Kara Dennison
March 14, 2024 
Whether through anime, TV dramas, or scary games, you’ve probably heard of White Day at this point. If not, you’re about to learn! The holiday began in Japan in 1977 under the name “Marshmallow Day.” Invented by a Fukuoka-based confectioner, it was meant to be a day when men reciprocated for any Valentine’s Day chocolate they received a month prior. A year later, it became known by its more modern name.
While romantic gift-giving is a lot less gender-specific these days, White Day as a holiday still exists to some degree. And this year, we’re celebrating anime girls who absolutely deserve a bit of reciprocation for their love. Who else do you think deserves a special nod today?
Kaori Makimura
Classic anime and manga City Hunter follows the duo of Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura as they sweep scum off the streets of Shinjuku. Though, more accurately, Ryo is doing the sweeping and Kaori is sweeping up his messes. While Ryo may be a force to be reckoned with, he also can’t control himself when it comes to beautiful women. And that’s why Kaori gets our first White Day nod—in spite of everything, she’s devoted to Ryo in more ways than one.
As the series progresses, we see her love for him… and also her frustration when his eyes wander. But look closely, and you’ll see that he feels the same. He’s just really, really bad about showing it unless they’re both about to die.
Mikoto Utsugi
The heroine of GaoGaiGar: The King of Braves deserves a White Day gift basket for all she’s been through. Her high school sweetheart Guy all but died in a space shuttle explosion. Now, as a cyborg, he fights the alien beings known as Zonder with the help of a battalion of giant robots. He’s wielding attacks that could potentially kill him… and it’s Mikoto’s job back at the base to provide clearance for those deadly attacks.
Granted, Guy’s not oblivious to Mikoto’s feelings. (In fact, he keeps a locket with her photo in it close to his cyborg heart.) But when you’re both spending every day locked in combat, it’s hard to find time to sit down and sort out your romantic situation.
Rei Saiga
Our last White Day shout-out goes to Rei Saiga, whose primary hang-up is that she’s so gosh-darn shy. In the world of Shangri-La Frontier, she’s better known as Psyger-0: a super leveled-up armored hero who’s powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with notable PKer Arthur Pencilgon. But the biggest challenge in this god-tier game isn’t any kind of in-game boss… it’s talking to your crush.
It was Rei who (indirectly) got series protagonist Sunraku into the game in the first place, hoping they could party up and get to know each other better. Some progress has been made, but there’s still a ways to go before she can make her feelings known. As the season comes to a close, we’re rooting for her!
Now that we’ve paid tribute to some of our favorite anime girls, meet some guys who deserve a break.
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