I looked at all the shows I've watched over the year and made a list of favorite/best characters not counting sequels. Order doesn't matter either so I didn't include rankings.
Magami & Kaido (Mazinkaiser SKL) - These two were ridiculously badass and manly.
Ayumu Aikawa (Kore wa Zombie desu ka?) - He was really funny and pretty awesome at times too. Also awesome break-dancer.
Sket Dan (Sket Dance) - I like Bossun, Himeko and Switch too much to not include one of them. They work really well as a comedic trio and they're all great characters with their own fun quirks.
Hououin Kyouma (Steins;Gate) - Fantastic character. He's entertaining and has some fun dialogue exchanges with pretty much everybody in the series.
Daikichi Kawachi (Usagi Drop) - Daikichi's pretty great. I like how the series handles the change in his life from an ordinary working man into a parental figure.
Ringo Oginome (Mawaru Penguindrum) - Ringo was really great in the first third or so of the series. It was fun to watch just how far she would go for DESTINY. It's a shame the series drops her into the background afterwards.
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http://myanimelist.net/animelist/swordz9