We’re gonna cheat a bit because Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! *phew* or PapaKiki for short is a pseudo-loli anime. There is one token loli in the anime -- Miu, but depending on how flexible is your preferred age range, the 3-year-old Hina, and the 14-year-old Sora can be considered lolis as well. But the main reason why this is on the list is Miu, who is voiced by Kitamura Eri, a seiyuu who voiced a popular loli (we’ll get to that soon). When you hear her speak, it’s hard to ignore her voice similar to another loli from another anime series. So much so that one can’t help but think of inappropriate things to he—Stop imagining indecent thoughts toward this young, ripe and supple little girl, dear reader! Lolis are for petting and cuddling only! But in all seriousness, PapaKiki is more focused on the story of Segawa Yuuta, a college freshman taking responsibility to raise the three young daughters of his sister who died in a plane crash, as their new father. The path of going there is harsh for he has to raise money and care for the girls. PapaKiki is not an anime that is filled with fanservice, it’s an anime about being a responsible parent and the sacrifices it entails. But with that said though… They weren’t holding back in the OVA. Whew… just saying. By the way, are you sure your lawyer is on the line?

Once you’re done with PapaKiki, the next on this list is an anime that is heartwarming, cute and funny. Ichigo Mashimaro falls under the “Cute girls doing cute things” category along with the likes of Yuru Yuri, Kiniro Mosaic, and Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?, but the main difference is 90% of the main cast in Ichigo Mashimaro are true lolis who are below the teenage bracket. And like shows of cute girls doing cute things, Ichigo Mashimaro’s story is focused on the 5 main cast doing daily things like making presents, go to school, study and so on with a sprinkle of humor that will get you chuckling in the end. The fanservice is on the lighter side and while there are some moments that will get a lolicon happy, they’re not too uncomfortable to break the mood. If you want to start your descent into loli anime, Ichigo Mashimaro is a comfy start. You’re safe... for now.

Princess Astarotte Ygvar is a young succubus from the Creature Realm, and she’s reaching the age where she starts making her harem full of men to suck their life-seeds in order to grow and survive. The problem is Astarotte hates men and she does her best to avoid her mentor Judit from teaching her the ways. To finally get Judit off her back, Astarotte challenged Judit to bring back a human male from the forgotten realm of humans. Surprisingly, Judit successfully entered the human realm and brought back a fine male specimen named Touhara Naoya. Will Astarotte accept Naoya to cure herself of her fear of men and finally start her male harem in order to survive adulthood? But wait, don’t go start watching due to its premise because… well… you’ll see none of that sucking the life-seeds out of men thing from this anime. It’s too early on the list for that sort of stuff! The story focuses on antics of Astarotte being a tsundere and has androphobia, and a story about Astarotte’s upbringing, struggles and how is Naoya a part in this web of mysteries. Initially, the anime is fanservice comedy with boob shots, awkward skirt shots, and a loli crotch to the face, but the tone shifts to a more serious side. Your experience with the anime may vary depending on what you’re expecting from this anime: a loli succubus gulping down some mayonnaise or just a heartwarming story about family.

Newly graduated teacher Yabe Satoshi is excited for his first day as an elementary teacher and thrilled to meet his first students. Unfortunately, he teaches a class with the Marui Sisters — the notorious triplets with attitude problems. Futaba, Mitsuba, Hitoha wastes no time in bringing Satoshi literal hell on Earth. Think of Dennis the Menace, multiply the titular troublemaker by 3, turn them into lolis for good measure, but with attitudes that are far more extreme, violent and without the ignorance of childish innocence. You get the teacher’s living nightmare Mitsudomoe. In a way, Mitsudomoe is similar to Ichigo Mashimaro and other slice of life anime involving a bunch of cute girls, but with a twist of malice and lots of toilet humor. The Marui sisters aren’t your usual cute lolis for they’re extremely strong, violent, sadistic, perverted and manipulative towards their classmates, especially towards their teacher Satoshi. If you’re into lolis who bites back (literally and figuratively), love toilet humor, and who is (probably) a masochist, then Mitsudomoe is an extremely funny series of 3 lolis bringing pain and nightmares to anyone who gets in their way.

Lolis, spats, bloomers, maid uniforms, Ro-Kyu-Bu! ticks the right boxes for a loli anime with a competitive basketball twist. Heck, even the premise is what you’d expect from a loli anime: Hasegawa Subaru’s dream to play basketball in high school was shot down after the team captain was found out he was having a relationship with their coach’s underaged daughter, and the team was suspended. Ouch. However, fate has forced him to wear his uniform and hold the ball once again when his aunt forced him to coach for a girls basketball club at an elementary school. Reluctant at first, but after seeing the girls, especially the future point guard, and star player of the team Minato Tomoka and their love for the soon-disbanding club, Subaru gathers up the courage to stand up and teach them basketball. If you’ve seen the classic Slam Dunk and the current anime Kuroko no Basket, Ro-Kyu-Bu! plays out similarly of a struggling basketball club, a star player determined to be the best, scenes of the players practicing basketball basics, and the eventual matches against rival teams. And with the added twist cute lolis with oversized fluffy hairs, Ro-Kyu-Bu! is a cute take on the basketball anime. Obviously Ro-Kyu-Bu! is not as serious as other sports anime, but it’s serious enough for you to care about these girls doing their best to learn basketball.

Add a toasted jam on her mouth while running late for school, Kinomoto Sakura is your average genki middle schooler. And like any average middle schooler, Sakura is always full of energy, gets teased a lot by her big brother, has a loving father, a dead mother, has a best friend with a weird hobby and has a crush on someone who is older than her. One day she stumbles on a book she saw in her dream, and upon opening it, the cards are magical and Sakura accidentally scattered them throughout the world. Keroberos (sorry, not the three-headed dog Cerberus) appeared before Sakura and told her that he’s the guardian of the Clow Cards, magical cards holding immense power, Sakura has released. What are they gonna do? Well, Keroberos has appointed Sakura the title of Cardcaptor and it’s up to them to find and retake the Clow Cards before they bright catastrophe to the world! Cardcaptor Sakura is a visual marvel from start to finish all thanks to CLAMP’s impressive attention to detail and attractive character design. And it’s arguably the 90s was when CLAMP was at its best in delivering well-animated shows. These days CLAMP getting meme’d for creating noodle people art styles. But to be fair, CLAMP made some other great shows, but their very best work is perhaps Cardcaptor Sakura. But anyway… Cardcaptor Sakura is structured episodically sort of a like the monster-of-the-week format where Sakura hunts down the Clow Cards, though most of the time the anime is focused more on the daily lives of a huge cast of quirky characters, most notably Sakura’s best friend and secret admirer Daidouji Tomoyo who loves to take photos and video of Sakura. And once Tomoyo founds out Sakura is a mahou shoujo, Tomoyo is the primary source of an assortment of dresses for Sakura to wear. And here’s a fun fact: Sakura’s dress is different in every episode. For the loli factor, Cardcaptor Sakura is pretty tame and harmless, though you get some awkward moments of Sakura getting all embarrassed in front of her crush, the much older Yukito, and moments like Tomoyo acting way too suspicious like she’s actually gay towards Sakura. But actually, everyone in the anime is showing signs of gayness.

Illyasviel von Einzbern is your typical elementary school student who is friendly, kind, has good grades and likes her brother a lot, has become a mahou shoujo because the talking magical wand Kaleidostick Ruby is fed up with her former master Tohsaka Rin, and sees Illya as a worthy successor. With the power of Kaleidostick Ruby, Illya is now tasked to hunt for seven Class Cards containing the Heroic Spirits of legend. Prisma Illya is a story of love, magic and a ton of ecchi moments. Prisma Illya is a guilty pleasure anime to the fans of the Fate series who are tired of seeing world-ending stories with characters who barely cracks a joke to inject some fun once in a while. With so many sequels, it’s not hard to tell this spin-off series is extremely popular with fans or non-fans of the Fate series. And this anime is no way innocent for it has tons of sexual jokes, fetishes, incest, crude humor, and sexually suggestive scenes involving lolis which you will immediately tell is not meant for kids. Prisma Illya has interesting stories to tell and some dark moments, but you get this feeling the anime is self-aware and sometimes breaks the tension by cracking a joke… A lot of ecchi. For all intents and purposes, Prisma Illya is another magical girl similar to Cardcaptor Sakura, but with lots sexual jokes and imagery. And for anyone who is tired of shows taking itself way too seriously, those are good enough justification to watch this series about “cute lolis doing cute lolis” and not worry about anything else.

Despite her look and childish demeanor, Nijihara Ink is a high school student with a future ahead of her. But one day, a literal talking duck fell from the sky and Ink nursed him back to health. It turns out the duck, now named Ah-kun, is a powerful wizard from a magical kingdom and was sent to Earth against his will by his master. On Earth, Ah-kun grants Ink the power to transform into the mahou shoujo Pastel Ink and use her power to… help her crush study English. Moetan is a parody anime with lots of jokes hardcore otaku will figure out, sprinkled with lots and lots of moe moments, that you might end up getting type-2 diabetes. And of course, this anime being centered around lolis and mahou shoujo, Moetan wastes no time to deliver lots of loli fanservice like lots of panty shots, transformation scenes where Ink starts off naked, awkward moments and with some popular staples like rivals, love interests and a bit of action. Ink is loli by looks, not by age and you won’t notice that if the anime didn’t mention Ink is 17 and is in high school. And this sort of age manipulation is the perfect excuse to make lots of ecchi loli scenes and without the guilt the girls are underaged. And you probably noticed by now loli and mahou shoujo goes in hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly because cute lolis look cuter in frilly clothes. Yeah, this combination makes Sailor Moon too old to be a mahou shoujo. Out goes the old and busted, here comes the new hotness.

What happens when a couple of grown perverted men transformed into pubescent girls? And they’re surrounded by other pubescent girls? And has a habit of groping said girls? You pretty much get Ryofuko-chan. Don’t expect any stories or plot points relating to the Three Kingdoms story because Ryofuko-chan doesn’t reference any of them, and there is no real plot. Two popular figures from the Three Kingdoms story ended up on Earth as elementary girls and the chaos revolves around Ryofuko groping his… er... her classmates, badmouthing her teacher for having massive F-cup boobs, and do things no normal girl should be doing. Watching Ryofuko-chan must be done in private because not only you see these lolis in the nude very often, there are scenes of older men gazing at these girls’ skirts with pervy eyes, lots of sex jokes, a fat otaku stalking, and scenes with two hunky guys with permanent boners who get all horny when giving CPR to other hunky men. And there’s even a scene of two guys directly staring at a loli’s… uh… taco. Ryofuko-chan is, admittedly, very funny, but in an uncomfortable way that will make you question why Japan is into this sort of thing and is this anime even legal to own in your country. Ryofuko-chan is a shameless, yet entertaining loli anime catered specifically to the lolicon crowd, and it’s obviously not for everyone. You’re not using the family PC, are you?

Daisuke Aoki is a 3rd-grade teacher who meets Kokonoe Rin, a very young girl with long hair. After an act of kindness from Aoki, Rin made Aoki, her teacher, her lover. Rin literally wants her 3rd-grade teacher to be her lover. Who would have thought that your biggest obstacles in your life come from the most unexpected places! But is Rin’s love for Aoki really true? Are her feelings just puppy love? Or is it genuine true love? Does actively seducing Aoki mean something else? Loli anime is often made as a form of fanservice and it’s rare to see one with a mature story to tell. Astarotte no Omocha did tell, or at least try to tell a mature story, but it’s not as grounded as Kodomo no Jikan with a story of an adult teacher falling in love with his young student. Aoki is not a pervert and is a respectable man, but with Rin’s sexual advances, and Aoki slowly discovering Rin’s past, upbringing, and character, it’s not hard to see why Aoki is opening his heart. There’s a lot of loli fanservice in Kodomo no Jikan, but they’re not tacked on just for the sake of fanservice like Ryofuko-chan. They’re there to titillate and evoke an emotion that their love is forbidden. If you think loli anime is just exploitative material, go watch Kodomo no Jikan. Not all Japan makes are for lolicons and a fetish can be molded into something worthwhile and insightful to watch. Remember: The great thing about anime is it tackles any story, even stories that are deemed too controversial in the West and the rest of the world. Oh and Rin is voiced by Kitamura Eri, the same seiyuu who voiced the loli Takanashi Miu from PapaKiki. Remember: Lolis are for petting and cuddling only!

Sometimes power can come in small packages, and with a punch of comedy. Toradora tell us the story of Ryuuji Takasu, a high school boy with one of the more scariest delinquent faces that you can imagine, and contrary to his caring and house oriented nature, Ryuuji’s looks cause him all sorts of trouble. One day in school, Ryuuji crosses paths with his classmate “The Palmtop Tiger,” Taiga Aisaka who is delicate and small like an elementary school kid, when in reality, she has the power to really kick ass, especially Ryuuji’s. Toradora is a romantic comedy that brings out all the cuteness of loli anime with the protagonist Taiga Aisaka. Taiga is as petite and beautiful as a bisque doll with the height of a little child. Taiga surprises everyone with the roughness of her personality, because this cute little thing has the mouth of a street fighter punk and the physical power to knock off the toughest of the boys in her school. Only with the support of her best friend Minori and of course the care and patience of our fun protagonist Ryuuji, this pocket size loli tiger shows the inside beauty and kindness that really poses and ends up trapping our hearts with her adventures.

Le Portrait de Petite Cossette is a loli anime will leave you with chills from its use of sound and visuals. With the kind of psychological drama from horror, Le Portrait de Petite Cossette takes you to meet Eiri Kurahashi, a university student and talented artist. When Eiri takes a part time job in his family’s antique shop, Eiri touches a beautiful venetian glass cup and connects with a little girl named Cossette who asks for his help and starts showing him her life story and the developments that take her existence away. Cossette is gorgeous. Cossette is dark. A girl with an age that borders in the end of childhood and yet is always delicate and enticing. Depicting the essence of loli attraction, Cossette traps us in a story staged in the 18 century, where it wasn’t unusual to get engaged in the early teens with a much older man. Giving a cautionary tale of the results of an unhealthy romance, Cossette is a dark loli that will enchant you with her striking perfect features and haunt all the boys with the sadness of her dark blue eyes, because even as gorgeous as a French doll, this little girl hides an iron will to end her unresolved issues even if she has to sacrifice Eiri in the process. A true Dark Loli Queen!

We introduce you an exciting loli anime where the vampire sexiness is highly depicted: Dance in the Vampire Bound. In a world where the vampires are tired of hiding, true blood Queen Wilhelmina Vlad Tepes rises from the anonymity to create a bound of only vampires. The vampire bound called Tokyo Landfill #0 is the background in a power war where our brave protagonists Mina and her knight Akira Kaburagi fight to build a place where pacific vampires can live in peace and safe. Mina Tepes is one cute vampire with a very endearing “Dojikko” side. Mina and her frilly Gothic lolita fashion make this loli anime fun to watch. Mina is a mysterious girl that likes to act with the arrogance and overconfidence proper of the high class, even when in reality, Mina has a very fragile side that is shown only to those really close to her. Mina is a queen vampire that uses the fact that she’s been encased in a child’s body for thousands of years against the plots to enslave her, giving us an explosive action anime to enjoy.

Have you ever taken pictures with ghosts in it? Well, for our protagonist Morioka Kouhei, it is a frequent occurrence that spoils his desire to become a professional photographer. While sightseeing to an old castle in Germany, Kouhei unexpectedly ends bringing back with him an unexpected omiyage, the cute vamp Hazuki. Bringing out the playful side of loli, Tsukuyomi Moon Phase is series that use a lot of catchy phrases like “nekomimi modo”, showcasing many of the characters in super cute cat ears, mittens and tail. Thanks to its cute protagonist Hazuki, this anime shows too a great assortment of cute lolita and gothic lolita fashion. Lolita is the style that both Hazuki and her alter ego Luna prefer, both the followers of lolita fashion and cosplay can look forward to find and enjoy great inspiration in this anime.

Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! is a loli anime that give us a peek into the life of the 3 cute sisters of the Takanashi Family who, after their parents went missing, starts their life under the care of the young Yuuta Segawa. Yuuta just began his college freshman life and to his dismay ends up as the responsible of his sister´s family. The show highlights how a family can became a family beyond blood relations, and how together we can overcome the difficulties of life, because no matter what, family will always be there. There are three loli in this loli anime. First we have the adorable and outgoing 3 year old Hina who calls Yuuta “oitan”. There’s 10 year old Miu who mischievously loves to get Yuuta in trouble. We can’t forget 14 year old Sora with a classic but charming tsundere personality. Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! Is an anime that will make you laugh with the 3 different personalities of this charismatic Loli characters, who together with Yuuta will leave you with a special fuzzy feeling.

Strawberry Marshmallow is a loli anime shows the everyday life of Itou Nobue a 20 years old college student who adores her little sister Chika. Nobue dotes on Chika and ends up getting involved in the adventures and everyday occurrences of little Chika classmates and friends, Matsuoka Miu and Coppola Anna, and together, they will get into messy situations that will make you think Kawaii! In this loli anime, we get to see the everyday life of four loli. It will suck you in to share the occurrences of the typical elementary school and enjoy a lot of ridiculously weird situations that will make you laugh. There’s the cute tomboy Matsuri, who is Chika´s best friend and loves to compete for the attention of her big sister, the beautiful Anna with her blond hair and pinkish skin as beautiful as an English porcelain Dresden doll, and let's not forget the cheerful and “Majime” Chii chan. She is the center that reunites everyone in the group. Strawberry Marshmallow is a series will make you scream “Moe!”

Using the setting of the 19 century England to give way to use gorgeous frilly clothes, a mysterious story develops amidst the world of occult books where we get to know the story of Hugh Anthony Disward, a young man that inherits an old mansion and its secrets after his grandfather’s death. Hugh finds in the basement of the mansion an enigmatic beautiful girl called Dalian, who explain to him the duties he has received with the occult library "Dantalian's bookshelf," which stores the prohibited books of the demons called “Gensho”. With a bit of a dark background, Dalian and Hugh struggle to resolve the mysteries caused by the "Gensho (Illusory Books)” with their ability to access the Dantalian bookshelf, and in their endeavors, we get to see an era where the written word had a real weight and diffusion into society. As fans of Loli, The Mystic Archives of Dantalian will give us a peek into the fashions that inspired Lolita and Gothic Lolita fashion. Wrapped in a very realistic portrayed setting of the Victorian era, the sweets lover Dalian, the blunt silver haired Flamberge and the cold and ruthless Raziel give us a lot of cute options of characters to admire and root for in this series.

Gosick is set at the end of the 19 century, in an imaginary country, where our cute protagonist Kazuya Kujou is swept off his feet by the stunning beauty of Victorique de Blois, even confusing her with a life sized porcelain doll. In reality, this doll is a genius young girl whose mind is so sharp that she helps resolve the most mysterious situations. Now, Kazuya has been unexpectedly involved in a world of murders and mysteries that’ll give a start to their adventures. Surprisingly, this anime with a mysterious dark setting, give us a warm feeling by sharing the development of the sentiments of the main characters, by getting to know the cute Victorique and her unbreakable mind despite her solitude and loneliness, Kazuya ends helplessly in love with her, making us empathize with both characters’ pureness and naivety.

We jump back from the romance, to a comedy, about the sweet story and adventures of a cute tomboy who will make you laugh out loud, Barakamon. With an interesting story set in the Goto islands at the south end of Japan, Barakamon depicts not only the real life places and manner of speech, but also it will show us the countryside charm of the far end islands in comparison with the bustling life of the urban places like Tokyo, where our protagonist Seishuu Handa has abandoned his upper class lifestyle, hiding away in a small island in search for the inspiration that will make his Japanese calligraphy art work finally be recognized. On the island, Sei gets to meet the first grader Naru Kotoishi who with her intrusions and frisky wild nature, changes not only Sei’s art style but inspires him into seeing the world more simply Naru makes a place in his heart with her constant intrusions, giving him for the first time a real sense of family belonging. With an unexpectedly deepness, Barakamon adventures show us that the essence of Loli is beyond frills, dresses and perfect doll like features, but it dwells in the inner beauty, innocence and purity of the young girls like Naru. Naru shows the purity of feelings and the passion for the discovery of the things for the first time. That is the main attraction of Loli!.

Featuring one of the most charismatic and representative heroines in Lolita fashion is Rozen Maiden. In a story where the trauma of being bullied made a boy named Sakurada Jun, a reclusive “hikikomori”, Shinju is the doll that magically appear in his room making of his life a fun mess to watch and an action drama to enjoy. With a proud and ephemeral beauty, Shinju is a gorgeous tsundere doll that behaves as a noble lady with a very tender and caring big sister side. After making a contract with Jun and making him his medium, Shinju ends up involving Jun in the middle of the mystic battle called the “Alice Game” where a group of dolls imbued with souls and magical powers made by the artificer Rozen, fight each other to become “the perfect girls” that deserve to be by his creator’s side. In a mystic story tinged with romance, Rozen Maiden is a series that attracts the same shounen and shoujo fans, by giving a myriad of characters from the beautiful dolls. There’s the aristocratic Shinju, the tomboy Souseiseki, the childish Hinaichigo, the sadistic Suigintou and the feminine Suiseiseki. Then we have the flesh and blood girls, the loyal Tomoe Kashiwaba and the joyful Nori Sakurada. Rozen Maiden is a heaven of Loli fashions and inspiration of sweet femininity that will make any fan of Loli to take its pick and enjoy their time admiring their beauty and strength.

Selesia is the first other-worldly character we meet in Re:Creators. She hails from the anime Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier. Selesia is the heroine of the series, a mecha pilot who fights against the Avalon Brigade which is attacking the kingdom she lives in. We are led to believe from her accounts that the Avalon Brigade is a truly monstrous regime that is a threat to civilization and they’ve been fighting hard to hold them back. She is one of those characters in a group of heroes the other heroes would call “The Best of Us.” She has natural leadership abilities and a moral compass that guides her regardless of the situation. She also seems to be in love or care very deeply for Charon, her partner in back in Vogeichevalier. Her moral compass still holds true when Charon is summoned to the real world. She is willing to fight her potential lover who has taken up Altair’s banner in defense of the world. Seleisa also seems to make a deep connection with her creator, and despite having some misgivings about the world he created, he seems to accept that she is his heroine, that she represents all that is good in his mind.

Meteora could be considered one of the main protagonists, having a role almost as central to the story as Altair. She is a young woman that is an NPC librarian from an online MMORPG. Meteora has a bookish nature; she’s an intelligent person and rather stoic. We do see that change somewhat as the series progresses, probably since as an NPC she wasn’t given much latitude in emotion and behavior. She is also curious and a problem solver, so being in a foreign world with a massive problem to solve, is right up her alley. Meteora is the second person to join the creators against Altair. The world that she was born into wasn’t a dystopia, which is one of the reasons she doesn’t have a grudge against the non-fiction world. She is even visibly shaken when she discovers that her creator died in a motorcycle crash and she’d never get to meet him. We see a lot of personal growth for Meteora, too. She dives into shopping and eating “real world” food that is filled with rich flavors and textures she didn’t get in her world of origin. We even think she develops a crush on Souta, an especially interesting development considering her fate at the end of the series. If Souta is like most of us we have a soft spot for cute librarians.

Mamika or Magical Slayer Mamika found her way to the world of the creators from an anime of the same name. She is a kind girl and has a naïve side that is fitting of most magical girl characters. She is also extremely powerful. Her attacks, though goofy and heart-shaped in nature, pack a major punch. Mamika joins Altair’s side honestly believing that they can use the creators’ powers to make their own better places. She never suspects that Altair wants to simply destroy the gods and all of existence. Mamika also develops a very close friendship with Alicetaria. The two have clashing personalities but somehow find an understanding. We see some of the most impactful and subtle character development in Mamika. She seems to grow as a person after she leaves the bonds of her story and at one point in the series even seems to suggest that to Alicetaria. Mamika lives by her ideals and not killing is one of them. When she realizes what Altair’s true plans are she makes an effort to work behind the scenes with Souta to end the crisis and action that cost her her life.

Yuuya is the main antagonist of the Heisaku Underground manga. Despite being an antagonist, he is in many respects a hero and chooses to fight on the side of the Creators. At his root, he is a thug. Yuuya enjoys violence like picking a fight and determining who is the toughest. The reason that Yuuya decides not to fight on Altair’s side against the gods is because he is simply happy with who he is and where he’s from. Yuuya uses a wooden sword to fight and gets some help from a spirit called Hangaku who seems to be a giant ghostly warrior. He doesn’t mind that life is a fight because he enjoys it. We find out that he and his former best friend were tricked by a fortune teller and he was “framed” for the murder of his best friend’s sister. The two find a way to make amends after his friend is brought to the non-fiction world and the truth is told. Yuuya’s journey from thug to hero makes him a really interesting character.

Rui is a child soldier in a future Japan who pilots a giant robot “Gigas Machina” in the anime Monomagia: The infinite Over Machine/Infinate Divine Machine Mono Magia. He is constantly thrust into battle and never really gets the chance to be a kid. When we are first introduced to him he has a tantrum about being forced to fight in the Gigas Machina, a potential tip of the cap to Shinji from Evangelion, who was also forced to pilot a large robot. Unlike Shinji, Rui does become a likable character. We watch him slowly get the childish thinking out of his system as he come to terms with the world that he has been dropped into. Rui also thinks that Yuuya Mirokuji, another character and a bit of thug, is really cool and looks up to him. We see that as a calming influence on Rui since Yuuya always approached battle and life with a calm joy. Rui really just wants to be a kid. He does say one of the most insightful things in the series: “People who save the world exist because there are worlds that must be saved. Who is going to make those worlds, Souta?”

Setsuna is an illustrator and the creator of Altair. She was a high school student with a gift for art. Setsuna wasn’t a confident person and posted her art work under a pseudonym online. The online artistic community was where she met Souta Mizushino, the protagonist of Re:Creators. We see in a flashback that their relationship begins with mutual admiration for each other’s art work online. The two eventually meet in real life and are both equally shocked to see a fellow high school student. She and Souta hit it off and it is hinted that they each have romantic feelings for the other. She gets an amazing opportunity to create a video with a popular producer, bringing her notoriety. Setsuna also eventually attracts online trolls and detractors that hound her online, unjustly accusing her of plagiarism. Souta, unable to take criticism himself, backs away from and abandons her, afraid that their friendship will bring the bullies to his door. She gets depressed, and in her depression, creates a character based on a character that was maligned by the online community and imbues her with great power. The isolation, the criticism and the sense of abandonment eventually becomes too much for her. Setsuna kills herself. The emotion of the moment triggers Altair to break free of the fictional world and visit punishment on our world to get revenge for the person she loved most, her creator.

Alicetaria is a knight in every sense of the word. She is literally an epic hero as the lead protagonist of the manga and anime Aliceteria of the Scarlet. She is brash and headstrong and came to the world of the gods as an ally of Altair. She was enraged that the people fighting battle after battle, losing lives and taking lives in defense of her homeland were nothing more than entertainment for the gods. She goes into battle astride a Pegasus and carries an enchanted lance. She wants revenge and to force her creator change the rules of the world and bring peace. Alicetaria has a quick temper and tendency to focus on actions and not words. She becomes the ally and friend of her exact opposite, Mamika the magical girl. Her relationship with Mamika shows that she has the ability to think, rationalize, and understand once her warrior’s blood stops boiling. She is also extremely loyal. Her relationship with Mamika is also about not judging someone by appearances. Mamika may not look like a warrior, but seems to be just as brave and tough as any knight she’s faced. This change in Alicetaria’s perspective gives her a chance to uncover the reality of what is actually going on, and it’s all thanks to her friendship with a magical girl.

Blitz may have one of the more interesting backstories in the show. Blitz is a tall, muscular man with a long trenchcoat and a grizzled look. He is a character who shows up early in the series as an ally of Altair. Blitz is a bounty hunter character from a cyberpunk anime named Code Babylon. He fights his way through a dystopian world though never fully described it seems to a very tough place to live. He joins forces with Altair for revenge. Blitz wants to take revenge on the god, a manga artist named Suruga, for killing his daughter. It’s a move that Suruga admits was just to move the plot along. The story for Blitz continues to unfold with some twists and turns and the shifting allegiances of those on the side of the gods and those on the side of Altair.

Souta is the main protagonist of Re:Creators and, as with a lot of the characters, has a pretty interesting story. He is not a normal main protagonist because he isn’t he is a great warrior, he doesn’t have great ability and he isn’t a genius who can save the day. It’s his weakness that created the crisis and his struggle for redemption that makes him the protagonist. Souta is a second-year high school student with a little talent for art. He began posting his art online and through the community met a truly talented artist named Setsuna Shimazaki. She too was a high school student. The two hit it off and support each other in their artistic endeavors, they even could have been “dating,” although that isn’t expressly said. Setsuna eventually began to gain popularity and that is when things went downhill. She was criticized on the web by trolls and falsely accused of stealing ideas from another artist. Souta wasn’t brave enough to stand up for her and lets her get more isolated until she commits suicide. Souta carries the burden with him, the idea that he could have saved someone he loved if he had just been a better human being. He could have saved her if he hadn’t cut her out of his life. He was a coward and it cost Setsuna her life. Souta is constantly on a mission to atone for that weakness, a weakness that led to Setsuna’s greatest creation, Altair, gaining a life of its own.

Altair is the antagonist of Re:Creators. She is the creation of Setsuna Shimazaki. Altair was based on Shirosumekusa, a girl from a social game. She was a weak secondary character who was disliked by many. Setsuna took the innocent and weak character of Shirosumekusa and clad her in a military style, creating a look of strength. She appears in an online video called Altair at some point after Setsuna’s suicide. Altair is very different from the other characters that appear in the world of the gods. She knew from the beginning that she was a creation. Her story was also different; in a way, she was crowdsourced. She didn’t belong to one story. Her creator was gone and she was left to evolve online as other artists and storytellers changed and added to her story. Altair is the complete opposite of the person who created her. She is strong and willing to take on the world, by herself if need be, damning any consequences. You could also view her not as Setsuna remaking the weak character of Shirosumekusa, but as a woman striving to create a stronger version of herself. Altair is a character created with such a strong sense of will she was self-aware. She was given the ability to alter the reality of the world of the gods, blending the world of fiction and nonfiction as a way to work through the grief from the loss of her creator. Altair was able to achieve sentience be being accepted by the same world that rejected her creator.