I thought I would kick off the Friday Five feature with something light and fluffy and silly. Not to be taken seriously in any way. I have been spoiled by a wealth of absolutely delicious anime characters in my time to the point that I have now splintered my anime harem into a myriad of subcategories. One of my favorites, is my beloved prince girls. Androgynous ladies who could have their pick of anyone.
These aren’t all yuri ladies, so I may not stand a chance, but they’re also imaginary so…I’m not sure where I was going with this. Look, pretty girls!
Oscar
Lady Oscar or Rose of Versailles, was one of the very first animes I ever saw and it’s still one of my favourites. I was dazzled by what I considered at the time to be breathtaking animation, all those luxurious costume designs and crazy palace intrigue. Toddler me lapped it up!
But nothing impressed me more than Oscar herself. This absolutely gorgeous woman was a hero and leader. Unrepentant and self-assured, always the most capable person in the room. I wanted to be her and be with her simultaneously, even though I was probably way too young to understand what either of these impulses meant. You will be hard pressed to find a nobler gentleman anywhere.
Sailor Uranus
I wasn’t planning on doing these in chronological order… Full disclosure, unless she was wearing a suit, I didn’t find that much difference between Haruka’s character design and that of the other characters in Sailor Moon, so as a younger girl the gender issues didn’t really hit me much. What I did love was how fantastic she was with Michiru.
For some reason I never warmed up to Mamoru. I thought he was a bit of a jerk. So seeing an important couple in the series where both partners were devoted and respectful really attracted me. If I had my pick of Sailor Moon hotties, I would always go for Uranus (that’s not a pun, I didn’t pick the name…)
Shizuku
All right, this one may be considerably more to do with character design than anything else. There were a lot of fantastic characters in Magical Girl Raising Project and Shizu is not among the more interesting. Her persona was fairly simple and straightforward. Nothing wrong with that, just not quite as memorable as some. But her “real life” character design had me rewinding scenes over and over again. I’m not sure what Nana was thinking but if I had a girl that looked like that the only thing I’d want to change is… well this is a PG blog. Kinda. She’s really hot you guys…
Naoto
Sweetie pie Naoto is my favorite cosplay. I have just about every possible version of the character. She’s a little trickier to include on this list since there are some self-loathing or possible trans tendencies in her character that make her a tougher to pin down as an androgynous girl, but however Naoto choses to identify, the character remains deeply endearing.
Naoto was my only romance choice in Persona 4 (OTP with Kanji though). I desperately want to give Naoto a hug. I want to hear what’s on Naoto’s mind. A powerful combination of strength and vulnerability and a beautiful character all around.
Kashima
There’s a reason everyone loves Kashima (Hori does too he just has a little trouble admitting it), she’s just plain awesome. What’s always been wonderful about Kashima, and really most characters in Nozaki-kun is the uncomplicated acceptance of themselves.
Kashima is fine the way she is. She is so perfectly comfortable with herself that it’s guaranteed to put you at ease too. That sort of inner peace is completely irresistible to me which is why Kashima is not only my top pick for today’s list but also a role model I want to be more like. I would totally be part of her fanbase.
5 is really not a lot. I’ve left some very noteworthy ladies off this list. Do you have a favourite I didn’t name? I bet you do…
I like Sailor Uranus too. Aside from her, I also like Anna Heart from Kaleido Star for another androgynous anime girl.
Never seen that
In no particular order…
1. Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
2. Emma (The Promised Neverland)
3. Akito (Fruits Basket)
4. Shion Uzuki (Xenosaga)
5. Neferpitou (Hunter x Hunter) – I’m not sure what their gender is tbh. In the manga they’re coded as male, but in the anime they’re female. I’m going to split the difference and say both 😛
Good list. I find both Utena and Emma very feminine myself but also very hot!
I wasn’t thinking of them as being attractive I just find them inspiring characters. Utena is very femme but she also wears mens clothes and a big part of her story is about being comfortable in her own identity/not listening to people who tell her to be more ladylike
Utena is a show I have watched a lot but I never picked up on that. I should rewatch it sometime soon.
Naoto was my favorite character in Persona 4.
Me too
Man, I love Oscar. Great character. It’ll be interesting to see the upcoming film to see if I’m still as enamored with the anime.
I’m excited and nervous about it
Androgynous girls? Yum!
I second Kino. Much too young for an aged, lecherous guy like me. But if I were a teen myself…
I like kino’s no nonsense attitude
That’d probably be a tough list for me to make, since I often just remember them as… girls? Naoto’s the exception: I never quite figured out if she’s a girl or if he’s a trans boy. The game’s plot seems to suggest the trans imagery is part of outwards expectations towards a detective rather than an inner gender identity. Persona 4’s gender writing is a bit of a mess generally. It feels like the bring up stuff but then always draw things back into a cis-comfort kind of gravity… Regardless of gender, Naoto’s a great character, though.
Also, it’s been a very long time since I saw Lady Oscar (would have to be around 35 – 40 years now?); and due to it airing in the children’s slot on TV I didn’t see all of it (wasn’t always at home in time). Maybe a rewatch one of these days, this time with Japanese vocals instead of German ones.
I am both apprehending and looking forward to the new Lady Oscar movie that has been announced…
I haven’t heard about that movie. Interesting.
Kashima is the first character that comes to mind when I think of Princely ladies. Hmm, I think Kino from Kino’s Journey has to be one of my favorites. Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena is also pretty princely too!
All great choices
There’s a Three Musketeers anime from the 80s where Aramis is a woman in disguise. Also, d’Artagnan’s, like, twelve…
That rings a bell. It’s not the one with the dogs…
I don’t know any of these characters, so Haruhi Fujioka would be my pick. She’s even got both the guys and girls falling for her. I was hoping she’d be on the list, but at least she makes an appearance at the end.