Utena is my most favorite female anime character. To me, Utena represents a stronger breed of anime females who are able to resist ditz attacks (cough cough Usagi Syndrome cough). Utena represents nobility: she stands up for what she believes in, takes up fencing and royalty at the drop of a broomstick, and doesn't put up with any crap (or, say, any green-haired bastards) from anyone. But above all, Utena is an innocent. Surprisingly enough, her naiveté is often said to be her downfall. Perhaps it is. Yet it is that innocence, that trust, that graceful nobility, that I most love about Utena. Popular she may be, but my favorite she certainly remains.

Meioh Setsuna, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Sailor Pluto, while from one of anime's most arguably whiny series, is one of anime's most unarguably beautiful females. She was my first favorite, in fact. She is both the tallest and oldest senshi, blessed and cursed with the power of time. Setsuna is elegance. I love her mystery, her selflessness, her shyness, her boots, her hair, her heart-crowned "senshi stick." Heh, there I kid. I think.

Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop

Yeah, so Bebop's Faye needs to deskankify herself. Yeah, I know she's a gambler and the costume helps to, ah, distract the public, but in my opinion, such an intelligent, sharp-edged, cynical-bent, quasi-femme-fatale needs no extra skankification. In spite of her surprisingly scarred, nebulous past -- I seem to have a thing for characters with nebulous pasts; go figure -- Faye kicks ass. Heck, Faye kicks every general ass in every general vicinity. And I firmly believe she and Spike should hook up. Perfect pairing, perfect romantic tension, perfect partners in crime, I tell you!

Edward Wang Hau Pepelu Tivrusky 4th, Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is thrice-blessed to have Ed in its cast. While Ed is only twelve years old and drawn with a constant blush for no readily apparent reason, she is also the world's greatest computer hacker. She is incredibly dexterous, often plying her hacking trade with her toes. Ed is mysterious. Ed is intelligent. Ed is persevering. Ed amuses me. Ed is just plain nifty.

Hikaru, Magic Knight Rayearth

If I were an anime character, I'd want to hang out with Hikaru. She's sweet, she's innocent, she's intelligent, she's generous and fun and one of most loyal hearts in the entire anime universe. Hikaru kicks the most monster booty out of all the Magic Knights. (Sorry, rabid Umi fans, but methinks Hikaru is the strongest fighter.) I love her rune god, her outfit, her pyromaniac powers. Now if only I could find myself a magic swordsman and a marshmallow bunny . . .

Melfina, Outlaw Star

There are those who say Melfina is a wimp. And, they are right. But to me, Melfina represents many other qualities so close to my own persona that I cannot help but hold her up as one of my ultimate favorites. Melfina is an innocent. She feels connected to the stars, to a some sort of higher power. She questions her identity. And while Melfina does touch upon the wimpy quotient, she also has an inner power far beyond anything else created. Though it would be awfully nice if Melly could put on, oh, I don't know, some clothes when piloting the Outlaw Star.

Anthy Himemiya, Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Somehow, I have to stand by Anthy. She is one of the great enigmas of anime: wimpy beyond belief, shrouded in revolutionary mumbo-jumbo, generally abused by everyone and anyone, even her brother . . . What is the deal with Anthy? This is the question I keep asking myself. This is the question that makes Anthy one of my most memorable, if not exactly favorite, anime characters. Us glasses-wearing girls have to stick together. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I hate, I hate, I hate Saionji. He is a punk, he is a cretin, and he can go stick his kendo sword where the sun don't shine.

Julia, Cowboy Bebop

Julia struck the wrong chord with me at first. But once I watched the series again, I really felt drawn to her tragedy. Julia is a fascinating woman. Her heartbreak is so beautifully illustrated, and the star-crossed relationship between her and Spike is poignant and profound. I feel a bittersweet affinity toward Julia. And heck, I hum mysterious little tunes to myself all the time. On good days, my hair even looks a little bit like hers: tousled and slightly wavy on the ends. I suppose this means I'm an official Bebop-character-loving nut. Oh well. There are worse nuts to be.

Lina Inverse, The Slayers

I very much respect a female character who can be cute and powerful beyond belief. This is probably because I believe only women have the power to be beautiful in their minds, in their identities, in their wit and survival. (I also very much like when the girls can beat the boys. Sue me.) Lina makes me laugh. Lina's a smart cookie. Lina loves to eat; I gotta stand by that. And in my ever-present love of opposites, I personally believe Lina should hook up with Zelgadis. Gourry's nice and all, but he just ain't no Zelly.

Ryoko Hakubi, Tenchi Muyo!

Ryoko and her pointy teeth make for the first dubbed character who both impressed and made me laugh out loud. I generally like crazy "character" characters. (And unless your name is Erik, who doesn't?) Ryoko is definitely crazed. Sure, she's a little evil. Sure, she's a little selfish. Sure, Tenchi's not exactly hunk material. (Methinks a friend once described that phenomenon best: Tenchi is meant to be appealing as an Everyman, a good-natured and philosophically-oriented kind of guy.) But come on, Ryoko is a food-stealing, cabbit-shipping, Aeka-smashing demon space pirate. How can I not love her?

Myung, Macross Plus

Myung is a beautiful character. Her persona is beautiful. She makes me want to watch this series over again, in fact, if for no other reason than to further discover why I feel such a strong similarity of self toward her. We both sing. We both feel a new, strange, unsettling distance regarding our singing. We both tend to hide our feelings. We both often feel torn between two sides of the same coin. We both serve as manager for a psycho, nekkid, computer-generated diva. Okay, so maybe Myung and I don't share everything. But we share enough, certainly, to place her amongst my favorites.

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