Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Top 25 Anime Characters: #25-#21

As followers of the Legacy know I am a big fan of anime. My love for anime, and manga, matches my love of comics. Though anime did not really become popularized here in the US until the 80s with animes such as Dragon Ball and Mobile Suit Gudam anime has a had real deep and rich history in Japan with hundreds, if not thousands, of different anime's. One of the things that set's anime apart from what we know as cartoons is all the different styles of animation they have. Each series has its own distinct look and going back to the early anime's you can really see how anime has evolved from when it began. And for me that is what adds more to my love of anime as I can watch things like Death Note, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Gundam, and other animes and see that they all have their own style of anime. So because of my love of anime I decided to create my own list of my favorite Top 25 Anime Characters.

For this new post I will be revealing five characters everyday from my top list counting down
from 25 until my #1 favorite anime character. And for my Top 5 I will reveal them all in a single post to those characters. Along with providing some brief info about the character and why I picked them I will include a tribute video to the character or the series.

#25. Roronoa ZoloCreated by: Eiichiro Oda
First Appearance: One Piece Episode 2 – Roronoa Zolo: Pirate Hunter
Voiced by: Japanese – Kazuya Nakai; English – Christopher Sabat

One Piece is one of my favorite manga's running today and I was extremely disappointed when the anime did not continue to run here in the States as the story of One Piece gets much better as it moves along. Still we do have the DVD's to look forward to. And probably my favorite character of the series is Roronoa Zolo. This guy is the ultimate badass when he wields his three
swords at the same time.

While Zolo lives in a world where there are a bunch of people with extraordinary powers thanks to the Devil's Fruit he is the biggest example of hard work. Everything he is able to do is through all of the painful and growling hours he puts into training. Though his abilities are inhuman, especially his stamina (he has lost more blood than any other anime character I've seen), you got to respect a man who is as dedicated as Zolo is to be the best at what he does, swordsmanship. And who else can say they can wield a sword in their mouth and still banter with your opponents?

Tribute Video:


#24. Selena Tsukino/Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon)Created by: Naoko Takeuchi
First Appearance: Sailor Moon Episode – A Moon Star is Born
Voiced by: Japanese – Kotono Mitsuichi; English – Tracey Moore, Terri Hawkes, Linda Ballantyne, and Jenifer Cihi

Though I have never been a fan of Sailor Moon even I have to recognize the impact this anime and the character has had here in the USA. While there are plenty of magical girl series out there none of them come close to what Sailor Moon did. Selena Tsukino and her group can be credit for bringing in the female demographic, specifically young girls, into the world of anime and manga. Selena Tsukino is sort of the Wonder Woman of anime as she is a strong individual character who saves the day and her boyfriend. And there are very few female character oriented shows that have found the balance and popularity Selena and her crew have reached.

Tribute Video:


#23. MugenCreated by: Shinichiro Watanabe
First appearance: Samurai Champloo Episode 1: "Tempestuous Temperaments"
Voiced by: Japanese – Kazuya Nakai; English – Steve Blum

When it comes to wielding a sword there is no one that is more unpredictable than Mugen from Samurai Champloo. His combination of various martial art disciplines along with some breakdancing and basically making things up as he fights there is no anti-hero more unorthodox than Mugen. Plus he has one wicked sword.


Along with his skills what really sets Mugen apart from many anime characters, especially those set in older eras of Japanese culture, is his take no shit attitude. Taking a look at the character his personality would probably be more in line with characters that are in the modern era. And when you pair him up with his comic foils in Jin and Fuu there are some comically gold moments for Mugen.

Tribute Video:


#22. Ichigo KurosakiCreated by: Tite Kubo
First Appearance: Bleach Episode 1 – The Day I Became a Shinigami
Voiced by: Japanese – Masakazu Morita; English – Johnny Yong Bosch

Ichigo is sort of the stereo typical bad boy hero type who actual is a caring individual when it comes to his friends and family that you get in Shonen Jump series. But add in a huge sword along with some great opponents to face it is hard to find a better action hero in the current running anime.

And when it comes to big fast paced action Bleach is the anime to watch. Throw in some wicked sword designs straight out of the imagination of Tite Kudo what else can you ask for. And it
doesn't get any better than Ichigo and his huge butcher knife-like sword. With his large amount of spiritual pressure (power level) Ichigo is one guy you don't want to mess with especially when he yells out Bankai and transforms into the Tensa Zangetsu form of his release.

Tribute Video:


#21. Alucard
Created by: Kouta Hirano
First Appearance: Hellsing Episode 1 – The Undead
Voiced by: Japanese – Nakata Joujo; English – Crispin Freeman

With Vampires being all the rage right now due to a specific franchise it is hard to escape that craze. And when it comes to vampires in anime you don't get any better than Allucard. This is one sadistic anti-hero who loves do dish out pain to his enemies. When facing off against this character you would be lucky if he killed you the moment you looked at him as he loves to torture his enemies before killing them. And what makes Allucard so cool now especially with the typical moppy vampire we get now is that he is just so sadistic that it is hard not to root for this anti-hero.

Tribute Video:

2 Comments:

Top Animes said...

ichigo kurosaki should be the first on the list, oh my i like him so much. for my second favorite anime would be luffy in one piece.

matthewdopsovic said...

wow nice your cool... alucard is on the list he should be higher up possibly in 10-5 but not number 1, seras should be on there too around 20