Yume ka Utsutsu ka:

The newest work of Io Sakisaka, genius shoujo manga-ka, is called 'Yume ka Utsutsu ka.'  Unlike her previous work, 'Sakura, Saku,' which suddenly stopped being translated into English, this manga is being faithfully scanlated.  I'd rather get to see the rest of 'Sakura, Saku,' but I'll take what I can get.

Generally speaking I hate the trope of 'girl who's too socially awkward to talk,' when that level of crippling social anxiety is basically nonexistent.  Like, I suppose it would make sense if they were straight out autistic, but autistic people can't be the main characters of stories because they're mentally deficient.  So there's all these fake girls in manga who have crippling social anxiety for no known reason.  Iroha from 'Yume ka' is just another example of this ever-expanding trope, but on the bright side she's pretty and has a very thoughtful inner mind.  When she's thinking to herself about everything that's happening, it's impressive how much she can glean from such subtle signals.

The male lead, Sou, is probably the better character, because he's more original.  Sou had brain cancer which required surgery.  As a result of the surgery, he's lost portions of his feelings and memories, which makes him feel alienated from the rest of humanity.  Iroha depending on him as the only person she can talk to normally is his only real lifeline back to the social aspect of life.  So they both need each other to socialize.  It's certainly a clever set-up, 'star-crossed lovers' due to their deficiencies instead of their strengths.  The tension in the story is we never get to see what Sou is actually thinking (like Iori from I"s).  He's constantly sending mixed signals, being affectionate towards Iroha, but also saying that he's lost the feeling of 'liking' someone due to his surgery.  The fact that he broke up with his girlfriend, who he definitely liked beforehand, proves that he's telling the truth on that front.  The question is, why is he so affectionate towards Iroha if he doesn't like her?  That's basically the central mystery of the story.

Is it possible that Sou likes Iroha without even realizing it?  Is it perhaps the ability to recognize that you like someone, and not the liking part, that was carved out of his brain?  All we can do is guess.

In any case, in order to honor Io's latest work, I have to include at least one character from it into my fictional character hall of fame.  Since I can't understand Sou and if he genuinely likes her while pretending not to he's a jerk, I'll go with the safe bet and honor Iroha.  While I'm at it I'll add Kamome from Summer Pockets and Becky from Spy x Family to my hall of fame -- kicking out Ciel, Ichika and Setzer to make room.

Ciel and Ichika are from Kira Kira Precure, a season I don't even like.  It's purposeless to honor them, like leading viewers down a blind alley.  The same could be said of Hana from Huggto Precure, but Hana's different.  In the two movies she stars in -- Precure F and the Huggto movie, she's totally amazing.  I don't even remember the Kira Kira movie.  Hana does have quality content backing her up, Ichika and Ciel don't.

As for Setzer, he's a minor character from FF6.  His story overlaps a lot with Locke's, and it's hard to recall anything about him other than 'he owns an airship.'  It feels like if I'm going to include characters like Setzer, I should do the same for Faris from FF5, or Edward from FF4.  And then the question is who wouldn't qualify?

Compared to that, Kamome has a moving story of her stoicism and optimism.  The fact that she bravely planned for a happy tomorrow despite facing a terminal illness that left her bedridden most of her life is inspirational.  The fact that she cared so much about the fans of her book that she would plan an event for them is touching.  And she's beautiful to boot.  I'm actually more in love with the real life child Kamome more than the dream-figment that Hairi interacts with on the island.  The child who tried so hard in the midst of despair is a thousand times more impressive.

Speaking of impressive children, Becky is also great.  She isn't class-conscious and is happy to make friends with low-class Anya, while defying high-class Damian.  She's very pro-romance, encouraging Anya's feelings for Damian and seeking to marry Loid herself.  (Any girl who is pro-love in this era is a hero as far as I'm concerned.  These days all girls care about is their careers.)  She's pretty and sharp and well-mannered, all you could ask for.  Spy x Family is a fantastic series, so giving the story more credit like this is never a bad idea.