As an avid bookworm myself I definitely appreciate seeing characters who read, who talk about books, and who generally respect stories and it is no surprise that some of my favourite characters ever are bookworms (though there are plenty of book reading characters who are neither here nor there really). Today I’m counting down my top 5 anime bookworms and why I enjoy them so much (though those who have been following the blog for awhile will already know who number one is sure to be).
Please note, there will be spoilers below.
Honourable mention: Sunako from Shiki and Makashima from Psycho Pass. Okay, I seriously want to add Makashima onto the list and I just can’t fit him so here’s a picture anyway.
Number 5: Jibril (No Game No Life)
Jibril loves knowledge. As a member of the Flugel race she craves it and after defeating the King of Imanity in a game she claimed the library as her own. There’s something really special about a character who is powerful enough to have more or less anything and she picks the library and while her reaction to a tablet full of books from a world she didn’t know may have been a bit over the top, you have to appreciate the enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge.
Number 4: Kaneki Ken (Tokyo Ghoul)
While I haven’t much liked much of Tokyo Ghoul since season one, it is undeniable that I quite liked Kaneki’s character way back when. The shy book loving boy who just wanted the pretty girl to notice him and discuss books with him was adorable and the tragedy that befell him suitably heart wrenching. If only they’d continued to evolve his character sensibly from that point I probably would still love Kaneki as a character. Still, any guy who thinks of a bookshop for a date is definitely going to get a spot on my list.
Number 3: Nagato Yuki (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
The only member of the literature club who then is forcibly joined into the SOS brigade, Nagato is very seldom seen without a book. She even passes message to Kyon about meeting by lending him a book (a failed strategy when he at first just forgets to read the book and it isn’t until the second night he gets the message). Still, she’s persistent. It is hard to figure out whether Nagato actually enjoys reading or whether it is just a habit, but she’s one bookworm you do not want to mess with, or apparently try to verse at any kind of computer strategy game.
Number 2: Chito (Girls’ Last Tour)
Chito’s genuine joy and love at finding a book and her genuine horror at Yuu’s callous destruction of a book, is something that really drew me to her character during Girls’ Last Tour’s run. There’s a lot to like about the quieter and more contemplative of the pair, and I definitely think that anyone who wants to save books even at the end of the world deserves to be mentioned on this list with love.
Number 1: Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)
In fairness, I think Maka loves studying more than she actually likes books, and yet she’s a badass character who takes time to read, to learn, and to genuinely bury herself in words. Although, she isn’t above using a book as a weapon of mass destruction should the person near her annoy her enough. Honestly though, Maka and books are more or less inseparable in my mind and they are a part of what made her character so incredibly relatable and memorable to me all those years ago. I love Maka as a character and she well and truly deserves the number one spot on this list.
So I’m dying to know who your favourite anime bookworm is. Be sure to let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I’m one of those Yomiko from Read or Die fan. She was such a messy bookworm, and to top it of all, she was always a bit out of it which made her funny. Plus her powers practically involved cutting people with papers.
Since someone mentioned Edward, wasn’t there a girl character in FMAB who was literally drowning in books? The librarian I think, but I can’t remember her name anymore.
Oh yeah, the girl who could memorise anything she read and wrote out a whole thing from memory. No idea what her name was, but I remember her now.
How about Victorique de Blois from Gosick? She LIVES in a library! 🙂
Another character who lives in a library. And yes, she did seem to enjoy reading. Nice choice.
I love so many of these characters.
No Ed Elric though?
Much like Ami from Sailor Moon, Ed like’s to study, but I’m not sure so much that he actually likes books. I’m almost sure he tore a page out of one at some point (though I could be wrong about that). He certainly does read a lot though so I can definitely see him being on some people’s top 5 lists.
Nah, you’re right. He did tear a page off a book at some point. Ok, fair enough then. 😁
I can’t even take people who dog-ear book pages. Is it that hard to use a bookmark/tissue/receipt/literally anything that won’t damage the book?
Ami was the first one I thought of, but it’s hard to top Jibril in love for books.
Jibril is kind of dangerously obsessed really. Have to love that about her.
Whenever I read these I’m like “I really don’t know any of these” and realise how much more is out there I should see. The only show I’ve seen is Yuki from Haruihi who is a great choice!
It just struck me, do you have a whole giant list of top ten ideas or do you just think of them from the top of your head?
I have a fairly big list of potential topics but when I go to write a list I tend to just go with something that I’ve recently been thinking about. It’s only when I’m stumped and need to get a post written that I go back and look at the list.
That said, I’m often wondering if I’ve repeated a topic without realising.
Haha that would be pretty funny. That’s interesting that you think about that, I guess it’s a lot easier when you’re used to thinking about and writing top fives!
And Ritsu from Kawai Complex was a serious reader. And Lucy from Servant x Service is depicted enjoying a good book each evening after work. These are serious readers, as much as Nagato Yuki. Oh, and the original and Paper Sisters from Read Or Die. All of them were SERIOUS readers. Home full of books. They even have a name for bookalanches.
There is only one choice for the best anime bookworm: Yomiko Readman from the Read Or Die series.
Seriously, she’s WAAAAAAAAAY too obsessed about books for her own good. Yomiko name-drops so many literary references, cuddles her books like they were small pets, and even loses track of things because she’s reading. There are even times where she treats those things better than humans. It’s a miracle that she’s an adept secret agent with the ability to control and weaponize paper at will despite her hardcore passion about books. Shoot, even her name is a reading pun because of her last name (obviously), and Yomiko’s first name is a reference to the word “Yomu” which means “[to] read” in Japanese. So her name means Read Readman if you think about it.
That’s pretty book obsessed. Though you have to wonder how her parents knew to give her that name.
Oh yeah. I can literally think of no other character anime or otherwise who is way too deep into literature. Her apartment is super messy with all these random books lying around taking up so much space. I’ve also wondered about that when it came to Yomiko’s parents naming her. Even some other characters in the series are intense bibliophiles like Maggie and Michelle from ROD: The TV. Both are really into books, but even they pale in comparison to Yomiko “Agent Paper” Readman.
Great picks, for whatever reasons, some of these didn’t even cross my mind lol. I think the biggest surprise for me was Maka but definitely no complaints.
Maka’s love of books is just one of my many reasons I love her.
She is a pretty great character! 🙂
Great idea! I love Chito, shes too cute
Chito and Yuki are awesome choices!
As for my own favorite, that can only be the one and only Yomiko Readman, from Read or Die, the bookwormiest bookworm who ever booked a starring anime role. My gal’s such a fanatic that her personal collection literally takes up an apartment building. And I mean the entire building (she lives in the small shack on the roof).
Also shouts to my boy Kakei from A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd, since I’m in the middle of re-watching that series right now.
Thanks for sharing your choices. I know I’ve watched a Good Librarian is Like a Good Shepherd but I can’t really remember much about it so I don’t actually remember the character that well.
Ami Mizuno & Yuki Nagato
I was thinking about Ami but in the end I decided she liked studying more than books in that I remember her working a lot and carrying school books but I don’t actively remember her just reading a book or having a book just with her (other than her school ones). She was definitely someone I considered for this list though.
What a cool choice for a top 5 list. I love reading too, and these days I just wish I had more time for it (which is another reason that I am looking forward to September where I finally will have 3 weeks off work and hopefully be able to catch up with quite a number of things)
Kaneki is a great choice (seriously why have I still not written a review for season 1 of Tokyo Ghoul…ugh), and you are right for naming his story tragic. It’s nice seeing you name Makashima too, as he was the one that springs to mind immediately in my brain when I think of this. Great post, really enjoyed this one 😀😀
Glad you liked it. There are some other great book reading characters out there but these are the ones I immediately thought of when I think of characters who liked books.