Beauty and the Bust

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale for what promises to be quite the peculiar week. Two weeks ago, we tackled the topic of best loli(s) with some rather interesting selection from all the writers involved. This week then, we were given the task of listing down our favorite busty characters instead. Of course, this little assignment had me a little dumbfounded. Would it be characters that we liked because of their large busts or characters that we like that also happened to have large busts? Either way, I found myself at odds in coming up with a sufficiently succinct list as there were far too many candidates on offer.

So, in order to make my life and yours easier, I decided to put it onto myself to split the characters according to media categories. This being, anime, light novels, manga and video games. The characters either had to be exclusive to said form of media or primarily originating from there. There would be a main selection for each category together with an honorable mention one too. With those ground rules established, let us dive head long into our list starting with;

Favorite Busty Character from an Anime

Well, you probably saw this coming from a mile away especially with a blog named Tiro Finale. It even helps that Mami's appearance stems mainly from her appearance in anime aside from the few side appearances in manga and video games. Many a times, it can be difficult to explain why Mami is such a relatable character for me. But if I had to break it down to a single sentence, it would be that she is a strong, independent female character who has had to push through a significant amount of hardship whilst being incredibly adapt at her particular skills set. In this case, it would be more than sufficient for Mami to be an incredible gunner but, the fact that her powers stem from the manipulation of ribbons and her perseverance to face increasingly difficult challenges. In that sense, it helps to give Mami as a character a lot more depth than meets the eye with her fancy blonde locks and curvaceous figure.

Oh, and the fact that she grows up to be a mundane OL in the official spin-off manga, that too is gold!

Honorable Mention for Busty Character from an Anime

Another character which gets a great deal of love here on Tiro Finale has to be Toujou Nozomi which successfully finds her way on the honorable mentions for the anime category. You may nitpick and say that she originally appeared in Muse's first MV but, that too is a form of anime, if you think about it. Aside from her uniquely purple hair and peculiar tendencies, what is there to love about Nozomi? Aside from the fact that Nozomi also happens to be a strong, independent female character who has gone through a significant amount of hardship whilst being incredibly adapt at her skill set, Nozomi's depth of character is what truly enraptures me towards her character. Nozomi represents so much more than her initial outlook as the fun yet reliable third year senior character once you get to know her better. Hidden beneath a strong front, lies a great deal of uncertainty and fear of the future. Yet Nozomi pushes on knowing that the right decisions would ultimately pay off even if it means going against those who you love, initially. 

Oh, and her blatantly obvious relationship with her Eli-chi is also pure gold!

Favorite Busty Character from a Light Novel

Hanekawa Tsubasa. I mean, could there have been any other candidate more suitable for this list? Hardworking, intelligent and tough as nails, Hanekawa is one of those characters whom many might consider to be perfect to a fault. But as with every other character on this list, there is much more than meets the eye with Hanekawa. Just like Mami and Nozomi (to some extent), Hanekawa is someone who has had to endure the hardships of growing up without her family by her side. Where Mami and Nozomi have considerable wealth as leverage, Hanekawa has none of that yet she is faced with supernatural challenges of catastrophic proportions. All of her encounters eventually distill her greatest weaknesses and strengths into a single entity that is bonded to her very being. Over the course of her journey in the Monogatari Series, Hanekawa is transformed from a simple unknown high school girl to a being who is only whispered off in the gods of old. There is something that can be said about the charm of absolute power but, absolute power held in restraint by a higher intellect? Now, that is something truly special.

Oh, and Hanekawa's love for sweets and frilly lingerie is a definite plus too!

Honorable Mention for Busty Character from a Light Novel

Wiz, a rather unpopular choice who also happens to be my absolute favorite character from the KonoSuba series. Wiz, in my opinion, perfectly embodies the incredibly intelligent yet, at the same time, dim-witted character. This gentle lich wields unspeakable magical power with incredible poise and mastery yet, fails to run a simple magic items/pawn shop. It is this contradiction in abilities which I find incredible endearing. While Wiz does not get much love outside of the series in terms of merchandising, I am still hoping that will one day change as more seasons of the anime are gradually released. Hopefully one day our purple character will get a figure of her own too!

Oh, and Wiz also happens to be voiced by the same seiyuu as Hanekawa!

Favorite Busty Character from a Manga

First appearing as the main character in Shirow Masamune's 1989 manga, Ghost in the Shell, Kusanagi Motoko has gone on to become the face of the series throughout its various iterations over these past three decades. Along the way, the Major has undergone drastic changes throughout each Ghost in the Shell version be it from the original cult hit that is the 1995 movie, the fan favorite Stand Alone Complex series or the most recent ARISE reboot. Nevertheless, the Major often retains her laundry list of abilities and skills ranging from tactically pertinent abilities such as cyber-hacking and firearms mastery to more esoteric skills such as human philosophy and gender identity. As a character who has spent much of her life never having any parental guidance nor, a human body to begin with, Motoko's character design is often a mirror of her upbringing. Despite the premise, the Major is always depicted as a tall, svelte, female operator with short dark hair and androgynous facial features. Her physical features are both tactical and aesthetic. Where her height and weight is optimized for a balance between speed, the Major is often depicted as having a very well endowed figure, a conscious effort on the Major's part to express her femininity (something she professes to not understand well). Yet her androgynous features often make the Major more "handsome" than "pretty" and is something I personally find to be a really interesting character point especially since the adoption of these features become more widespread following her more androgynous depiction in the 1995 movie. Throughout the three decades, the Major has undergone so many changes yet, has still remained largely the same. All of this is just a testament to incredible character design that has certainly lasted the test of time.

Oh, and there is also going to be new movies and series for Ghost in the Shell coming out next year!

Honorable Mention for Busty Character from a Manga

Galko-chan from Oshiete Galko-chan has two things going for her. The first and most obvious, is that she probably has the largest bust among all the characters on this list. Not that it matters nor does it provide any additional marks to her ranking. True enough, there are countless busty characters that are prevalent in the manga(s) that I read but, lost out to Galko on one rather silly talking point. Galko just happens to be one of the few characters whom I purchased the figure for before even being exposed to any material from the series. I remember seeing Galko's Nendoroid and, whilst having no knowledge whatsoever of this character, I just knew I needed to add this gyaru to my collection with her myriad of rainbow colored makeup. Till today, I still do regret missing out on her (huge) 1/6 scale figure by Good Smile Company which has only gone up in price ever since. Is there any particular reason I like Galko besides the fact that she is a busty blonde gyaru with makeup so gaudy it is good? Well, that is the reason.

Oh, and the manga is also really entertaining which is another plus point!

Favorite Busty Character from a Video Game

Okay, now this one is a bit of an odd-ball pick as this particular character is neither a human nor does she appear in any form of Japanese media. Surely, you would expect me to pick one of the countless busty characters in Japanese video games such as the goddesses from the Neptunia series, servants of the Fate Series or the warships from Kancolle (more of that in a bit). Yet none of that could be further from my undisputed top choice of the list, which has little to nothing to do with her actual bust size. Saryn (or her Prime variant) is a plague/disease-based Warframe, from the game of the same name Warframe, who is practically a mobile bio-weapon. While all Warframe(s) are capable weapons of mass destruction, they are often designed with a specialized purpose. Where most Warframe(s) were initially designed as guardians/protectors, Saryn was designed with a much more malicious intent in mind. Saryn, designed out of spite and vengeance, has the singular purpose of spreading her plague and decimating any and all carbon-based life form throughout the universe. Rather than employ outright destructive forces, Saryn employs damage which strikes at a cellular level breaking down any enemy's resistances regardless of how strong they may be. An unstoppable plague and an incurable disease, that is Saryn.

Oh, and she also happens to be named after the incredibly lethal bio-weapon Sarin.

Honorable Mention for Busty Character from a Video Game

Atago. Full disclosure, I do not actually play Kancolle nor do I actually know that much about all the various warships featured in the game. What I do know is that I do like Atago's design very much. This includes the original World War-era heavy cruiser, the modern guided missile destroyer and the anthropomorphic version featured in the browser game. All three featured heavy firepower and were the pride of their fleet so, it can be rather difficult to pick between the three. Though, I think the anthropomorphic one wins out because she has the benefit of traversing over land too. Handy, is it not?

Oh, and she also has a great uniform reminiscent of naval officers that is not really seen with other characters in the series.

So there we have it, my complete list of my favorite busty characters from anime, video games, manga and light novels. If there is anything to take away from this entire lengthy list, it would be that bust size is no determinant for a successful character. No doubt, it can be used to accentuate the character's personality and archetypal design. But the most important determinant will always be depth which establishes a character. At the end of the day, the most overlooked component to a successful plot is not breadth but, depth. 

Well, I certainly hope you have enjoyed reading through this list which ended up taking me much more time than I had initially expected. What about you? Who are your favorite busty characters? Do let me know in the comments section below, we would love to hear what you think. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!