Welcome to the Anime Walk of Fame, a series of retrospectives on the many characters of the anime world. You'll see all your favorites along with a few that deserve more than their reputations give.

So sit back relax and enjoy the show.

Kintaro's Last Impression Far Exceeds His First

It's a day early but I want to introduce Walk of Fame's special as I showcase characters who inspired my OCs, starting with one of the inspirations behind Dave Dreamer.

Kintaro is a very unassuming character, he acts dorky, he has a few unhealthy fetishes and can often go into each job with plenty of enthusiasm but no skill or ability to really achieve anything nor does he impress anyone, at least not to begin with, but his incredible capacity for learning got six women chasing him by the end of the series as each job he left, each of the women he worked with were ready to screw his brains out by the end, I'm not being crude, that's how each episode ends, in fact I'm almost quoting the motorcycle girl word for word based on the dub script.
They say first impressions matter as you only get one but your last impression matters as well as a good one can pay dividends later, the last episode of Goldenboy proves this.

Misty is Not a Real Tomboy

I wasn't intentionally going to talk anymore about Rachael Lillis voiced characters but when looking for inspiration for a tomboy for my story, It occurred to me that Misty really isn't much of a Tomboy.
In the first game, Misty was only really a tomboy by title only, in the anime it was more obvious especially in the first season as Misty became one of the trailblazers of tomboys and tsunderes, her gold and silver appearance gave her a more feminine appearance and she is caught dating near Bill's lighthouse.
In Pokemon Adventures manga, you think you're getting the Tomboy Mermaid until she turns up in this.

Not the only time she's shown more feminine as there are other instances in season 1 alone.
1. Ghost of Maidens Peak, she shows up in a yukata.
2. March of the Exeggutor Squad, perhaps a bit reluctant she appears in a Goldeen stage costume.
3. Misty Mermaid, pretty much signalled that she was way more feminine than her initial design as she performed a water ballet as a mermaid.
Throw in an appreciation for romance, a motherly instinct for Togepi, a love for cute clothing and actually making peace with her sisters who previously called her a runt.
In fact, growing out of her tomboy phase allowed her to become the best version of herself, my biggest criticism of Misty was that she was a terrible gym leader, by the end of her initial journey and follow up specials, she's now one of the best gym leaders in the Pokemon world; her battle with Ash in the Alola season gave us the battle we wanted from season 1 and shows us just how much all three of the original Pokemon party had grown, Ash's victory lap post world champion even reunited them for one last journey before retiring.
Many hated to see Misty leave so soon but it gave us the most complete character in the franchise and because of Rachael Lillis performance who can balance Tomboy and Feminine charm, Misty will always be the gold standard that every female character has followed since, even Cynthia.

Why Kim Possible Works As a Girl Boss

Girl Boss is a term thrown around in a negative sense to describe the over use of strong independent female characters who always get the job done no matter the scenario.
So why does Kim Possible get a pass when others in the Disney camp often get heavily criticised for existing?

First off we need to understand that like any term hijacked by the internet, it's misused and twisted by critics.
Girl boss by definition is a young woman who acts as a boss by leading or owning a business.
Kim is the boss of her own job as a secret agent and is presented as the perfect child of a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist, frequently she is depicted as having an extensive list of clients who are seen thanking her for a mission that took place off screen.
She's a cheerleader, naturally attractive and even those who do bully her never win.
So if she's written like Captain Marvel, why do we like Kim but not Captain Marvel?
Quite a few reasons.
1. She actually has to be the boss of someone, Wade and Ron come to mind.
2. She's allowed to fall in love.
3. She has foils in her brothers.
4. Shego is always presented as Kim's equal.
5. Silly villains play off Kim much better than anyone in Marvel's rogues gallery.
That last one is important as it's better for world building and works well with the Powerpuff Girls as well.
Having someone like Dr Drakkon as your main villain means you have something that perfect characters fear, unpredictability, the sillier the scheme, the more Kim has to work around it, it makes for a more compelling episode, when Kim has to work to save the world, this isn't even restricted to villains, Ron Stoppable has proven to be more of a problem to Kim at times as well, its also proven she struggles handling her brothers as well as they are just as smart as she is and there are two of them.
In fact the times she beats Shego, is when Shego stops caring about the current evil scheme.
So what have we learned?
If you want to create a girl boss character, make sure she actually has to work for it and earn it.
People get tired of supporting a hero that has no flaws and wins without effort and male characters aren't exempt from this, looking at you Isekai and harem leads.

Utena Walked So Jessie & Misty Could Run

One last role to bring out on Rachael Lillis and it's a role that kick started her two legendary characters Misty and Jessie. The Revolutionary Girl Utena.

The dub for Utena is rough and that's the nice version, but Lillis brought a lot to Utena that would become staples of her later characters, quick wit, snarky comebacks, tomboy persona and an ability to play off other characters best traits, the performance is a little rough but it was Lillis' 3rd role, 1st lead role and last role before Pokemon and she was already way better than most of the other voice talent on offer.
The Misty and Jessie we got is thanks to Utena and is one that mustn't be forgotten amongst Lillis' roles.
Thank you for this little trip down memory lane, I'll be happy to cover Jessie and Misty next if that's something people want.

Martina is a Perfect Foil

Another Racheal Lillis character that can be easily mistaken for Jessie.

Martina is the princess of Zoana and self proclaimed antagonist of Lina Inverse and party, while far from being a villain, she's more of an annoyance demanding attention, especially when Lina surrounds herself with cute male companions to flirt with; adding to her unique character, she's named after a famous female tennis player and made up a majin to worship called Zoamelgustar to try and play the villain but is too pathetic to do so and she only bothers Lina to begin with because Lina accidentally destroyed her kingdom in a misfire, but the fact that Lillis chose her Jessie voice for the role just makes her sympathetic enough that she makes for Lina's perfect foil, especially when you consider in OVAs that Naga the Serpent exists.
Lina having to deal with Martina on a regular basis gives the actual villain more weight when they get revealed.
Lina Inverse is so powerful that the only way to nerf her is surrounding her with friends and rivals too silly to be taken seriously but just competent enough that she can't do her job, Martina is the perfect example of this.