The airhead is a great character trope when it’s done right.From comedy showslikeOne Punch ManandKeep Your Hands Off Eizouken!,to more serious ones likeDeath NoteandTokyo Ghoul, anime is absolutely bursting with characters that didn’t quite get their share of brain cells. Despite their lack of brains, though, airheaded characters can have some seriously awesome moments.
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What’s cooler than when a usually ditzy, dim character pulls off an incredible stunt or provides some simple insight that an overthinker might miss? Overall, it seems like intelligence is surprisingly low on the list when it comes to traits that make a character interesting. Here’s a list of ten characters that prove brains aren’t everything!
10Seo Yuzuki - Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun
Monthly Girls Nozaki Kunwas a show (and is still a manga) full of lovable dolts, but none quite embody the airhead trope like Seo Yuzuki. Even in the context of a show based entirely around misunderstandings, Seo Yuzuki is abrasive, blunt, and downright unaware of how people react to her personality. If anything, she thinks she’stooperfect!
These might sound like unlikable characteristics, and to be honest, they kind of are! However, the show plays it to such an extreme level that it somehow comes off as charming and funny.
9Honoka Kosaka - Love Live School Idol Project
Love Live School Idol Project’s protagonist Honoka Kosaka is, at heart, a super goofy character with a heart of gold. She takes most things at face value and throws herself at them without much thought at all.
Throughout the show, her airheadedness leads to all sorts of sincere, heartfelt, and fun moments. It also leads to moments like dancing in active traffic, which even the characters in this list would consider foolish. Being the protagonist,she leads her friends and classmatesinto crazy situations without really thinking, but they follow her anyway due to her lovable charisma.
8Ayumu Kasuga - Azumanga Daioh
Ayumu ‘Osaka’ Kasuga comes fromAzumanga Daioh, a comedy/slice-of-life anime series that follows a group of high school girls. Osaka is the very definition of an airhead, completely missing the point of pretty much any conversation she’s in. It’s like she’s on another planet!
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This means she has tons of quotable, confusing lines, like ‘if you tell a bald man his head is useful in the dark, you’ll get punched in the face’, and ‘if I can split these [chopsticks] clean in half, I’ll get into college’. Despite this, Osaka is shown to be a genuinely caring friend and sweet girl, which makes her a super lovable character.
7Yuki Judai - Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
When it comes toYu-Gi-Oh!,pretty much every protagonistis all duel, no thoughts. ButYu-Gi-OhGX’s Yuki Judai (dubbed Jaden Yuki) takes it to another level. Dueling is all he eats, sleeps, and breathes, and he self-admittedly relies on luck over brains to win his games. Despite literally attending a school for dueling, he constantly goofs off and falls asleep in class unless it’s an actual hands-on duel.
He’s also a very transparent and honest character, which can lead to some uncomfortable situations but also proves to be one of his most valuable traits when it comes to doling out simple-minded advice to his friends.
6Tohhru Honda - Fruits Basket
Tohru Honda is very naive when it comes to social cues, and even trivial facts about life evade her. Despite this, she has more than enough emotional intelligence to make up for it, and her airheadedness is incredibly refreshing and charming.
Likemany shojo protagonists before her, she breaks up several conflicts throughoutFruits Basketby just being there for her friends and understanding their problems better than anyone else can. She encourages them to express themselves in uncomplicated ways that they’ve not allowed themselves to before.
5Denki Kaminari - My Hero Academia
Denki Kaminari is unique in that he has a literal biological reason to be as airheaded as he is. Due to his ‘electrification’ quirk, he can generate up to two million volts; but the higher the voltage, the quicker he short circuits. Pulling off awesome stunts sort of requires him to be okay with spacing out from time to time.
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Of course, he’s also a little goofy without fully short-circuiting. Kaminari is often seen hanging out with Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero, a group of generally light-hearted and chill characters don’t take life too seriously.
4Inosuke Hashibira - Demon Slayer
Inosuke, having literally been raised by boars, has an excuse for his airheadedness. He’s an incredibly straightforward and blunt character, and his rash approach to problem-solving often lands him in trouble. Anybody he thinks is a demon is a target, which frequently leads him to attack completely innocent people.
Because of this, though,his fighting style is incredibly unique. His ‘beast breathing’ is as unpredictable and wild as the animals that it’s based on, which makes for some standout fight scenes. He can be forgiven for forgetting a few names, right?
3Natsu Dragneel - Fairy Tail
Natsu Dragneel embodiesthe foolhardy shōnen hero tropeto a tee, butFairy Tailwouldn’t be the same without his reckless antics. Known as the ‘Salamander’, Natsu is a dangerous and skilled fighter, but he’s also just a bit of an airhead.
His willingness to fight doesn’t just extend to his guildmates, whom he fiercely protects, but to others that have been wronged. While he’s certainly heroic, it could also be that he likes to fight. He does it well, so who can blame him?
2Usagi Tsukino - Sailor Moon
The head of the Sailor Guardians, Sailor Moon herself, is one of anime’s most iconic and lovable airheads. In Sailor form or as herself, Usagi Tsukino is cute, clumsy, and extroverted. She’s the blueprint for airheaded anime girls everywhere!
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Shojo anime is where airheaded girls thrive; not just as ditzy side characters, but as genuinely interesting and complex individuals that drive the story they’re a part of. Usagi drives the narrative with her charm and optimism and develops from a typical high school girl with bad grades to a relatable and reliable heroine.
1Monkey D. Luffy - One Piece
Monkey D. Luffy is another archetypical shōnen protagonist with a lot of love in his heart (and very few thoughts in his head).With over a thousand episodes under its belt,One Pieceis one ofthe most iconic anime of all time, so it makes sense that its lovable protagonist tops this list.
Luffy is quick to accept any challenge, regardless of his actual ability to complete it. It could even be said that his lack of thinking is what led him to pursue the titular treasure in the grand line. His willingness to rush into combat for just about anyone has gained him some valuable allies, so it’s hard to say his airheadedness isn’t one of his best qualities.
