My Favorite Tsundere: Mikoto Misaka

10:00 AM on 12.04.2009   |   Jon Snyder

When it comes to girls, I can be a bit picky. Like any other healthy human male in his prime, I tend to judge potential romantic interests based on their appearance. However, that's only part of the equation; in order for me to to truly fall for a girl, she has to have the right personality as well. Relaxed, cheerful, self-assured, empathic, and a strong sense of justice; those are all qualities I find highly desirable. Add tsundere to the mix, and you might as well shoot an arrow through my heart right on the spot.

Mikoto Misaka of A Certain Scientific Railgun has all these qualities, and is totally badass to boot. That's why she is my favorite tsundere.

Find out more after the jump. (Warning: minor spoilers)

At first glance, Mikoto is just a typical high school girl (with electric superpowers). She laughs with her friends, collects keitai straps, enjoys clothes shopping, and violently kicks vending machines to get free soda. Okay, so maybe not ENTIRELY normal... but after all, she is a tsundere. Anyway, despite being one of the most powerful humans alive, Mikoto is surprisingly down-to-earth, and counts several 'inferior' psychics among her friends. She's a happy, mostly normal teenage girl... that is, until the love interests start to show up.

The first such interest is the young Kuroko, another psychic girl. Kuroko's infatuation with Mikoto is extraordinarily intense, if unreciprocated. Whether it's aphrodisiacs, skimpy lingerie, naked shower boob-grabs or teleporting undergarments, nothing is beneath this lovestruck little minx. Naturally, such antics earn nothing but ire from Mikoto, who responds in a typically tsundere fashion... with violence. In this case, such violence comes in the form of powerful electric shocks. Kuroko finds them quite pleasurable.

The other love interest is a boy named Toma. Mikoto's initial interest in Toma came from his unique power, the ability to completely negate all forms of psychic and magical energy. In Mikoto's eyes, this made him a worthy opponent to do battle with. She attempts to form a rivalry with Toma, but he has no desire to fight her and does not reciprocate. Karma's a bitch, ain't it? In any case, Mikoto eventually railroads Toma into a duel... and is utterly defeated. Naturally, she handles this loss in typical tsundere fashion.

Of course, since defeat means friendship, Mikoto falls in love with Toma (who gives her the nickname Biri Biri). Since she's a tsundere, she usually expresses this love through anger, which does little more than puzzle him. Eventually, it comes to light that pretty much every girl Toma hangs around with falls head over heels for him, and he rejects them ALL. Poor Mikoto never stood a chance. Hey, railgun girl, don't look so sad! I'm sure, before long, you'll find another guy to use as a lightning rod.

Incurring the wrath of a tsundere is never a good idea, and this is doubly true for Mikoto. A typical tsundere fit of rage would result in you being punched, kicked or smacked with a wooden sword. If you piss Mikoto off, though, you're liable to wind up with MILLIONS OF VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY ripping through your body... and if you're particularly lucky, you might even get to experience her famous railgun firsthand. If that ain't love, I don't know what is.