I’m sure some of you have seen it already, but anime goods store Lashinbang had anime fans vote for their favourite heroines from the currently airing season of anime.
Judging by the results (which I will share in this post), I think it’s pretty safe to assume that this poll wasn’t taken entirely seriously.
As such, I decided I would share my top ten anime heroines of the current season. As long as a character has featured prominently in at least one episode during the summer season, then they are eligible for this list. Oh, and they have to actually be female as well…
First, let’s take a look at the results of Lashinbang’s poll, which had 1,688 votes. They posted it on their Twitter, but I’ll share it here as well:
10: Classroom of the Elite‘s Suzune Horikita (68 votes)
9: Gamers!‘s Karen Tendo (77 votes)
8: Fate/Apocrypha‘s Berserker of Red (102 votes)
7: NEW GAME!!‘s Nene Sakura (111 votes)
6: Angel’s 3Piece‘s Little Wing (113 votes)
5: Fate/Apocrypha‘s Berserker of Black (127 votes)
4: Kakegurui‘s Yumeko Jabami (150 votes)
3: NEW GAME!!‘s Aoba Suzukaze (200 votes)
2: Aho Girl‘s Yoshiko Hanabatake (216 votes)
1: Fate/Apocrypha‘s Rider of Black (274 votes)
On a list of ten supposed ‘heroines’, two are male (Berserker of Red and Rider of Black) and one is a location (apparently Little Wing is an orphanage or something in Angel’s 3Piece).
Of course, I imagine the 1,688 participants are only a fraction of anime fans keeping up with the current season. It is only a bit of fun, after all, and I decided to have some fun of my own.
Any female character who has played a prominent role in an episode that has aired during the course of this season will be considered – well, out of the shows I have watched, anyway.
Without further ado, I present to you my top ten anime heroines of summer 2017:
Number 10: Tsuyu Asui
We kick this list off with my favourite heroine from My Hero Academia. Her hero name is Froppy, and she got almost an entire (anime-original) episode dedicated to her. Admittedly she didn’t really do much then, but she pretty much gets on this list by virtue of being voiced by Aoi Yuuki. It’s unfortunate, but she’s been a pretty minor character in the most recent events of My Hero Academia. In fact, I don’t think any of the female characters have played major roles in the current arc of the show…
Number 9: Ririko Oribe
I like all of the main cast of Sakura Quest, but it is the shy cryptid enthusiast just manages to edge out the other girls as my favourite character. Her love of supernatural things ended up isolating her from others when she was younger. Now, however, she gets along fairly well with Yoshino and the others. Ririko even befriended a Spanish cryptid hunter, and they keep in touch with each other.
Watching Ririko’s character develop throughout Sakura Quest has been a real treat.
Number 8: Mikan Kise
Mikan is the yellow member of the Cheer Fruits heroine group from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits. She can be quite shy, but that doesn’t stop her from being passionate. Mikan is also the writer for the group, and I tend to be a fan of writers – no matter the quality of the content. Fortunately for the Cheer Fruits, Mikan happens to be a very good writer when not wrestling with writer’s block.
Number 7: Ange
One of the lead characters from Princess Principal, Ange claims to be an alien from the Black Lizard Planet. With her C-ball she can defy gravity, which turns out to be quite a handy skill for a spy to have. She also happens to be a liar.
She has a strong bond with Princess, though to go into more details than that will just invite spoilers. I can say that she is an extremely skilled spy, and often takes the lead during missions.
Ange is a very good actor, as well. She can switch between personalities in the blink of an eye, with the former delinquent act she put in probably being the most amusing we’ve seen from her so far. Dorothy’s reaction to that is pretty good.
Number 6: Berserker of Black
One of two Servants from Fate/Apocrypha on this list, Berserker of Black may just be my favourite Berserker class Servant within the entire Fate franchise. She is surprisingly adorable for a Berserker class Servant.
She has a limited vocabulary, but the way in which she communicates is a trait of hers I find particularly endearing.
I really like her design as well. Her hair usually covers her eyes, but when we do glimpse them, we see she has heterochromia iridis. I’ve got quite a soft spot for characters with mismatched eyes.
Number 5: Saber of Red
Another Servant from Fate/Apocrypha. I particularly like the way in which she is always up for a fight. Despite that rough and ready nature, she also has a surprisingly cute side; as demonstrated when we saw her playing with a cat.
Saber of Red also seems to have a rather short fuse, especially when someone brings up the subject of her father, or her gender. Still, she’s pretty handy in battle and a worthy Saber class Servant.
Number 4: Aoba Suzukaze
I love the entire cast of NEW GAME!!, but ask me to single out one as a favourite and Aoba just edges out the others. In the second season she has been given a new role with a lot of responsibility, and has also wrestled with feelings of inadequacy. However, her fellow employees are always there to help her out, and as such she has been able to overcome those obstacles.
Aoba has also found herself in a rivalry with one of Eagle Jump’s newest employees – she has a more relaxed attitude towards it, but she does acknowledge it.
Aoba also has something of a sadistic side she occasionally lets slip out. That’s an aspect of hers I’m quite fond of.
Number 3: Caulifla
Choosing between Caulifla and Kale was tough, as I like both of them quite a lot. Caulifla just wins out for me, though.
She is a Saiyan from Universe 6, but her personality is more in line with the typical strength-obsessed Saiyans of Universe 7. However, she does have a caring side – she heaps lots of praise upon her protégée Kale, and will protect her when she is danger.
Caulifla is also the first canon female character to turn Super Saiyan. She has tremendous potential, and even Goku acknowledges that she could possibly achieve Super Saiyan 3 during the course of the Tournament of Power.
Number 2: Yukari Kotozume/Cure Macaron
I absolutely adore cats, so it is only fitting that my favourite Cure from the currently airing season of PreCure, KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode, is the one with the cat theme. Yukari Kotozume is the purple member of the team, and when we were first introduced to her she seemed like the type that is perfect in everything she does.
However, she has received some particularly amazing character development recently, specifically with focus on her relationship with fellow Cure, Akira Kenjou. Yukari does have insecurities, and it has been Akira who has helped her overcome them. PreCure is well-known for its yuri subtext, but as things currently stand, Yukari and Akira seem to have the potential to actually go beyond that. In fact, if Toei are willing to go all the way with that particular relationship, then Cure Macaron might just end up replacing Cure Moonlight as my favourite Cure in the entire franchise.
Number 1: Hibiki Tachibana
I’ll be honest here, I was considering filling a large chunk of this list with characters solely from Symphogear AXZ, because they are all pretty amazing. However, trying to rank them would be an almost impossible task, with the sole exception of one character in particular: Hibiki Tachibana.
She always has been and always will be my favourite character from this anime. Hibiki would much rather talk it out than fight, but when the situation calls for it she will use her fists to protect people. Symphogear AXZ has been particularly kind to her so far, as she hasn’t had to deal with any angst – she suffered through enough of that in G and GX.
We’ve also seen Hibiki channel both Gurren Lagann and One Punch Man over the course of AXZ – she certainly knows how to make use of her Gungnir Symphogear.
Her battle songs are amazing, and she is also voiced by Aoi Yuuki. I absolutely adore everything about Hibiki – especially her relationship with Miku Kohinata.
I had considered filling this list with multiple characters from just one show, but ultimately decided I’d try to aim for a little more variety.
I am not watching every anime that is airing this season, so there are probably plenty of characters who people may feel deserve being mentioned. As such, I encourage people to share their own personal best anime heroines from the current season.
Rory Muses 