Legend:	Hey, people! It's time once again for Jae and me to write another one of our odd little articles. This time, we've decided to honor a group that is decidedly underrepresented in anime -- smart women. And with us today is our guest speaker, Shinji Ikari.
Shinji:	Uh... hi.
* Secret Asian Man notices the guest and groans.
SAM:	Not another one. Where do you come up with these guys anyway? I mean, the least you could have done was find a girl...
Legend:	Shinji's got an objective viewpoint, though. He's an outside observer, and he gets to see smart women in action on a regular basis. Isn't that right, Shinji?
* Shinji nods.
SAM:	Originally, we planned to make this a top ten list, but when we actually sat around and got to it, we could only come up with nine who passed our standards.
Legend:	We had standards?
SAM:	Some.
Legend:	Enlighten me.
SAM:	Well, the characters have to be female (obviously), actually be a heroine (none of that anti-heroine or supporting cast BS), and... well, that's it I suppose. Oh yeah, they have to be intelligent. Intelligent as in smart. Popularity, cup size, personality problems all didn't matter.
Legend:	You'd think there'd be more of ‘em. But we digress. So, without further ado, let's get started.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the opinions of the two authors and are not necessarily those of CJAS or anyone who's seen more anime than us. We will be more than happy to discuss any differences of opinion in the parking lot after the showing...
9) Yukino Miyazawa
SAM:	First up, at the number nine spot, is a name you should recognize, Yukino Miyazawa! While this lovely lady might not stack up to most of the rest of these girls, being but a high schooler, her simple determination to be the best, and her utter lack of all traits whiny, empty-headed, and her independence from her love interest were enough to get my vote. Bart?
Legend:	Uh, yeah. She's smart. And I'm pretending I know who she is.
8) Misato Katsuragi
Legend:	Next up on the list is the wonderful Misato Katsuragi. Not only is she amazingly hot and great to have at parties... she's also sharp and dependable when the going gets tough.
Shinji:	What about Ritsuko? She's smarter than Misato is.
Legend:	Ahhh, yes. That she is. But Ritsuko doesn't fall into the heroine category. I mean, she's doing your dad, for pete's sake.
Shinji:	(startled) She's what?
Legend:	You didn't know? Oh jeez. I'm sorry, man. I thought you knew.
Shinji sighs.
Legend:	Any thoughts on Misato, Jae?
SAM:	I think that's more than enough on Ritsuko's... *cough* lack as a heroine. Now Misato, on the other hand, is a rather sharp cookie. Besides her wit, charm, and all the other stuff we're not supposed to be considering here, she's the one who comes up with all the strategies on defeating the Angels. ‘nuff said.
7) Madoka Ayukawa
Legend:	Who's our next victim?
SAM:	Moving on (while Shinji goes through another bout of self-loathing and melodrama), next up, at the heavenly #7 spot, is the all-talented Madoka Ayukawa. On that note, is it just me, or have you noticed something about Japanese anime and middle/high school girls?
Legend:	Density rivaling that of a neutron star?
SAM:	Yeah, but more than that, they're almost always in very short skirts and drawn as if they were five to ten years older. It's probably got something to do with the fact that they sell girls' underwear in vending machines over there... and not for girls who just happened to misplace theirs.
Legend:	They do? Um, can I borrow a hundred yen? I mean, for a soda or something. Certainly not women's underwear.
SAM:	Uh huh. Of course. This isn't anything like those pics of Belldandy you keep in your room, is it? Getting back to the subject at hand, though, Ayukawa can do anything better than anyone else. That's the whole point of Kimagure Orange Road, I think.
Legend:	I told you, that was a cute fanboy crush!
SAM:	Sure it is. I believe you.
6) Afura Mann
Legend:	Next up, on the upper fringe of the humanly possible, is the El-Hazardian wind priestess, Afura Mann.
SAM:	Although she never got much air time in the OAVs, that was more than made up for in the first TV series: El-Hazard, the Wanderers.
Legend:	Intelligent and calculating, Afura Mann can out-magic and out-think even the most cunning of evil geniuses.
SAM:	Now would that be Jinnai or Ifurita?
Legend:	Okay, point taken. She's never really been up against an evil genius. But if she were ever to face one, she'd no doubt win.
SAM:	Naturally.
5) Ruri Hoshino
Legend:	Nadesico's child prodigy. This mysterious little girl is smart enough to pilot a starship and operate a supercomputer.
Shinji:	She reminds me of Rei.
SAM:	Fortunately, the two aren't at all alike. For one thing, Ruri's much more cooler and wears a cat-suit that makes her look remarkably cute.
Legend:	She also has a funny habit of making rude comments on the intelligence of her crewmates.
SAM:	I wouldn't call them rude, per se. Nothing really wrong with saying the words "baka baka". It's more of a trademark than an insult.
4) Skuld
Legend:	Next up... the young goddess Skuld.
SAM:	Y'know, I had a hard time in ranking Skuld against Ruri. After all, they're both cute and remarkably intelligent for their age.
Legend:	It was really a close call. Skuld has a slight edge, though. Maybe it's just because she's a bit more dynamic.
SAM:	And because she's always making those robots. That one rice-cooker converted into a bug-catcher rocked.
3) Satsuki Yatouji
SAM:	Coming close to the finish, at the heavily contested third spot, is the lovely Satsuki Yatouji. Now since most readers might not be familiar with the character, let me explain. Ms. Satsuki is one of the Dragons of Earth in CLAMP's manga series, X.
Legend:	Yup.
SAM:	Each of the seven Dragons of Heaven and the seven Dragons of Earth has his or her own mystical power, and she is no exception; she is simply amazing with computers. Moreover, all the computers in the world are apparently in love with her, especially the supercomputer she built herself: the BEAST.
Legend:	Yup. Can you tell I've never heard of this character?
SAM:	Not at all. Shall we move on?
Legend:	By all means.
2) Dr. Ines
SAM:	Some of our earlier choices might be disputed, but I think everyone would have a hard time arguing about our second choice lady.
Legend:	They say smart is sexy, and if that's the case, then Nadesico's Dr. Ines knows just about everything, and then some.
SAM:	She is Ms. Explanation.
Legend:	If something happens, Ines knows why. It's as simple as that.
SAM:	In many ways, she's a lot like Ruri. She's not very emotional, very practical and effective, and appears in the "How and Why of the Nadesico".
1) Washu
Legend:	And now... drum-roll, please.
Legend:	Among all these brainy contenders, there is only one who stands out as the smartest anime chick in existence.
SAM:	I don't have a drum. Will a pot suffice?
Legend:	I guess so.
SAM:	Good.
Legend:	The winner, a creator of pocket dimensions, a fixer of space ships, a knower of everything, the smart anime chick to end all smart anime chicks... is Washu.
SAM:	Yeah... and... she's smart and all.
Legend:	Watch Tenchi Muyo! See for yourself the wonders of this woman's mind.
SAM:	Is she really that smart?
Legend:	Beyond words, Jae.
SAM:	Okay, well, that seems to be it. *whisper* By the way, how did you convince Shinji to come down here?
Legend:	*whisper* Didn't take much. I rigged their latest sync test so he'd outscore Asuka by thirty points. I waited for her to go ballistic, then I invited him.
SAM:	*whisper* Yeah, that'd do the trick.
Legend:	Anyway. Next time, Jae and I will be writing an article on those underrated anime series... ya know, the ones that nobody's seen, but are awesome anyway.
SAM:	So until then, ciao.