While characters in anime are usually pretty short (so are Japanese in general, with an average height of 165cm/5ft 4inches). Since the shortest anime characters are often kids, and since nothing can happen to a kid, they patented a trend – 1000-year-old lolis. I’ll try to stay away from kids here as much as possible, since otherwise I’m pretty confident the FBI will be at my door. So let’s call this list something like “the cutest short anime girls that aren’t little kids”. Seems fair, yeah? For this list I’ll be ranking mostly on the character designs and significance of each character in media, as there’s no real criteria for this list except being… short. Also, I’m very biased so I expect some of you to disagree vehemently. But hopefully there’s a few we can agree on!
25. Tanya Von Degurechaff
Anime: Saga Of Tanya The Evil
Oh, the little ball of rage that is Tanya. The reincarnated man who denies God in all entirety.
While I’m not Christian, it would be hard to deny God if he was right in front of me… so I don’t know how Tanya does it!
Tanya would probably be in the top 5 design-wise, if her light novel design was used for the anime – but for this ranking I’m using all animes as a baseline, so no. But she deserves a mention here for sure!
24. Tatsumaki
Anime: One Punch Man
No one can take this hurricane witch seriously.
She’s small and cutesy, yet has such a horrid personality that even 4chan dwellers wouldn’t place her in their strike zone.
Tatsumaki has a nice, pleasing design that has a very soft color combination. Nicely done by the character designers.
I do believe she would look better if her sizes were a bit more… proportional. So she’d need to be a bit taller – like Fubuki, kind of. Still, nice design.
23. Shiro
Anime: No Game No Life
Oh boy, this one will get me on a list 100%.
Shiro is still a child, but I love No Game No Life too much to not include her!
The show has a great art style and the cute character designs contribute a lot to Shiro’s position here. Her colorful palette is pleasing to the eye, and she exudes all the cuter energy because of it.
And Shiro is also incredibly smart, memorizing every possible chess combination – over 10^120!
Way to make me feel insecure about my memory, jeez.
22. Victorique de Blois
Anime: Gosick
Not a child, but still a teenager, Victorique (what a name, christ) is a 15-year old student at St. Marguerite Academy.
She’s a bonafide tsundere, stubborn and unwilling to admit her true emotions.
Victorique is a petit gothic lolita that can only be described as doll-like. he’s the perfect example of a goth anime girl – very small, cute, and dressed in a Victorian gown that suits her porcelain-like face brilliantly.
21. Shinoa Hīragi
Anime: Owari No Seraph (Seraph of the End)
Shinoa is that one superior character that you’d think you’d hate.
Snarky, sarcastic, and a general nuisance.
But be honest, that doesn’t sound too bad compared to most bosses in real life!
Shinoa has a smug look that’s perfect for the universe of Owari no Seraph.
The desaturated colors of the surroundings are a great contrast with both the uniform and the light purple hair(or whatever her color is called, who knows).
20. Bocchi Hitori
Anime: Hitoribocchi
Another child character, this one I had to include as my friend likes this series a lot – this is a service to him.
Now Hitori herself has a very simple design.
She’s a child, just 13 years of age, and it reflects on her slightly chubby and innocent design.
She’s also the pure image of social anxiety! That’s another one for relatable characters, damn.
19. Pinako Rockbell
Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist
Ah, the grumpy ol’ lady, grandma to our favorite mechanic – Winry!
This grandma is grumpy and a bit self-conscious about her height. Just like Edward, who she teases constantly – turns out two small beans arguing on who’s taller can be pretty entertaining!
Pinako is a tiny old lady with glasses and a pipe. She’s smaller than even a child! Although she was very tall in her prime, though. And pretty, too!
18. Nene Sakura
Anime: New Game!
And finally an adult! Nanaka is 19 and still quite small.
Nene is a friend of our MC, a very light and childish character, seen as one by most who meet her too.
Nene is a cutely designed girl too, as most of the cast of the show!
She’s colorful and very pinkish in her palette – she fits quite well!
17. Gabriel
Anime: Gabriel Dropout Is this an angel? A demon? Both! An angel in nature and a demon in nature, Gabriel is a “Fallen” Angel, one that was a star student in heaven before coming to earth to help humans. She tried at first, but then she… Well, she became a shut-in gamer. A NEET to say the least. She’s so sullied by being a 4chan style NEET that her halo is jet-black now. Opposite her gorgeous blonde hair, of course. And she’s lazy as anyone could be, but she still retained her intelligence and gained quite a cunning nature to boot.
16. Maho Hiyajo
Anime: Steins;Gate 0
What’s the image of a scientist?
If you were to ask me, it’s the picture of elegance. A tall person in glasses, and a pure white lab robe.
Nevertheless, here we have Maho – a short, messy, smug scientist with zero regards to the stereotype.
Maho is the perfect image of chaotic order, her style being I just woke up, put some stuff on and ran out the door”.
She rocks it too! I wish I looked like that every morning.
15. Mihari Otosuna
Anime: The Comic Artist and His Assistants
Just a cute and slightly awkward character, Mihari is a very violent and affectionate girl – quite a mix.
She’s an editor that has a very eye-for-an-eye attitude – for example, cutting her hair after almost killing a person with ink (Accidentally, she’s not a murderer… unlike some other insane girls).
14. Ena Ibarada
Anime: Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It Another scientist-type! And no, I don’t have a problem. She’s also Catwoman – but no, she’s not a superhero. No she’s not a catgirl. She just likes to pretend to be a cat. What’s wrong with that? She likes to breed chaos for entertainment – fun times! Her design is kind of a mix of Hiiragi and Maho, a scientist with long purple hair and a clean coat. Ena also likes lazing about and playing games. She doesn’t have any ambitions to work, which is totally unlike a scientist… but that’s another story.
13. Nike
Anime: Break Blade
She’s 25. Yes, I’m not kidding, this child is 25 years old. Really.
Ah, also she’s a bloody maniac, a cold-blooded murderer, a full-fledged sadist!
This cutesy child-like girl is a psychopath that would kill friend or foe alike in a frenzy, unless Io calms her down.
She (spoiler’ed) quite quickly, sadly, getting (spoiler’ed) by the same general who humiliated her twice before.
Not higher on this list because of that, and she had top-tier imouto potential with her design!
12. Nene Saikyo
Anime: Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan (Chivalry of a Failed Knight) I’m truly sorry, I know the universal hate on the chivalry of a failed knight – it’s pretty much Asterisk War with a slight design change. The cast is mirrored, the plot is similar, and probably the only real difference is that Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan is not a harem. Now, Nene. She’s a teacher who wears traditional clothes and carries around a fan. She’s not in any way conservative, though, constantly flirting with people even in fights. She also has quite a backstory – from accidentally finding levitation magic to killing her abusive step-dad via gravitational control. Not quite someone you’d want to meet in battle!
11. Mikoto Misaka
Anime: A Certain Magical Index Ha! You expected me to use Tsukuyomi, didn’t you? While she is an adult, she looks too child-like, not even like a teen. So the main character of “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” will do – she’s also pretty short, albeit she is the tallest on this list. Her design is fairly simple. At least in the anime. In most other media where she has a role, she’s got a way more unique design – cuter, too. It might be shocking to you, but her powers are electrifyingly strong – utilizing lightning as if it were a railgun (thus her name, Railgun). What, don’t like the puns? What a shock, and here I thought I was being puny… I know I’m eggcellent at this, so don’t even try to scramble up an excuse!
10. Isuzu Sento
Anime: Amagi Brilliant Park
“Date me or I’ll shoot your brains out”. Izusu is the second tallest character on this super short characters list, right after Mikoto.
Now Izusu does have a very cute design, having a light semblance with a militaristic uniform.
She has a great combination of a casual, cutesy look, and a strict uniform with a decorative (but still dangerous) gun.
It’s also true that she’s violent and short-tempered. Always quick to shoot anyone with her magical weapon.
Her violence is the bi-product of her social anxiety and awkwardness with human interactions – well damn, I know the feeling… but shooting someone in the head is not the way to ask for a favor!
9. Nagi Sanzenin
Anime: Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler) This one is my personal biases. As a very long time ago “Hayate no Gotoku!” was the first romance I ever watched! I remember null and void about the plot and story, and characters, and anything about the show. Nagi is a teen through the show, yet she was always drawn as a child, no way this is a teen. She’s barely over 140cm! Which is incredibly short for 16 years old. I think her designer was the father of all tsundere, the yellow twin-tails hair, and a smug and bossy attitude.
8. Haruhi Suzumiya
Anime: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Being a god-like ethereal being of the highest class is difficult. Especially when you’re highly delusional!
Haruhi has the same problem.
She’s a god with universe-shattering prowess who believes she’s a mortal.
And as a mortal, she pretends to be a god.
Weird right? Not yet!
She also has an entourage of followers with whom she searches for aliens, time travelers, and espers.
But all three members of her entourage are… well, aliens, time travelers, and espers!
She’s also the reason for the light novel adaptation boom like Haruhi Suzumiya was.
7. Azusa Nakano
Anime: K-On!
With beautiful music and amazingly comfy-looking art style, K-On is a classic every anime fan knows about.
And the cute members of the “Ho-kago Tea Time” are all pretty small.
Here I present to you the least procrastinating group member, the guitarist Azusa.
She’s so responsible that she even became the leader at one point!
Now she downplays down her talents a lot, though she was playing the guitar from the 4th grade! She’s even better than Yui, too.
A modest little bun of self-depreciation, how relatable!
6. Shinobu Oshino
Anime: Bakemonogatari
Shinobu is life. This cute little vampire gives off such a powerful energy of short cuteness… and she looks like she needs some kind of protection, even though she’s almost 600 years old!
Her full vampiric name is, prepare yourself, “Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade”.
What a mouthful. And the author was even proud of it, jeez.
Shinobu has a fully grown form too. Way more of a mature vibe.
Still, she’s happier when she’s a child, as even enslaving humanity can’t bring her the happiness of being with Araragi.
5. Serara
Anime: Log Horizon
Ah, yes, Serararararararararara… She’s a 17-year old player with a bubbly outward appearance.
And her design looks like she can’t physically frown! Unlike her outwardly friendly and eccentric appearance, she’s pretty meek and quiet.
She can’t relax, as she feels that she always needs to be doing something! Even at parties, she thinks she has to serve people to be helpful.
The combination of her being bubbly, along with her short height, makes her look a bit chubby… although really she’s pretty thin.
Also she’s deeply infatuated with Nyanta, a member of the original Tea Party. The feelings don’t seem to be mutual, though.
4. Taiga Aisaka
Anime: Toradora! A wild tsundere appears! Taiga is famously self-conscious about her height, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that she’s here. She’s a bossy little brat, who shows a cute side only when talking to her romantic interest. Pop quiz: do you know how short she is? 140cm. That’s 4′ 7″ for all you Americans. Taiga’s a tomboy through and through, and people sometimes even joke about how she’s more boyish than most men. Maybe it’s not really much of a joke… She lives alone since her father forced her to after his divorce… and that’d explain her jagged nature too. What a sad story from a must-watch anime!
3. Cordelia Kasukami
Anime: Twin Star Exorcists
Just look at her design.
That alien tech-like costume, it’s so cool! Her violet hair is also quite pretty, no?
She’s an exorcist, the “Tenku” of the Twelve Guardians.
She’s supposed to be, well, human.
Hard to believe it, as her ears are literally speakers.
Cordelia’s design is an amazing color combination of white and light purple, black, and orange.
The additional red on the eyes and light-blue in her ears offer a very nice contrast too!
And while Kasukami might look as short as most characters here, she’s the same height as Isuzu, so I’m glad to place her so high up in the ranking.
2. Mirai Kuriyama
Anime: Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) Would you let someone stab you with their blood? And before you ask, yes this is kind of a serious question, as this is Mirai’s power: cursed blood that she can force into the form a blade. Mirai is exactly 5′, a nice and short height for our dangerous little lady. Mirai is awkward and shy, constantly stabbing her immortal friend and then getting mad that he didn’t die. Her design looks so incredibly… cozy! She looks like the type of person to laze about all day with a bubble tea and some sweets. She’s also a scatterbrain with money management problems – a combination worth protecting.
1. Rukia Kuchiki
Anime: Bleach I love bleach. This should be evident from my previous articles too. And Rukia is one of my favorite characters. I’m a firm believer of IchiRuki, even if the canon states otherwise. Rukia is the cutest little death god bean, “towering” over Toshiro at 11cm higher than the other shorty of the series. While Rukia’s 144cm, Toshiro is 133, which would make him the shortest here… if this list wasn’t girl-exclusive. But if you’re going after cute short gals in anime, Rukia is a sure bet. She loves cute things, can’t draw, and has incredibly friendly chemistry with Ichigo. She was written to be his closest friend, yet she’s closer to him than Orihime ever was… but again, that’s a story for another day.
