100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Nineteen: 10-6)

The nineteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

This is it! The top 10! We’re almost at the end of “100 Characters For 100 Otaku!!!” I think it’s pretty funny how the fairly even, if not somewhat male-dominated list took a sudden shift in the top thirty to being most women, hehe. Let’s see if the trend continues as we dive into 10 down through 6! By the way, be sure to check out Mainichi Anime Yume where the author is doing his own 100 character list!

10. Amamiya “Manabi” (from Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight)

Why I Like Her: Manabi is, IMO, the ‘better’ Kamina, and not just because she is a cute girl. Manabi has a singular vision of pulling everyone in Seioh Academy together to do something truly memorable together. She wants to create a real school experience – one that will stay with everyone for the rest of their lives, and that will lead to the emotional growth of everyone involved. She never stops MASSUGU GO! GO! GO!ing, and she has one of my favorite personal endings in anime history (my reaction to which is chronicled in the Diary of an Anime Lived.)

A Mirror For Otaku: Manabi is the kind of mind that attracts otaku, as well as a mind that the more proactive otaku may emulate. Otaku tend to disbelieve in their capacity to do anything, but can be led into doing something interesting by someone who is sure of their potential.

Reflecting My Otakudom: I am the type of guy who takes charge, and is the one attractive to the minds of the downtrodden. I am always convinced of someone’s skills even if they are not, and I can always find a place for them in the greater picture of my life. I get from them a necessary gear in my machine, and they get from me the increased self-confidence that comes from a sense of accomplishment.

The First Episode of Crest of the Stars: Manabi is willing to make compromises, but she never, ever gives up. She only agrees to deals that will allow her vision to remain intact. Jinto’s father recognizes that to fight a loosing battle is to give up – instead, he makes a compromise that preserves his vision of a living race.

9. Renton Thurston (from Eureka Seven)

Why I Like Him: What a great young man this boy becomes! In the beginning of Eureka Seven, Renton is a hormone-driven, idiot teenager who has to be bitchslapped by some and abused by others before he can see the big picture. A woman lights up his life, and he finds himself on the path to manhood – a path to understanding what you fight against, accepting it, and fighting in the name of your love.

A Mirror For Otaku: Anime can be an awakening for many. I’ve seen a lot of teenage otaku amd most ofthem acted kind of like Renton. Complacent, libido-driven, and always wishing their life didn’t suck. I’ve literally watched some of these people grow up alongside me, and it was the fact that they were part of the otaku community and got to communicate with such a body of people that they were able to mature.

Reflecting My Otakudom: Or is that really just my own story? I’ve had my fair share of idiot teenager time. It seems like every year I’ve looked back on who I was a year before and gone ‘wow, I really WAS stupid back then!’ and I’m sure I’ll be doing the same thing next year. After all, I’m still kind of a dumb kid :p but like Renton, I am a kid who charges forward with great conviction and grows up on the bitchslaps and Brightslaps of my fellow anime bloggers.

The First Episode of Crest of the Stars: Renton’s father was a war hero who saved the world, but has also been more-or-less demonized by certain sects. Jinto’s father, too, is a savior of mankind, who has been seen in a far harsher light as a straight-up traitor.

No joke, only image I could find

8. Kamikishiro Naoko (from Boogiepop)

Why I Like Her: Number 3 on mai waifu list! Rather than restate what you can read in that post, I’d like to pull some of my favorite Naoko lines. From Boogiepop and Others by Kouhei Kadono, translated by Andrew Cunningham: “Why can’t we pick who we fall in love with? It would be so much easier…,” “Isn’t it enough? Isn’t niceness the best motivation that someone can have?,” “Life is brief, young maiden, fall in love, before the crimson bloom fades from your lips, before the tides of passion cool within your hips, for those of you who know no tomorrow.”

A Mirror For Otaku: Kamikishiro Naoko flirts with every flighty thing that falls her way. She can’t help but continue to fall in love with everyone who shows her kindness. Otaku are very much the same because of their unbearable loneliness. When you have no one and are desperate, you tend to latch on to anything that will grace you with attention. It’s not just in terms of love, but friendship, too. I used to have a huge parade of annoying nerds at my school who always tried to hang out with me because I was seen as a guy who would accept them, and as a leader of their group (though often I wanted nothing to do with them.)

Reflecting My Otakudom: Do I fall in love with anime far too easily? I think it’s true that anything I don’t find offensively bad is something I totally adore. I have something like 100 favorite anime. I know a lot of otaku who don’t even like 100 anime, and I have 100 favorites. (a list surely forthcoming…)

The First Episode of Crest of the Stars: Kamikishiro befriends Echoes, and alien entity that is meant to make the final judgment of whether the Earth is or isn’t worth saving. The Abh can be seen as making a similar judgment in allowing the humans a chance to either submit to their terms or be annihilated.

7. Kurosawa Kakeru (from Onani Master Kurosawa)

Why I Like Him: Kurosawa is The Fucking MAN. No doubt one of the most respectable manga heroes ever written, and a man who all men should aspire to me. His is the greatest tale of redemption I’ve ever seen, and one that clawed at my very heart, leading me to spill many tears. There’s not a whole lot I feel that I could say about him without writing a whole post about it, but I’ll just say that his tale moved me and made me feel like I needed to change as a person.

A Mirror For Otaku: Kurosawa wanted nothing to do with anyone. He was a total antisocial, even rejecting the otaku in his class who wanted to be friends with him so bad. He put himself on a pedestal and pretended to be the only intelligent being around. Among otaku, these are the worst kinds of people – the type who can’t even manage to get along in an online community where everyone shares the same interest. I would love to see these people go through Kurosawa’s transformation.

Reflecting My Otakudom: Oh man, where do I begin? I really need to do my diary of an anime lived post on this guy! Anti-socializing, putting myself on top, masturbating way too much… I relate to a lot of Kurosawa’s person, and I had to go through my own transformation to escape the hell of my dark soul. I don’t feel like I’ve finished my journey, but I’d like to think that my persona, on and offline, has changed for the better. I owe that change to otakudom.

The First Episode of Crest of the Stars: The Abh are a dominative race that rules over large parts of space. Kurosawa often had dreams of his own kind of domination as he masturbated in the girl’s bathroom.

6. Eureka (from Eureka Seven)

Why I Like Her: She’s intelligent, driven, broken, has short hair, pale skin, is quiet, headstrong, in need of help, and best of all, has children. Those are all the reasons I find her incredibly attractive. I love Eureka because she is a young, bright girl who suddenly realizes that there are a lot of things she doesn’t know yet, and wants to discover them – things inside of her heart, called love. Why isn’t Eureka one of mai waifus? Because I can’t imagine her with anyone but Renton <3 (actually, the truth is that she is too young :p)

A Mirror For Otaku: Eureka falls in love with Renton and before too long realizes that she has a desire to be with him. She soon finds herself willing to do anything to get to him. Does this not sound somewhat like a new otaku? How was it for you when you first got into anime? I remember when a crush turned into a like and then I needed to consume as much anime as possible. And look now, anime and I have been married for almost ten years~ <3

Reflecting My Otakudom: Eureka seems to be pretty confident in her worldview at the beginning of the series. It is only when she sees a struggle in Renton that she starts to struggle with herself. I think that for a lot of my life, I have felt as if I understood everything around me. I become very sure of myself, and it is only when I see works that make me question myself – works that I truly love – that I start to struggle with my perception of the world.

The First Episode of Crest of the Stars: Man, there are so many blue haired aliens on this list! Okay, I don’t think the Coralians can be called aliens in the same sense as the Abh, but they are on the flipside of invasion as they try to repel the human race from what they consider their planet.

There’s 10-6, tune in tomorrow for the LAST five!!! We’ve got a bloodthirsty madman, a chain-smoking lolicon, and who knows – maybe your favorite character!