Alright we know there’s a terrible stereotype that otome game heroines are emotionless flat doormats with no eyes or any sensible decision making capabilities. So here I am to bring you 10 ladies who I think deserve mention for breaking this stereotype and generally being an awesome character that makes the game a lot more enjoyable to play.
10. Nozomi from WataJu
Aside from all the guys being adorable tsunderes/sweetshearts/kuuderes the HEROINE IS SO FAWKIN HILARIOUS. ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ ＼ / ＼/ ＼ Seriously if you are reading this blog, you are probably likely to be an otome gamer and SHE IS SO RELATEABLE xDD Seriously half the time I’m sitting there going “wow are you me?”
It’s amazing the character growth both she and others go through in this game and well I just can’t stop gushing about how much I enjoyed this FREE DOUJIN GAME.
Not an official release but Nozomi was such a funny heroine and this being a free game, I highly recommened EVERY ONE OF YOU play it. She’s an otome gamer and a lot of stuff that she’s into can totally be related to. She’s also got spunk and an ikebo otoutokun so overall I enjoyed the game a lot, and it’s what got me hooked on Tetrascope’s games.
9. Tiana from Beastmaster & Prince
Tiana wants to be a pro beast-master like her mother but her mom and dad are always out somewhere so she sadly has to spend most of her time living and training on her own.
Hard to quote stuff here without spoiling but Tiana basically kicks ass throughout the game, defeating all sorts of beasts, dragons and taming some hot princes if you know what I mean. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Needless to say she was a refreshing heroine that I stumbled on at the time when most other ones made me wanna flip my desk.
8. Little from Princess Nightmare
While Inukai was loud and obnoxious at first, after a while he became like a good puppy dog and completely was under Little’s will😆 He bitches about how he only likes nice girls with big boobs but in the end he falls for Little anyway. At first Little uses him as her little blood bank, asking to suck his blood when she feels weak and of course he agrees
Unlike most games where the guys are the vampires going after the heroine, this time our heroine is the vampire going after the guys! And she gets all of them to donate blood to her because they just can’t resist! 😂 She even got the prince of the underworld begging for her to suck him LMAO. Gurl got game.
7. Nadeshiko from Clock Zero
The positives was that Nadeshiko was a pretty strong willed and awesome heroine. Rather than crying for prince charming to save her or being quite and reserved when he rejected her – she’d be like NO YOU’RE MINE BEECH ( ಠ益ಠ ). One particular thing I caught the 2nd time around is how she said everything so bluntly, she would make her fellow classmates cry. Riichiro said that she’s got a sharp mouth and that’s why a lot of people are afraid to get close to her which was one of her downfalls mentioned by Kaga-sensei. Nadeshiko guurl, you and me both sistah www.
I love Nadeshiko so much. She didn’t really physically fight/kick ass that much, but her sharp tongue was amazing. Even when she was stuck in that shithole with Tora & his rebel group, she still kept her ojousama attitude like she don’t give no fucks.
6. Aika from Re:Vice[D]
Grumbling aside though, AIKA IS SUCH A GREAT HEROINE. Seriously if I didn’t know any better I’d never believe this is Otomate’s average heroine. She is seriously badass, and extremely hilarious in many routes.
Aika is a demon lady trying to find her next demon lord so she’s not too used to the human world..and her reactions to various things are just hilarious. It’s a shame this game kinda got swept under the rug because it was one of the first new Otomate Vita releases but I highly recommend the game if just for her.
5. Futaba from Trigger Kiss
Let’s talk about Futaba though. FUTABA IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST HEROINE OF 2014. I probably sound like a broken record after Re;ViceD and Binary Star but oh my god I just LOVE Futaba lmao. Seriously half the time the “expressions” and “reactions” that I’d pick would be the ones that raise affection. IN OTHER WORDS ALL THE GUYS WERE TOTALLY DO-M TO HER BULLYING. BEST GAME EVER xDDDDDDDD!!!!!!! Okay well she’s not a bully but she doesn’t take their BS and totally calls them out on it. Because of this I laughed so much my neighbor probably thinks I’m insane ((((((((((ﾉ∀`)･ﾟ･｡ ｱﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬ.
I am so sad that Trigger Kiss never got a fandisk because the interactions between Futaba & the guys in the game is just COMEDY GOLD. I’d be sitting there half the time being like ARE YOU ME ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME SELF INSERT CAUSE WE HAVE THE SAME REACTION. Still hoping some day Otomate will give us an FD…(´；ω；｀)ﾌﾞﾜｯ
4. Aileen from Arabians Lost
Being a doctor he always nags Aileen about her health so at the oasis he tells her to drink water. Aileen tells him that she’ll only do it if he “feeds her mouth to mouth” as she grabs and kisses him. HELL YEA I like my heroines proactive (｀ゝω･)vｨｪｨ. Afterwards shes like “I only do this with you….is that what you wanted me to say huhu” XDDDD
Aileen’s like an anti-heroine because everyone in this game is “the bad guy” ruling the chaos city of Gil Katar. However, Aileen don’t wanna be no evil city queen, she wants to be a merchant and go on adventures and she don’t need no man to do it! In fact this game actually has endings where Aileen dumps the dude you’re going after because she’s overpowered (from murdering tons of cave elves) and has a shit ton of money. Probably Curtis Nile is the only one who can tame her, and even in a quote from Crimson Empire, Sheila comments that Curtis wouldn’t be able to settle down on a regular woman…so Aileen is perfect for him. 😂 Also she has that same snarky attitude that heroines like Futaba or Aika have which made her so charming to me.
3. Aspacia from Desert Kingdom
Aspasia is such a hilarious heroine that my screenshot folder is out of control after finishing the game. I’ve never seen a heroine who punches and kicks the character OUT OF HER DISPLAY PICTURE BOX xDDD.
Continuing with the wild arabian heroine, we have Aspacia from Desert Kingdom. I think if we had a competition on who the snarkiest of them all is, it’s definitely Aspacia. And yes she would literally have a “foot” that would come out of her display picture in the corner to actually KICK the guy who would annoy her. 😂😂😂😂 I hope to god that they consider porting this game to Vita and add new scenario/omake/anything. I have the limited edition PSP box and I would still shell out money for a Vita port, that’s how much I loved this game.
2. Lulu from Wand of Fortune
I think the best thing for me was LULU. Like wow she should be Otomate’s model character, why can’t all of their heroines be like her? I actually even like her more than some Quin Rose heroines because she’s a lot more positive while QR’s tend to be pretty negative most of the time
Lulu is like a really kick ass proactive heroine but she’s also super positive and finds the best in all people. She managed to tame the beast known as Alvaro and the turbo-kuudere Est so she gets major props for that. Also despite having 0 magic property she ends up being an ass kicking wizard by the end of the game. The only downfall is the grueling system in both WOF 1 and 2 though it seems like Otomate’s eased up on the pain in the Vita ports.
1. Cardia from Code Realize
Leaving Cardia’s name default has the guys call her by her name which is extremely appropriate because she is a GREAT heroine. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her go from a lifeless doll like state, to a girl full of emotion falling in love. I’ve also watched her go from a scared state of just sitting back and taking abuse, to being able to escape all the predicaments that she got into. Locked in a room? I’m a pick it out. Some psycho tries to grab me hostage? I punch his lights out and escape. HELL YEA CARDIA. All those times you sit there in other games going like “I wish the heroine would just at least ATTEMPT to do something”…that NEVER HAPPENED IN THIS GAME.
While Cardia may not have the sarcasm or humor that Futaba or Aspacia do, she has BALLZ OF STEEL. Seriously if you ever sat there wishing “why can’t this heroine just do X”….Cardia would do it. She rescued HER MANS and she didn’t just sit back and wait for her prince on a white horse. She took action, there was shit hitting the fan and she was hitting it back like a baus. It’s probably too much to ask for ALL otome heroines to be like Cardia, but I still hope that the trend of heroines like her will catch on.
There’s actually quite a few heroines I liked that didn’t make the list like the heroines of Binary Star and SYK. I also was amused at the rabid yaoi fangirl in Double Reaction Plus. The heroine of Oumagatoki I liked when she was snarky but she would often cockblock herself and ruin romantic moments with the snarkyness so she didn’t make the cut. A lot of QR heroines tend to be negative, so while I recall at first I liked Alice, after a while her constant negativity (and Peter abuse) kinda got on my nerves. Takuyo generally has decent heroines as well but they couldn’t beat out the ones on my list (that or my memory is fading I guess lol.) The heroine of Real Rode was pretty good as well, though she had to break up with her boyfriend like 8 times in the game (；・∀・). The heroines have definitely improved and usually the “bad” ones you now find mostly in the mobile game market while the console ones have tended to become a bit better nowadays.
Bread Master Lee 
I’m super glad Cardia made number one on this list. I’m also super glad Code Realize got an English release so I could fully appreciate her wonderfulness (my Japanese is still rather lacking). MY KICKASS DAUGHTER.
I’m probably not gonna go back to update these lists but they’d definitely be on it had I played the games before making it!
Y’know i just scrolled down to see if Cardia was here. The best heroine EVER. I would DIE to see guys from C:R hitting on Cardia.
She was pretty, smart, awsome and i love her ❤
Hinano, will Hinako from Kenka Bancho Otome and Yurika from Taisho Alice be in your list?
Since these 2 are quite amusing especially Yurika who are quite agressive or are said to be like a carnivore in some other review xD
Just started on it today so looking forward to it!
I have the feeling that you will love Taisho Alice’s heroine too
YAAASS CARDIA IS LIFE.
She is literally my fave MC in the otome universe
Those heroines got me like OMG!!! (tho i haven’t played all of those games). But… my top 1 would be Arisu Yurika in TaiAri.
I was probably so in love with Lupin that I didn’t care xDD But anyway I really hope you consider Desert Kingdom, it’s such a great game
I have Desert Kingdom Portable sitting in my shelf waiting for the days I get around to play it. The others I haven’t played, except for Code: Realize. I agree that Cardia really kicks ass and is awesome, but she really loses some of the awesomeness in Lupin’s route when she at times just seem to do absolutely nothing, waiting for someone to save her. She still kicks more butt than the average otoge heroine then, but in comparison to the other route, she’s kind of tame in Lupin’s route, lol.
Felicita was pretty good but I think she also varies depending whose route she’s on so I didn’t put her in. (I loved her in Nova’s and Ash’s routes though xD)
Most relatable post EVER. I rank Kayo from KgK as my #1 followed by Cardia. Tbh Felicita was pretty good too. She kicked ass but didn’t really stand out. But yessss, Futaba was the best in 2014!!!!! Couldn’t agree more Hinano!!
omg Desert Kingdom is soooo worth it though. I feel you on the screen thing, I’m pretty much playing on the vita tv every time I am home now!
yea she was okay just didn’t really stand out to me as much as the sub chara Satsuki in that game lol
not really since each “beast” is a prince that you go after in his route and there’s only like 5 of them
I still need to play Desert Kingdom but I’ve gotten so used to Vita screen and my PSTV it’s hard to get back on the PSP train 😦
OMG YAS I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!!!!! I also think Kyouko from GHP to ❤
😍Mostly 10 games than i should get ,also if i understand Beast Master is Pokemon?
hah people always ask me about what happened to my recommendation list but I guess in a way this is a better way to do it (though in time this will also be outdated)
Fun heroines who kick ass are great better than doormats atleast
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KgK was overall pretty tame compared to most of rejets stuff, except Sakyou route.
If you ever get rid of the backlog+tired of otomate’s short games you could try it.
Even if you didn’t intend it to be that way, this is the buyer’s guide I need.
a rejet game without oniichan!? lmao.
I actually also thought Tiny was pretty good from TxM but I think ultimately my list ended up being “which heroines were great but also made me laugh endlessly” XD
That makes sense for norn9.
And lol that’s a better way to do that then! 🙂
yea I loved the norn9 heroines but since there’s 3 of them for 1 game I figured it wouldn’t really be a fair trade…so I went with games where there’s only 1 heroine I guess. And Mikoto was totally my fav from norn 9 🙂 she and Natsuhiko are my OTP XD
top 10 guys from otome games is so hard. I mean I can come up with 10 just from 1 single year’s worth. I don’t think I could ever narrow it down to just 10 so I usually stick to that list at the end of my anniversary posts xD
A lot of great picks, especially Aspasia, Lulu, Futaba and Cardia.
Shame you never played Ken ga Kimi yet, Kayo is pretty great for a rejet heroine its pretty dfferent from most of their recent titles no onii-chan too.
HIGHLY agreed with this list. Esp Cardia. Girl made me soooo freaking happy. If she hadn’t been the way she was, I don’t think I’d love the game as much as I did. She kicks ass. I also would mention Mikoto from Norn9 specifically just for Natsuhiko’s route. She took initiative and the first time she wakes up in his ship, she knows he’s attractive but she doesn’t turn into some damsel. She fights back and I was so happy. Zakuro from SC was another fav of mine for her non irritating negativity.
Maybe you should make a post on your top 10 otome game love interests? It’s a tough list but I’m sure you could try it out:)
yea she was pretty good too 😀
I like GHP’s heroine lol
yea I didn’t have the kick screenshot on me but the punch one is just as good XD
and yep Cardia is my #1. I’ve yet to run into any heroine that can surpass her
While I don’t know some of these heroines, I was hoping to see Cardia in there somewhere because she really is amazing. It was really nice to see her at #1 because I feel she’s very deserving of that spot with all of the development she goes through.
That one screenshot of the punch is hilarious, though, and tons of points to the heroine there for doing it. XD
yea it’s a lot of fun seeing the reactions between the heroine & the guys when she has a personality rather than when she just absorbs everything they say like a lifeless sponge
I’ve been looking forward to this list. I think Cardia may be my #1 heroine as well. A few of the series you listed are still on my backlog, so I’ll be even more excited to check them out now. Having a good heroine really does make a world of difference in how enjoyable a game is.
Yea definitely play WOF and CZ! They are like Otomate staple classics 😀
I love Aspacia a lot honestly she was probably my #1 until I ran into Lulu & Cardia.
hm wordpress probably weird with any > symbols or something. Yea Trigger Kiss got lower reviews cause people complained there wasn’t enough romance…but I felt like the comedy made up for that ;_;
Yea I just love Tetrascope’s games. Their other game heroines are really great too and I’m patiently waiting for their upcoming R-18 title. They are probably the only company whose R-18 I will play lol
I put Cardia as number one because I guess how much ass she really kicked and how much of a huge growth she had throughout the game.
I thought about it but I mean I like Nanami and Mikoto and since they kinda “share” the game I wanted to instead just use heroines who I guess dominate the “whole” game? KamiKimi heroine I think was good too but it’s been such a long time since I played that I can’t remember much about her
Nozomi’s only in 10 because I remembered her last minute and wasn’t sure if I should put in a doujin game heroine but I put her in anyway lol.
For Hana, yea she was pretty good but I also played SR like 7 years ago so I honestly can’t remember much about the game or about Hana…I guess she didn’t stand out enough for me to add her to the list. Not to say she’s bad, but there’s a lot of heroines who are “good” like her (like SYK/Binary Star ladies) but the really funny heroines are the ones that usually stuck out to me.
Hello Hinano, thank you so much for this new Top 10✨!
I really like these posts because we learn more about what you love.
I must admit that I thought I will don’t know most of the heroines but it wasn’t the case!
According to my tastes, Aspacia is my number one; but it’s because she was my very first badass heroine, she marked me so greatly she’s special. I really love the heroine from Juuza Engi too.
So much « Yeah 🌟! » for Futaba and Aika! I still need to finish these games but for the little that I played, they were already awesome!
I feel you so much about Cardia, we see a heroine blossoming throughout the game and it’s really beautiful. It’s such a positive message for everyone: despite your past, you’re strong, you can go ahead, change everything & be loved for who you are 💞 (at least, I interpret it like this).
Oh, and you’ve piqued my curiosity with Nadeshiko and Lulu, I consider to buy the ports.
And I submitted with only half the things I meant to say:
Thinking again, a lot of this looks pretty close to your yearly recommendations that I used to jump into commercial otome games. That said, I hope the PSP titles get ports so that I can throw more money towards kickass heroines. Meanwhile, I join you in your sadness that Trigger Kiss has no fandisk. It may have been comedy shonen sports story with a snarky heroine but that’s what made it so great!
I hold Nozomi near and dear to me because her character development was outstanding, painful and relatable and written so effectively by Tetrascope. Her otome gamer mode is hella delicious icing though.
I found out I easily play otome games for the heroines so like this list as a starting point. I’m gonna get Beastmaster on iOS once I charge my account and I got Clock Zero on Vita, but I got too many games already so I made myself hold off on WoF. …aaand I’m relying on your review of it no matter how long you need to wade through your backlog… (重っ)
0_0 The fact that a fist came out of a portrait photo to kick some guy’s ass has me intrigued and makes Aspacia awesome in my book. Though, Futuba straight up asking about porn magazines makes her just as awesome. However, I knew Cardia would be on here. Just didn’t know she’d be number one.
the fact no Norn9 heroines were mentioned kinda makes me want to cry but i can relate with most of your selections lol お疲れ様~
oh also the Kaminaru Kimi to heroine was awesome wasn’t she? XD
Aspacia at no. 3 omg lololol. Nozomi is the first heroine that came to my mind when I read the title. I’m surprised she’s on lower rank and no Sangoku Rensenki’s Hana on this list. She works so hard for her idealism, peace over the warring states, quite a big dream deemed impossible at times and she succeeds! That Normal end of Sangoku Rensenki was very memorable to me…