Everyone loves a ginger, right? I know what you’re thinking. Gingers get a lot of hate, but I think that is the people that rag on gingers the most are actually secretly the most in love with them. And how could you not be? A ginger’s hair burns with the heat of a thousand suns. It is the color of blood in the veins. Flushed cheeks. DESIRE.
Gingers are aware of their secret power, and use it to further their own ends. And no ginger is more conscious of the sway they hold over humanity than an animated one. They pooh-pooh all over their black, blue, and pink haired rivals. They are content to march to the beat of their own drum. To defy expectation. And to look damn good doing it.
That’s why I have decided to rank the gingers of anime according to their most fundamental trait: spunkyness. Here they come, the spunkiest gingers of all time.
10. Kushina Uzumaki – Naruto: Shippuden
Naruto: Shippuden’s Kushina Uzumaki may, at one point, have been a spunky ginger in her youth, but she has now put aside childish things to be the loving mother of Naruto Uzumaki. I’m not saying that responsible gingers can’t also be spunky, but I am saying that responsibility makes one slightly more risk averse. You can’t go bouncing around from adventure to adventure if you’ve got a li’l baby to take care of. However, she does end up sacrificing her life for that sweet babe, and therefore she went out in a spunky blaze of glory. Gonna give her four “yippees” out of 10.
9. AE3803 – Cells at Work!
AE3803 is a red blood cell in Cells at Work! That means that there are millions and millions of other cells just as spunky as her in the human body, if not more. That doesn’t disqualify her, but spunkiness is inherently about going against the status quo. If everyone around her is already pretty spunky, she has to bring her spunkiness levels THROUGH THE ROOF to compete on this list. That’s not to say that she doesn’t get up to some spirited hijinks. After all, she helps a white blood cell combat germs! That’s going outside of her job description! Five “yippees” out of 10.
8. Rias Gremory – High School DxD
Rias Gremory is certainly a spunky one in High School DxD. She’s fierce fighter and won’t hesitate to kill anyone who messes with her boyfriend Issei—including fallen angels! She should rank higher on this list, but she’s been downgraded because she spends all of her time with a herb like Issei. For one, the kid is one of the three most perverted dudes in school, and wants to get with literally every girl in his class. Rias deserves better, but she doesn’t know it yet. A truly spunky person would never put up with a loser like that. She’ll get there, but she’s got a bit of self discovery to do. Six “yippees” out of 10.
7. Makise Kurisu – Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate’s Makise Kurisu is one smart cookie. She’s one of the most intelligent young minds in all of Japan. Perhaps the world! She messes around with literal time machines! You’ve gotta be pretty spunky to be brave enough to face time paradoxes and other time-travel related horrors. She also sticks it to her dick of a dad by being a better scientist than he ever was. Now THAT is spunky. Seven “yippees” out of 10.
6. Kallen Stadfeld – Code Geass
Code Geass’s Kallen Stadfeld wrote the BOOK on sticking it to the man. She’s a soldier in a revolutionary army that is rebelling against a despotic regime. She pilots a war-fighting mech suit and slaughters her enemies. She’s high spirited, brave, and answers the call for adventure every time. She only loses points because she masquerades as a frail girl in order to stay under the radar. A 10 out of 10 spunky person would never hide their spunky light under a basket. Still, eight “yippees” out of 10.
Related: Top 10 Best Harem Anime of All Time on Twinfinite
5. Grell Sutcliff – Black Butler
Grell Sutcliff is a masterclass on how one can be evil and still spunky in Black Butler. She’s a Grim Reaper, and she really loves her job. For Grell, violence is not the answer. It’s the question, and the answer is “yes.” She’s reckless and impulsive and would much rather fire up her chainsaw scythe than talk things out, just like a high-spirited li’l spunker would. She loses points because she let timidity creep in when she was working as a butler. So what you made the tea wrong? So what you got lost driving a carriage? Shake it off, girl! Nine “yippees” out of ten.
4. Chise Hatori – The Ancient Magus Bride
Do you have to be loud and boisterous to be spunky? Hell no. Chise Hatori wrote the book on how to be quietly spunky. Abandoned by her family as a little girl in The Ancient Magus Bride, Chise put herself up for auction and was bought by a creepy, skull-headed magus. But was she afraid? Did she run away? Not at all. She got to know the guy and started learning magic herself! This girl is the definition of bravery and resolve, and she still manages to have a good time! No points off. Ten “yippees” out of 10.
3. Ezra Scarlet – Fairy Tale
Wait, but we ranked Chise as a 10/10? How could anyone rank any higher? Baka! Spunky people DEFY silly ranking systems. They’ll MAKE THEIR OWN. That’s exactly what Fairy Tale’s Ezra Scarlet would do. This girl is UNSTOPPABLE. She’s brave, she’s strong, and she never backs down from a fight. She’s also unafraid to take off her battle armor and prance around in cutesy dresses, because she doesn’t give a HONK what anyone else thinks! 12 “yippees” out of 10.
2. Yoko Littner – Gurren Lagann
All this girl does is run around in a bikini and shoot giant robots with a sniper rifle in Gurren Lagann. That’s the spunkiest thing I’ve EVER HEARD. She’s bubbly, high spirited, and totally fearless. Fighting giant monsters is an AVERAGE DAY for this chick. She is 100% adventure 365 days a year. If you do the math, that works out to about 15 “yippees” out of 10.
1. Ryuko Matoi – Kill La Kill
“WAIT” you’re probably thinking. “Ryuko Matoi isn’t a GINGER. Her hair is BLACK. She only has one little red streak in her hair! SHE DOESN’T COUNT.” Well let me put it to you this way: Ryuko Matoi has more spunkyness in that one little red streak of hair than you have in your ENTIRE BODY. This girl INTRODUCES HERSELF in Kill La Kill by rolling up to her school on a motorcycle, whipping out a GIANT SCISSOR BLADE, and challenging the most powerful person in school to a FIGHT. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. And then when she does actually fight, she does it HALF NAKED. And is UNASHAMED. She is the PINNACLE of spunkyness. The creme de la creme. 30 “yippees” out of 10.
(featured image: White Fox)
Published: Jan 31, 2023 04:36 pm