Narrowing down the funniest women in anime is a challenge simply because there are so many to choose from. In Western media, female characters are not always as funny as their male counterparts. This is because they are often seen as more serious counterpoints to male characters. Take, for example, a wife on a sitcom, who is often the voice of her husband’s reason. Luckily, women in anime come off as incredibly funny, whether their style of humor is absurd, slapstick, deadpan, or something else entirely.
Anime is a well-suited medium for humor, so it’s no surprise that many female actors play comedic roles. Characters can have excessive physical or emotional reactions in ways that don’t detract from the story, and even add to it. The anime is also filled with funny jokes to parody and lots of female characters who have a chance to break the conventional formula. Sometimes these characters simply have good quotes or are extremely easy to understand. No matter how funny they are, women in anime are usually more dominant.
10 Yuu Kashima – Nozaki-kun of the Monthly Girls
Kashima is a parody of the type of anime prince character stereotypically portrayed by male characters, such as Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club or Soma from Black Butler. With all her talent, it is no surprise that she was considered one of the best actors in the drama club at the Roman Academy.
As a shameless flirt, it is common to see her successfully flirting with her female classmates. It’s interesting to see a familiar anime archetype being subverted, and Kashima is a prime example of inverting the prince archetype. In fact, she does it so well that she easily becomes one of the funniest characters in Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.
9 Noi – Dorohedoro
Dorohedoro has a lot of extremely strong women to surround himself with, but Noi may be the strongest of them all. An elite magic user in the underworld known as The Hole, Noi’s easygoing attitude contrasts with her murky environment and role as an assassin. Bold and confident, she uses brute strength first and asks questions later, making her a consistently funny character on screen.
In the English dub, Cherami Leigh humorously lowers her voice to perfectly portray Noi’s brutal personality. Noi is not only extremely funny but also part of an underrated anime series.
8 Milly Thompson (Trigun)
Trigun’s Milly has the best of both worlds. Not only is she an enthusiastic employee of the Bernardelli Insurance Company, but she is also surprisingly calm in all situations when compared to her partner, Meryl. Similar to Noi in Dorohedoro, Milly has a lovely cold appearance but is extremely charming and funny.
Due to her memory abilities, fans were understandably disappointed when Milly went missing in Trigun Stampede when it was released in January 2023.
As a martial artist, master alchemist, and mentor to the Elric brothers, Izumi Curtis has an admirable track record. Though she’s ridiculous at first, Izumi is one of the funniest characters in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Many of her jokes revolve around her toughness and how it contrasts with her housewife nature.
Izumi also has some of the best comedy scenes in the series; when she gets angry, her whole face darkens and her eyes turn red. Fans of the series will forever remember when she threw Greed against the wall with one hand and delivered the iconic line, “What do you ask me? A housewife!”
6 Kokomi Teruhashi – The Calamity of Saiki K
Teruhashi is a lesson in dramatic irony. She was considered pretty by everyone at PK Academy and she knew it too. Unfortunately, she falls in love with Kusuo Saiki, whose mind-reading ability tells him how conceited she is about her appearance, ruining any chance of him reciprocating her feelings.
Even so, audiences can laugh heartily at her expense, knowing how ineffective it would be between these two. Romance aside, Teruhashi’s bubbly personality provides an interesting contrast to Saiki’s blunt commentary.
5 Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima – Fruit basket
The two best friends of protagonist Tohru Honda, Uo and Hana in Fruits Basket share some of the funniest moments in shoujo anime. Uo, a reformed gangster, and Hana, a certified strange girl with the ability to create psychic waves create an interesting contrast with the polite and kind Tohru.
Eccentric personality and all that, both are absolutely loyal to Tohru and always check to see if she’s okay. They provide a light dose of humor throughout the series, most notably when they play up with Kyo Sohma.
4 Nanami Kiryuu (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Nanami is part of a complex group of student council members and is one of the funniest characters in the Utena Revolutionary Girl world. She has an unhealthy obsession with her brother, Touga, and doesn’t mind playing dirty to keep an eye on her.
While her actions and motives are merciless, she’s an incredibly humorous part of this surreal series. The entire episode is devoted to Nanami receiving a magical bell, which starts making her act more and more like a cow. Nanami also has one of the most memorable smiles in the anime – an “ohoho” sound worthy of an evil villain.
3 Haruhi Fujioka – Ouran High School Owner Club
Not only is Haruhi one of the most iconic gender-nonconforming characters in anime, but her stiff sense of humor is also hilarious. As a lone poor student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, Haruhi is fish out of the water, but she doesn’t want to let a group of empty-minded rich people bring her down.
She quickly downplays Tamaki Suoh with her blunt remarks and serves as a great Ordinary for viewers to adapt to the world of the unbelievably rich. Aside from her quick wits and jokes, Haruhi is also an emotionally mature character who always makes her club members dominate.
2 Anya Forger – Spy x Family
As the youngest member of the Forger family and able to read minds, Anya is both funny and likable. Known for her exaggerated facial expressions and pointless thinking, she has quickly established herself as a fan favorite of anime fans over the past year and a half.
Anya has the funniest quotes, from a simple “heh” to blurting out inappropriate statements at inappropriate times. Given her age, it’s understandable that Anya wouldn’t have many filters, and that makes the show even more adorable than it already is.
1 Usagi Tsukino – Sailor Moon
Usagi has captivated audiences since 1992. Described as neither smart, athletic or brave, she makes a unique protagonist for the magical girl series. When she’s not stuffing her face with sweets or arguing with Sailor Mars, she can be found enjoying Tuxedo Mask or playing games at the arcade. She sometimes cries a little, though that is almost always done for comedy. Usagi is very funny, relatable, whether she’s enjoying being petty or complaining that being a cute superhero is hard.
It’s clear that there’s no universal stereotype for funny women in anime. Many of these characters lack the social grace associated with stereotypical femininity, but that only makes audiences love them more. Whether they’re as dumb as Usagi, as smart as Haruhi, as tough as Izumi, or as brazen as Kashima, there’s always plenty of laughter to go on.
