I have something of a love/hate relationship with A Certain Scientific Railgun. One the one hand, it was my favorite show of the previous fall and winter seasons, easily beating out dreck like Kampfer and Sora no Woto. On the other, it had some rather blatant and annoying flaws, two of which were the huge amount of filler and constant stream of hamfisted friendship speeches. Despite these problems, which have driven many a casual viewer away from Railgun, I still can’t help loving it.

Why? Because Railgun has absolutely fantastic characters.

Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu… I love ’em all. But the highlight is easily Mikoto Misaka, the mildly tsundere electromaster protagonist. Although I didn’t crush on her like I did with Maya, it still felt like Mikoto was a close, personal friend. After the show’s finale, I was sad to see her go; it’s not often I get that emotional about the end of an anime. That’s how vibrant and endearing her character was. She literally made Railgun worth watching.

Compare that with a certain other tsundere who has ruined an otherwise fantastic show, OreImo. Mikoto succeeded everywhere Kirino failed, and proved that the characters really do make or break anime. Story, pacing and art quality are all important, but the characters are the lynchpin that hold everything together.

More after the break.

I’ve seen a lot of complaints that OreImo‘s resident tsundere Kirino is an insufferable bitch, who never learns a damn thing from her mistakes. Mikoto, on the other hand, is a model example of how a tsundere SHOULD behave. Yes, she’s headstrong and impulsive, and frequently blasts her two romantic interests with lightning, but she’s still a nice person. Underneath the veneer of arrogance and power, she’s vastly more empathic than Kirino ever was. She’ll go out of her way to help her friends, or bring a criminal to justice. She’s willing to get involved in the plights of those less fortunate than herself. She risks everything to rescue a group of children that are being exploited by cruel government experiments. And, best of all, she learns from these experiences and develops as a character. It’s not long before she casts aside any pretext of arrogance, and simply presents herself as a down-to-earth student. Mikoto might be a wealthy high-class girl with top-level psychic powers and classic violin training, but you’ll never hear her brag about it.

Kirino apologists often grasp at straws to find a single redeeming character trait in their favorite imouto, but I can save them the effort. The ONLY reason people like her is because she’s female. I’m serious; next time you’re watching OreImo, pay close attention to the character’s cheeks. Every female, Kirino included, is perpetually blushing. The red cheeks, you see, make them seem more vulnerable, more sexual. Let’s not pretend that the eroge-reading imouto-fetish teenage girl who dresses exclusively in short shorts was created for any other purpose than simple fanservice. Anybody with half a brain can see exactly what kind of otaku she’s intended to appeal to.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying fanservice is a bad thing. I enjoy Samurai Girls as much as the next horny guy. But without a compelling character to back up the titillation, the whole affair feels empty, devoid of emotion or purpose. Take away the panty shots, and you have nothing. It’s like a jelly donut with no filling.

Think about this for a moment. Can you imagine if Kirino was male instead? A spiky-haired teenage guy who jerked off to eroge in his room, angrily insisted he was better than everybody else, forced his long-suffering sister into humiliating situations in order to preserve his own pride, and violently punched her whenever he was slightly annoyed? Yeah, suddenly that character isn’t so endearing, is it?

Mikoto, on the other hand, doesn’t have to rely on her femininity to win fans. Granted, she has a few fanservice moments, but these are only secondary. It’s her friendly charm, self-sacrificing attitude and awesome superpowers that woo her admirers, not her flat chest or occasional swimsuit scene. Maybe that’s why I view her has a friend, not a crush. Unlike Kirino, she has redeeming qualities beyond a simple pair of tits.

There you have it. Railgun is proof positive that great characters can rescue a mediocre story, without relying on mere titillation. That’s a lesson many anime studios need to learn, and Mikoto is just the girl to teach it to them.