Favorite Key Girls

[purplemo]

Thinking back, I think I've left the impression that I hate everything to come out of Key. That's not true. Actually, if you consider all of Key's works, it doesn't really have that bad of a track record with me (of the seven I'm familiar with, I like/don't hate three). I think people who have noticed my opinions on Key know there which ones those are. Well, given all the humping Key has been getting lately, why not do a favorite list? Here are my favorite Key girls.

But first, RULES.

LIST ALL THE KEY WORKS YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH. THAT WAY WE CAN AVOID THE "WHY'D YOU PICK _____ OVER _____?!!"

Available works to pick from

Moon. (from tactics)
One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e (from tactics)
Kanon (of the Key era)
Air (Key)
Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume (Key)
Clannad (Key)
Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life (Key)
Little Busters! (Key)
Little Busters! Ectasy (Assuming this thread is still alive by the time this comes out)

FYI, tactics is the company before Key was formed, like Nausicaa is TECHNICALLY not a Ghibli work, but everyone considers it one.

___________________________

Works I can choose from: Moon, One, Kanon, Air, Planetarian, Clannad, Little Busters!

1) Yumemi Hoshino (Planetarian) - The best character (there's only two real characters) of Key's best work. Other than Kanna and Misuzu, Yumemi is the only one that really tugged at my heartstrings. And Yumemi did the best. She also got bonus points (not that she needed it to win #1) for NOT being a completely dependent girl who is there for the main male's lust.

2) Ikumi Amasawa (Moon) - The only Key work where you're the female, this one is very different from the usual Key fare. The closest comparison that people would know I can think of would be more Tsukihime, though that's a very poor comparison. She's much more "active" than many of the passive Key females. She is also fun to fight with in EFZ.

3) Kanna (Air) - I'll have to admit, Kanna would be lower if not for how much ass she can kick in EFZ (She's the boss after all). Still, Kanna would've made the list. I liked her. I thought I would get some prissy proper (or boring as hell) girl after the Dream arc. Instead, Kanna turned out much more interesting than any other of the animated Key girls.

4) Haruka Saigusa (Little Busters!) - Yet another most people don't know. She gets on here for the havoc she causes. A "fun" pick, as opposed to the others who are "story" picks.

5) Shiori Misaka/Sayuri Kurata (Kanon) - Okay, after Haruka I couldn't pick anymore that I truly could say I liked (even Misuzu, who I felt had the strongest story arc of ALL the animated Key anime). So this went to two characters who I was rather ambivalent about, but just plain LOVED in EFZ. I would've probably liked Sayuri more if she had more story (and wasn't stuck in Mai's shadow, who I didn't like).

Special mention - Uraha (Air) - I left her off because she seemed a bit too minor to appear on the list; if I put her on, she'd probably take #5.

As you can tell, Kanon and Clannad did poorly here (Kanon made it on my own personal technicality). But if you read all my posts concerning Key, you'd have guessed that already. I'd put One in the same category in my posts, but so few people know what that is so I don't bother.

Also, as you can tell, EFZ can influence where the girls end up on my list. It won't hurt, but it can help (like Kanna and Shiori/Sayuri).

[Fireaxe]

To be perfectly honest, the only Key work I've seen/read is Kanon 2006, so my opinion doesn't matter much. What I can say about it though, is that its female cast is pretty weak when compared to some other harem shows out there.
The only female character who didn't appear totally cliché was Natsuki, and still, that hint of sibling love made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Mai was okay, I guess, it's not like she had much to say anyway. To me, she was as an empty shell just like Yuki was from Haruhi.
Makoto was just dumb, as for Shiori, well I just didn't care about her :p
And about Ayu, the story behind the character was great but man I can't bear to look at some 18 yo guy falling in love with a girl 8 years younger.

I'm probably going to edit this once I've watched Air TV

[Deus ex Digital Boy]

I'm familiar with Air, Clannad, and Kanon but really, none of the characters in any of them are special enough to get a special notice anywhere. The events circulating around them are where the meat is.

[xephon]

i dont know way your limiting this to just key most people havent seen 2/3 of the anime listed

[purplemo]

Originally Posted by xephon

i dont know way your limiting this to just key most people havent seen 2/3 of the anime listed

Reasoning

1) This was more of an explanation of my views on Key where I just happened to tag a top list on so this would be a thread as opposed to a lone post
2) With all the Kanon and Clannad humping going on, I would imagine there would be some love thrown at these girls, regardless of overall exposure.
3) I would imagine a decent number of people have had experience with 1/2 of the anime, as there are only four works animated (One, Kanon, Air, Clannad), and enough people have had some exposure to Kanon and Clannad.
4) Any list, regardless of limits, will have people with varying exposure. Heck, I feel looking at the favorite anime characters that a good number of people haven't seen a lot of "good" anime, or a lot of anime in general. That doesn't really make the list bad though. Or a favorite Final Fantasy list, knowing that there are a LOT of people out there who haven't played 1/2 or more of the games.

And 4/7 I listed are from the animated works . . .

[ForgottenSon]

I've unfortunately only seen Air, Kanon (2006) and Clannad so far. I did recently download Planetarian, but it appears to be allergic to my computer, crashing soon after I start a game.

I'll pick one character from Air and 2 each from Kanon (2006) and Clannad, the latter two being longer series, with more developed characters.

Air

Haruko Kamio - One can't help but respect, and at the same time feel sorry for, Haruko. She had Misuzu forced upon her, even though she was too young and irresponsible to raise a child, but inspite of that she loves Misuzu deeply, and cares for her well inspite of the pain caused by having to keep her distance. I think her relationship with Misuzu in the final arc of the anime was one of the most moving things I've ever seen. It pretty much makes the anime.

Kanon (2006)

Mai Kawasumi and Sayuri Kurata - A fairly cliched pair of characters, but I find them incredibly compelling for some reason. I've always had a soft spot for characters like Mai, but her loyalty and close relationship with Sayuri adds so much more to her than similar characters like Yuki (TMoHS) or Yin (DtB). Oh, and as far as strange speach affectations go, ~ahaha is probably the only one that makes me smile every time, compared to the rather childish noises made by other Key characters.

Clannad

Asked this question half way through watching Clannad and I would probably have said Fuko rather than Kotomi or Kyou, however what was likeable about Fuko was pretty much ruined when she reappeared later for cheap laughs.

Kotomi Ichinose - Poor, solitary Kotomi. Haunted by her rather unpleasant childhood. I find her complete lack of social skills endearing, her voice beautifully soporific and can empathise with her greatly. This is helped by her having probably the best story arc in the series.

Kyou Fujibayashi - She can be rather aggressive, but her strong will is a great contrast to many of the other, considerably weaker, main characters. In her own way she is probably the most compassionate character in the show.

This was actually pretty difficult. I usually like characters on a gut level, without really thinking about it, so trying to explain exactly why I like them was something of a challenge.

[Cetonis]

I'm only familiar with Air so I'm unsure on most of these, but please be careful about spoilers here... even if they're borderline, it's better to be safe about it. Thanks!

[purplemo]

Originally Posted by ForgottenSon

I've unfortunately only seen Air, Kanon (2006) and Clannad so far. I did recently download Planetarian, but it appears to be allergic to my computer, crashing soon after I start a game.

Sorry, I forgot to answer to this. I'm assuming you got the English patch and it ain't working?

Follow the EXACT (EXACT) steps here

http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50772

It's worth it.

The biggest problems I've heard people have is forgetting to move the fontpack.

[ForgottenSon]

Thankyou kindly, purplemo. I'll try and get it working in a couple of weeks, when I've met my coursework deadlines. I don't want to add yet another distraction to my already recreation filled days :P