Digiboy's Character Database of Love – 3. Uiharu Kazari & 4. "Minnie" May Hopkins

This is the second post in Digiboy’s Character Database of Love.

3. Uiharu~n Kazari – To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Seiyuu: Toyosaki Aki (Performance: 4/5)

Character Design: (Designed by Tanaka Yuichi, based on designs by Haimura Kiyotaka). Most of the designs in Raildex are very attractive, and the main girls of Railgun are the cream of the crop. Uiharu is the wide-eyed girl with an innocent look about her, but this look is actually somewhat deceiving. Uiharu shows herself to be perhaps the most mature of the four leading ladies, and her face can transform when she’s angry, frustrated, or embarrassed into unexpectedly harsh expressions. However, what her face always conveys is her honesty, wherein her moments of anger or frustration also show a calm and cool heart that knows what it feels. The most noticeable aspect of Uiharu’s design is her flower tiara that always makes her presence sunny and calming.

Personal Bias/Moe Traits: Uiharu is a rare breed of peaceful character, largely in that she isn’t any form of idiot. She’s neither a character who’s sunny all the time nor a passive individual with no sense of anger, and she certainly isn’t oblivious. The more common expressions of Uiharu’s seriousness are her moments of getting mad at Saten’s loose nature, but the real money comes from situations wherein she’s genuinely offended. Uiharu isn’t afraid to speak her mind and state her problems, especially to her partner in Judgement, Shirai Kuroko.

That seriousness is balanced effectively by her ordinarily laid-back and peaceful nature. She’s easy to please and doesn’t waste her anger on trivial matters the way that Kuroko and Misaka tend to do, and she also doesn’t hide her problems within herself as Saten does. She’s totally open about her hobbies and could probably be called an ‘ojou-sama otaku’ because of her obsessive fascination with rich people. As a matter of fact, I think that with her ability to be happy and calm with ease and only get mad when she needs to, Uiharu~n would be top-quality wife material.

Distortions of My Imagination: I totally think Uiharu is gay for Saten, and vice-versa. Saten seems a lot more likely to be in love with her friend, and with Uiharu’s frequent complaints towards Saten, it could look like she’s not even a particularly close friend of hers (after all, I think they mentioned having met pretty recently.) However, it’s not that I don’t think Uiharu could be in a relationship with Saten; it’s just that I imagine Uiharu taking a very mature approach to the relationship. She’s not the romantic type who would shower her lover with affection at all times – more likely, she’s the type who would set very clear boundaries and manage the relationship professionally, not letting it get in the way of the rest of her life. I have this vision of Saten often trying to fool around with her while she’s working, and of her reacting strictly most times, but then, every once in a while, she’ll just be in the right mood, and would transition so perfectly into the lovemaking that it’ll look like she planned it all along.

Crowning Moment of Love: Some of my favorite pieces from Uiharu~n were her convictions in the final arc and her fanaticism during the maid festival episode. However, the singular moment that made me realize how awesome she was came from her argument with Kuroko at the beginning of episode five. Kuroko had a pompous attitude, acting as if the failure of her situation didn’t mean that her methods were flawed – Uiharu doesn’t take that shit, and tells Kuroko outright that she should’ve listened to her and taken the situation into better consideration before rushing in over-confidently. Uiharu doesn’t submit nor quickly forgive Kuroko – she’s honestly upset and wants Kuroko to know it, and I didn’t expect that strength of will to come from her.

Title: Ivysaur

4. “Minnie” May Hopkins – Gunsmith Cats

Seiyuu: Kae Araki (Performance: 2.5/5)

Character Design: (Designed by Kenichi Sonoda – this entry is for the character in the manga, rather than the anime adaption). Kenichi Sonoda’s designs are a perfect way to mark the transition from the 80s into the 90s. Girls are getting cuter, their hair is getting more stylishly ridiculous than ridiculously ridiculous, and their clothes are more contemporary. Minnie-May’s design was based on one very obvious intent – lolicon fanservice – and there’s a shit-ton of it in the manga, considering May’s high level of sexual activity (she’s legal, by the way). May got her nickname when Rally told her she was ‘as cute as Minnie Mouse’, and she is damn cute, but also sexy as hell when she wants to be. Her eyes are full of vigor and tenacity, and in combination with her explosive personality, she literally seems like a bomb that’s ready to pop at any moment.

Personal Bias/Moe Traits: On an analytical level, I don’t have anything ‘deep’ to say about Minnie-May – she’s violent, energetic, perverse, naive, and attractive, and that about sums her up. However, beyond the mere attractiveness of her design, she also appeals to my sexual interests. Minnie-May grew up on the streets and gave her virginity to an older lover at about thirteen, before circumstances had her going to work in a Chinatown brothel (the “Purple Pussy”) for three years. As a result, she’s highly sexually experienced, and it’s commonly remarked that she’s incredible in bed (to where some can barely handle it.) She’s constantly horny and raring to go, especially when her lover, Ken Taki, is involved; but she also doesn’t hesitate to use her body and sexual prowess for the sake of missions.

So basically, she’s a nymphomaniac, and I dig that. I love openly sexual characters, and all the more if they greatly enjoy and even take pride in their sexual prowess and experience. Minnie-May is always honest with her feelings and urges, which is something I celebrate in any character who can claim to be such.

Distortions of My Imagination: Honestly, there’s not much to distort with Minnie-May. She’s already a walking fantasy, even if I couldn’t get along with her personality at all. I guess you could consider my deep reading of her sexuality to be somewhat of a personal slant. May isn’t the type who’d say anything deep about her hobby (the closest thing is accusing Rally of dishonesty for not embracing her own sexuality). Who knows what Sonoda thinks about it – all I know is, regardless of how much thought was put into May’s psychology, my own examination of her psyche produces an enjoyable result.

Crowning Moment of Love: Mind you, I’ve only read the first two (massive) volumes of Gunsmith Cats so far, but my favorite scenes of her probably came from her backstory with lover Ken Taki. She fell in love with him and wouldn’t take no for an answer, making it clear that feelings were more important than age, and then reaffirming those sentiments in the present story. It probably doesn’t say all that much about her as a character, but I enjoyed it as someone who shares the ideals that feelings are what really matters, and that limiting oneself to be socially acceptable is a waste of time.

Title: I Get Wet