Topical Tuesday: Characters I Can Relate To

Hihi, everyone! Today, I decided to do another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Now, I don’t do a lot of book blogging- or any, really- but I really like some of the topics covered in Top Ten Tuesday, and today’s topic was a freebie as long as it focuses on book characters. I struggled a lot to think of a theme, so a good friend helped me out. So… Today’s theme:

Top Ten Characters (meaning off the top of my head) That I Relate to the Most.

Note that none of this is ‘in order’. It’s just the order I thought of them, mostly based on my manga history on Anime-Planet. Which I haven’t used for ages and really should. That’s not here or there. Let’s get down to it, shall we?

Reason from Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier

Unlike the other nine books, the first character that came to mind when I think of the ones I relate to is from a novel I read in high school or so and never stopped loving: Magic or Madness. I love the book because it gives a modern spin to what magic is, which is something we all have inside ourselves. I mostly feel Reason and I connect because she uses numbers to help her relax. When she’s feeling anxiety driven for any reason, she recites Fibonacci’s sequence. I used to always just count from one to however high I had to in Japanese to relax or deal with time I couldn’t handle. As such, Reason and I related in how we dealt with stress- and I even gained a new way to mix things up a little!

Sasame from Nukoduke by Yugi Iro

Sasame comes from one of my top ten manga that I’ve read. I don’t relate to her in many ways- well, besides the fact we’re both girls- but there’s one thing we do have in common that’s a serious issue… We’re both natural flirts, and are generally to dense to notice it. Sasame has a habit of being assumed a boy because she equally ‘flirts’ with the girls as she does the men. But really, she doesn’t intend to flirt at all. First off, she’s a kitten. A humanoid kitten, but a kitten. Second, she’s just trying to be friendly. It’s just hard to know where that line is!

Hijiri from Yandere Kanojo by Shinobi

In Yandere Kanojo, every character is taken to the extreme in personality. For Hijiri, the thing that’s treated as a joke is that she’s ‘plain’ and ‘normal’. Now, I know for a fact I’m not ‘normal’, but I do often get told I can be plain and boring sometimes. She’s a fairly relaxed sort of character who worries and tries her best to give advice to her friends even if she lacks any background in the topic whatsoever. And that is something I totally get behind myself. It usually backfires though in my case.

Satou from Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora

Okay, comparing myself to Satou is really freaking scary. If you don’t know why… Go look it up. You’ll understand after a chapter or two why this is not something I want to do normally. That said, Satou’s drive that leads her is partially possessiveness- and I know I have that trait. I get jealous and clingy, and I’m just generally on the obsessed side when it comes to people I care for and the one I love. So, as much as Satou scares the crap out of me, I also kinda get her. Kinda.

Shio from Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora

Shio isn’t as scary as Satou, aside from her being a little kid that’s totally fine being in love with her kidnapper and whatnot. I mostly relate to Shio in her simplistic happiness. Shio’s always working hard to welcome Satou home after a day of school and work. Shio doesn’t get a choice not to go out unlike me, but that small matter… When I see her waiting for Satou to open the door, I see myself in it. And when she tries so hard she falls asleep waiting? I’ve done that too. It’s just so sweet and relatable!

Hana from Hana to Akuma by Hisamu Oto

Another little girl falling in love with… Well, he’s not really her kidnapper since she was left at his doorstep. What I see myself in with Hana is a love of flowers (and sometimes flower language), but most of all, the fact that she loves Vivi as he is- demon and all. See, my boyfriend likes to say he’s a demon. So, by default, I totally see myself in Hana as she gets older. She’s also a hard worker when it comes to keeping Vivi happy, and I do try my best to cheer people up- though I’m not nearly as good at it as her! She’s sweet and simple, and I like to think I can encompass that too.

Kinjirou from Mayo Chiki by Hajime Asano

Yep, I even relate to guys sometimes everyone! In Kinjirou’s case, it’s mostly because of the fact that he has severe gynophobia, and I grew up with sometimes extremely challenging androphobia. Our phobias are opposites, but we both have/had a severe case. Also he’s the type who’s bad with pressure, which I admittedly am myself.

Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Haruhi is a really well known manga and anime, but no one is more well known than the heroine. Haruhi is from a poor family, a single parent one at that- specifically, it’s just her and her dad in a fairly small apartment. Kinda like me! Also, she likes learning a lot. But the main thing that she and I relate on? Well, due to personal needs, we’re both fairly frugal. We’re both even frugal when it comes to others treating us- she tries so hard to not let all her rich club members do things for her let alone buy expensive things for her, but it still happens. And I tend to do the same.

Gingko from Mushishi by Yuki Urushibara

If you haven’t seen or read Mushishi, I highly recommend you go do that now. To truly understand Gingko is highly implausible, but there’s a simple thing about him that I feel I relate to well: We’re both the types to push people away. He does it regularly, consciously. And while I’m trying to learn not to do that… Well, it’s hard. Also, he can see things most people can’t, which correlates well with my final young lady.

Hotate from Yamamoto Zenjirou to Moushimasu by Youko Maki

While Hotate is a young child, she’s also got a unique ability that I once felt I had: the ability to see ghosts. In my case it turned out to be psychosis, but there’s something similar either way. Not only are we both people who see things others cannot, we’re both in single parent households with our fathers that promote our need to help them. Yes, you read that right: I thought the psychosis was spirits, and I always tried hard to help them. Hotate is always trying to help people, ghost or not, so that everyone can live happier lives. I wish I could help as many people as she can!

As you can see, there’s a fairly wide variety of characters that one can relate to. You can tell gender, species and age aren’t the only things that make characters- or other people for that matter- relatable! It’s the way they treat their relationships, their quirks, their strengths and flaws. I for one see myself in a tiny piece of each and every one of them.

What characters do you feel you connect highly with in books you like? I’d love to hear your view! If you haven’t read some of these before, I highly recommend giving them a shot. Most of them are sweet overall- and a new book is always nice, right? ^^

Tags: charactersreading