A while back, over at Sporadic Sequential, John Jakala posted a list of his 25 favorite manga characters. I’m a big fan of lists, but in the tradition of “5 things makes a post,” I’m going to do a shorter one: my top five favorite female characters in manga and anime.
Without further ado:

1. Yuuko (xxxHolic and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle): The dimensional witch of CLAMP’s crossover extravaganzas is a character for the ages: smart, sexy, sly, and shamelessly manipulative. Her interactions with Watanuki are always hilarious; better yet, she knows all the secrets at the heart of the two series, which CLAMP is slowly revealing, bit by bit. The gorgeous art in both series–seen in her character design and fashion sense–doesn’t hurt a bit either! Yuuko’s a great example of how a character doesn’t have to literally kick butt to metaphorically do the same.
2. Rukia (Bleach): When Rukia first meets Ichigo, the protagonist of the series, she kicks him in the face, casts a spell on him, and generally pushes him around. Her friendship and mentoring of Ichigo is a highlight of the first part of the series, and the storyline suffers when later plot maneuverings take her off the page for long stretches of time.
3. Haruhi (Ouran High School Host Club): Haruhi is one of the most sensible characters you’ll meet in a manga series. On the face of things, this doesn’t sound very entertaining, but her cool-headed common sense–in the face of her fellow host club members’ inanity–is one of the central charms of Bisco Hatori’s screwball shojo series.
4. Ahiru (Princess Tutu): I generally prefer sarcastic characters to cute ones, but Ahiru (aka Duck) is a major exception to this rule. As the protagonists of the criminally little-known anime series Princess Tutu, Ahiru is a duck who becomes a girl who becomes a magical ballerina. (I know, I know. Trust me, it works in the context of the story.) Along the way, she shows that the heroes of fairy tales don’t need to be knights or princes, and her sweetness is paired with determination and strength.
5. Lacus Clyne (Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny): When I first started watching Gundam Seed, I made fun of Lacus’s character because she is, well, a pink-haired pacifist pop idol. She was also soft-spoken and seemingly the embodiment of sweetness and innocence. Boring! Lucky for me, I kept watching, and halfway through the series, I took all those mean comments back. It takes about thirty episodes of Gundam Seed for this to become evident, but she’s one of the strongest, most principled, and effective characters on the show.

Tell me your top five in the comments!