Continuing the countdown of my 100 favorite anime characters, here are characters 40 to 31…

40. Misato Katsuragi (from Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Seiyuu: Kotono Mitsuishi

Although far from perfect, Misato is probably the most decent and overall “human” character on Evangelion. Unlike many of the others, she shows that she cares for Shinji, Ritsuko, Kaji and other characters despite their flaws. She has her share of outbursts, but she doesn’t become a total emotional wreck like most of the other characters do in the latter half of the series and movie. In fact, despite her sadness from losing Kaji among other things, she bravely uses her last few moments to set a depressed Shinji back on the right path.

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39. Hayate Ayasaki (from Hayate no Gotoku!)

Seiyuu: Ryoko Shiraishi

Where could you find a butler as lovable as Hayate? He’s hapless and naive but also extremely reliable and surprisingly resilient. He’s polite, loyal, and has a good habit of always coming through in a pinch no matter what the odds.

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38. Nyaasu (from Pokemon)

Seiyuu: Inuko Inuyama

The first pokemon I fell in love with and still one of my many favorites. As I mentioned previously about Nyaasu’s comrades Musashi and Koujiro, Nyaasu too is among one of the most lovable and entertaining villainous characters. Of course, if you’ve watched him for as many episodes as I have, you know he’s not that villainous at all; he’s a little crafty but other than that he can be a big sentimental sap and a funny, sensitive, even sometimes righteous, little pokemon with a big mouth.

He can sing too…

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37. Yuki Nagato (from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

Seiyuu: Minori Chihara

In my opinion, Yuki is the most perfectly construed of the stoic, emotionless character archetype. She has never yet let slip one facial expression or tone of voice that would betray her stoic image. And yet, especially later in the novels, you can’t help but wonder that she must have some feelings and may be suffering in silence. She quietly and unflinchingly carries out her role as the SOS Brigade’s observer and secret protector.

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36. Mikuru Asahina (from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

Seiyuu: Yuko Goto

I’ll confess that I adore just about all the Haruhi characters. Just like Yuki is the perfect “emotionless girl” character, Mikuru is the perfect moe character. Most other moe girls tend to also be excessively cheerful and/or hyper. Mikuru is none of these – in addition to having the looks, she’s sad, hapless, fragile, innocent, and her emotions of fear burst at the slightest provocation – in other words, perfect for evoking moe feelings of protection. I don’t tend to like moe characters in particular, but even I think Mikuru is cute and sweet (or maybe I just pity her under Haruhi’s wrath XD) However, hints have been dropped in the series that Mikuru might not be all that she appears to be. So perhaps one of these days I will have to revise my image of her.

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35. Sango (from Inuyasha)

Seiyuu: Houko Kuwashima

I can’t really think of anything to dislike about Sango. She’s had a rough past but she’s still strong and caring. Her emotions, especially towards Kohaku and Miroku, are completely understandable and easy to sympathize with. Throughout all the many episodes/chapters of Inuyasha, she’s never done anything that disappointed me.

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34. Nagi Sanzenin (from Hayate no Gotoku!)

Seiyuu: Rie Kugimiya

Nagi is apathetic, tomboyish, and hot-tempered on the outside and childish, sensitive, and love-struck on the inside – a perfect tsundere. She can be bratty and selfish sometimes but also cute and emotional at other times, especially when it comes to Hayate. She tries to act tough but is still just a 13 year-old girl who has a lot to learn about love, among other things. Lucky for her, she has the best butler and maid to help her =P

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33. Utena Tenjou (from Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Seiyuu: Tomoko Kawakami

There is no shojo protagonist quite like Utena. She takes “tomboy” to a whole new level by actually dressing like and wanting to become a prince. And yet, personality-wise, she’s just a kind, caring, humble girl instead of a brash, arrogant tomboy one might expect. Of course, she’s not perfect either and has her share of internal conflicts and emotional turmoil.

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32. Mireille Bouquet (from Noir)

Seiyuu: Kotono Mitsuishi

I just love Noir. I like Mireille and Kirika together but they’re interesting individually too. Mireille may appear cold and uncaring, but her development over the course of the series, especially in her shaky bond with Kirika, is handled in a perfectly subtle way. Their relationship starts off cold and distrustful, and by the end of the series they don’t even get that much more open or affectionate with each other. And yet, you can tell what a strong bond they’ve developed. There’s very few instances in the series where they even talk about their feelings or even express any strong emotions, especially Mireille, and yet subtle hints reveal the development of their cold but eventually strong bond.

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31. Kirika Yumura (from Noir)

Seiyuu: Houko Kuwashima

Kirika definitely goes down as one of the saddest characters I’ve seen. But like Mireille, her development in the series is well played. From the obvious distrust the two have for each other in the first episode, to the end of the last episode, Kirika never knows what kind of emotion to express, but before you know it, it’s hard to imagine one of them without the other. Even though they’re assassins, they turn out to be extremely sympathetic characters.

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Click here for characters 50 to 41.

Characters 30 to 21 coming soon.