Top 5 Favorite Anime Female Characters

Recently, I was asked in a general fashion what my top four female characters were. Well, I decided to give a top five. My criteria is not based on their waifu possibility.  I may do a list for that later. Also, I only include characters from titles I’ve watched.

#5 Ryoko — Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki Canon Franchise

When we are first introduced to Ryoko in the first Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki OVA series, she comes off as a powerful villain. She can fly, phase through walls, fire energy bolts from her palms, and create an energy sword. And yet in episode 2, I couldn’t help but notice that she cared about her appearance. This was the first indication that Ryoko wasn’t the evil oni legend had her as.

Her character arc in the canon franchise is quite enjoyable. On one hand, she’s lazy and a troublemaker. On the other hand, when the man she’s come to love is believed to be dead, she’s all business. Later when she accidentally damages Tenchi’s mother’s kimono, she’s devastated at how she hurt Tenchi. Over the years as a member of Tenchi’s harem, she continues to mature quite a bit. Indeed, she’s the first of Tenchi’s wives to give birth to a child.

So while I wouldn’t consider her wife material for me, I always felt she was the best wife for Tenchi, whether in or out of a harem.

#4 Frieren — Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

I know I always say “Deedlit is best elf.” And I still feel that way overall when it comes to elf babes. However, I cannot deny that Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has become a more favorite character, regardless of her status as an elf. When I was introduced to her, it was via a GIF where she’s ordering a powerful demon lord to kill themselves. Said demon lord cannot help but comply. That got my attention.

What makes Frieren a more interesting character than Deedlit is the exploration of the nigh immortality of High Elves. Maybe the Lodoss series explores this later, but for the Frieren series, that is the central theme. Frieren spent 10 years with the Hero’s party to defeat the Demon King. And yet she never really knew the Hero. Now that he’s dead, she’s on a mission to see the Hero through the eyes of others and history. That, combined with the fact that she’s such a badass mage make her such a fascinating and interesting character.

#3 Saber (Artoria Pendragon) — Fate/stay night Franchise

I never read the Fate/stay night visual novel. I did watch the original anime adaptation of it though and loved Saber as a character. That didn’t change with the Unlimited Blade Works “second route” anime. She was still awesome in Fate/ Zero, the prequel series. And in Fate Grand Order, Saber, as Artoria Pendragon, takes MANY forms, filling almost all Servant classes in the Fate franchise.

Her first line upon her summoning in the anime (and it is more formal in the visual novel from what I can tell) is, “Are you my Master?” There was something so powerful about the moment to me. After that, it was seeing Saber’s sheer determination despite not having the mana (prana) to operate at full power. Yet during the off times, it was a delight seeing Saber enjoy food or doing things a normal young woman might do.

As such, when I first started playing Fate Grand Order and did my first real pull, I was so stoked to pull three Artoria Sabers! And even though I don’t play any more, I occasionally log in and piddle around. I think to date, I’ve pulled her character eleven times! How could she not be a favorite at this point? 😂

#2 Lina Inverse — The Slayers Franchise

When it comes to first impressions, the sorceress Lina Inverse certainly makes a splash when she shows up in The Slayers. Using surprise, she single handedly destroys a large, bandit camp using various spells. Later, she blasts a large dragon out of existence. When she yells out “Dragon Slave”, one of her most powerful spells, you know the fun is about to begin. What’s not to love?

HAYASHIBARA Megumi does the voice of Lina Inverse. How she plays the character plays a huge part into making Lina one of my favorite characters. She doesn’t suffer fools well. At the same time, she respects folks who are good at what they do. So while her warrior companion Gourry make come off as dumb as a bag of rocks at times, she absolutely respects his skills with the sword. She’s a fascinating character even if we don’t learn a ton about her past and such.

After listening to Megumi-san reprise her role as Ranma in Ranma 1/2, I really would love for there to be another Slayers anime. Sadly, the anime folks have refused to touch materials from the novels after two characters leave the main story. As such, I doubt we’ll ever get another Slayers anime, and that’s sad. Maybe I’ll rewatch The Slayers soon.

#1 MISAKA Mikoto — Railgun/Index Franchise

Weirdly enough, I was introduced to MISAKA Mikoto via her A Certain Scientific Railgun series, which is the spinoff of the A Certain Magical Index series, which she co-stars in. As such, Mikoto made a huge impression on me with that first anime episode. First, she takes out a load of thugs using her Level 5 Electromaster esper ability. Then when a thug tries to run her over, she obliterates the car using her Railgun ultimate attack.

What makes Mikoto so interesting is the many facets to her character. When it comes to romance with Index lead Touma, she’s tsundere. Although she is an ojousama who wants to appear cool, there are a lot of childish things she absolutely loves, such as the Gekota frog products. She also loves anime, manga, and arcades. She’s very protective of her friends. While she has a somewhat childish rivalry with another Level 5 esper, she’s mature enough to know when to set that aside to deal with bigger issues.

In the source Railgun manga, Mikoto has a much tighter character arc than the anime adaptations. I think that’s what makes her my favorite character. As Mikoto deals with larger threats, she becomes more confident in her esper abilities. She’s better at analyzing situations. And while I think Touma is a horrible main character in the Index line, his influence on Mikoto is clear in the Railgun manga. I really hope we get another Railgun anime series that’s a accurate adaptation.

Wrap Up

There are my five favorite anime female characters. What are yours?