Anime fandom is full of lists.
The most popular, the hottest, the best dressed, the best food girl.
Reading those lists is good, but who decided who is on the shortlist? And surely there is always somebody who you thought deserved to be entered, but was ignored at the cost of a really popular character who doesn’t really fit.
How best to solve the problem than with a civilised argument. Or even a debate.
Before we get to this week’s subject here are the top five from last week’s poll. For the full results, see the voting thread.
Episode Two – The Most Obnoxious Episode
1. Oreimo Season 2 – Episode 14 (I Can’t Confess to Her)
2. Mahoromatic Something More Beautiful – Episode 14 (Na-Geanna), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2009 – Episode 3 (Endless Eight #2)
4. Sword Art Online – Episode 14 (The End of the World)
5. Accel World – Episode 14 (Arrestation), Love Live Seson 2 – Episode 7 (We Have To Do Something!), Shangri-La – Episode 23 (Prelude to Change)
Episode Three- The Most Unusual Friendships
For a passtime full of socially akward individuals (present company included), it’s no surprise that the anime we all watch is a wide array of different social gatherings and connections. From best friends, to worst enemies. lovers, haters, and bitter enemies, anime has them all. Whilst the romantic couples often get the lions share of the interest, it’s the friendships that we are interested in this week, and not just the standard two girls with something in common. We are looking at the most unusual friendships in anime. No matter how right some groups seem, if you look at the characters without the context, sometimes even the closest friends don’t seem to fit together, and that’s what makes them unusual friends.
Try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but when they’re unavoidable, be sure to tag them as spoilers.
Below are the fifiteen groups of friends that I’m seeding in to the debate this week, with a little bit of an opening statement about each, and why they are unusual. As ever, feel free to add your own, or disagree.
Remember, be civil. Disagreeing is fine, but try to include more than just that. Likewise, if someone disagrees, don’t be offended. Come back with a counter-argument!
Alicia, Akira, Athena (Aria the Animation)
The three water fairies of Neo-Venezia seem so perfect when standing next to each other, but in realitiy we have a relaxed beauty, a firey tempered tsundere, and the very definition of a daydreaming airhead. Having seen their stories, it’s impossible to think of them not being friends, but just looking at them individually they don’ exactly fit together like a jigsaw.
Ruiko Saten & Kazari Uiharu (A Certain Scientific Railgun)
Two girls who go to the same school. A very standard set up for a pair of friends, but one is a girl obsessed with folktales and rumours, as well as with the contents of girls’ skirts. The other is a shy girl who is an member of the city’s group of protectors.
Ran, Miyu, Aya (Super Gals!)
This one is explained nicely in the anime, but explanations be damned. The only thing these girls have in common when they meet is that they all go to the same school. One is the Shibuya-loving daughter of a police family, one is a former gang girl whilst the other is a straight-arrow grade A student. 
Taiga, Minori, Ami (Toradora!)
Three more friends who are brought together by school. There’s a socially akward girl who scares away anyone who might get close, a jock girl with an almost impossible amount of energy, and a narcissistic and manipulative model.
Touko, Noriko, Kanako (Maria Watches Over Us)
I could only find a picture of Touko and Noriko together, but the three girls are brought together as friends due to their senpai. It’s hard to think of anything they have in common.
Victorique & Kazuya (Gosick)
The first male/female pairing is one that really stands out as a pair of misfits that don’t fit in with each other. Kazuya’s a foreigner who is initally shunned by his classmates due to his appearance, whilst Victorique chooses to isolate herself.
Mei, Asami, Aiko (Say, “I Love You”)
Three more girls who seemingly have nothing in common.
Ayaka & Asuna (Negima!)
These two girls have their backstory explained in pretty much all versions of Negima, but they still seem like a strange combination. A somewhat dim poor girl who causes trouble, and a smart rich girl who is class president.
Elsie & Haqua (The World God Only Knows)
This pairing is quite similar to Ayaka & Asuna, a grade A genius, and a dimwitted lover of Fire Engines who shouldn’t even be allowed in the human world.
Koromo & Nodoka (Saki)
The differences between Koromo and Nodoka is quite evident in the picture, but their attitude in the anime is very different too. Nodoka is a very traditional player who shuns superstition, whilst Koromo is a demon.
Daichi & Teppei (Captain Earth)
A normal guy, and a former semi-vampiric alien. The fanfics write themselves, but is that enough for this friendship to make sense? 
Ritsu & Mio (K-On!)
If this pair weren’t childhood friends, would they even be friends? A girl who’s scared of her own shadow, and a girl who is more than willing to pretend to be said shadow.
Akari, Yui, Kyouko (Yuru Yuri)
Spot the odd girl out in this trio. Yui is a cool girl with a lot of fangirls, Kyouko is a mad girl who makes friends with anyone.
Chiya & Syaro (Is The Order a Rabbit?)
A girl who is obsessed with Japanese style food and coffee, and a girl who doesn’t drink coffee. Their personalities are also quite different.
Ayumu & Hinagiku (Hayate the Combat Butler!)
The two girls at first glance have nothing in common other then their love for a certain blue-haired butler, but they become such great friends. Looking in from the outside with no context, we have a student council president at one of the most prestigious schools out there, a genius at school, and a genius at kendo… and a seemingly normal girl, with normal interests, and a love for good food. Without Hayate, they would never have even met, let alone become friends.
