Top 10 Female Anime TV Characters

Starting off our list is a sweet little girl from the always-enjoyable slice-of-life genre. Based on the four-panel by Ume Aoki, “Hidamari Sketch” focuses on four art students living together in the Hidamari Apartment complex. But it’s protagonist Yuno, with her love of taking baths and pondering life, that really brings the series to life. She’s creative, pleasant and ambitious, but also insecure and always looking for ways to improve her skills as an artist. You just gotta vote for the little guy, err, girl.

You’ve got to hate those high school labels. As a transfer student from Osaka, Ayumu was immediately grouped alongside the typically lively and vulgar Osakans at school. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, “Osaka” as she’s been nicknamed, has an unusual way of thinking that gives her a very vivid imagination. While her daydreaming tends to affect her grades and her interests make her somewhat of an anomaly, there’s no denying she’s unique and that’s why she lands here.

In a harbor city that’s inhabited by pirates, mercenaries, pimps and gun-slinging nuns, Revy stands out as one of the craziest. Life for her is pretty simple: acquire the merchandise (often by shooting), transport the merchandise (with lots of shooting involved) and deliver the merchandise (which almost always ends in shooting). She’s violent, a tad psychotic and swears like a sailor, and we love her for it.

When you’re a cop, you’re expected to have a few bad days. Seras had pretty much the worst. Her fellow officers were slaughtered and reanimated into ghouls by a vampire. Life for her got even darker after she was killed (ahem, saved) by the vampire Alucard and turned into his servant. While serving the Hellsing Organization, she spends most of the series torn between her humanity and her newfound undead life. She’s also tough, obedient and knows her way around a firearm.

Sakura is a female ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. When we first meet her, she isn’t much more than a fan girl crushing on the cold and quiet ninja at the back of the classroom. That got annoying real fast. Fortunately, things changed when she started to believe in herself and mature. When the manga storyline was continued in the “Naruto: Shippuden” series, Sakura hadn’t only lost most of her childish tendencies, but she’d become a capable, likeable and powerful character. You go, girl.

There are plenty of strong characters in this show, and Erza is certainly one of them. Now a wizard with the ability to switch between various weapons and armor, she was once a child-slave forced to construct a tower to resurrect a Dark Mage. After staging a revolt, she ends up at the Fairy Tail Guild and rises up the ranks to become one of the youngest S-Class Mages in history. She may be stern on the outside, but she’s also compassionate at heart, especially when it comes to her friends.

When you think of a bookworm, you’d probably assume reading would be at the top of his or her list of major pastimes. Then there’s the committed Maka, who slays monsters with a talking scythe. As a meister, Maka is charged with collecting the souls of demons, witches and other nightmarish creatures, and that’s just because it’s her homework. Determined, kind, and with a habit of lashing out at her dead-beat Dad and weapon partner on occasion, she’s an A-Grade student in the slaying business.

Attention: badass on deck! Commonly referred to as Major, Motoko Kusanagi is an augmented-cybernetic human employed as the squad leader of Public Security Section 9, a law-enforcement division of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. Possessing superhuman strength and genius-level intellect, she is also a first-class hacker. Despite her enhancements, she’s unquestionably human, but strong when it really counts. You couldn’t ask for a better commander.

You know the whole nature vs. nurture argument; well, Mikasa is a product of both going to hell. After her mother’s murder, Mikasa became a cold and frightening girl who only lived to keep her loved ones safe. As part of the Survey Corps, she’s considered the best of the new set of graduates, and has no problems bringing a Titan to its knees. Emotionless on the outside, broken on the inside, she’ll cut down anything that threatens the people closest to her – and it’s all that badassery that got her voted number two in our Suggestion Poll.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Bulma “Dragon Ball” (1986-96)
- Kagome Higurashi “InuYasha” (2000-04)
- Rei Miyamoto “Highschool of the Dead” (2010)
- Yoko Littner “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” (2007)
- Hinata Hyuga “Naruto” (2002-07) / “Naruto Shippuden” (2007-)
- Lucy “Elfen Lied” (2004)

Our top pick and number one in our Suggestion Poll, she is viewed by her peers as the perfect soldier. As the personal adjutant and bodyguard of Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye is a sharpshooter and firearms specialist. From the outside, she might seem strict and even a little mean, but those close to her know there’s more to her than her no-nonsense attitude; beneath it all is a kind soul who understands the difficulty of carrying a heavy burden. Plus, she’s a total badass.

Do you agree with or list? Who’s your favorite female anime character? For more of your favorite top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.