Most Complex Characters in Anime

Interesting question lol. Let's see... .... most... complex, deep or well-developed characters... I suppose for most complex, it would be Togame from Katanagatari. Her tactical and analytical thinking drive her passion and actions but despite this she's always fighting against her emotional self. The further into the series it progresses the closer her dreams become and the stronger the emotional connections, but she also realizes that on some level they conflict against one another and she's not sure which she should prioritize. For deep, it'd probably be Kino from Kino's Journey. A young and mature girl who spends her life wondering about life and the meaning behind why people do the things they do. She ponders about her own actions and what it is she really desires, only that she believes that she may know what it is when she sees it. For well-developed it would be .... iunno... Himura Kenshin is a fantastically developed character actually. But I think ... it would be Kyon from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Which is hilarious because he has almost no profile as far as characters go. In essence, he's supposed to be the skeptical audience or reader (if you were reading the light novels). He asks questions about nearly everything. He has no idea what's going on and he's a little scared but none the less, remains curious. As he gets thrown into the rhythm of the story and Haruhi's semantics he tries his best to remain the sane voice but as the story progresses you get to see him become more and more enticed by this very interesting lifestyle. It's a wonderful way to keep the reader connected and yet watch as a character changes as they do. As he changes, he becomes able to keep up with the movements and do more daring feats, if only to learn more about the events taking place.

Oooh! Kyon! Yes, I feel like the movie made him even better and really helped clarify what's important to him. Also, despite almost no script I thought Nagato Yuki (the original, not the one from the new series) had some incredible depth that was entirely unspoken/between the lines. Again the movie is what really showed how much depth she actually had.

I would agree. Nagato is a great character who develops a good deal as things go on. Despite it being very subtle development, because there's usually so little contrast in her personality, tiny changes mean drastic differences, and huge changes mean... this is something you should take seriously.

Yes. I noticed during the endless eight, that every time Kyon asked if she was doing alright, her reaction changed ever-ever-so-slightly. You could tell just barely, that it meant a lot to her that he was asking her every single time if she was doing okay. Those subtleties really made that series great. I also think that series is best appreciated by the intelligent/intuitive, I see some people just not able to pick up on subtle stuff like that. Have you seen Oregairu? If you like Kyon, I feel like you'd enjoy Hachiman. Almost every line he has is like a philosopher's quote, lol.

Naw I haven't seen either yet. My list keeps growing and as a full time student, sadly I don't have a huge amount of time to watch anime lol. Least not as much as I'd like. I like the way you think though so I'll consider em. Maybe you're right lol. Maybe I'll like em.

e v a n g e l i o n

I figured that was coming, I just didn't jive with Evangelion. It just isn't my cup of tea. I could agree that Shinji is quite complex, it's just hard for me to get past my intense dislike for him. And I mean intense.

Golden Time's Tada Banri comes to mind. You eventually learn a lot about his history and current situation, even though for most of the time, he has no recollection of it. For those who haven't seen it, Golden Time is about a new college student (Banri) who has had total amnesia since the last day of high school, and is trying to have a love life. I would recommend it to any romance lover, btw.