Tags
Arakawa Under the Bridge, Chihaya, Chihayafuru, Dandere, Genki Girl, Hitagi Senjougahara, Holo, Kuudere, Nanami, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nino, Rei Ayanami, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Senjougahara, Spice and Wolf, Tsundere, Yandere
Sometimes you want to watch a show that has an all-star cast wherein every character is over the top and you cannot even decide who to cheer for. Since Yerocha of Shades of Grey came up with a blog carnival idea of enlisting your ideal anime or manga cast, I decided that it’s the perfect time to unleash my fan girl mode.
I’m not really into heroes and villains that’s why instead of following the TvTropes formula of five heroes and a main villain, mine will be like the Idols formula–since this set-up is so in demand nowadays.
If you’re wondering if there’s a TvTropes formula for this… I’m not sure. My idea actually came from the SPICE Girls. Aside from the Girl Power message that they popularized, I like the concept how this group is comprised of the perfect ingredients.
So without further ado, here’s the list of my ideal anime cast.
Pseudo Yandere (Hitagi Senjougahara – Bakemonogatari)
Senjougahara is complicated because she’s like a bit of every [prefix]dere. However, since I don’t have a favourite yandere, I’m just going to fit her in this category. Hitagi appears to be unconcerned but actually she’s tremendously possessive that she’s willing to kill her lover and her lover’s lover if she catches them cheating.
Tsundere (Holo – Spice and Wolf)
Holo is wise and bossy, but underneath her goddess attributes is a sensitive and loving heart. Plus mind you, she’s so cute whenever she’s being jealous.
Dandere (Rei Ayanami – Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Rei Ayanami brought me back to anime. I was so intrigued by her mysterious personality. Oftentimes, I was watching Evangelion just to hear her talk and react. And of all the danderes whom I know, she’s hottest one.
Kuudere (Nino – Arakawa Under the Bridge)
Aside from her mysteriousness, Nino is just plain weird. She can have the wackiest ideas but they rarely show up on her Venus-like face. Also, it seemed like she’s apathetic but she actually never hides how sincere and caring she is.
Genki Girl (Chihaya Ayase – Chihayafuru)
Chihaya never fails to make me smile. Her energy, willingness to learn, and clumsiness are lovely. Most of all, she’s beautiful in and out and it’s so easy for anyone to like her.
Not-So-Villain (Nanami Kiryuu – Revolutionary Girl Utena)
When it comes to villainous acts, Nanami is my favourite character because of her Cowstian Dior scene. I’m not really into nastiness that’s why if there’s going to be a mean girl, I would prefer someone who has a hidden kindness. Nanami might be catty and childish however once in a while she knows how to show some humility.
Having said all of these, the advantage of having different kinds of characters is that everyone can engaged with the cast. It’s just like reading horoscopes. It feels like something really defines who you are but the thing is the signs are just too many that there’s a high chance that you can relate at least in one of them.
Some Fun Musings
As a yuri fan, I chose these girls because all of them are shippable. In total, there are 15 scenarios on how we can ship them.
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- Senjougahara is confirmed to be a tsundere in Bakemonogatari ep.14.
Lemmas and Submodalities 
Hahaha nice post, “fan girl”-chwan~
Now I finally understand why you had that tweet about the different kinds of -deres.
Certainly good picks though, and like you said, Senjougahara can pretty much fill for all the -deres, so it was a good choice to save her for yandere and give the other positions to other illustrious characters that are better for a specific role.
Yeah, this post was supposed to be for last week. But I didn’t have time to blog. Then last night, after reading a post about Natsuiro, this dere idea came into mind.
Whilst I love the list, I would have to say that Senjougahara is most definitely not a Yandere. Yandere’s start all lovey dovey then gradually how us how truly insane they are, often to do with mental instability and huge bursts of crazy violence. Like everyone’s favourite yandere; Yuno or Sekai at the end of School Days.
Whilst Senjougaraha is somewhat violent, she isn’t (mentally) unstable, she certainly doesn’t kill anyone. She’s just a hyperactive tsundere.
Actually, probably not even a tsundere; likely Kuudere.
I would also consider her as kuudere, but she has a violent nature. Back on Bakemonogatari ep. 14, she popularized the phrase Tsundere Service.
I’m also hesitant to labelled her as yandere she has yet to kill anyone. But her possessive nature and her threats of killing with Araragi and the girl once he cheats on her made me to conclude that perhaps it’ll be okay to categorized her as yandere.
To be honest, I’m still confused by Senjougahara’s personality. ^^
True. The only reason I wouldn’t brand her as a yandere is that whilst killing is heavily implied in Bakemono, no one actually does it. I never thought serious of her threats. Neither did I think she would. Add to the fact, lots of anime girls always talk about killing their love interests, but are always tsundere, I never thought of Senjougahara as outside of the tsundere/kuudere circle.
I’ll admit though, I can’t say I fully understand her personality either :P
While Senjougahara still yet to kill anybody, Araragi’s constant musings that shewill kill him and his alleged lover made me conclude that Senjougahara might possibly fit the role. But on the other hand, I remembered that when Hanakawa told that Hitagi that she’s going to steal Araragi, Hitagi got scared instead of being defensive.
But yeah, I already changed Hitagi’s role to Pseudo Yandere since it’s not really proven that she’s going to kill anyone who’s going to steal Araragi from her.
He he, somehow I expected you’d have Holo and Chihaya on your list. I’m not quite sure who that villain is, but I suppose I haven’t been watching the required amount of Utena yet.
I’m not normally the type who likes tsundere characters, but that has more to do with their place in the story than the character type in general. If I had to pick my favourite, then, I would probably say Holo as well.
I’m also not into over the top tsundere characters. If I’m going to choose one, I’d like that character to have a really good attribute that would outweigh her tsundereness. Of all, Holo is the best fit that I can assign on this category.
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I love your choices for dandare, I think Rei was pretty much the one who sets up the pinnacle of dandere. I like Hitagi too though she being a yandere.. hmmm don’t think so. Actually, I also had trouble categorizing her, without categorizing her as any character archetypes and just plainly describing her.. I would say.. she’s a sadist of sort.. She won’t kill people, she just likes to tease/torture. Now I wonder if there’s any special character archetype to categorize a sadist?
Sadly enough, I don’t know the rest of the characters. Chihayafuru and Revolutionary Girl Utena had been on my watchlist for quite some time already, so I still need to get to those soon.
I’m glad that you like my choices. For the very same reasons that you mentioned why I changed Hitagi’s role from yandere to pseudo-yandere. ^^
Btw, I highly suggest Chihayafuru and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Those two are really worth watching.
I will watch anything with Senjougahara, Holo and Chihaya in it. They’re intriguing characters and have the ability to catch the attention of the audience with their different personalities.
I don’t know who Nanami is, but there’s this ojou-sama vibe about her. That’s a good choice considering her role in your ideal cast.
Yeah, Nanami is an ojou-sama she’s from Revolutionary Girl Utena. But she’s really funny because they make always make fun of her. Instead of being annoyed, I enjoyed her character because her meanness always bounces back to her.
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Great casting choices. I noticed that they’re all rather strong-willed, either internally or externally, perhaps that’s something that attracted you to them?
Yes, I guess that’s one of the attributes why I love these characters. Even in real life it’s so easy to admire strong-willed people.
As a Nanami fan I cherish your kind as well as accurate words for her. Many people don’t quite notice that Nanami is just a child while despicable Anthy is the real villain!
Tbh, I was about to be annoyed by Nanami but then whenever she does something mean it backfires on her. From there I realized that she’s just a spoiled ojousama. I really like her because she’s hilarious.