Anime of 2010 (Character Awards)

2010 Anime Awards! Took a long time to come up with these lists, but it provided a moment for me to reflect on the trends and my likes and dislikes.



Character Awards

Best Character Design 
From the character's hairstyle to clothes and the way he/she is animated.

Tenshi/Tachibana Kanade (Angel Beats!) - Quiet, menacing, sad and lonely.

Hinamori Amu (Shugo Chara Party) - Cute tsundere with a little punk!

Nino (Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge) - Simple, cute, and beautiful.

Orihara Izaya (Durarara!!) - Cool and cruel.

Anarchy Stocking (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt) - Cute and badass.

Hideyoshi (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu) - Perfect trap! Wonderfully ambiguous without being too sissy.

Winner:

Orihara Izaya - Love the way he looks. Perfect compliment to his cool and calm character.

Runners Up:
Hinamori Amu - Been around for too long so I didn't want to place her as the winner.
Anarchy Stocking

Best (moe) Character
With the proliferation of moe anime, I think this category deserves some consideration. The moe genre has one a long way from cute, dumb stereotypical lolis to something more realistic and self-aware without being "too cute".

Nakano Azusa (K-ON!!) - Cute, a little shy, overly serious at times, a little bit tsundere.

Ika Musume (Shinryaku! Ika Musume) - Innocently cute without being a loli.

Hinamori Amu (Shugo Chara Party) - Great mix of cute and cool.

Nagato Yuki (The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi) - Another silent type, but this time extremely shy in the movie.

Hideyoshi (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu) - It's a trap!

Tsuchida Satsuki (Hanamaru Youchien) - Cute tsundere, best in ED6.

Hanazono Sakura (Kaichou wa Maid-sama!) - Cute and innocent.

Kuroneko/Gokou Ruri (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai) - Her "Onii-san" is a deadly weapon, along with her neko dance in the final episode's closing credits.

Misaka Mikoto (To Aru Kagaku no Railgun) - Her frequent switch from cool to shy/cute is the very definition of tsundere.

Taneshima Popura (WORKING!!) - Fun and cute character!

Winner:

Azusa Nakano - Haven't you been reading my blog?

Runners Up:
Ika Musume
Taneshima Popura

Worst Character Development

Katsuragi Keima (The World God Only Knows) - Umm... he doesn't change. At all. Well, they seemed to hint that he has changed a bit at the end of a few arcs, but at the very end he was still the same.

Kyosuke Kirino (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai) - Her sudden change in character at the end is rather scary... and there were so many chances for the studio to slowly make her more likable!

Arsene (Tantei Opera Milky Holmes) - Her character doesn't really make sense. Too much of her character is hidden from the audience.

Winner:

Kyosuke Kirino - Hard for me to sympathize with her...

Best Character Development

Tenshi/Tachibana Kanade (Angel Beats!) - Slow, realistic change in character.

Kobato (Kobato.) - Her slow realization of her love for someone was appropriate in this context (as she could stand to lose everything because of it).

Watashi (Tatami Galaxy) - In the last few episodes, Watashi studies himself, and hence grows as a character.

Watanuki Kimihiro (xxxHOLiC Rou) - Yuuko's death changed Watanuki outlook on life and slowly turned him into what he is now.

Winner:

Watashi - What the producers have done (Watashi's self-reflection in the last few episodes) is quite a new and refreshing to develop a character.


Runners Up:
Watanuki Kimihiro

Best Overall Character
I rarely remember the character's full names,  even for series that I like, but this year was so full of memorable characters.

Ika Musume (Shinryaku! Ika Musume) - Drives a lot of the best comedy this season.

Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats!) - Extremely tragic past and great motivation as a leader.

Tsukishima Wakaba (Cross Game) - She dies in the first episode, but her presence is felt throughout the 50 episode run.

Orihara Izaya (Durarara!!) - What can I say? He's an interesting villain, kind of like The Joker from Batman.

Kobato (Kobato.) - We grow increasingly fond of her through the entire series, making the ending even more potent.

Kuroneko/Gokou Ruri (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai) - She gets good characterization through very few scenes. Acts as the perfect foil to Kirino.

Futaba Kon (Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru) - Steals every scene she is in. A great character with a great voice.

Watashi (Tatami Galaxy) - Deep character study means he gets a lot of depth.

Kyon/John Smith (The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi) - Just love him and his witty remarks. His John Smith alter ego empowers him and at the same time leaves him with a huge responsibility.

Watanuki Kimihiro (xxxHOLiC Rou) - He goes through tremendous transformation, but is still remarkably recognizable.

Winner:

Kobato - I really didn't expect Kobato to be such an endearing character. The producers really surprised me by giving her good character development and an interesting back story.

Runners up:
Kyon - Loved him since I first watched Haruhi in 2007!


Note: Next up, Story Awards!