2016 was over, so who won your heart in 2016?

2016 has been wrought with plenty of mishaps, but it also brought plenty of great anime, as well as some unforgettable and excellent characters. It's what made deciding best characters especially difficult, and we could still sense our own hesitation.

Here is our list of Top 20 Best Anime Characters of 2016.

20. Hifumi Takimoto (New Game!)

One of the members of the game production company's character design team. Hifumi Takimoto is especially shy to the point of avoiding talking to people or looking at them directly.

So as not to make her feel uncomfortable the other employees interact with her through the company's computer messenger system. When Hifumi's communicating this way she is very lively and outgoing.

19. Yuri Plisetsky (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Yuri Plisetsky has long blonde hair that covers one side of his face and blue-green eyes. He is shorter than average and has a thin frame; because of his appearance, he is nicknamed the Russian Fairy.

Yuri has incredible talent and is described by many to be a rising star in the figure skating world. Despite his age, he was able to surpass many older skaters to bag the gold medal at the Rostelecom Cup and the Senior Grand Prix Final.

18. Shinsuke Takasugi (Gintama) 

Shinsuke Takasugi is the leader of the Kiheitai, a Joui extremist faction and a wanted fugitive. He was one of the main recurring antagonists in Gintama.

Takasugi has short, black hair with dark-purple highlights, often appearing pure dark purple in some shots. His left eye is bandaged as it was caused by Oboro during Joui war and after Shouyou's death.

17. Josuke Higashikata (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable)

Josuke is a tall, handsome young man of average build. The feature most important to him is his well-maintained pompadour, styled after that of an unknown man who saved his life as a child.

His pompadour has a tendency to become spiky with his mood, such as when he is irritated or angry.

16. Kashuu Kiyomitsu (Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru)

Perhaps because Kashuu Kiyomitsu was born in an impoverished environment, he believes that as long as he keeps himself pretty he will be loved by his owner.

Seemingly the polar opposite of Yamatonokami Yasusada with whom he quarrels all the time, they are good friends in reality.

15. Takashi Natsume (Natsume's Book of Friends)

Takashi Natsume is the main protagonist of the series who, like his deceased grandmother Natsume Reiko, has the ability to see ayakashi (spirits). He inherited the Book of Friends from her, a book of contracts binding ayakashi to servitude when they were defeated by Reiko.

Due to Natsume's strong resemblance to his grandmother, he is often mistaken for her.

14. Chitose "Chi-chan" Karasuma (Girlish Number)

Chitose "Chi-chan" Karasuma is a college student and aspiring voice actress whose agency is Number One Produce. She is the voice of Yuna, one of the five main heroines in the upcoming anime series Millennium Princess x Kowloon Overlord. She initially thinks that she has talent for voice acting but just did not get enough chances.

13. Sakunosuke Oda (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Sakunosuke Oda died from a battle to the death against The Mimic leader, Gide. Gide was seeking for someone to end his life, and saw that Oda Sakunosuke as the one who should do it, as they shared the same power.

Oda's death is what encouraged Dazai to leave Port Mafia, and joined the Armed Detective Agency.

12. Yuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! On Ice)

A figure skater who is faint-hearted and gains weight easily. He's the "figure skater with the world's biggest glass heart." His favorite dish is a 900kcal breaded pork cutlet bowl. His greatest skating assets are his peculiar sense of rhythm and unique step.

However, he is weak to pressure and messes up at crucial moments. He's at a crucial point in his career, and he bets everything on one last skating season.

11. Saiki Kusuo (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)

To the average person, psychic abilities might seem a blessing; for Kusuo Saiki, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Gifted with a wide assortment of supernatural abilities ranging from telepathy to x-ray vision, he finds this so-called blessing to be nothing but a curse.

As all the inconveniences his powers cause constantly pile up, all Kusuo aims for is an ordinary, hassle-free life - a life where ignorance is bliss.

10. Mikazuki Augus (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans)

Mikazuki is a calm and collected individual with a head for the big picture. He has an easygoing personality and is devoted to his comrades. He is cold-blooded to his enemies, fighting them, particularly Gjallarhorn, without any sense of honor.

He is deeply loyal to his friend Orga Itsuka, and steadfastly follows any order or request without question.

9. Emilia (Re:Zero)

Emilia is a beautiful Half Elf with long silver hair and purple blue eyes. She wears a white and purple outfit along with a white flower in her hair.

And Emilia is good natured and likes to take care of others, though she herself refuses to admit it, instead thinking of it as her own selfishness.

8. Kei Tsukishima (Haikyuu!!)

Kei Tsukishima is a first year at Karasuno High School; he is a middle blocker in the Karasuno High Volleyball Club and is the younger brother of Akiteru Tsukishima.

Tsukishima is very blunt and has a habit of riling people up. He dislikes "hot-blooded people" and doesn't like to exert too much effort due to the past experiences of his older brother.

7. Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)

Sakata Gintoki is the main protagonist of the Gintama series. He is the founder and president of the Yorozuya Gin-Chan, as well as a highly skilled samurai, having fought in the Joui War in the past.

During the war, he became known as the Shiroyasha (White Demon in English Translation) due to his powerful swordplay and demonic white appearance.

6. Aoba Suzukaze (New Game!)

A recent high school graduate who joins the game company which produced her favourite game as a rookie artist. In spite of being an adult Aoba Suzukaze has a childish appearance which often leads to her being mistaken for a middle school student.

5. Chuuya Nakahara (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Chuya Nakahara is a member of the Port Mafia as well as Dazai's former partner. He is one of the five Executives in the Port Mafia.

And he is hot-headed and quick to act on his temper, but can analyze situations well enough given that he calms down and with enough time.

4. Victor Nikiforov (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Victor is a Russian figure skater whom is recognized as a "living legend." The best of the best, he is a five-peat champion of the World Championship.

Having a charismatic personality, his motto is to surprise people, and he is a skating pioneer who keeps rewriting the history every season. In a move that shocks the skating world, Victor decides to drop out of competitive skating to become Yuri's coach.

3. Megumin (KonoSuba)

An arch wizard who is descended from crimson demons; powerful humanoids who possess black hair and red eyes, and sport chunibyo characteristics.

Megumin only knows a single spell, an incredibly powerful Explosion spell that immediately incapacitates her for the rest of the day when cast, and refuses to learn any other skills.

2. Osamu Dazai (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Osamu Dazai is a member of the Armed Detective Company and was a former Executive of the city's worst underworld organization, the Port Mafia.

He is a mysterious person, his true intentions are never revealed unless he himself reveals them.

1. Rem (Re:Zero)

Rem is one of the twin maids working for Roswaal L Mathers. She tends to speak in a superficially polite manner and sometimes acts without thinking.

She holds both worshipping respect and guilt toward her sister for an incident in the past; because of this, Rem tends to think of herself as inferior.