12 Days of Waifus – Day 10: Makise Kurisu (Steins;Gate)

Makise Kurisu, the other half of the maid scientists duo. She immediately caught my attention the first time I watched the anime. Her tsundere-ism definitely has something to do with it, but there’s also the fact that she’s just a wonderfully written character.

Despite being at the young age of 18, Kurisu had accomplished many things which is something envied by her peers. As a result, she built a strong front to hide her weaknesses-always calm and composed with a stern expression. One thing I like about Kurisu is that her tsundere characterization doesn’t feel forceful, but completely natural. She doesn’t always use reused and trope-y lines stereotypical tsundere used, but even if she does, it feels natural and flows along with the conversation.

Okabe: “Meido Christina! HNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG”

Speaking of conversation, I had always enjoy a great deal out of her banters with main character and fellow mad scientist, ~~Hououin Kyouma~~ Okabe Rintarou. These two characters had so much chemistry on screen it’s just damn fun to watch them, but one reason why was mainly because they also serve as good foils. Personally speaking, to develop good foils, one need to have both similarities and differences at the same time, the former to relate them, and the latter obviously for foils-and both Okabe and Kurisu have exactly that same magic in their interactions. This is also the reason why I think their romance relationship feels so genuine and canon, even if there are actually other routes in the visual novel. Even their romantic progression is just so seamless despite all the sci-fi time traveling chaos on the forefront.

Note: Spoilers in the following paragraph.

Another noteworthy mention, Kurisu had proved that she’s an extremely good listener. If you watched the anime/visual novel, did you remember the segment where Okabe began time leaping numerously in an attempt to save Mayuri? After seeing the same scenes of Mayuri dying in front of his eyes over and over again, the guy broke down, but Kurisu was the one who helped him enormously during this period. She listened to Okabe’s experiences in the time loops, and after a new leap, the things he shared with Kurisu increased, again and again. Try to put yourself in the listener’s shoes, any normal people would had regarded it as pure nonsense and would think of him as delusional, just like delusional he usually is; but Kurisu took it all in, treated him seriously, and advised him on what he should do-on every single world lines too. The amount of experiences Okabe needed to discuss with Kurisu increased every time leap but Kurisu made no effort to shun him away and listened earnestly every time. I don’t know, but to me, that have to require an insanely good listener just to pull it off.

While the beginning episodes show just how fun and quirky Kurisu is, this is also the part where you can notice how caring Kurisu can be. She felt genuine concern for Okabe after hearing what happened to him the first time. If you remember, she was also the first one to notice Okabe’s distress.

Additionally, god bless Asami Imai. She’s really shaping up to be one of my favorite seiyuu. Admittedly I didn’t check out her other works much, but she’s exceptional with her works on tsundere characters without sounding too high-pitched/squeaky, something which I would assume a lot of people actually prefer. There’s just a certain control, style and grace in the way she voiced tsundere characters which can’t be found in other peers voicing similar types of characters-and her voice fits Kurisu like two peas in a pod. Asami Imai doing the voice acting for Kurisu is one of the best choices the anime industry has ever made; like Okabe always says “This is the choice of Steins;Gate”.

Like a boss

It’s hard not to like Kurisu. She’s a tsundere, but ultimately, she is just a well-written character at the same time. She’s caring beneath the facade, and is also a great ally to have in times of crisis (extra helpful if it’s a time-travel crisis) due to how good of a listener she is; relates to your problems and gives out a lot of helpful advice. No Organization, not even SERN can change my opinion, Kurisu is a certified Best Girl.

El Psy Congroo.