The first emo girl in our list is the mysterious Inori. Being a frontliner of a subversive musical band and a member of an anti-government rebel group, she is actually pretty badass. However, her disposition is extremely serious, and she rarely openly shows her emotion. In one of the later episodes of the series, Shu was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and to calm him down, Inori promises him that they will never part. She does this in classic anime emo girl style, however, without tears, and almost without a change in intonation.

For most of the series, Inori can usually be seen as someone who rarely speaks, or when she does, her words are very few. Truly, she is one emo anime girl that we cannot forget.

The ferocious Saeko may be able to fell dozens of zombies in a few seconds, but make no mistake. She still does have a heart full of emotion, as shown in the episode when she opens up a little to Takashi when they got stuck in a shrine. That one time was her only moment of real emotion in the series however, as most of the time, she is usually depicted as a formidable female swordsman with a deadly blade and a few words.

Calm and cool even in the face of a zombie apocalypse, Saeko is one of the emo girls in anime that you definitely would not want to cross when she’s cross. Pardon the pun, but yes, she is the epitome of the girl who is as dangerous as she is emo.

Touka may show a very brash personality, as shown in her initial interactions with the series’ main character, Kaneki. However, behind her abrasive exterior lies a girl who is immensely lonely and even a little bit afraid. In the first season of the anime, she is quite an active character, but after Kaneki’s departure from Anteiku, she adopts a very emo disposition.

Though still powerful, Touka has shown a significant increase in her sensitivity to the people around her, whom she cares for the most. She also spends much of the anime sorrowfully contemplating her tragic past and her relationship with Kaneki, who ends up becoming more powerful than her.

Rukia is actually the first character in the series created by the author, Tite Kubo. In fact, her design is said to be the very prototype that the author used to as a basis for the other shinigami in the series. She first meets the main character, Ichigo, in the middle of a hollow hunt, where she was ultimately forced to transfer her power to the unassuming young man.

Rukia is a soul reaper, and she acts just like the very archetype of her character. Noted to always be graceful and pristine, she is very modest and cool. Her demeanor also suggests that she is always in control, despite her painful past. She is also said to never open up her heart for anyone, and as such, may seem very distant and emo at times.

Born to a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mother, the imposing Maria is one of the characters in Sakura Wars with a very painful past. After being traumatized by the untimely death of her squad captain, she decides to completely shut off her feelings, becoming a merciless sniper who was responsible for innumerable kills. She eventually moved to America. where she became a professional killer for the mafia, before she was ultimately recruited as a part of the Teikoku Kagekidan.

Maria is a very intimidating woman, mainly because of her tall figure (she stands at 186 cm) and her tendency to be very reserved. She’s very serious, and rarely shows her feelings. And in the times that she does, she nonetheless maintains a very cool disposition.

Freya stands as the antithesis of the Chobit’s main heroine, Chii, who is the epitome of innocence and purity. Freya started off as a special creation of Ichiro Mihara, who wanted to give his wife the daughter that she could never have. In order to make her as close to human as possible, Ichiro installed a special system that enabled her to fall in love with someone she chose for herself. She did, eventually, falling in love with Ichiro, her “father.”

Of course, as her young mind adapted to the realization that her father will always love her mother in a more special way, Freya eventually broke down due to her emotional pain. Thus, her disposition when she does appear in the anime is one of a woman who has experienced much pain and loss, thereby making her as emo as they come.

Clare is one of the most serious and reserved in the anime, choosing to speak a few words and rarely opening up to anyone. Her past was tragic, as she was able to barely feel love before it was violently torn away from her. After the incident with her savior, Teresa of the Faint Smile, Clare becomes an offensive-type Claymore that is pretty much emotionally detached from everyone else.

This could be seen in numerous times in the anime, where she is depicted to show difficulty in expressing herself freely, even in instances that require an emotional response. Clare moves and lives by revenge alone, and for everyone else (even her companion, Raki), she can be as cold and distant most of the time.

Mikasa is arguably one of the most powerful human characters in the Attack on Titan universe, being a heralded as a genius whose combat and titan-slaying skills are almost at par with that of the best. Personality-wise, however, Mikasa is as emo as they come, rarely showing emotion except in times when Eren’s welfare is compromised. She also maintains a very cool exterior, and is not open to expressing herself freely.

Part of this is due to her violent and tragic childhood, where she witnessed the brutal murder of her father and mother. She was later saved by Eren, who moved her enough to the point of her being able to stab her kidnapper to death. Though Mikasa has some tender moments in the anime, she is still the anime’s poster emo girl.

Rei Ayanami is the first child who was chosen to pilot an Evangelion. In the controls of Unit 00, she is a fearsome fighter, usually opting to make decisions in battle which suggest that she does not care about her own welfare or safety. Personality-wise, she is very distant and cold, practically showing no emotion at all regardless of the circumstance. In fact, her ridiculous coolness and seeming apathy has made Asuka, the pilot of Unit 02, call her a “puppet” and a “doll.”

Though Rei does get close to Shinji a little bit during the course of the series, she still retains a very distant personality. It’s quite notable however, to mention that Rei’s cold and distant personality actually gave her a massive fanbase. In fact, until this day, the template used in characterizing Rei is still used for more recent anime releases (think Inori, the number 10 girl in our list, for example). The fact that she has one of the prettiest faces in anime actually helps her cause a lot.

At the top of our list is none other than the woman behind Hitokiri Battousai himself, Yukishiro Tomoe. Originally engaged to a man that Kenshin coldly murders in cold blood, Tomoe was hired in order to discover the manslayer’s weakness. However, she ended up falling in love with Kenshin, whom she discovers is actually a peace-loving young man who is fighting in the war because of his sincere beliefs.

Eventually, Tomoe got a little reprieve from her sorrow when she and Kenshin had to flee to a mountain safe house. However, such happiness is extremely short-lived, as the appearance of her younger brother, Enishi, heralded the grim events that would ultimately brand Kenshin with his iconic X-shaped scar. Beautiful, reserved, graceful, and with a past so tragic it can break anyone’s spirit, Tomoe is the epitome of the emo anime girl.