10/02/21: BTC No Pico's Waifus

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we thought we'd each share our favorite waifus!

1) Shiota Nagisa – Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Rei Ayanami might be Golden Girl, but Asuka Langley Soryu is arguably anime’s IT girl! I think some otakus say that she’s the first tsundere, but I doubt if that’s really true. It’d be fairer to say that she’s one of the first MODERN tsundere. Anyway, Asuka’s the female lead of the Evangelion series and what I consider the romantic lead to the MC Shinji. If you don’t already know, there’s a lot of depressing psychoanalysis in Eva so Shinji, who’s supposed to be you, the viewer, are a cowardly, indecisive and hesitant screwup and Asuka is arrogant, cool, abrasive and domineering fiery redhead. She’s not only supposed to be cool, she’s also supposed to deconstruct the tsundere character type by ramping all the negative traits (arrogance, bossiness, insensitivity) to the extreme. That said, she’s still incredibly likable because she (usually) backs up all the talk with action! She’s really capable and good at fighting so she really is quite cool. More than that, she’s also really cute because she obviously likes Shinji and wants to make friends but her pride gets in the way, which is a little sad but also kind of adorable. I’ve probably done a very poor job of “selling” Asuka but it’s all these flaws that make her waifu-worthy because she grows so much when you discover how she ended up like that and it makes it even cooler when she overcomes that to become even more badass.

2) Felix Argyle – Yotsuba Nakano (Gotoubun)

Yotsuba…? She’s just an athletic Genki girl…? She’s also not very bright. She also has “no development” in a harem manga/anime. She’s just a normal nice girl. *Spoilers* Except that Yotsuba is a freaking Goddess – a soul so pure comparable to Jesus Christ and Bodhisattva – a completely selfless girl that puts everyone else above herself. Above all, her love for the main character Fuutarou and her sisters is of another level in comparison to her sisters’ one-sided and arguably selfish love for Fuutarou. “No development”? The whole Gotoubun manga is Yotsuba’s arc. Her entire existence is devoted to the cause of making her boy happy, making her sisters happy, and being a helpful presence to the lives of every person she touches. Even despite her intense and everlasting 5-year crush on Fuutarou, she suppresses her feelings to ensure that her boy is happy with whoever he falls in love with. Even up till when she finally gets together with Fuutarou, she never revealed and abused her privilege as the true childhood love.

But Yotsuba has flaws. Her selflessness is self-destructive. Underneath that everlasting and brightest smile she carries, she hides her feelings of self-hatred. In a sense, she’s your average law student – yes, she’s kind of like you – pretending to be smart and having your sh*t together, but full of self-doubt in this sea of talented people. And that’s why she deserves love. Look at Robin Williams and Chester Bennington. It’s always the ones that know pain and strives hardest to keep us away from pain. Pity or not, let’s show Yotsuba and the self-doubting ones the love they truly deserve.

3) Hideyoshi Kinoshita – Yui Yuigahama (Oregairu)

Yahallo! Yui Yuigahama is one of the protagonists of Oregairu, an anime series nearly a decade in the making, that finally reached its conclusion in it third season last year. Yui may be mistaken as a simple, stereotypical, if not one-dimensional character at first glance – being the typical cheerful, genki girl often present in so many anime. But as the series progresses, the layers in her character reveal themselves. The author is not afraid to hide the flawed character that Yui is – she can be selfish, arguably fake (i.e not “genuine”) and an enabler of bad habits in the other characters in the show. But the beauty of a monologue heavy show like Oregairu is that you can take a peek into the minds of characters – and see their motivations and feelings exposed bare. In her flaws, you can see her character truly come alive.

4) Ruka Urushibara – Kurisu (Stein’s: Gate)

Kurisu is a tsundere who will not admit that she likes you, but will be there for you and motivate you through your hardest times. Kurisu is also incredibly intelligent, yet incredibly quirky. Although the only person in the series who can observe a shift in timelines and jump between them is Okabe, Kurisu can understand him immediately and be his supporting pillar. She also has her own personal spoon – and she’ll get really made if you use it. And yes, she wants her own personal fork too – just to eat cup ramen.

Kurisu best girl best tsundere best waifu enough said.