Are you new as an anime watcher? You are still trying to make sense of the word Waifus. Well, do not worry, if you like anime because of old shows like Doraemon, Shinchan and Kiteretsu, here we will try to go back to the 90s again. For most of the online global world, anime is just popular fiction or the wonderful stuff that’s breaking the internet. But the essence of what anime is can be found in the 90s. It’s a mixed bag of characters.It has complicated endings or multi-layered personas, hence they reigned the game not giving it too much at a time.
Anime is not just entertainment for kids. It’s not equivalent to any Teletubbies show or just cartoons that had gone berserk in terms of popularity in the west in the 90s. You can take examples of Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, or Teen Titans Go. The anime world is just more than the animation that we see. It has multi-layered plots, complex characters, and extremely nuanced points of view in its stories.
Whether it’s a character or the script, it takes a wider perspective to address human-centric issues. Simple Anime movies like ‘Spirited away’ give you ideas of greed and atonement of greed. From ghosts, demons, and devils; Gods to angels, all seem to exist in this multipolar world. Waifus in the center of the narrative. Originally a woman who binds the story together. The essence of Waifus was what made 90s anime special.
Anime, especially the superhero kind, has always placed women equivalent to men in these shows. But in the 90s despite the modern feminism narrative being bleak, we see special ‘Waifus’ or animated Feminine characters that are winning the screens with their simplicity and showing the stark attributes of being women of substance.
Let’s know more about such Waifus from the 90s:
1. Shampoo from Ranma 1/2
Shampoo might be the first powerful character ever to have graced any anime show as a Waifus. The endearing bit about her is she is not all the way diabolical and treacherous. She does not hate her husband and wants to kill him or do anything of that sort. What she wants is someone to understand her. And that makes her a perfect Tsundere character. Tsundere is a term for character arcs in anime that are like coconut. They are hard at the outset but filled with love on the inside.
2. Lana Inverse from Slayers
How many of us reminisce about Raven? For all you confused lots, Raven is DC’s mainstream character from the Titans superhero group. Lana somewhere falls in the middle of that. Lana has strong perception and she is knee-deep in her intuitive powers. Despite being so deeply intertwined with herself she can be deterring and dramatic. With powers that know no limits, this 90s Waifu queen is no ordinary anime female character.
3. Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiments Lain
Lain is like a ‘prophecy’ of the future that was true for the past. Except for understanding who this brave lady is? We need to understand the idea of the show back in the 90s. Lain, a snob, introverted, restricted inward individual had to go through angst and extreme psychosis when she finds a letter from a classmate. The classmate before seeing death told Lain to enter the Virtual world or the world of the ‘Wired’. What happens after that is taking truth to a whole extreme level as Lain discovers her true self.
4. Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon
Usagi Tsukino is a classic case of character development in anime. It can be stressful How we see female characters even today as one-dimensional, black and white, good or evil, and flaky or structured. Usagi started as a Teenage rage of the 90s and transitioned into an elegant queen of justice and equality. Usagi has transformed the way we see Waifus.
5. Remi Barbarian from Remi’s Nobody Girl
There shall not be any misunderstanding about the lack of depth in the Waifus of the 90s. Remi is a living truth, How much depth she had in tackling the truth that changed her life. Her father returning after a long expedition banished her from home stating she was picked up from the street. But a street musician took her in his troupe and made her the lead singer. She dealt with the incident with no malice in her heart.
6. San from Princess Mononoke
Have you ever visualized a character with grit, determination, and purpose? San was not only a purposeful woman but she was an eco-warrior. She was part of the tribe that only cared for the jungles, land, and natural springs. She could go to any extent to protect natural resources, even if she had to kill someone.
7. Nanaka Misonoo from Dear Brother
Nananka is a special character in the sense that she is not a strong figurine, she is just a normal girl. Through her extremely intense hard work, she made it to a top school like Seiden Academy. It was an all-girls school. It became a toxic place for her as she became one of the first from her class to gain entry into a top sorority. Soon after some time, in spite and jealousy, she became the punching bag for all the other girls. Unable to find a way out, Nanaka develops a close relationship with Rei Asaka, a Saint and a Former teacher through secret letters.
8. Nadia La Arwall from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Nadia is not just a simple Waifus from 90s anime. She is a model of representation in the anime world. Nadia was born in Kenya. She was a circus performer and hence had to travel to many places. She owned a mystical jewel called blue water. Everybody wanted it as it possessed very powerful mystic forces. When a scientist finds Nadia they both went on an expedition and found enemies that wanted to rule Atlantis. Amidst the chaos, Nadia found her true self.
9. Kayoko Nakane from Who’s Left Behind (Kayoko’s Diary)
Kayoko was just a 5-year-old esteemed feminine character. Kayoko was a kid with substance. She donated her precious toys and books including all her belongings to contribute to WW-II. But soon all her innocence turned fatal as the horror moments of the war, brutal images kept appearing in a loop in her mind.
10. Hikaru Shidou from Magic Knight Rayearth
Hikaru is just not a simple Waifus of the 90s. She was a top-notch fencer. One day taking a tour of the beloved Tokyo Tower, she was transported to a fantasy world of Cephiro. She and her three friends became Knights at the new place and they did all they could to save Princess Emeraude. They developed a special bond dismantling the saying, “Girls can never be friends.”
