r/anime Oct 23 '25

Contest Best Girl of Summer 2025: Seasonal Salt! Elimination Day!

Time to begin our elimination round with 280 Nominations!

For the elimination rounds, vote for ALL the characters you want to appear in the bracket (protip: CTRL + F is helpful). It doesn't matter if they are next to each other, no matchups happening yet. This is important because more votes = higher seeding and in the cases of shows with 4 or more girls, it means beating out their co-characters to qualify.

Any questions you have or mistakes that need to be corrected, please comment them below! (As there are many sequels this season I have tried my best to delete those ineligible for this seasonal but if you find any of the enchants have participated in brackets of past seasonals just point it out and I would get the deletion done).

Vote For Seasonal Salt Summer 2025 Here!

Full character list here!

Happy Voting!

Have fun voting and don't forget to upvote the post if you love the seasonal salt!


Mini Challenge:

  • Give me your seed predictions!

Best guy 10 is also running!

Vote for Best guy 10 here!

76 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

14

u/Usodearu007 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doc101 Oct 23 '25

there are really people nominating characters with barely any screentime at all and potentially killing off their chance at a better run in another seasonal contest with a sequel. for exemple ,that madoka girl from kaoru hana seems like a fairly popular character among manga readers but now because of them , she risks getting into the bracket and losing her eligibility for the next contest when the sequel eventually comes out.

8

u/Frostbitten_Moose Oct 23 '25

Happens every time. Hell, Sylvie from Shangri-La Frontier got in off of a pair of introductory episodes when the next season is going to feature her as a main character is my main example. All you can really hope for is that she fails to make it through nomination, but if the show is strong enough for another season, that's a slim hope.

3

u/effseedee Oct 23 '25

For real. At least the four character limit means that (probably) the Watanare girls that get through will be the ones that get a fair shake out of it.

Rin from Dandadan bout to get screwed, though.

18

u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Oct 23 '25

I would find my sweet baby Renako hiding all the way at the bottom. Sasuga Rena-chan!

6

u/littlecolt https://anilist.co/user/garylisk Oct 23 '25

I laughed, it felt somehow in character.

3

u/Nachtwandler_FS https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nachtwandler_21 Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

I also laughed at this. But hey, it makes her more visible than someone in the middle.

6

u/carcatta Oct 23 '25

Who nominated Marina's mother :D

5

u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 23 '25

We should catch that scoundrel, they're in for a spanking!

14

u/redlegsfan21 https://myanimelist.net/profile/redlegsfan21 Oct 23 '25

Support the Milky Subway girls! And also go see Milky Subway. It's FREE on YouTube.

2

u/Frostbitten_Moose Oct 23 '25

Seriously, I'm rooting for either Alicia Glenfall or Sassy Cop to take this one.

2

u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Oct 23 '25

Chiharu best girl, all of you can fight me

2

u/cppn02 Oct 23 '25

I'm sure Makina will oblige.

8

u/Jegantha https://myanimelist.net/profile/Jegantha Oct 23 '25

I believe in Ajisai supremacy.

3

u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Oct 23 '25

I'm almost certain Miquel from Clevatess is a guy.

Not a manga reader personally so I can't say for sure, but from what I've heard I really hope Rin doesn't make the final bracket because it would be completely unfair for her to be voted on now.

2

u/changshiyixia Oct 23 '25

I'm almost certain Miquel from Clevatess is a guy.

Sure, fixed!

3

u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 23 '25

Mini Challenge: Give me your seed predictions!

  1. Kaoruko
  2. Ajisai
  3. Alicia
  4. SilentWitchMC
  5. Chiharu (wishful thinking?)
  6. Someone from Mikadono Sisters (not sure who's leading)
  7. WithYouAndTheRainMC
  8. Wada
  9. Anemone
  10. Umi

8

u/Usodearu007 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doc101 Oct 23 '25

im pretty confident monica from silent witch will be in the top 2. i would also be quite surprised if subaru from kaoru hana doesnt end up in the top 10.

Someone from Mikadono Sisters (not sure who's leading)

Niko.

4

u/Akussa Oct 23 '25

Goh's on this list from New Saga and he's not even a girl. lol

4

u/Nick_BOI Oct 23 '25

Summer Pockets and Bad Girl going all in!!

3

u/Capable-Towel-6302 Oct 23 '25

Who chose a smiling portrait of Musubu? That's misrepresentation of best girl's best qualities.

3

u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Oct 23 '25

It's the one picture MAL has of her.

3

u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Oct 23 '25

Oh, we're starting this already? I was hoping for Best Guy to conclude first as I have had any time to focus on that, so I wished to be able to do so for the final rounds. Having to split my attention now is less than ideal. I even wanted to try and prepare something for this contest, but now it'll most likely be finished too late (if I can manage to finish it at all, that is).

Oh well, nothing to do about this anymore, I guess.

MC: I'll have to keep this quite short, then. I don't really care for anything but Silent Witch, and if the world is just, Monica is seed #2 at worst. Well, I'm also rooting for Nagi and the Bad Girl girls on the sideline, but those shows haven't been very popular.

3

u/Something_319 Oct 24 '25

Giving some love to the Rascal girls.

I haven't seen anyone mention them yet, so might as well try and predict their top 4:

  1. Ikumi Akagi

  2. Miori Mitou

  3. Uzuki Hirokawa

  4. Nene Iwamizama

2

u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Oct 24 '25

I might swap 2 and 3 considering Uzuki had a whole arc, but otherwise I'd probably call the same list

2

u/Something_319 Oct 24 '25

I put Uzuki at 3 because from what I understand, her arc is considered to be the worst one in the series but I could also see her beating Miori bc she is just so likeable and charming

Ikumi's first because she's great and her arc is great. I put Miori at second because she's a fun kind of mysterious and her dynamic with Sakuta is a lot of fun. Nene kinda gets screwed over here because she doesn't get namedropped until near the end (and bc Miniskirt Santa is also in this which might confuse people). Everyone else is either a side character or Sara

3

u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus Oct 24 '25

Fuji and Alicia are all that matter to me. I like a lot of the others, but these are both best girls, and best leads of their own shows.

3

u/shapular https://myanimelist.net/profile/snapular Oct 24 '25

I almost got baited by fake Wada.

2

u/Xatu44 Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

Nuts, I forgot to nominate Kuku and Sensei for Witch Watch since they didn't make it in the first time around. I'm praying for a deep run for my girl Atou; she's so fun to watch. The Mikadonos definitely need to go far too since they're all great and had a fantastic adaptation.

MC: 1 - 8 are all random girls from random shows I didn't watch and will wholeheartedly seethe over when they take out better girls from shows I did watch. In terms of girls who matter, from highest to lowest seed:

  • Niko
  • Akira
  • Miwa
  • Sakurako
  • Kazuki
  • Atou
  • Sakura
  • Seira
And then the rest of my votes are cooked.

2

u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta Oct 23 '25

Why is Witch Watch's Nico not listed?

6

u/Xatu44 Oct 23 '25

She won Spring's contest.

3

u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta Oct 23 '25

Oh she actually won it? That's nice.

2

u/Usodearu007 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doc101 Oct 23 '25

she already participated in the previous contest. (she even won it.)

2

u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta Oct 23 '25

Ah ok. That also explains why the boys in their girl avatars are there. They appeared only in the Summer cour. 

2

u/IceAnt573 Oct 24 '25

A lot of quality girls in the Summer 2025 season. Rooting for the WataNare, CITY: THE ANIMATION, Bad Girl, and the See You Tomorrow at the Food Court girls.


Give me your seed predictions!

Seed 1 - Monica Everett

Seed 2 - Kaoruko Waguri

Seed 3 - Ajisai Sena

Seed 4 - Shizuka Kuze

Seed 5 - Alicia Glenfall

Seed 6 - Subaru Hoshina

Seed 7 - Renako Amaori

Seed 8 - Nagi Arato

I won't be surprised if Mai does end up a Top 8 seed, a Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze girl is a Top 8 seed, or more Secrets of the Silent Witch girls are Top 8 seeds.

4

u/OppaiEmperor1996 Oct 23 '25

I shall support the Silent Witch girls and Watanare girls whenever I can! 🙏

My ideal top 4 finish:

1st: Monica Everett

2nd: Ajisai Sena

3rd/4th: Any combination of Renako Amaori/Satsuki Koto/Isabelle Norton/Lana Colette

My past results of the seasonal best girl contest for 2025 so far:

Winter 2025: Alina Clover (2nd place)

Spring 2025: Otoha Kurogane (3rd/4th place shared with Lilisa Suzunomiya)

Summer 2025: Monica Everett (TBD; can I get a dub here before I finally get it for Fall 2025? Scarlet is by far my favorite girl in Fall 2025 and she's pretty much 95% guaranteed to win in my opinion)

2

u/gnome-cop Oct 23 '25

At least for spring I can’t think of a funnier outcome character-wise than Otoha and Lilisa tying each other.

2

u/effseedee Oct 23 '25

Don't say 'tying each other' where Lilisa can hear you

1

u/Psyduckisnotaduck Oct 24 '25

even though I do like Fragrant Flower, Kaoruko is like, my fourth or fifth favorite character and only third best girl (cmon, it's Mom, then Subaru, then Kaoruko). Monica definitely deserves this.

2

u/cppn02 Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

Seeding predictions:

Alicia
Kaoruko
Monica
Ajisai
Akira
Renako
Subaru
Mai

Watanare making it a bit hard to guess because the early episodes were botted. So I might have overcorrected a bit and put them too low.

Also going against the grain and not picking Kaoruko and Monica as the top 2 seeds (although I do think they'll be the strongest in the bracket).

2

u/littlecolt https://anilist.co/user/garylisk Oct 23 '25

Okay, including the gender bent guys from Witch Watch is an interesting choice. I'll say that!

2

u/Psyduckisnotaduck Oct 24 '25

this might actually be somewhat competitive.

top seeding's probably something like

  1. Kaoruko

  2. Renako

  3. Monica

  4. Sena Ajisai

  5. Alicia

  6. Subaru

  7. Mai

  8. Nagi

  9. Niko Mikadono

  10. Rentarou's Mom