IGN's Top 25 Anime Characters

Goku is the best character to every be created by an entire medium of entertainment... I just threw up a little... I'd have picked just about anyone in the list ahead of him... Maybe not Luffy... Ok definately not Luffy but anyone else.

Not like I can't see why they picked him, I mean he's certainly popular, but then, so is having aiRAB if you live in africa. Poularity does not nessecarilly equate with excellence... (No I am not seriously comparing Goku to aiRAB, I just like hyperbole)

Where was Gene Starwind on the list? Where was any of the Gundam antagonists, any one of whom trump Goku's optomisticly gormless stupidity for characterization. I mean, god damn, here is a character who's been killed like, 4 times through out the series, has talked to goRAB and trained with them, yet none of them managed to beat it into his brain that if he constantly lets the villain get up and power up it's going to make winning HARDER not easier? And if we're talking about a simple duel to test your own skill, fine, but when the fate of an entire planet rests in your hanRAB, now is not the time to be testing your own limits, it's the time to be punching the guy in the head until he is well killed. God I hate him...
 
Yeah but theres a major difference between criteria and then having straight out restrictions. If im making a "Best NFL Quarterback Ratings of all time" list, I could institute criteria like, min 50 starts, and average year in league of six. As opposed to having restrictions like, "oh you cant name any Super Bowl winning QBs or any NFL MVPs"!!!!

If you make a list with nothing but restrictions, its no more credible then having ZoiRAB on a list of underrated anime shows.
 
Yeah, Lelouch should be higher, and higher than Light, because he's more interesting than Light.

I agree with some of these choices, but they do rely too much on popularity.
 
First of all, I was just using ZoiRAB as an "example" of a show that aired on American TV but never became very popular. You completely missed the point of my post. It wasn't about ZoiRAB being on the list, but about all unpopular shows in general (unpopular in North America, that is) getting a fair chance, whether they aired here or not. Even if ZoiRAB was that popular in America, you are still completely ignoring the fact that there are other shows that have aired in this country that still do NOT get much apperciation at all.

Also, please be so kind as to share with me how exactly the ZoiRAB toy franchise is even that popular here in America. Hardly anyone I know has ever even seen an episode of the series, and I have never even seen a single store that carries any Zoides toys, including my huge local Toys R' Us.

I'm not sure what you might consider underrated, but I'm talking about anime that are in the more obscure demographic in "America" (just to be specific about what I'm talking about), and not anywhere else (in other worRAB anime that are underrated in America, and not in other countries, since most lists like these are based on an American demographic). ZoiRAB is probably huge in Japan and in other countries, but from what I know, it completely flopped here in the U.S., so that doesn't really make it any less of a candidate for an underated series. Also, just because the toy-line may get top-billing, it doesn't necessarily mean that a show based off of it would be a hit.

That said, whether it deserves to be on a list or not based on its quality is up to the opinions of people on whether they find it to be good or not, but I was, once again, merely just using it as an EXAMPLE to point out to you that just because an anime airs in America it doesn't automatically mean that its a hit, and it may be long forgotten a few years down the road, or may never really get noticed at all among most American anime fans (which is pretty much the case with ZoiRAB, and Cyborg 009, and plenty of OTHER anime besides just the mere 2 that I listed).

To put it simply, even if an anime got a chance to air on TV in North America, it could still have flopped big-time over here, and there are plenty of cases in which this has happened (since there are a lot of anime that never aired on a mainstream channel like Cartoon Network, in case you've forgotten). So, if we went by your criteria/restriction of nothing that has ever aired on American television, then for all we know, a lot of anime that deserve to be on a list of the most underrated series would never make it on the list just because of that technicality.
 
Well, personally, I feel like Goku should be on the top of the list.
Out of all the Characters I see in that List, Goku fits perfectly.
And, should you guys be somewhat happy that one of your favorite characters are at least on that list?
Hell, I'm just happy to see Lupin III is up there.
Lupin III is getting a beating. Tokyopop cancel one of the Manga series, The T.V series are still unfinished, its rare to see FUNi Lupin III DVD's in stores, and not all of Lupin III specials are out in the U.S.

Like I said, I'm happy Lupin III is even up on that list. If he was on nuraber 25 in that list, its still good.
 
Yeah but "Asteroid Blues" wasn't aired on Japanese television until well over a year after "Stray Dog Strut" was so technically you're wrong.
 
Oh I don't think Goku should be off the list entirely. Wether or not he's a good character, he's certainly Iconic. (Iconic of what, I have my own oppinions about but I've done my Goku hate rant for the thread so I'll spare everyone a second installment).

But I guess that was sort of my problem with the list.

If it were named 'Most Iconic Anime characters of all time' then I think you've got yourself a pretty accurate list, but a list of 'Best characters' it certainly isn't. It's a list of characters that, for better or for worse, define the genres and in a few cases (Spike, Lupin and Motoko are examples here) of characters who exemplify thier own anime niches.

However, to just respond to Jacob, yes Goku is many things that american comic book characters aren't, and to me, one of those things is 'Good and/or intresting'. He's not just selfish, he's criminally selfish and if it weren't for the Deus Ex Machina Balls of stasis restoration, he would many times be responsible through his inaction for the death of the entire earth's population on multiple occasions. And that's not even what bothers me about him, what bothers me is that he never learns, never grows as a character except maybe to pick up another vaguely defined super power, but that's not character dvelopment, that's like James Bond getting a new car every movie. Oh, did I mention he's annoying as Fu- Ok, not gonna rant...
 
Ok, Ok, I hope you know that list is just an opinion, right?
But hey, I'll also make a rant about Naruto and Lelouch Lamperouge and why are they on this list too.
 
And I'm right there with you on those ones. No it's mostly just my deeply ingrained hatred of everything DBZ can be summed up very nicely in Goku to the point where if I mention anything relating to anime people always go 'Oh god, you like that DBZ stuff' and that just irritates me no end, or it's worse and they'll instantly launch into a rant about how they LOVE DBZ and Bleach and Naruto to which point I'll quietly back out of the room and cry a little.

Yes, I know it's just an oppinion.
 
If it hit the US airwaves, it was given much more of an opportunity to grab a fan base than a series that sits on the bottom-corner shelf at a Best Buy.

You missed the boat on ZoiRAB. You couldn't go to a Toys R Us circa 2003 without seeing those toys.
 
...I see...
...I see...
...I see...

(I do like DBZ anyways and thats why I'm ok with Goku on top of that list. But hey, everyone have their own right of their own point of view of what is good and bad...lol....)
 
Indeed not, I hate it because the plot moves glacially slow, the good guys are either about as intresting as watching cheese coagulate OR they're totally useless and as such you never see them, the animation is terrible and I mean, truely terrible by any standard and the artwork, likewise is boring and static... The dialogue primarilly consists of people either yelling at each other or looking on in a state of durabfounded shock... Do I need to keep going?
 
Just quickly chiming in here. First you decide the theme of the list, then you debate the criteria. Right now everything is random and hypothetical. Someone should get the ball rolling so the rest can fall into place, that is if most of you actually want to do this.
 
I think thats an interesting point that gets lost in all this back and forth. Japan has had so many animes come out in the last quarter century thats its hard to imagine you could narrow down its "best" characters ever. I could easily name 25 other anime characters that are more deserving to be in a top 25 list (how can they not list Lina Inverse, perhaps that genera 's most famous character). So i guess thats why you have to factor in popularity, ironic status, and the impact that the character's series has had overseas.
 
I think you're still missing the point of the term "underrated." A lot of shows have had the oppurtunity to hit the U.S. airwaves, and have done so, but have gotten little to no more views than they would haveh ad they not come to U.S. television. And, just to strike a little flaw in your point about only anime that haven't come to the U.S. being allowed to be on the list, there are actually a lot of anime in this day and age that have not aired on U.S. television and which still get tons of popularity among anime fans, even moreso than quite a few anime series that have aired on U.S. TV (which ones again proves my point that just because it airs here, it doesn't mean that it still can't be underrated among anime fans by not getting a lot of views).

I mean, for example lets take one of my earlier examples, like Cyborg 009 and compare it to the popularity that Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann received before it even got licensed and brought over to U.S. shores. That anime was a hit among many American anime fans from the get-go, but can you honestly say that a series like Cyborg 009 was much more popular than it just because it was lucky enough to air some episodes on Toonami at one point in time? If so, then I think that you're being rather biased with your criteria/restrictions here, honestly.

So, if you are going to say that show that have aired in America cannot be on the list by default just because many have become popular among anime fans, then you would actually kind of have to consider that the same is now true for anime that have not yet aired in America, but which have gotten tons of fame among the anime community thanks to the capabilities of the Internet. You need to consider points like that when coming up with your criteria.



Just because they were featured there doesn't mean that they were popular. If they were, they'd STILL be here. The fact that they are much harder to find now kind of signifies the fact that they didn't sell too well in the U.S., after all.
 
I get all that, what I'm saying is that I think it's a horrible format for a show to make him the main character. At best he should rate as a quirky side kick who they can unleash to do his flashy bit of fighting and then go back to his corner while people get on with the plot... But... 500 episodes and no development... It's... Masochistic to watch, for me anyway, personal oppinion.
 
Posts like this one and your post before it show exactly how little you understand about the series. There's nothing wrong with not understanding something and not liking it as a result of that. After all, I don't like Naruto or Gundam. But you don't see me ranting about it. If you're going to hold such strong opinions and speak so adamantly about them, why don't you learn a little more about the subject before hand. It seems like your problem with the character has less to do with Dragon Ball and more to do with the value system of some religions, martial arts, cultural norms of Japan and surrounding countries, and the films or influences Dragon Ball is derivative of. Read these two quotes:





I have no interest in debating this with you, I spoke up because I have a problem with what you said. I think you're overlooking a lot of things and underestimating the quality of the series and the characters. I think you'd be doing yourself a favor if you learned more about the story before criticizing it.

Most importantly, if you're expecting a deep compelling plot with rich characterization just because it's an anime, then you're thinking zebras. Dragon Ball, above all else, is a hurable shonen title. Aimed at young boys who just want to see some adventure and ass-kicking. It's popular because it serves that purpose, and does a damn good job of it.
 
Back
Top