Yeah, they appeal to me alright.
Maybe it's because they know how to write believable and likable moe characters, but I find that Key girls make me gush in my feminine voice. Even characters from Key products I currently have no familiarity with make me melt. And now, I present, the list of every Insanely Cute girl from a Key product!
(NOTICE: This article has been updated frequently since its initial posting. Some of the following information past the lists represent outdated opinions of mine. Okay, disclaimer over.)
First, the girls I actually know about:
Nayuki Minase.
Ayu Tsukimiya.
Makoto Sawatari.
Hoshino Yumemi AKA Reverie Planetarian.
Nagisa Furukawa.
Kotomi Ichinose.
Sanae Furukawa.
Fuko Ibuki.
Mei Sunohara.
Ushio.
Kudryavka Noumi.
Haruka Saigusa.
And now the Key girls I think are Insanely Cute just from looking at them.
Kotori Kanbe.
Yui from Angel Beats.
Chihaya Ohtori
Keep in mind, this list is not permanent. If I get around to actually playing or watching these series, and if I find myself not liking any of these ladies, expect them to get erased from this list. However, I can't deny the fact that their visual designs are just adorable!
But speaking of interest, I would actually like to watch the anime version of Clannad. It's gotten an insane amount of positive praise from anime fans, and you can buy the first season in a boxset now, complete with English voices. And Tomoyo.
Oh geeze, now there's two Insanely Cute anime girls named Tomoyo. How do I tell the two apart? The CLAMP Tomoyo is the dark-haired one, the Key Tomoyo is the light-haired one. Huh, that's easy to remember, but I'll have to make that distinction from now on if I don't want to print their last names.
But yes, tread lightly whenever you're looking up images from Key products. You never know what may be lying in-
-(sees image of Kudryavka Noumi)
OH NO! NOT KUDRYAVKA!
(insert first 28 seconds of this musical selection)
I don't know who she is, but she's so kee yee yuut! Her hair is just so lovely, and her round face and huge blue eyes just radiate kawaiiness! Aaaauuuuuuuuuu~! I just wanna pick her up and hug her until my arms get sore!
GUMF!
Sorry about that. Remember when I said I had an addiction to kawaiiness? Yeah, I still have that.
EDIT: This was updated on July 29th, 2010 to include Kotomi Ichinose on the list. Why list her? Well, I just got a really good look at her for the first time and . . . and . . .
SHE IS JUST SO CUTE! AAAAAUUUUUUUUU~ CAN I TAKE HER HOME WITH ME!!?!??!? PUH LEEZE!?!?!?!? PRETTY PUH LEEZE!?!?!?!?!
Guh!
How superficial am I? I thought I prided myself on not immediately getting all gooey just from looking at someone! What the hell, me!?
EDIT: This has now been updated on August 15th, 2010, to include Nagisa Furukawa on the "I think she's cute just from looking at her!" list. Why? Because, well, you see . . .
SHE'S JUST SO CUTE IN HER MERE APPEARANCE!
However, here's something else you need to know: I have watched Air. I did not like it. Also, none of its characters are Insanely Cute. Well, I guess that little girl with the red pigtails was Moderately Cute, but no one set off my kawaii sense. Sadly, that is the least of the Air anime's problems. Oh well. I still have my memories of Kanon.
EDIT: This list was updated on September 12th, 2010, to include Kyou Fujibayashi on my list of Key girls that are cute from just their main appearance. Why would I include her? Well, I was looking up promotional artwork for Clannad, aaaaaaaand . . .
SHE HAS AN INFECTIOUS SMILE! AND A BEAUTIFUL PHYSIQUE! A GIRL AS HUGGABLE AS HER MUST BE LISTED!
Wow, and I haven't even experienced Clannad yet. What is wrong with me?
UPDATE AS OF 10/8/2010. Tomoyo and Kyou got bumped off. Their personalities aren't cute enough to make me melt. And to think, Tomoyo's the prettiest girl in Clannad. I did add Sanae, Fuko, Mei, and Ushio, though.
However, when I said that I wanted to take Kotomi-chan home with me, I wasn't kidding; I REALLY WANT TO! SHE IS JUST ADORABLE! KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
And yet, I still feel compelled to keep Makoto on my MAL list.
EDIT AS OF 6/4/2011. Kud got upgraded to the proper list of Insanely Cute Key characters! Wahuuuuuuu! And so did Haruka, who you wouldn't suspect was Insanely Cute, but actually is! However, Komari got bumped off for being too much of a moeblob. Still, two Insanely Cute girls is two more than what Air had.
EDIT AS OF 6/14/2011: This list has been updated to include Chiyaha Ohtori on the "She's cute just in her mere appearance list!" Why? Just look at her and see for yourself.
However, I am now aware that Yui is technically not a character from Key. Although Angel Beats was conceived of by Jun Maeda, he handed the concept to people outside of Key Visual Arts. Still, since Maeda is responsible for the initial ideas for most Key VNs, I'm gonna keep Yui on this list, just because.
