. The way he gave Machimiya crap was excellent, actually comparing himself to him. He used to be an angrier person than before, but after throwing his past to the side, he was able to grow up and move on to something else. He was actually calm enough to explain that to Machimiya, probably because he saw himself in him. Under all that scariness, Arakita is actually a pretty good guy. Onoda was able to see that. His last spurt was great, but his dropping from the race broke my heart. I’d totally reward him a Bepsi for that.

6. Hak (Akatsuki no Yona)

I’ve mentioned how much I love Hak all the time in my weekly posts. He’s just way cool. He’s hilarious. He can be badass and beat up a bunch of guys by himself and still make sarcastic comments to Yona. He’s a pretty laid back guy, nonchalant, and a little lazy, but when things get serious he becomes a different person. His devotion to King Il is admirable, even after his death. He’ll do anything to protect Yona, both from the King’s orders and also his personal feelings. He’s intelligent and uses his past knowledge as a general to aid everyone on their journey, so he’s a very reliable person. Also, he’s just cool, okay? And hot. Too bad Yona just doesn’t understand his advances.

5. Akane Tsunemori (Psycho Pass 2)

Akane is definitely one of my most favorite characters of all time. Her journey from the first episode of season one to the end is astounding, and I love the way she’s grown and become aware. But, I have to keep that stuff out of my mind and only focus on her character in the second season. She’s still as attentive and brilliant as ever, though the reason why she’s not at the top of my list is because she did some questionable things. I loved how she basically said “Fuck you” to everyone in the end, but her comparing Togane to Kogami, and telling Sybil that she’ll join them in the end…? I just don’t get that, but that just goes back to terrible writing. I still love Akane and I always will, but I’m actually not too crazy about some things she did in the season. But still, Akane is a queen and no one should mess with her.

4. Akatsuki (Log Horizon S2)

We didn’t get much out of Akatsuki in the first season of Log Horizon. Basically she was the cute ninja that would sometimes have to wear the outfits Henrietta made her wear. But her growth in the second season threw all that aside, because now she became her own person. Before, she was in Shiroe’s shadow and was content in that way, but when Shiroe actually left her behind to go on that raid, she was lost. She didn’t know what to do. It took awhile for her, but she was finally able to do things she never really did before. Ask for help, speak with others, and make friends. She accepted all of her weaknesses and used them to learn and improve herself, personality and combat-wise. She’s breaking out of her shell and socializing more. After Shiroe left, she was wallowing in her own self-loathing. But slowly, and with all the people around her, she can learn to love herself. And I’m really glad we got this character growth from Akatsuki, because in the previous season she hadn’t been too much of a main character for awhile. But now she’s actually someone, a real someone, who has accepted herself and grows even more.

3. Kumoh Tenka (Donten ni Warau)

My love. I sobbed my eyes out in that one scene. It broke my heart, I was angry and sad, but then….well, no spoilers. But man is Tenka amazing. After his parents’ deaths, Tenka became the head of the Kumoh family. Also, he had to become mother and father to his two younger brothers. And when saying mother and father, he literally did that. When village kids were making fun of Chutarou for being an orphan, Tenka literally put makeup on one half of his face, put something in his robes to make it look like he had a boob, and told those kids off while looking half man half woman. And it was glorious. He’d do anything for those two boys. He took responsibility of his brothers at a young age and never regrets it. You can tell that he really does love his brothers, it’s just so obvious. The sibling feels in this show is so heartwarming, strong, and beautiful, it’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed this show, even though it had some flaws. Tenka was the light among the Kumoh brothers and anyone would be happy to have a brother like him (or husband cough). His life motto was: always smile and laugh. Even when you’re sad, or mad, or anything. Even when you’re at the bottom of your life, just smile and laugh. The pain won’t last forever. Also, he’s super strong and uses his fan as a weapon. It’s just a regular fan too. Best anime brother 2k14.

2. Adolf Reinhardt (Terra Formars)

There’s a crap load of characters in Terra Formars, let me tell you. Too many characters, and not enough time to get to know them even though there were a lot of backstories. The only backstory that touched me was Adolf’s. After having a crummy life, and basically getting stepped on in his later years, it’s understandable Adolf is always down in the dumps. I mean his cheating bitch of a wife gave him life and crumbled it away afterwards. But even so, he did everything he could to save his division from getting killed by the roaches. He shot electricity, he did all this crazy stuff, fought until he couldn’t even stand anymore, but he loved his division so much he did all of that to try and protect them. Even becoming a human shield. After living a life of lies, he had wanted to rise up and become a different person once he returned to Earth. He was a major badass, and his struggles were tough. All that anger he had he used it to save everyone. But then…that happened. And that made me really upset. He was hands down the best character of the show, and one of the best of the season.

1. Yona (Akatsuki no Yona)

But not the best, because Yona is. MY QUEEN. Well, she’s a princess, but she’ll be queen someday. At least she is to me. From episode 1, talk about unlikeable. She was a typical teenage princess. She was bratty, spoiled, a little obsessed with herself, always got the things that she wanted, and was a little rude. But then her world turned upside down when the person she loved betrayed her. When being forced to leave the castle, she faced a world she didn’t know anything about. She had never left the castle before. Now, she had to get used to new things, like sleeping outside, eating simple foods, bathing outside, etc. It took awhile, but Yona has definitely grown from who she was before. She knows she’s ignorant, but she looks for opportunities to learn. She appreciates people more than she did before. She treats others with care. When meeting the dragons, she doesn’t hesitate to say that she’s a terrible person because she’s borrowing their powers. But also when meeting them, she asks them for their names, not their title (Ex: White Dragon). She treats them like humans. She’s grown into a mature young woman, and she has such determination driving herself. She’s learned to take up the bow and arrow because she wants to learn how to protect herself. She shoots 200 arrows every night, so you know just how determined she is. She may not be physically strong, but she tries. She has a voice and she uses it. Yona has grown up so much that I’m just so happy whenever she just does anything in the show. Comparing Yona now to the Yona in the first episode, they’re two different people. And we’re only halfway through the show, so I cannot wait to see how much farther Yona will grow.