I think Toradora is a really well-constructed story, and I think I’ll write about why sometime in the not-so-distant future. But here’s part of it: it’s a classic example of stealth storytelling. Q…
Mar 8, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
Character Analysis: Legoshi
Whoever dreamed up Beastars dreamed up something that is like the perfect storytelling cookbook. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “No conflict, no drama.” (George Bernard Shaw)…
Character Analysis: Roanapur
It seems a little odd to describe a locale or setting as a character. I mean, in college, it could get your paper marked “-5 Anthropomorphism” or something…
Character Analysis: Edward
Sometimes when you’re just walking around thinking about nothing you think of something. Like, I mean, think about Ed from Cowboy Bebop, right? What a great character! Why…
Character Analysis: Ritsuko
One of the ways you can tell what the target audience for some media message is is to look at the main character. Right? As a rule one…
Character Analysis: Kino
I liked Kino’s Journey even though the main character, Kino their own self, was so … well … neutral is the best way I can describe them, that…
Character Analysis: Tohru Honda
Okay, I admit it: Fruits Basket is an anime I could easily have found to be annoying and Tohru Honda is a character I could easily have found…
Character Analysis: Sawa Nakamura
Flower of Evil is one of those things that when I read a summary of the manga I said, “I got to get me some of that.” Now,…
Character Analysis: Lili Hoshikawa
I didn’t have this one ready for Pride Month. Sorry about that. But I wrote it during Pride Month. Does that count? One of the things that routinely…
Character Analysis: Honey Kisaragi
Let’s start with this: Honey Kisaragi, the android star of Cutie Honey, is an artifact of her age. She was born back in ’73. That was a turbulent…
Character Analysis: Hayase Nagatoro
Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro is one of those things that I wouldn’t ordinarily bother to write about. I mean, it’s an older, smuttier version of Teasing-Master…
Character Analysis: Fuu Kasumi
I have said it before and I will say it again: one of the things I like about Shinichiro Watanabe’s work is that he treats female characters with…
Character Analysis: Haruko Haruhara
Haruko from FLCL is another character who is really easy to analyze. She’s a Look at Me woman. Boop. That’s it. That doesn’t make her a bad character,…
Character Analysis: Konata Izumi
Konata is one of my favorite characters ever. I like Lucky Star, as silly and pointless as it is, and watch it over and over, possibly because it’s…
Character Analysis: Gene Starwind
You know, there are characters that are hard to figure out, and you can stare at the screen for hour and hours saying, “Wow. This is working and…
Character Analysis: Haruko Haruhara
Warning: This post contains spoilers for FLCL: Grunge and FLCL: Shoegaze. If you haven’t seen them, read on at your own peril. The advent of two more seasons…
Character Analysis: Misaki Nakahara
Welcome to the NHK is a classic, and it’s a classic for a couple reasons, I suspect. One, I’d guess, is the love story between Tatsuhiro and Misaki,…
Character Analysis: Angela Carpenter
One of the cool things about Carole and Tuesday is that the three major characters are all tropes. So are a whole bunch of the others; it’s almost…
Character Analysis: Momoka Oginome
As weird as it is, there is A LOT A LOT to like about Penguindrum. The main trio of characters, Shoma, Kanba, and Himari, are really well-constructed characters…
Character Analysis: Asako Yaeshima
Sweat and Soap is one of those things that when you describe it to someone sounds either sickly sweet or more than a little creepy. I mean, it’s…
Character Analysis: Yasu Takagi
Nana’s one of those things that just about everyone knows about and has an opinion about. Since it’s supposed to be the best-selling shojo title in history (yeah,…
Character Analysis: Hotori Arashiyama
And Yet the Town Moves is one of those silly little slice of lifers built around a slice of the life of Hotori Arashiyama, and her friends, family,…
Character Analysis: Toshiko Tamura
Okay, yeah, I know you never heard of Toshiko Tamura. Let me lay down some backbeat here. If you ain’t heard of Osamu Tezuka, you’re probably reading the…
Character Analysis: Ryuji Takusa
It seems bizarre that one of the anime I write about a lot is Toradora. I mean, compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop or The Melancholy…
Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Toradora!
Character Analysis: Akira Fudo
Devilman Crybaby is one of those things a lot of people like. I should like it, too, because it’s for grown-ups. I mean, it’s explicit in its explicitness,…
Character Analysis: Yoshika Miyafuji
Strike Witches is like a guilty pleasure. It’s a dumb story about characters who are largely one-dimensional by design whose flaws are painted over with constant action and…
Character Analysis: Lisa Mishima
I’ve generally liked the way Shinichiro Watanabe handles female characters. He seems to find a way to avoid simple tropes. Cowboy Bebop: Faye Valentine is seriously hot but…
Character Analysis: Zero Two
Darling in the Franxx is one of those things that popped onto the radar because it tried to do something we’d seen a million times – a mecha…
Character Analysis: Shinji Ikari
It’s easy to dislike poor Shinji. He’s passive and males are supposed to be aggressive. He’s supposed to love Rei but he’s fascinated with Asuka. He’s supposed to…
Character Analysis: Li’l Slugger
Okay, let’s get it out of the way: Satoshi Kon was a dude with a very interesting mind and perspective on the world, and one of the things…
Character Analysis: Isaki Magari
Let’s be frank here: Insomniacs After School is so sweet it could be named High-Fructose Corn Syrup. That’s not necessary a bad thing. When you’re making an anime…
Character Analysis: Yui Hirasawa
My writer friend Kate (look, she’s a girl and a friend but she’s not a girlfriend) declared a comic book and comic book movie weekend. The object is…
Haruhi Suzumiya Character Analysis
A character study for the infamous and eccentric Haruhi Suzumiya.
Character Analysis: Takeo Goda
If you look at My Love Story!!, the first temptation is to look at the main characters, Takeo Goda and Rinko Yamato, as a pair. For instance, she…
Character Analysis: Chise Hatori
I enjoyed The Ancient Magus’ Bride until Kore Yamazaki decided to change the direction of the story by sending Chise to college. Now I still like it: I…
Character Analysis: Faye Valentine
I have said before and will say again that Shinichiro Watanabe treats his female characters more fairly than just about any director either of us can name. Well,…
Character Analysis: Marin Kitagawa
All right, you know who Marin Kitagawa is. She’s – depending on how you look at it – the Dress-up Darling of My Dress-up Darling. You can fight…
Character Analysis: Rea Sanka
You know, in a certain way Rea Sanka, the titular character of Sankarea, is one of the saddest characters in anime. Sure, there are characters who are supposed…
Character Analysis: Tsukimi Kurashita
Princess Jellyfish is one of those things that’s just so cleverly constructed that you have to wonder whether it was planned or it just worked out that way,…
Character Analysis: Madoka Kaname
What can you say about Madoka Kaname? She’s obviously the central character of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, so much so that the show is named after her. But…
Character Analysis: Toph Beifong
There’s a meme making the rounds these days that says – and this is an exact quote – “If a show was released today where a disabled girl…
Character Analysis: Rikka Takanashi
There was something powerfully cute about Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions. It’s about kids with delusions of having super powers (yeah, chunibyo), which puts them on the extreme…
Character Analysis: Yui Ikari
Happy holidays to everyone who is celebrating a holiday anywhere. May the season be kind to you. Certain storytelling techniques absolutely fascinate me. One is meta, the use…
Character Analysis: Usagi Tsukino
Yeah, it’s taken me a long time to get to Sailor Moon. There are a couple reasons for that. I’m overage … I don’t have time enough left…
Character Analysis: Ringo Oginome
You may or may not like Penguindrum – it’s certainly weird, that’s for sure – but as I watched it I was struck by how many characters with…
Character (Re)Analysis: Tohru Honda
This may be the shortest time ever between me analyzing a character and then coming back to look at them again. I mean, it’s not like I got…
Unconquerable: Satsuki Kiryuuin Character Analysis
At long last, here is Anime Rants' analysis of Satsuki from Kill la Kill!
Character (Re)analysis: Rei Ayanami
Happy holidays to all of you who recently celebrated, are celebrating, or will soon celebrate a holiday. It’s that time of year! One of the saddest (for me)…
Crona Character Analysis (Soul Eater)
Note: This post first appeared on my Wix blog, Mono’s Anime Rants, on July 27 2022. After re-publishing it here at WordPress, I will delete the original. The…
Character Analysis: Mari Illustrious Makinami
Okay, I hope everyone has seen Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 by now. If you haven’t, please do. It’s really good. It’s really good even though it changes the…
Character (Re)analysis: Shinji Ikari
Sometimes you go back a look at a character you’ve looked at before because you’ve noticed something new about the character. And sometimes you have to go back…