Irrelevant Picture! I felt I needed to overload everyone with Penguindrum images on my blog again!

Earlier this week, Yerocha from Shades of Gray made a post about his ideal anime/manga cast, and said that anyone else who wants to, can also make their own list. Naturally, I had to jump up on the offer. As you can expect from the title of this post, the list is all about creating your own ideal cast of five characters (refereed to as the Five-Man Band) and the Big Bad.

Yerocha used TvTropes to define each of the types of characters, and that’s what I used too out of the sake of consistency and laziness. It actually took me longer than I expected to come up with a list I was somewhat satisfied with, but keep in mind that even though this is my ideal cast, I don’t necessarily think it would make a good anime.

Onwards to the list!

The Hero

We all have our own vision of a hero when we hear the word, but to make things simple, it’s someone who is the leader of the group. If there’s anyone who I think would be the ultimate leader, it would no doubt be Kamina from Gurren Lagann! A hero was defined as someone who is well rounded in most areas and will always come up on top. When I think about what makes a good hero, it’s not so much a specific trait that comes to mind, but more so a vibe of epicness. Kamina creates a vibe that after seeing him for less than a minute you would already trust your life with him and know, that even in the worse case scenario, you would be okay. Kamina also has some undeniable charisma that commands awesomeness!

The Lancer

The lancer is supposed to be the foil to the Hero, and otherwise simply the sidekick. They’re also described as the one least likely to be a team player. I decided to choose someone who wasn’t necessarily a foil to Kamina, but I still felt fit the role right. Soul from Soul Eater is someone who often thinks he can get things done on his own, but in the end always learns that the help of a group is all you need. Even though he likes to be independent, he will still always be there to help. The Lancer is also described as the one most likely to turn the “Dark Side”, and that I felt fit well with Soul, too. Soul is someone who usually just took on that sidekick role, unless someone was really in need, and in that case he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to help.

The Big Guy

It seems someone else beat me to choosing a character from Durarara for this category before me, except unlike them, I chose Shizuo. The Big Guy is someone who doesn’t care to devise plans, and instead is mainly just senselessly violent. At that thought, Shizuo was the first one who came to mind. He relies only on his strength and will hurt anyone who gets in his way. Though, he still can be a team sport, and he has no problem being the one who will stay behind to fight off the rest of the “lackeys” as the Hero escapes to defeat the more important players. The Big Guy was also described as someone who is a one man army, and Shizuo is just that!

The Smart Guy

The Smart Guy was described as someone who was physically weak, young, nerdy, but the most intelligent in the group. I knew right away that Keima Katsuragi from The World God Only Knows was going to fit this role. Although he will only be most useful when it comes to capturing girl, besides that one major skill, he’s also extremely smart in nearly every way. He can come up with plans very quickly and can spot out someone’s weakness with ease. Also, who wouldn’t want Keima on their team?

The Chick

This character is someone who keeps the group together. When the group is at a lost, the chick will pull through and bring them all together again. I took some time thinking about who I wanted to pick, but once I figured it out, I felt it made a perfect fit! Ohana from Hanasaku Iroha was the one who always managed to encourage everyone to try their best. When all hope seemed lost, she reminded everyone to stay positive and to still try their best. The chick is supposed to be the heart of the group who holds everyone together, and that’s exactly what Ohana is all about!

The Big Bad

This was the most the most difficult one for me to choose simply because most of the anime series I watch don’t have a “Big Bad” type of villain in it. I tried to think of a character that would really seem like the big boss type at the end of video game. The closest to anything I could think of was Love Machine from Summer Wars. I figured that in appearance alone, he seems like a really creepy villain! Also, taking over the world wouldn’t have been a struggle at all if it wasn’t for his one weakness of being obsessed with competition.