This is what it means to have short hair! Or maybe it’s just a preference, who knows. And to be honest, does it really matter? Short haired girls are cute and oh so fun. Especially in anime. And for every gal with hair down to her butt, there’s got a short haired alternative. So here’s my list of the best girls you’ll find in anime sporting that short hair look.
30. Yui
Anime: K-ON! Yui Hirasaw is the lead guitarist and vocalist of Ho-Kago Tea Time, a band she formed alongside other members of the Light Music Club. Yui had originally joined the Light Music Club because she needed to find an ‘easy’ afterschool activity. Light doesn’t mean easy, but Yui’s not very smart. She had no idea how to play guitar when she joined. But sometimes perseverance is more important than talent! And gosh, just look at that hair.
29. Bulma
Anime: Dragon Ball I’ve listed Bulma before as one of anime’s top tomboys – a spot she more than deserves. But here she is here again because as you Dragon Ball fans know, she changes looks more times than Goku revives. She first sports short hair 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, but has it long again by the 23rd. The older she gets, the longer she keeps her short hair. By Dragon Ball GT she’s rarely seen with anything other than a bob cut.
28. Ichigo
Anime: Darling in the Franxx A lesson on how not to be an anime fan: In 2018, an episode of Darling in the Franxx aired where one of the characters Ichigo kissed the main character, Hiro. Hiro and Ichigo had known each other since birth, and it was Hiro that actually named Ichigo (in the world of Darling in the Franxx, children don’t have names, only numbers). And yet by this episode, Hiro had fallen in love with his co-pilot 002, a sadistic demi-human with horns. Now, we all have our ships. And some people can get very invested in their ships. But the voice actress for Ichigo and the show’s director soon started receiving death threats. The show’s producer, Yuuichi Fukushima, praised the director for his work on that episode. And in return had people threatening to kill his family. Fun story huh? Are you in the Ichigo x Hiro or the 002 x Hiro camp? Let me know in the… meh, I don’t care, just don’t send death threats over it!
27. Haruhi Suzumiya
Anime: Haruhi Suzumiya The chief of the notorious SOS Brigade, Haruhi Suzumiyka has no intention of associating herself with ordinary people. Which causes her to become quite antisocial despite being an active and fun person. Haruhi started the Brigade to perform research into aliens, time travellers, and Espers. But unbeknownst to her – her whole Brigade is filled with them. What she also doesn’t realize is that her Brigade members are there to keep an eye on her. She has god-like powers that can change the structure of the whole universe. And these powers are tied to her emotions. But as she doesn’t know she has these powers…she can cause the end of the world without even realizing. Now that’s what I call fun.
26. Rukia
Anime: Bleach A Shinigami: god of death by birth, Rukia was sent on a mission to the human realm to purify Hollows. These are human souls that have lost their way to the afterlife, becoming corrupted in the process. Purifying Hollows is a daily task for a Shinigami. But this time it’s different. Rukia, despite being the captain of the elite Thirteenth Division of Shinigamis, can’t sense the Hollow. It turns out her senses have been clouded by the powerful soul of the Ichigo Kurosaki who’s able to see and sense spirits better than the spirits themselves! A powerful Shinigami, and a powerful ally, Rukia is one spirit you don’t want to cross on your way to the afterlife.
25. Najenda (Boss)
Anime: Akame Ga Kill! Najenda, normally just called ‘boss’, leads Night Raid. This is a group of mercenaries and revolutionaries trying to break the corruption of the empire from within. With an eyepatch, mechanical arm, and deep personal knowledge about the empire’s highest ranking generals, it’s clear that ‘boss’ has more than meets her destroyed eye. And her hairstyle certainly screams boss girl.
24. Faye Valentine
Anime: Cowboy Bebop Born to an extortionately wealthy Singaporean family, Faye was the victim of a space accident in 2014 which caused the death of her parents & put her into cryogenic frozen storage for 54 years. When she awoke after extensive surgery, she was handed a bill for 300,028,000 Woolongs – the new intergalactic currency – by a doctor who was taking advantage of Faye’s lack of memory. This is one weird plot, but it’s a lot of fun to watch. Betrayed by the only people she knew in the galaxy, Faye Valentine took to a life of crime and bounty hunting. She’s lazy, arrogant, and sneaky. You’ll never find her when you need her. But she’ll be there when she needs you.
23. Fubuki
Anime: One Punch Man Fubuki is the younger, but much better endowed sister of Tatsumaki the ‘Terrible Tornado’. Her charm, money, and power allowed her to create the Fubuki group: one of the major hero factions. She tries to get Saitama ‘One Punch Man’ to join her, even tries to fight him into submission, but eventually starts hanging out with him instead alongside other misfit superheroes.
22. Heidi
Anime: Heidi, Girl of the Alps In East Asia, Heidi is the only reason we know Switzerland exists. Everything I knew about Switzerland, before I went at the age of 20, I knew from Heidi. Based after the classic German tale ‘Heidi’s Years of Wandering and Learning’, this mid-70s anime was a roaring success and a shared memory across the entire anime-watching world. Of course, nowadays we know her from the meme where she pushed Clara off a cliff. I spent ages looking for the scene, but now I’m unfortunately convinced it’s photoshopped.
21. Ichigo Momomiya
Anime: Tokyo Mew Mew Like all members of Tokyo Mew Mew, Ichigo’s DNA was merged with an endangered animal during an earthquake at an endangered species exhibition. Ichigo’s DNA familiar is the Iriomote Cat, a critically threatened feline that lives on the small Okinawan island of Iriomote (guys please go support animal conservation!) With her new DNA she’s able to transform into Mew Ichigo, a powerful magical cat girl! Her first mission? To find all the other people who are now imbued with magical animal DNA.
20. Sailor Mercury
Anime: Sailor Moon Sailor Mercury, real name Ami Mizuno (Amy Anderson in the English version) was the first sailor soldier to be discovered by Sailor Moon. She’s the brains of the group & she’s able to use a supercomputer to collect data for their battles. This gal is just plain awesome. She speaks fluent English and even visited America as a medical intern. In non-canonical material, her IQ is stated as 300! Ami’s dream is to become a doctor and spends most of her time studying. During battle she uses her water and ice powers to disorient enemies with smokescreens and dense clouds, letting her allies turn the tide with direct attacks.
19. Lotte
Anime: Little Witch Academia Hailing from Finnish heritage, Lotte Jannson is one of Akko’s closest friends. Meeting on their first day at school, Lotte is the smart, nerdy, and timid one out of Akko’s chaotic trio of friends. Lotte’s caring heart fits in perfectly with her unique skill: the ability to speak with spirits and faeries living in discarded objects. Using a song passed down through her family tree, her magic is able to not only communicate with minor spirits, but calm hundreds of goblins at once.
18. Hinata
Anime: Naruto If you told seven-year-old me that Naruto would get together with Hinata instead of Sakura, I’d have called your bluff. No way! Sakura and Naruto are together every day! But alas, the writers had something different in mind. And now it’s all but common knowledge that Hinata Hyuga, the heiress of the Hyuga clan, becomes the wife of Naruto Uzumaki and mother to their son Boruto. Did Naruto choose her because of her short hair? Or was it her status, her skill, or because she’s one of her clan’s most flexible women? The world may never know.
17. Rin Hoshizora
Anime: Love Live! Rin is one of Love Live’s poster girls. Though she’s not a tomboy, she was laughed at and shamed for wearing skirts as a kid. Hurt from a young age, she refused to wear skirts aside from as part of her school uniform. It’s because of this hurt that she didn’t think she’d be suitable to become a school idol… even though it was her dream! Well, if she didn’t, we wouldn’t have this show to watch. So we all know how that went.
16. Rin and Len Kagamine
Series: Vocaloid So, is Vocaloid an anime? No, vocaloid is not an anime? Raises hand No, vocaloid characters are not anime either. But definitions are not set. And there’s enough manga material, lore, and figurines to consider them at least anime designed characters. Rin and Len are twin designed characters that has their names inspired from the ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ of a stereo player. Although they’re both super cute and still perform in concerts, they actually weren’t very popular on release because they were harder to use than Miku, but also less versatile. However the two were still popular enough to become part of the Vocaloid canon. And now they make appearances in manga, animation, and even live performances!
15. Rem and Ram
Anime: Re:Zero Because I put Rin and Len as the previous entry, I’m giving another double barrel entry – the blue haired Rem and red haired Ram (Ra, Re, Ri…missing Ru and Ro). The twins work for the estate of Roswall L. Mathers. Both are powerful Oni but were born with only having one horn each. Considered a defect by Oni society, they were originally going to be sacrificed if not for Ram showing her impressive power. Yet despite having her horn insidiously removed later on by the demon Faust, Ram still shows pride and strength. Rem, on the other hand, is timid and shy but she’s loyal, loving, and caring. Which is probably why she scores higher on almost all popularity polls!
14. Akane Tendo
Anime: Ranma ½ Promised to Ranma at a young age, Akane Tendo is one of Ranma’s three love interests and probably the most famous. As is the show’s running theme, despite dressing quite femininely, Akane is a tomboy whose able to fight off massive crowds using her family’s School of Martial Arts – Anything Goes. Growing up without a Mom, she never learned how to do “traditionally feminine things” and she’s just terrible at cooking. The poster girl for Ranma ½ (except for obviously Ranma’s girl form), Akane is a fan favorite and canonically the one who’s closest to getting Ranma in the end.
13. Vignette
Anime: Gabriel Dropout Gabriel, who I listed as one of my top favorite gamer girls, is an angel. But she’s lazy, selfish, and rude. Vignette is a demon, but she’s responsible, polite, and caring. Both were sent to Earth to study humans. But it seems like both aren’t doing a very good job considering their background… When Vignette met Gabriel, Gabriel was still someone who wanted to help others. But slowly Vignette became the one who has to look after her. Mopping floors, waking her up for school, letting Gab “borrow” her homework… such is the life of a demon!
12. Sakura
Anime: Cardcaptor Sakura With its brilliant artistic style that takes after Sailor Moon’s thematic design, Cardcaptor Sakura is considered one of the best magical girl anime of all time. The main character is Sakura Kinomoto, a young girl who accidentally lets loose a pandora’s box of magical Clow Cards. If you haven’t seen the anime, these are magical cards created by the greatest magician of all time, the Eurasian Clow Reed. To control the power of the cards, Clow also created two guardians Yue and Cerebus. Now realizing her magical blood, Sakura and Cerebus must go and retrieve the cards that have been released. And luckily she won’t have too much hair to get in her way on those wacky adventures.
11. Nami
Anime: One Piece Nami, like a couple of others on this list (I’m looking at you Bulma) changes her hairstyle a few times. With one of her most memorable being a neck length tomboy cut. At the beginning of the series, Nami wore short sleeves and short hair. Later after the pirates gets back together and go back to Saboady, Nami’s hair has grown down to her lower back. I guess there are no good hairdressers on the open seas.
10. Ringo
Anime: Daily Life of High School Boys Ringo-chan is the president of the Student Council at Sanada East High. Though a tomboy by most accounts, she believes that high school boys are all good-for-nothing delinquents. However, her own brash personality is often at odds with the politeness that the all-male student council at North High gives to her. She’s incredibly popular and is called the ‘Cutest Possible Girl’ by several characters.
9. Yuuko
Anime: Nichijou Our favorite air-headed slice-of-life heroine is back again causing shenanigans on yet another listicle! Yuuko loves to make jokes (even if they rarely hit home). She’s driven and a self-starter, but only with useless tasks. Plus she’s incredibly confident and will make sure you can trust her (but she doesn’t understand the instructions). She’s lovable all around (just seriously don’t trust her).
8. Tsukasa
Anime: Lucky Star Tsukasa is the proto-type for Yuuko. The indisputable airheaded from yet another quintessential slice-of-life show! She’s the younger of the Hiiragi twins, with her sister Kagami being twice as smart. Tsukasa is calm, naïve, and innocent. Which makes her more popular and approachable than her less dim-witted but more aggressive sister.
7. Red Blood Cell
Anime: Cells at Work Make it more moe. No, more. In anime even blood cells can be moe! Red Blood Cells, also called Haemoglobin, travel through your blood stream. They start in the heart, go to the lungs to get oxygen, and deliver said oxygen to different organs in your body. It’s a flawless system – supposedly. But the lifestyles of humans just have to get in the way. Obesity, disease, and a whole lot of other stuff can make it difficult for poor Red Blood Cell to do her job. So please, eat healthy, exercise, and don’t drink or smoke (too much). Moe blood cell is counting on you!
6. Mafuyu Hoshikawa
Anime: Blend S The most mature of the café’s stall, Mafuyu is a college student with a calm demeanour and loyal work attitude. She’s even gone as far as to tell off the owner, Dino, for being irresponsible at work! Although older than most of Stile’s staff, Mafuyu was born with a short stature. So she ends up playing the character most different from her own: the younger sister. Outside of work she is very much the older sister, giving advice to Maika and helping Kaho with her math homework.
5. Mako Mankanshoku
Anime: Kill La Kill Mako Mankanshoku is the brave but dumb best friend of our heroine Ryuuko. Although she proudly proclaims herself as a failure (and she has just about failed everything at school), she is a great motivational speaker and also has hidden talents that come through when people give her some motivation. Towards the end of the series it’s shown that with the same amount of support, she can best even the Four Devas!
4. Rei Ayanami
Anime: Evangelion Rei is the famous short blue haired girl from Evangelion. Alongside Askua and Shinji’s disembodied head from the End of Evangelion poster, Rei is one of the show’s three mascots. It’s quite hard to write this without spoiling anything. Rei’s background is not explored much in the show until the very end, and we know throughout that her past ties connects with the birth and end of the universe as we know it (the show’s old as hell, spoilers can’t be avoided by now!) Maybe it’s because Rei knows this that she’s stoic all the way through, and only begins to smile half way.
3. Yu Morisawa
Anime: Creamy Mami Now here’s a real classic: an 80s magical girl/school idol anime hybrid from your parent’s generation. In this piece of anime history, Yu Morisawa is a ten-year-old girl who gets a magic alien wand that lets her transform into a beautiful sixteen-year-old. She’s quickly scouted by talent agencies which ask her to sing. And she finds out that the magic has allowed her to become a brilliant songstress. Taking on the persona Creamy Mami (what a terrible English name in hindsight, remember the ‘Adult Cream Pie’ controversy a few months ago?), she begins to perform. But Creamy Mami is not real of course…can Yu keep up her dual life?
2. Fraw Bow
Anime: Mobile Suit Gundam Fraw Bow is Gundam’s first female lead (Yes, the very first! Just get your head around that). Introduced as the childhood friend and neighbour of Amuro Ray(the show’s hero), Fraw Bow has been there supporting him from the beginning. Just hanging around motivating him to become a brave hero, despite being young. She plays a motherly role abroad to the rest of Side 7’s refugees on their journey to Earth, and even ends up adopting three abandoned children from the ship when she grows up. Now that’s leadership.
1. Shizuka Chan
Anime: Doreamon And now the younger year’s crush of everyone in Asia: the timid, polite, all-rounded perfect girl-next-door: Shizuka Chan. As the cutest girl on the block, she’s the childhood love interest for everyone in the show. Especially our hapless hero Nobita and his rival Gian. Although she does often play the damsel-in-distress trope (keep in mind this show was written in much simpler times), she’s also the most intelligent and clear-headed of our main cast. A role model in every way, an absolute #1.
