In anime, whether a character’s room is clean or messy can say a lot about who they are. They might be lazy, unmotivated, and too exhausted to clean, or they could be going through a rough time.
RELATED:Laziest Anime Characters Of All Time
When a character is a little disorganized, it can be easy to overlook, but it is much harder to ignore extravagant messes. Often, other characters in a series feel the need to address a messy character’s unkempt tendencies and give them a fresh start. Whether these disorganized characters cannot help their mess or decide to turn their lives around, the first impression of their home or cleanliness is unforgettable.
10Tatsuhiro Satou - Welcome To The N-H-K
The main character ofWelcome to the N-H-K,Tatsuhiro Satou, considers himself a hikikomori, or a person who has taken a step back from the rest of society and struggles to leave their room. He dropped out of college due to his overwhelming anxious and paranoid thoughts that everything around him was a conspiracy. His hardships make it difficult to hold down a job, so he is alsoknown as a NEETbecause he isn’t working toward a goal.
Satou knows he is struggling, but he believes that a conspiracy organization known as the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (NHK) is why he cannot escape his difficulties on his own. Satou has a lot going on in his mind, and his room reflects his hectic mind with empty bottles and cans and misplaced books on the floor. His messiness isn’t something he’s oblivious to, but he isn’t in a state to address it right away.
9Mashiro Shiina - The Pet Girl Of Sakurasou
Mashiro Shiina is a talented artist from the eccentric yettouching shojo animeThe Pet Girl of Sakurasou.Although Mashiro enjoys painting and writing manga, she struggles with ordinary tasks. She needs specific directions to get dressed and go shopping, so it is fitting that cleaning isn’t one of her strengths either.
The first time another character sees her room, they remark that it looks like a tornado hit. Still, Mashiro’s friends accept that she needs and wants help with her daily tasks and cleaning. They do what they can to help out so that she can pursue the things she loves.
8Umaru Doma - Himouto! Umaru-chan
Umaru Doma is a fashionable young girl and a perfect student, or at least that’s how she presents herself to the outside world. When Umaru is at home with her brother Taihei, she changes completely. She becomes lazy, messy, and immature, even changing from an average anime character into acute chibi version of herself.
RELATED:Most Iconic Anime Gamer Girls
Umaru’s indoor mode has very little interest in keeping her space clean, so it can get messy when her brother isn’t around to pick up after her. Luckily, Taihei is usually able to manage her mess even if he shouldn’t have to.
7Masa - The Way Of The Househusband
The Way of the Househusbandis about an ex-yakuza member named Tatsu who has settled down to focus on caring for his wife by cooking exquisite meals and keeping the house spotless. Masa is a member of Tatsu’s old gang, but he believes that following Tatsu’s example as a househusband will help him become a better yakuza member.
Unfortunately for Masa, being a househusband is serious work. When Tatsu visits Masa’s home, piles of stained laundry that Masa is too lazy to do cover the floor. Laundry on its own might not seem like such a big mess, but by Tatsu’s standards, Masa’s disorganized lifestyle is next-level.
6Ed - Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebopis one of themost renowned animefor its commentary, creativity, and characters, such as the great hacker Ed. Ed is an intelligent, eccentric kid who lives on Earth even after most people abandoned it because of dangerous rock showers. She uses the ruins around her to build computers, hide from the police, and help the Bebop crew.
Ed’s first impression wasn’t the cleanest, but cleanliness wasn’t really on Ed’s radar on Earth. She had more important things in her brilliant mind. InCowboy Bebop’sdiverse and incredible world, how could anyone blame Ed for looking up at the stars instead of looking at the mess around her?
5Misato Katsuragi - Neon Genesis Evangelion
Misato Katsuragi fromNeon Genesis Evangelionis a captain at NERV headquarters when she becomes Shinji Ikari’s stand-in guardian and opens her home to him. Unfortunately, her good-hearted efforts to welcome Shinji seem less impressive to him once he sees the inside of her apartment.
Misato might be an excellent captain and a compassionate person, but she also has an evident drinking problem from the bottles and cans littering her apartment. Misato continues to drink even after Shinji moves in because ofthe tragedies in her lifeandNeon Genesis Evangelion’sclassic high-stress scenarios, leaving Shinji to pick up after her and keep their apartment clean.
4Katsuya Serizawa - Mob Psycho 100
Mob Psycho 100is full of powerful espers, butone of the strongestis Katsuya Serizawa. For many years Serizawa isolated himself from the rest of the world because he feared his psychic powers and didn’t want to hurt anyone by accident.
RELATED:Mob Psycho 100: Every Main Character’s Perfect Pokemon Partner
During his isolation, Serizawa let his room go and spent much of his time playing video games instead. He tried speaking with counselors, but it wasn’t until he met another powerful esper that he felt seen and encouraged enough to change his ways. Serizawa values his progress but acknowledges that the years he spent alone in a dirty room are a painful part of his reality.
3Shigure & Yuki Sohma - Fruits Basket
Shigure and Yuki Sohma are the first two zodiac members that Tohru Honda meets inFruits Basket. Shigure is a cunning author, and Yuki is a popular student at Tohru’s school because of his good looks and kind yet distant personality. The two manage to live together, but neither is good at cooking or cleaning.
When Tohru sees the trashbags that fill their kitchen to the brim, she compares their mess to a sea of decay. Once Tohru moves in, she keeps all the main spaces clean, but Shigure and Yuki’s rooms are never spotless.
2Power - Chainsaw Man
The characters inChainsaw Manhave plenty of quirky behaviors, but when it comes to being messy, it’s hard to beat Power the Blood Fiend. When Power moves in with Aki and Denji, it becomes apparent that she is the dirtiest of the group. She rarely bathes and often doesn’t flush the toilet, not understanding why humans seem to care so much about cleanliness as she wrecks their home.
Aki and Denji pick up after Power at their apartment, but even they can’t hide the messy way that she often tucks in only half of her shirt and lets her jacket slide off her shoulders. Power might not be tidy, but her boundless confidence makes the Blood Fiend one ofChainsaw Man’smost popular characters.
1Howl Jenkins Pendragon - Howl’s Moving Castle
Howl’s Moving Castleis one of themost beautifulStudio Ghiblifilmsand one of the biggest messes in anime. When Sophie first moves in, there is no place to at the table to eat, Calcifer’s fireplace is full of old ashes, and the bathroom looks stained. There seems to be no end to the dust, dirt, and mess in Howl’s home, but like any other determinedStudio Ghibliprotagonist, Sophie manages to get it under control.
Howl’s trinket-filled room is the one space in the castle that Sophie never cleans. However, considering how Howl maintained the rest of his home, it would not be surprising if it had a secret mess hidden under all of its apparent beauty.
