Anime characters you respect the most

[Calca]

Aizawa Ayumu (Zettai Shonen)-He's quiet doesn't talk unless he needs to, and never lets his emotions get in the way. He seems to see through things and sees the true intentions and seems to be able to think things through logically such as the incident when Unno asked him to kiss her in episode 8.

Jinto (Crest/Banner of the Stars)-Never really seems to lose himself and always knows his role. His personality never changes and he always remains ready to keep Lafiel focused and able to have a clear head.

Kino (Kino no Tabi-Just what she's doing, going out and observing things and just taking things in for the sake of learning human nature is enough to get her a lot of respect.

Chad (Bleach)-Always puts others before himself even if he compromises his health. Loyal to a fault.

Christopher Armalite (Scrapped Princess)-Leader that everyone looks up to. Finds his own way and decides to do things by his own will for the sake of what he thinks is right.

[Shiryuu]

• Bakura (Yugioh) - The only person who could beat anyone without cheating (specials cards\special circumstances).
  
• Makoto Shishio (Rurouni Kenshin) - He got betrayed and almost killed, but still managed to build a strong organization and became stronger himself.
  
• Sakiyama Kaori (Airmaster) - She works hard to beat Maki and her standing up to the bullies in her high school then again later.
  
• Treize (Gundam Wing) - Doesn't like unfair fights, that's pretty cool.

(I'll probably edit this later to add more that I can't remember right now)

[Pippin4242]

(Bakura Ryou, right? Please tell me you look up to Bakura Ryou and not the Yami no Bakura...)

Vash the Stampede~ Trigun.
Never loses sight of what he believes in. A gentle and caring man who always tries to take the right course. Now if you haven't seen Trigun before, take the attributes you have in your head right now and multiply them by about 10... there you have Vash. Amazing guy.

*~Pips~*

[Apekatt]

Onizuka - He always puts his students in the first place. He's a shining example on how a "great teacher" should be. He teaches his kids stuff that's more important than just facts and numbers.

Luffy - He never gives up and never loses sight of his dream! And he is a kickass fighter too!

I'll add more later. Can't think of more people right now.

[ReCCaThEDraGoN]

Sendo Takeshi(Hajime No Ippo)- Lives just to fight strong opponents

Toru Honda(Fruit Basket)- Understands life's hardships and not only does she deal with them she always maintain a positive outlook.

Uchiha Obito(Naurto)-The guys outlook on people on who abandon their own friends/team mates.

I have to admit Vash the stampede is a good choce as well.

[Renyulb28]

Ryosuke Takahashi (Initial D) - incredibly smart and clever person, and has a respectable personality
Ban Mido (Getbackers) - cares about friendships the most
Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist) - was really a good person, just determined to get revenge. was helpful in the end
Shanks (One Piece) - Great leader and friend, and mysterious abilities/strength

[jedinat]

Himura Kenshin - I just read the manga... it goes a bit deeper character-wise than the anime.

[Rachy]

Vash ( Trigun )

Seijuro Hiko ( Kenshin )

Yondaime/Sandaime hokage ( Naruto )

Kaoru Nagisa ( Neon Genesis )

Sakura Avalon (Cardcaptors)

Yui Ikari ( Neon Genesis )

Maes Hughes ( Full Metal Alchemist )

[Ronin Aquila]

Honda Tohru - Fruits Basket (Personification of uncoditional motherly love)

Kakaroto - Dragonball Z (Possessing power that literally rivals the Gods, and yet driven by the warm, kind, forgiving and unselfish heart of an angel. The Perfect Warrior. )

Himura Kenshin - Ruroni Kenshin (Shows that even the most heartless of murderers possess decency and humanity)

Suzushiro Haruka - Mai Hime (Honorable, headstrong, determined, fearless)

Prince Vegeta -Dragonball Z (The Perfect Personification Of Masculinity)

Yomiko Readman - Read Or Die (Rare is the heart that is still romantic and idealistic past the age of 15, and she possesses one at 25)

Kira Yamato - Gundam Seed First Season. (The sweetest and nicest anime boy of the Second Millenium. The perfect little brother. I wanna take him home!!)

Ninomai Kisaragi - Happy Lesson. (Warm, loving, and oh so cute, an intelligent young mom who still resides in an innocent and romanticised childhood)

More To Come.

[KiNA]

Sandaime & Kakashi from Naruto .. Sandaime are very wise and very protective to Konoha village. Kakashi are very protective as well .. shown in Zabuza arc, and understand his fellow underlings and believe them .. a great team leader that always dependable for me.

Onizuka from GTO and Yankumi from Gokusen. I wont skip school if they are my teachers.

Ukitake from Bleach. Very understanding and caring captain. Willing to sacrifice himself in what seem injustice done to his followers even that means going against the law. Notable mentioning Shunsui.

Aoishi from Rurouni Kenshin. More loyalty then some good guys character

Dearka & Nicol & Sai from Gundam SEED.. The BEST friends ever.

Gilbert Dullindal from GSD. he have such enigmatic charisma. Too bad he suffer from bad scriptwriting. Totally calculative in his steps. His method are evil but intentions are not. Too bad.

Ryota Miyagi from Slam Dunk. Despite his obvious weakness, he's damn short .. He became one of the best for his position, and he is a great friend as well ^-^

I think thas all .. I havent watch too many anime

[Orchunter226]

Lucy( Elfen Lied ) -- I have to respect anyone who can kill that many people so well. Yet I also give her respect because of how she acts and what she has happened to her (Give props to Nana, too).

Vash the Stampede ( Trigun ) -- Exact opposite of Lucy; respect to anyone who can beat that many people and yet never kill anyone.

Misato ( Neon Genesis Evangelion ) -- For having to put up with Shinji, and giving him the motivation to go out and do what he does.

[polar720]

Some SPOILERS btw...

Kazuma/Ryuhou- both these guys sacrificed everything they had in order to protect their homeland. Even if it costs them their bodies and health, they just keep pushing through no matter what.

Kenshin- first off, his appearance as the Battousai deserves respect in the first place. Instead of hiding his skills he went out and tried his best to change the world he knows into a better place. Sure things didn`t turn out as well as he had hoped, but I least he tried to do somethign about it unlike his master.

Char Aznable- As much as people hate this guy cause of CCA, I respect him for doing what he believed in, and in some ways support him. His methods in CCA were bad, but I do believe in his ideals (in the Gundam world, we don`t have newtypes here.....yet....), and he was a guy who would push himself to the limits in order to make change.

Camille Vidan- This kid wouldn`t take shit from nobody and I immeadiatly liked him for it. Somebody made fun of his name, he didn`T stand there and whine like Shinji, he ran over and punched the guy in the face. Things didn`t turn out so well for him, but the time I most respected him were in the later episodes, especially with his quote to Fa, "we can never be like before because I now know what I must do" which showed his maturing, but also his ideals of ending the war (Scirocco) no matter the cost to his own body or mind. This is shown when he drives his wave rider mode straight into the The O`s cockpit (GREAT SCENE).

[uzumaki]

Tenma: never was there a character so noble (in anime).

Utena: Her strength, though it is tested harshly near the end of the show, mesmerises. She is always striving to be free and to show others that path as well.

[piccahoe]

toru (friuts basket) shes understanding, sweet, kind, and always try to make people feel comforble.

Haru (friuts basket) - He's the kinda of guy that will do things to protect others from harm.

[BountyHunterB]

WOW in think this is the best question yet.... (honestly no sarcasm) i even signed up just to anwser.... well something like that.

Kenshin - Becouse even with his great power he stoped killing people that he was told to kill. ( He got that reverse blade katana.)

Vash - Hes jsut a nice guy.

Naruto - Yes i know...... But only becouse he always tells people not to give up.... i wish i was told this constantly when i was growing up.

SPIKE - (cowboy bebop) - hes just soooo cool even though he bounty hunts for fun and stuff he still stands by his every word. ( he didnt even trade in his love for the chick that shot him.... i mean i would have went for the next girl i saw.)

[nolimit]

Ippo (Hajime no Ippo) - zero to hero , I want to be like him, but don't have the courage.

Mitsuki (Kimi Ga Nozomu Ein) - she was there when Takayuki needed her and went trhough all the troubles.

Harima - Cause he protects animals

Onizuka - Best teacher?

[Mk-II]

Even though most of these have been mentioned, I'll go ahead and my post mine anyway.

Ryosuke Takahashi from Initial D - Talent, logic, and one of the most impeccable gentlemen I've ever seen/read in an anime/manga series. I laughed when he sent Takumi flowers before their arrange battle in Season 1.

Quattro Bageena from Zeta Gundam - I prefer his incognito much more than the Red Comet in the original. I found him a bit annoying in 0079. He was much cooler and it was nice to seeing him as mentor of the procrastinator instead of an opposing threat.

Amuro Ray from Zeta/Char's Counterattack - You gotta love the hero of course. He improved so much from the whiny brat he was in the original.

Arcueid Brunestud from Tsukihime - I'm not very familiar was her alternate storyline's beyond the anime. But I really liked her a lot in the anime. Rather calm and mysterious. And later on, she expressed a lot feminine trates when she going out with Shiki.

Brandon Heat from GunGrave - Poor guy, he had Shakespearean Tragedy written all over him. Betrayed by his best friend, gave up the love of his life and beyond that, he never talked much. I'm sure he had a lot to say too.

Mitsui from Slam Dunk - I couldn't stand the guy when he was the annoying bully. But he came around and when his secret was revealed, I really had a lot respect him as a character. Truly worthy of the title; MVP.

[Cyz]

Kuchiki Byakuya (Bleach): Despite his arrogance, the fact that he respects the rules and always calm when fighting is nice to admire.

Asa Shigure (Shuffle!): Always cheerful inspite of hardships.

Shannon Cassul (Scrapped Princess): Loyalty and determination to protect his sister..very admirable indeed.

Ren (DearS): Her innocence deserves respect. Plus, her love and loyalty to Takeya is very touching.

Arika (Mai Otome): Always true to herself and never gives up hope.

--> That's all I can think

[makotoshin]

Arika Yumemiya (Mai-Otome)

Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

Tōshirō Hitsugaya (Bleach)

Asa Shigure (Shuffle!)

[wao]

Hmm, can't think of them all but...

1. Kino from Kino no Tabi

I'm really inspired by her (doesn't seem like it, does it? ) : she's the antithesis of what people seem to expect out of females, whether the dominative-bitch type or the submissive type. I am really in awe of her logical nature and her ability to be so detached from the places she goes to and the people she meets; and the very sensible way she treats things. She almost makes me feel bad. And yes, I'm aware that she's just an anime character. She's got a lot of strength in that she does not flinch or hesitate when she has to do something, and yet even as a character she's quite likeable because she just has that little bit of weakness left in her... the rest of her awesomeness highlights that weakness, and makes you really think about it.

2. Motoko Kusanagi from GITS SAC

I'm very impressed, again, by the logical-mindedness and practicality of this character. She isn't a mindless drone, but she's very talented and extremely smart - in a very real sense- and she has a lot of dedication to what she's doing. Whatever she does, she means it, and she thinks out the best way to go about doing it, with little regard to useless sentiments and decorative style. Very admirable, to me... But it is not like she is entirely devoid of human feelings (in the tv series anyway) to the point that she seems too much like a robot... there's that episode of her in Hong Kong or some CHinese place with that kid who sort of 'latched on' to her, and of course that whole thing in 2nd GIG...

3. Fee Carmichael from Planetes

She's not as perfect as the otehr 2, but I really respect how she can balance her work life with her kids, and her interesting outlook on life... She does a very great job with the debris collection. She doesn't get all depressed or start complaining about how she has such a shitty job, no siree, she takes genuine pride in it and yet she knows how not to take it too far. She just takes things as they are and she doesn't get overexcited except when it really comes down to desparate measures (with very awesome results!) Even Dolf highly respects her... and she's worth it!

4. Loran Cehack from Turn A Gundam

He's so well-mannered... and he seems to have almost no ego. I could only dream of being like that... He's responsible and he's a great friend, and he doesn't like to hate or anything like that; yet when he must make a decision he thinks carefully and makes it (personal or non-personal). This is in fact the best way to get around. It helps a lot when you're a Gundam pilot too, really... He genuinely believes in people and trusts those that he trusts, he doesn't act like some wounded wolf distrusting everyone and planning to betray the few close to him...
Also, he is so sexy. However, that is, of course, totally irrelevant...

5. Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke

One thing that sets him apart from other respectable anime characters is how he has what I think is a very advanced and mature look at life - as in, the value of life and the actual, real need for being able to compromise both man and nature. That's one of the themes of the show and if it wasn't for Ashitaka I don't know if I'd have been able to look at it properly. When he said he was travelling away from his village to "see the world with unclouded eyes" - he really meant it. And while it seems like some stereotypical, idealistic phrase, I think he succeeded for the large part, and I also think that it's a very difficult thing to do... Most of the time, most of us are not thinking with full awareness of our actions, I believe. We are often clouded by our ego. But I think he had genuine concern for others here - sure, he might have seemed a bit heroic, but he doesn't even get overclouded by emotion: he doesn't grab San off the ground and just give her a lot of love all of a sudden... he knows that's not all that important in life. (I sure loved the ending of the movie!)

And that's all for now, I s'pose.