| Besides the ones already mentioned, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei <3 |
| Well, Utena's only girly in the beginning. It's school, but not so much comedy, it gets dark quickly. Ah well. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is awesome, though you need to understand at least a bit of the Japanese culture, and some animanga knowledge, as parodies make up quite a bit of the comedy. |
| Utena is never girly, it's all cubist. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
ladyxzeus said: Utena is never girly, it's all cubist. It fooled me in the beginning. On a rewatch, though, everything seems different. |
| I like Fairy Tail's cast. You have your stupid male lead, (Natsu) your cute female lead, (Lucy) your badass other female lead, (Erza) your other male lead who always fights with Natsu (Gray), and the comedic relief (Happy). |
| Bleach. The anime itself is pretty mediocre, but the sheer number of characters makes it hard to go wrong in that sense. There's so many you are bound to like at least a few. |
| Pandora Hearts in a heartbeat. Oz, Alice, Gilbert, Break, Sharon, Vincent, Echo, Elliot, Jack, Glen, Will of the Abyss, Uncle Oscar... they're all too cool. There are just all these layers to each of their characters. It's great to keep learning more about them as the story goes on. |
Cho_DesuApr 6, 2010 4:32 PM
| Samurai Champloo, but I'm referring the main three. Ouran High School Host Club, all entertaining one way or another. Baccano! of course, many great characters. Hayate no Gotoku! the way they all acted with each other, alone, just fun. Haruhi Suzumiya (show), I think is obvious. They're all different and have lol interactions. |
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| No doubt it's Legend of the Galactic Heroes.They have a huge cast of likable and deplorable characters. The cast includes malicious, insignificant, great, foolish, rage-induces, funny, reserved, insecure, lofty and much more particularities, whose well-defined interactions with eachother creates many brilliant instances in the story, and further radiates the greatness of the show. |
Score Criteria: |
Cholisose said: Pandora Hearts in a heartbeat. Oz, Alice, Gilbert, Break, Sharon, Vincent, Echo, Elliot, Jack, Glen, Will of the Abyss, Uncle Oscar... they're all too cool. There are just all these layers to each of their characters. It's great to keep learning more about them as the story goes on. YES!! I am in love with pretty much every single Pandora Hearts character. It's never happened across the board like that before. A large number of them I love nearly equally. After Pandora Hearts, the cast of Slayers. They complement each other flawlessly. |
Neiru2013Apr 7, 2010 12:57 AM
| Baccano! and Monster because of it's wide cast of great side-characters. |
| There Is A Light That Never Goes Out |
| Princess Mononoke, I really loved how the story tried to be impartial and to give both reason to hate or to love each parts. It really did a great job to portray the roots of this particular conflict. Though mister perfect kind of annoyed me at times but he was more a plot device to give a view on both parts. Cardcaptor Sakura has also an excellent cast of characters, and I include the cards as well. |
| Fullmetal Alchemist. Edward and Alphonse, Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes, Armstrong, Hawkeye, Jean Havoc, and one of my favorite anime characters of all time; Scar. Hell, I even love Vato Falman, Kain Fuery and Heymans Breda. Then there were the characters that were perfect at winning my hatered like Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Greed and the biggest bastard of them all, Shou Tucker. If you look at my profile, 5 of my 10 favorite characters are from FMA. |
PompeiiApr 9, 2010 1:07 PM
lollypatrolly said: Only watched a few eps of Monster and Baccano!, but both of those seem to have exceptionally well made characters as well as a large cast. As for shows I've completed, Gunslinger Girl and Spice and Wolf have the best characters and interaction / relations. However they are not the largest casts, which I think may be what you're looking for. Can't believe people mentioned TTGL, it has some of the worst characterization I've seen to date in anime. No, no. Best, not the largest. That means the cast has to be able to stand on its own. Basically, for you. What series has a cast that you remember everyone involved in the plot. A cast that you can list all the names off the top of your head with no problem. The cast that was dynamic, unique, and filled with the subtle features that makes them like no other cast in anime. The cast with the dynamic relationship that sucked you into the story so deep you forgot the rest of the world existed while you watched. |
| Claymore. Strong, kickass females who never give up. That's the way it's supposed to be- screw all those fucking useless and weak characters! |
| Well, the few anime series in which I loved almost every character are Fullmetal Alchemist, Gintama and Pandora Hearts. Also, Monster. Monster has very well-developed characters. |
 |
| Bleach, they make me laugh. Neon Genesis Evangelion, I don't really know why, but I like them anyway. Love Hina, more lolz. |
| soul eater. I liked every character. I don't think I can say that about another anime... |
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| Durarara has a realy good cast of people. I also like Princess Tutu's cast. Cromartie High School. I liked most of Ghost Hound's cast. There's quite a few shows that I like a good amount of the cast. |
| How long would it take to earn 50 million yen, Karasawa? - Katsuya No longer than it would take to get to the bank, provided I have a gun. -Karasawa I'm through talking with you. -Katsuya |
lollypatrolly said: ^Maybe I've just seen too few anime, but TTGL had some of the worst characters I've seen in the medium so far. Don't get how you can put it on the best list at least :/ I'll have to disagree with Haruhi as well. Though it does have two very good characters (kyon and haruhi), the rest are just put together from the standard anime palette of stereotypical traits / archetypes. While there's nothing quite wrong with this, it certainly means it can't qualify for having the BEST characters :P Now that I've completed Baccano, I'm going to reaffirm that it has an amazing cast of unique and sometimes complex characters, as well as fajr,y interesting character relations / relationships. I could really give less of a shit as to whether or not you disagree with me. As far as I'm concerned, this thread is inherently subjective. |
lollypatrolly said: Characters being one-dimensional and stereotypical is not exactly a matter of subjective opinion for that matter. Though if you want my opinion as well, I'd say they're all annoying. Excuse me for finding charm in stereotypical characters. One needn't criticize a show because the cast is overly stereotypical or made of only standard archetypes. I enjoy how they interacted with the situations they've been placed in. Each of the shows I've listed had good characters and they worked well with the narrative. What more could you ask for in a cast? |
| HunterxHunter (best cast I have seen. I would love to put every important character in my fav list, but then there would be no more room in my list. Yes, even the important ones with virtually no screen-time i.e. Ging) FMA (previously best cast) YYH (Togashi is a character creating genius, imo, though he doesn't work out their potential as he did in HxH) Honorable mentions: Gintama Haven't seen enough of Legend of the Galactic Heroes to say, though I can see why some feel that way. and Shugo Chara, yes. |
aixelsydApr 21, 2010 7:40 PM
lollypatrolly said: I never got around this tidbit that a character has to be unique, non-stereotypical, in order to be a "good" character. It is entirely subjective if you think stereotypical characters are always bad, or even "worst" characters. It seems to me there's quite a number of people who like tsunderes, and most of them are nothing short of what you call stereotypical. And also, it seems to me unique characters are either hit or miss. Or more, they get labeled to a specific group, just because some qualities are shared. Discussion is bad, making useless lists is good, mmmkay? Characters being one-dimensional and stereotypical is not exactly a matter of subjective opinion for that matter. Though if you want my opinion as well, I'd say they're all annoying. No need to take criticism on your shows as personal attacks, at least. And really, I wouldn't even call Kamina stereotypical, since I've seen nobody around my list of shows that had a similar character as him. Or nobody memorable enough that I would relate him to. Maybe Kittan tries to be him, but that's within the same show. And if I can't name any, then it isn't stereotypical for me. Hence, another form of subjectivity. Lots of it. Anyways, when I saw this topic, Baccano! instantly came to my mind. The only choice I could think of. It isn't more that all of them are great, unique, memorable characters (though Vino sort of is), but how they interacted with each other for the entire show. |
| Soul Eater Has a really solid story line, keeps you on your toes and has the largest variety of personalities I've seen in anime characters by far. Definitely a must if you're looking for something a little different. (Just make sure you give it a few episodes! ;3) |
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| Baccano, Gintama, and Gundam 00 come to mind. Cowboy Bebop and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann also have spectacular characters. A lot of the seiyu for these shows are really amazing. |
Tachii said: Well, he's pretty much a personification of the Determinator archetype. And there are dozens of them in shounen anime, optimistic dudes who don't ever give up and whatnot. Granted, I can't remember seeing anyone as completely focused on that single trait and nothing else as Kamina, so he definitely serve as a great crystallization and parody of that trait.And really, I wouldn't even call Kamina stereotypical, since I've seen nobody around my list of shows that had a similar character as him. But it's like the girls of SZS, while they may be interesting or entertaining, I could never really call them good characters when they are basically made of one single exaggerated trait and nothing else. |
Baman said: But it's like the girls of SZS, while they may be interesting or entertaining, I could never really call them good characters when they are basically made of one single exaggerated trait and nothing else. I'm pretty sure this could be applied to every character created in anime since it's introduction. Every character is a combination of one or more archetypes, so essentially no character is "original" in the sense that "no one has done it before." But since OP listed off his favorite shows as having the best casts, I listed some of my favorites. Sure, to some of you they may not have the best cast because they lack the "originality" that your shows supposedly have, but I feel the characters in my list are the best choices given the scenarios they were placed in. I enjoy that, and in my opinion that's what makes a cast one of the best. Who cares if they are all stereotypical character traits for their genre? Baccano's appeal for me is that each character is inherently different (i.e. I believe each portrays their own archetype) and they are all thrown into the same world, a potpourri of stereotypes in one place. We love the interactions between Isaac and Miria in relation to the other, more serious characters, but if they starred in a series alone would they have the same appeal (every character essentially acts like them)? Maybe I'm rambling on, but in all of my listed shows I feel that the result is greater than the sum of it's parts, mostly because of the cast, no matter how stereotypical they are. |
| Really like al the masters from Kenichi the mightiest disciple, Apachai ^^ Appa appa! |
minglong said: But it's usually easier and cheaper to make a good character out of a single archetype rather than make a varied and balanced one, take Kenshiro and Chirico for example, I really liked them and all, but they were basically nothing but pure badass archetypes, and thus takes very little effort to write. Which is why I would never list them as the overall best characters I've seen, since they lack substance and are too "cheap" even if they are great at what they do.I'm pretty sure this could be applied to every character created in anime since it's introduction. Every character is a combination of one or more archetypes, so essentially no character is "original" in the sense that "no one has done it before." Similarly, Kamina played his role perfectly, but the writers certainly can't be praised for writing a complex, deep or realistic character. They probably spent fifteen minutes maximum. But of course, since you judge them based on how they play their roles in their settings, I guess that critique doesn't really apply. |
| Slam Dunk. All of them play their respective roles, have diverse personalities and are funny in one way or another. |
| I love the characters in InuYasha, I don't care about the story so much but the reason I keep on watching is because of the characters. |
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| I was going to say inb4 LoGH but I got owned in the 2nd post. |
| Baccano! and Ouran Host Club. Baccano! has wild, crazy charaters that all are individual personalities, and Ouran does have the archetypes, but they're not afraid to play around with it- they acknowledge that they're stereotypes and use it to their advantage. |
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| Fullmetal alchemist fullmetal alchemist brotherhood . . Soul eater each of these anime have a great cast of characters . . . Diverse , till the end . . Each character is well developed , which makes you love em more . . . Or even hate em more . . . Each character has its moment of glory . . . And its moment of folly . . . :) |
| -Crest/Banner of the Stars I-III. Lafiel is great. -Cowboy Bebop. -Code Geass, sort of; I think Lelouch and Kallen are fascinating, but others like C2 are really, really bad. -Haibane Renmei. -FLCL. -Ouran High School Host Club. -Princess Mononoke. As an aside, one of the best love interest first shots ever. Man sees girl, girl looks up with blood all over mouth. Kinky. -Spirirted Away. Part of me wants to say TTGL, and part of me doesn't. |
durarara!! |
 .... Thinking of the smile on the person's face... |
lollypatrolly said: But this is about the best cast of characters, yes? Then their interactions and executions between each other is crucial for the selection. We're really looking for the averages they hypothetically add up to and not their individual uniqueness that might out-complete the entire cast of another show. At least, when I think of "best cast", I think of everyone playing in a specific role, with some role, that is distributed well with what their personalities are. This is why when I thought about this, TTGL did not came up. Because even if Kamina is some fantastical character, we also have really bland characters, and on average, they just didn't match up to the diversity of Baccano. I didn't even like Isaac and Miria but their role added to the flare of Baccano. |
| id say OHSHC and durarara |
| EASILY gintama--largest and most diverse cast of characters. Yu Yu Hakusho also had a great large cast, although some were a bit stereotypical. Cowboy Bebop had a good cast although fairly limited |
| Definitely Berserk and ROD the TV |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| So far? Death Note. Lucky Star's cast is really good too. |
| "If you feed me, Seymour, I can grow up big and strong!" |
| FLCL had stupendous characters? I dunno. Most animes don't really have great characters >.< |
MisaTange said: So far? Death Note. Lucky Star's cast is really good too. You need to watch more anime. |
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