Almost Otaku: Who're YOUR Favorite Characters?

 You got to love a guy who fidgets this much.

Today’s question is such a fundamental one, I’m shocked that it’s never come up before. Kudos to AgentJ for cutting to the quick!

AgentJ: What characters in particular have you either enjoyed unfolding or related to the most?  

Big surprise - - the first one the pops into my mind is L. There’s the obvious stuff about him being brilliant and always five steps ahead of everybody else… but what I enjoyed the most about him is that he's depicted as he really would be rather than like any of the throngs of charming, dashing master detectives in fiction have been.  

 You see these eyes? These eyes are unclouded by hate. 

L’s socially awkward, he's awfully pedantic,  willfully disregards rules of dining, dress and etituqe and his relationship to regular people verges on Asperger’s.  Even comic relief moments like his brief bout of puppy dog infatuation with Misa and his random instances of pop culture knowledge subtly hint that this is a lonely young man who can’t really function outside of his work, grandiose though it may be. He's one of those rare characters where you’d really almost want to see an interview with him, just to hear his take on the world.  

 Just don't ask her about Daddy.

Digging a little deeper, I’d also include Ashitaka from PRINCESS MONONOKE. He’s a leading man who you experience the plot through, yeah, but he’s got an unique, virtuous innocence. His philosophy’s almost akin to a shaolin monk’s in that he isn't ignorant of moral temptations, he’s just immune to them. He uses violence, and he’s an adept killer, simply because he knows that’s the way of the world. He’s at peace with it, but he never relishes in it. His romance with San’s really puts this into focus.  She’s just as baffled as you are about this man being free of corruption, even as his flesh is being corrupted by that disease. 

And I’d have to include Misato. Sure, I haven’t crushed on a toon like her since Jessica Rabbit - - that's a big reason - - but I also loved how she was so many charming, yet so screwed up. She's as emotionally vulnerable and complicated as she is hard-minded and deadly. Plus, she looked good in a red leather jacket and beret!

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here.