Cloudcuckoolander/Anime

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Osaka is not like you.

Examples of Cloudcuckoolanders in Anime include:


  • Osaka from Azumanga Daioh (see the page pic). She has a tendency to say and do strange things out of the blue, drifts off into daydreaming from which she is very hard to shake, and at one point apparently suspected that Chiyo's pigtails were detachable. Then there's the time she decided to wake up Yukari by banging on a frying pan. How that knife got in her hand no one could explain, least of all Osaka (who wasn't fully awake at the time herself). She expressed mild astonishment. Yukari, well, didn't. Don't forget this creepy little moment.
    • This may also be a generous part of why Mr. Kimura's wife is able to tolerate him -- she can get so focused on a discarded soda can that she runs directly into a lamppost.
    • Fans of the series would doubtlessly recognize Chiyo-chichi, the cat... thing. Who sees him the most? I'll give you a second to guess. Have an idea? Yes? Okay, were you thinking Sakaki? No. You were thinking Osaka, weren't you? Well, Sakaki sees him the most. Her tendency to bond with stuffed animals and the fact that she doesn't seem to notice that Chiyo-chichi was a dream makes some people think Sakaki is weirder than Osaka. Even Osaka found the "daddy hats" weird. Put it like this: Sakaki is weirder than Osaka when it comes to cute things and stuffed animals, but Osaka is weirder at everything else, and she's still pretty weird with stuffed animals too. Plush cities, anyone?
  • Yui from K-On! because... she's Yui.
  • Mihoshi from the various Tenchi series seems like a complete airhead, but manages to save the day on several occasions. This is usually the result of her outrageous luck, but it's also indicated that Mihoshi is much smarter than she seems... at least in the OVA continuity.
    • WASHU!!!
  • Orihime from Bleach; on one occasion, asked to draw what she thought she would be like in the "future", she drew a rather unnerving picture of herself as a giant, highly destructive robot.
    • Since everybody who knows Orihime is aware of her overactive imagination, she's able to give truthful accounts of her activities, and the ordinary humans think she's just making crazy stuff up again.
    • When asked what Orihime would do on a date with Ichigo by Tatsuki, it start innocently enough with a simple race to a see saw that starts to get pretty heated, which is then interrupted when some black track star comes out of nowhere, which then logically leads to a boxing match and then an assassination attempt. Which she is all acting out as she imagines it. Tatsuki is confused naturally. The anime makes that scene even worse; it doesn't show Orihime's line of thought, just her acting everything out.
    • She also happens to be voiced by the same voice actress as Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga. Coincidence?
    • Byakuya Kuchiki seems to be a closet case. Surely there's no other explanation for Seaweed Ambassador? His zanpakuto, Senbonzakura, (which is a reflection of his inner self) is Curious as a Monkey. Coincidence? I think not.
  • Masaru Hananakajima from Sexy Commando Gaiden definitely qualifies; he practices a martial art based on the idea that confused, unsettled enemies cannot defend themselves. His usual technique to produce that state involves groaning "Ahhhhh" while reaching to unzip his pants.
  • Similarly, Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo, in the show of the same name, while supposedly using a martial art based around his nose hairs, usually wins his fights by confusing the enemy into surrender. Then again, everyone on that show but Beauty likely qualifies for this trope.
    • You could argue that Beauty is the only character who qualifies. All the others are off in their own little reality, but she's normal and thus the exception. Beauty's the only sane girl of that anime. Gasser is fairly normal as well despite his bizarre fighting style, and Softon, while definitely weird in his own right, seems fairly sane. Bobobo, Don Patch, Jelly Jiggler, Dengaku Man, Torpedo Girl, and many of the villains all qualify, though.
  • Gedatsu in One Piece is a villainous example; he often forgets that his mouth needs to be open to talk, or to unreverse his eyes to see, and apparently isn't even able to cross his arms properly without advice. He kills his own Mooks by accident. The main character who faces him doesn't get it and finds his behavior utterly terrifying, though.
    • Despite his exterior, Zoro has his moments as well, all completely seriously. Like doing a Tarzan yell while swinging on a vine. Or irrationally accusing mysterious girls of intentionally copying his dead childhood friend. Or believing that when threatened with death by being encased in wax, it's important to strike a cool pose. Or thinking the best way to get out of a trap and to win against the opponent is to cut your own feet off. And his hilariously bad sense of direction... forget The Stoic label, he does this all the freaking time. It's almost sad he Never Gets Drunk; there have to be several people who want to see what he can say and do when all his faculties go bye-bye. Please, please Oda, make Zoro have a Mushroom Samba episode and bring joy and brightness to the Earth.
    • Kizaru from the same series counts- he mistakes his wiretap for a phone, as well as asking enemies where his subordinate is.
  • Nene Mori of Princess Nine always dreamed of being the manager (gofer/janitor, not coach) of a high school baseball team, just like in all the manga she read. Since she was sent to a private all-girls school, this just wasn't going to happen. Once a girls' baseball team is formed, Nene sees it as her destiny. Unfortunately, while she is very Genre Savvy, she only knows what a manager does, not how to do it (her family's filthy rich, she's never even done laundry), so she mostly exists to Hang A Lampshade on the more obvious clichÃ(c)s the writers embrace, by suggesting them. Fortunately, she has a good heart, and a butler (and access to lots of resources).
  • Jeri Katou from Digimon Tamers.
    • This trope is depressingly subverted when it becomes less "Aww that girl's got a friend!" to her broken mind's only way to communicate in any functioning way... Yeah.
    • And then she gets mind raped by an Eldritch Abomination. It's really a surprise Joss Whedon didn't write that season.
    • A more straightforward example would be Mimi of Digimon Adventure who, unlike Jeri, never gets better, nor even once says anything that isn't noticeably, inappropriately casual or just plain out of place. By the end of season two, she still displays a sort of airheadedness that anyone on the planet would grow out of after so many near-death experiences.
    • Digimon Xros Wars gives us Blastmon who is more concern with keeping himself shiny and forgets that he is suppose to be fighting. The real kicker is when Cyberdramon latches its self to him to stop his attack he thinks its love.
  • Tsukasa from Lucky Star, apart from randomly spacing out for no discernible reason, finds balsamic vinegar strangely fascinating.

Tsukasa: Strawberries smell like strawberry shortcakes!

  • Marie from Haré+Guu can be kind of out it from sometimes.
  • Fuura Kafuka from Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei combines this trope with being a big-time pollyanna to incredibly creepy extents; for example, she believes that nobody could ever want to hang themselves, and those who do are simply trying to "make themselves taller". She then cheerfully goes on to describe how her father went and tried to make himself taller... Repeatedly. No-one is sure if she's deeply disturbed, in heavy denial, or both.
    • Her forced cheerfulness extends to every aspect of life, even inanimate objects. When she sees a garbage can, for example, she refuses to accept that something as unpleasant as garbage could possibly exist. Thus, she decides that a garbage can is actually "a treasure chest for the homeless."
    • Taro Maria Sekiutsu can be considered one too, especially considering she comes from a country where apparently massacres happen regularly. She's upbeat, cheerful, and makes little to no sense usually. Unsurprisingly, she gets along great with Kafuka.
    • Oora Kanako walked into a newly thrashed, blood sprayed classroom, sat down by her desk, which their homeroom teacher, the victim of the recent assault, was lying on nonetheless, and then stared off into the distant nothingness with a vacant smile on her face... The next episode, she's still sitting like that and her classmates comment on that she's been sitting like that for a whole week.
  • The titular character of Suzumiya Haruhi, who rants about dumping all her previous boyfriends because they weren't aliens, time travelers, or espers, seems to fit this trope at first... until her criteria turn out to be less farfetched than they seem....
    • She may still qualify, though, as she never realizes she's attending Uncanny Valley High. Even without the the reality warping powers, she still does some pretty odd things -- believing that wearing a Playboy Bunny suit at school to advertise her new club is a-okay, among other things.
    • Somewhat subverted because, despite her outward wackiness, Itsuki Koizumi points out that Haruhi is a rational person who ultimately does not believe in the supernatural.
    • Tsuruya can also be considered one with her frequent laughter attacks.
    • Kuyou Suou. She is an interface for the Sky Canopy Domain, an alien entity with thought processes fundamentally different from those of humans. The SCD is just beginning to learn how to communicate with humans resulting in strange behavior and statements from Kuyou.
  • Ed from Cowboy Bebop. Though as a hyperactive teenage super-hacker, she also qualifies as a Genius Ditz. This may be hereditary, given how her father acts. Among other things, the man is dedicated to the goal of mapping out the newly altered terrain of Earth, a task which is explicitly stated as impossible due to the vast amount of debris still in orbit -- any given map is only valid for two days, tops, before a new meteorite hits and rearranges things again. His favorite food is raw eggs sucked out of their shells, and he's such a skilled fighter that he effortlessly disarms Jet Black with a thrown egg, dodges Spike's kickboxing and knocks Spike head over heels with a single open-palmed punch. He instantly recognizes Ed when she makes an appearance, but is uncertain as to her gender and was the one who left her behind in the first place. While he rewards Spike and Jet with a big basket full of eggs as thanks for taking care of her, he immediately abandons her again to chase after a new meteorite crash landing.
  • Shiro from Tekkon Kinkreet has a tendency to lapse into daydreams or delusions at random. He also tends to use nonsensical metaphors and gibberish in his regular speech.
  • Milly Thompson from Trigun is an almost stereotypical example. She once nearly threatened a shopkeeper with her Hand Cannon when in search of pudding... and got it. Only to drop her grocery bags a few moments later to emphasize a point midconversation.
  • Dita from Vandread is the resident Cloudcuckoolander for the show. Despite having deep feelings for the main character Hibiki, she seems to forget his name, calling him Mr. Alien instead.
  • Ichijou, the Class Representative from Pani Poni Dash!, is weird even for a thoroughly Widget Series. She also appears to have inexplicable (and unexplained) powers that ignore the laws of physics, reality, and sanity.
    • For example, she once cut a conversation with Miyako short by rocketing into the stratosphere. When Miyako caught up with her again and mentioned it, she went "What are you talking about?"
    • Himeko also seems particularly unconcerned with anything remotely approaching reality, though in a much more energetic way than Ichijou.
  • Yotsuya from Maison Ikkoku continuously annoys the main male protagonist with his outlandish behavior, including but not limited to extortion, theft and housebreaking. He is very polite about it, though.
  • Mutsumi Otohime from Love Hina. Kisses people she likes. On the lips. Regardless of gender or whether this is the first time they've met. Perhaps the only person in history to score a negative score and a near-perfect score on the same test on consecutive tries. And is apparently the only person who remembers what went on between Keitaro, Naru, and her at the Hina house all those years ago.
  • Nia Teppelin from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann; at first due to her sheltered up-bringing but it's quite clear she isn't all there in the head when even after 7 years in the outside world she still surprises everyone with her quirky misunderstandings. Simon even remarks that he has a hard time understanding what she says.
  • Emperor Fred from Samurai Pizza Cats, the eccentric ruler of Little Tokyo who largely communicates by saying his name ("Fuh-red!") and scat-singing ("Doo-wah!"). In one episode he caught a bad cold, and instead of becoming delirious with fever, he became sane with fever:

Princess Violet: He's speaking aloud back there, as if he had a mind of his own!
Al Dente: Oh no, then he's very sick!

  • Hohenheim from Fullmetal Alchemist has a way of looking and acting as if he came straight from another planet. A scene in the manga even shows him mumbling to himself while Ed yells insults and accusations at him on Trisha's grave then out of the blue, comparing Ed to "a little boy who has wet his bed and hidden the sheets" in a fairly threatening way. This might partly be a case of Obfuscating Stupidity though, as when he does get serious, he reveals that he's understood the situation way earlier and better than anybody else. Plus, some of his apparent non-sequiturs actually contain important hidden messages and information. Still, everybody notices how weird, socially awkward and absent-minded he is.
    • A scene of the anime in which he talks with Winry on Trisha's grave (and shocks her when he tells her non-ironically that "It's sad" that her parents were killed during the Ishbal genocide) suggests that he has spent several entire days and nights in the graveyard.
    • In the manga, Al is disturbed by Hohenheim's body language and way of making terrifying or ridiculous confidences with an impenetrable face and Scary Shiny Glasses -- and Al himself is practically a suit of armor.
    • In a key scene of the manga, "Father", the homunculi's boss, starts acting like a caricature of Hohenheim, complete with non sequiturs, creepy staring, senile mumbling, suddenly standing uncomfortably close to people, and pensive beard-twisting. Ed proceeds to yell at him, "LISTEN TO ME, ALIEN!" An official Yonkoma even shows him letting Ed persuade him to get a 200-years subscription to a Central City newspaper. In the last panel, Bradley/Wrath calls him a "naive Hikikomori with no knowledge of the world."
    • Edward Elric in Conqueror of Shamballa appears to be one to the people around him. He has good reasons for his bizarre non sequiturs and erratic behavior as he came from another planet in a parallel universe where the laws of physics work differently and already had numerous psychological issues beforehand, but one can't help but think the people he interacts with must consider him a little bit crazy. At one point, during a pitched battle, he even suddenly moves uncomfortably close to Scar and politely asks him a question. Returning to the subject of Hohenheim, the central reason as to why he is a cuckoolander is revealed, he's spent the last 450+ years getting to know all 500,000+ souls in his head on a first name basis. Hohenheim really does have a "world" in his head to be lost in.
  • Hayate the Combat Butler
    • Saginomiya Isumi has really impressive command over the non-sequitur and is generally completely spaced out, leading to such scenes as her asking a construction worker if the subway involved getting dinosaurs into bullet trains. As a result, Isumi's the only one capable of following Nagi's utterly nonsensical attempts at creating manga.
    • Isumi's mother and grandmother. As an example, in her introductory scene, her mother couldn't remember which button to push on the intercom to the front gate of her own house, despite the fact that there was only one button.
    • That's not the worst of it. Isumi's mother is thought by her own mother (Isumi's grandmother) to be the Sanzenin family's new butler. And then once grandmother realizes who she's talking to, she wonders where the butler went. And Hayate is standing off to the side during this entire encounter.
  • Izumi, one of the Nadesico's Aestivalis pilots, is notable for her bad poetry and her even worse puns (though she laughs uncontrollably at them), and often seems to be off in a world of her own. This doesn't stop her from being a competent pilot.
    • Takes a turn for the tragic when it's discovered that Izumi had not one, but TWO boyfriends die on her. No wonder she's so loopy.
  • Yuichiro Tajima in Ookiku Furikabutte is a baseball prodigy with expert peripheral vision and incredible accuracy when batting. When off field, he's borderline hyperactive, has the tendency to loudly discuss his masturbation habits and at least once almost stripped naked in public just to work on his tan.
  • Kotomi from Clannad is very awkward, lacking all but the basic social skills, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that she is a genius. She also tends to space out and come up with non sequitur responses, which she often combines with a deeply seated fear of bullies. Nevertheless Tomoya drafts her for the drama club, where her sweet and thoughtful demeanor makes her very popular with its members -- as long as she refrains from playing the violin.
    • Perhaps justified in that Kotomi was traumatized by her parents' death, and she promised to do better and follow in their footsteps. She said that she'd read many books and that she'd become smart like them. With such motivation for Kotomi, it's no surprise that she lacks social skills when she's busy with what she promised her parents that she'd do. Various flashbacks in the anime show that she was already like this (kids avoided her because of her intelligence and Tomoya was her first and only friend). The death of her parents (and the fact that Tomoya avoided her afterwards) definitely made things worse, though.
    • Fuuko is also a total space-cadet. At one point she tells Tomoya she's warmed up to him, explaining that she likes him more than sea slugs (but not as much as starfish). Tomoya doesn't understand the rankings[1]. She tops this in the After Story, where her behavior is very bizarre indeed, especially in response to Ushio's cuteness. She also tends to space trance out when thinking of cute things for long periods of time, only to snap out of it to finish whatever sentence she had started. She's in total denial about it, though.
    • Also Kappei, who is apparently incapable of remembering names or faces. And tells a touching story about a person he think he may love whom he lent his handkerchief... while talking to that same person. Also expects to be served tea during a job interview.
  • Dolce in Geneshaft is also a genius, this time in computer programming. She keeps a calm and quiet appearance herself, but communicates loudly and obnoxiously through her puppet.
  • Ryou and Fuu from Sketchbook are always together, seemingly living in their own world which only slightly touches upon reality. They do appear to understand each other perfectly though, which is already the case in the manga and which gets exaggerated in the anime so they seem to have some sort of two-person Hive Mind. They love to play pranks on the other students and often function as some sort of off-beat narrators to the show's events. Still, they will help out their friends in times of need -- albeit in their own fashion.
    • In fact, a lot of the characters could qualify -- starting with Sora. Just ask her little brother...
  • Shinobu Morita from Honey and Clover, who also has the tendency to disappear for days in a row.
    • Well, that is for work. He still qualifies, especially in the way he treats Hagumi.
  • Hotaru of Samurai Deeper Kyo can't remember his own mentor's name and so calls him Yun Yun, insists on moving caterpillars out of the way before fights, asks directions from Mauve Shirt villain Kubira, and is off in his own world when he's not fighting. And that's just a short list.
  • Finland from Axis Powers Hetalia shows signs of this; he thinks that "Blood-smeared Flower Egg" is a perfectly acceptable name for a puppy. Italy combines elements of this with The Ditz.
    • And Finland's first choice of names for the puppy was 'Go For It! Bomber!' Another suggestion was 'Sardine Picnic'. I wish I was making this up. In the Christmas Episode, the dog starts talking. Finland acts pretty nonchalant about the whole matter.
    • In fact almost every character can be one, like America trying to befriend whales (and succeeding).
    • Poland, hoo boy Poland. Lithuania even lampshades Poland's status: "I thought it was just one of your usual stories, that I can’t keep up with, that takes place in your own special realm..." He could probably compete with Osaka in cukkolander-ness at points.
    • Even England, normally the Only Sane Man, can get like this when it comes to the occult; he tries cursing America using a chair (at one point he nearly managed it, but when Russia sat in it he broke it by out-eviling it), and he makes friends with magical creatures like fairies and unicorns that only he can see.
    • Since these are anthropomorphic countries, they could just as well be called Cloudcuckoolands.
  • You'd think Usagi of Sailor Moon is a clear candidate, but the Cloudcuckoolander, at least in the anime, is definitely Minako with her infamous malapropisms.

Minako: Mi o sutete koso, ukabu setomono mo are! (Along with throwing your life away, you throw away floating pottery.)
The real quote is "Mi o sutete koso, ukabu se mo are!" (Along with throwing your life away, you may get your chance to survive.)

  • Many of the fodder villains in Gash Bell fall under this trope. Victoream will drop everything for a melon, and usually sing a song about it afterwards. Koral Q will drop everything if you missed his awesome transformation, and usually sing a song about it afterwards. Kiees will drop everything if you ignore his brilliant Beethoven mishmash, and... well you get the idea.
    • Gash also acts this way in the better half of the first season, especially when he's unaware of his powers. (He loses consciousness when Kiyomaro reads spells and at first thinks lightning came from the sky when he uses them.)
    • Suzume. The fact that she easily forgets what she is doing if she gets distracted by one little thing and that she thinks that Umagon is a sheep while he actually resembles a small horse are just ones of the many traits that classify her as an authentic Cloud Cuckoo Lander.
    • It's practically required to break into song and dance while fighting in this series. The first probably being Parco Folgore and his partner Kanchome. Their first act onscreen is to duct tape Kiyo to his ceiling and have Kanchome (unconvincingly) impersonate him to fool Zatch (which somehow works). Then upon learning that they're going to be fighting, Folgore breaks the entire situation into a musical production of his Italian pop songs. Kiyo broke into this by believing that Folgore's dance was somehow magically hypnotizing Zatch.
  • Killer B in Naruto Shippuuden. Let's put it this way: If you have an extremely powerful demonic entity inside of you, and it is significantly more rational and sane than you are, you qualify for this trope.
    • Filler character Yuukimaru seems to be one of these. S/He appears rambling about flowers while Sasuke simply stares. Kinda funny, actually.
    • And don't forget his flower-freak monologues.
    • Although not a Cloudcuckoolander at all, Shikamaru had a couple of scenes. First when he, in the midst of his Chuunin exam battle against Temari, sits down and stays looking at the clouds while he thinks he would like to be as free as them. Not much later, he got surrounded by Sound Ninjas during the invasion and the only thing he is capable to do is thinking about what did he want to do with his life.
    • Omoi is a borderline case, in that he's not completely out of it, but his minds tends to wander of into insane tangents like how doing too much paperwork can lead him to getting killed in battle or throwing a rock could destroy a village.
  • Soul Eater has several, most prominently Patty.
    • Turning her exam papers into a freakin' GIRAFFE and then freaking out and breaking its neck as she goes pro wrestler on it. Nothing else needs to be said.
    • Excalibur certainly qualifies, what with his rambling, completely disjointed stories and propensity to break into song for no reason. That he is the most powerful weapon in existence, yet cannot find anyone willing to put up with him, is a testament to just how out there he is.
    • Anime example only. "The sky is blue, motherfucker!"
  • FLCL's Mamimi, who among many Cloudcuckooland moments, mistakes a television-headed robot for an angelic deity from her favorite video game, and continues to treat him as such throughout the series. It's implied that her cloudcuckoo perspective is a deliberate front, and that she eventually gets better.
    • Watching Fooly Cooly has been known to turn people into cloudcuckoolanders.
  • Isaac and Miria from Baccano!! share a train of thought that has to be seen to be believed. For example, they once decided to steal a museum, building and all, for the sheer hell of it. Then they realized it was impossible... so they stole the door instead to stop people from entering. They plan a train robbery which "means going to the destination by train, then committing a robbery, then jumping on a train again to run away."
    • OR the time Isaac decided to attempt to "steal gold directly from the earth rather than stealing it from the mafia". Through a process known to the sane as "mining", which he is convinced he invented.
    • Did we mention that they thought bringing their friend a "little brother" as a surprise present was a fantastic idea?
    • It also took them 70 years to realize that they were immortal. And they didn't actually figure it out. Their assumption was that they were reborn.
    • Graham Spector (wrench man) from the three bonus episodes goes on a long rant about tedium, to the point of attacking his partner screaming "death to tedium!" before doing a 180 claiming that "tedium is good" and gives him time to "think about things." That's when he's not taking cars and people apart with a wrench bigger than him. He comes off as a crazier mix of both Ladd Russo and Issac/Miria but YMMV.
  • Shiro from Deadman Wonderland. Nobody except possibly her grandfather (who she ends up killing anyways) understands what in the world she's saying.
  • Kohsaka from Genshiken.

"Astronomy would be good for me. People are always saying I've got my head in the clouds... though I never remember what I see there."

  • In Full Metal Panic!, a more disturbing example is Gates. Most of the things he says don't really make sense, and the people who employ him have a hard time understanding what in the world he's talking about. In fact, the last thing he does when Sousuke obliterates his AS (and kills him) is to play with his hair and say, "Maybe I cut it too short?"
    • That was a call-back to a comment several episodes earlier -- when his AS shrugs off an attack by the enemy he declares, mockingly "That might have hurt me, if my sideburns had been shorter!" But Gates really is disturbed -- he watches a nature film on squirrels while naked for recreation in one episode. It started out with footage of kittens, and while he was on the phone with one of his subordinates he was furiously tearing tissues out of a tissue box.
    • Sousuke qualifies too. His thought processes are unique even among his fellow mercenaries. He's paranoid to the point of absurdity, and frequently misinterprets things other people say to be threats. He can't see anything wrong with threatening random civilians with guns, blowing up a row of shoe lockers, and the list goes on and on. And the conclusions he draws are... sometimes rather outlandish.

Sousuke: [Chidori] seems to be bothered by something. Either that or she's been abusing drugs.
Kyoko: Er... I don't know about that...

Mao references this. When Kaname commented that she thought everyone in Mithril had the same personality and attitude as Sousuke, Mao replied: "Ha ha ha... that kid's... a little special." And other times, she and Kurz reference how Sousuke isn't quite all there. Though Sousuke is one of the few Mithril members, if not only one, who was a Child Soldier. Sousuke's been fighting in wars since he was eight (and before that, he was being trained as an assassin by the KGB), whereas most of his fellow mercenaries started out when they were already responsible adults; with that kind of upbringing, he probably simply doesn't know how to respond to anything without breaking out some serious weaponry. Makes it a lot less funny when you realize his behavior stems from the fact that he simply can't believe that there are places on Earth where people are not allways trying to kill each other. And we have the Student Council President who deems Sousuke's action...appropriate. No wonder they share mutual respect.
  • Code Breaker has two: Nenene, who loves to randomly grope Cute Bruiser Sakura's breasts (and names them) and Yuuki, another Code: Breaker. Not only is Nenene Sakura's sempai, she's somehow a member of the student council. Her dad being the prime minister of Japan and head of Eden (the Code: Breakers' organization) probably had something to do with it. Yuuki, on the other hand is one of the most powerful of the Code: Breakers in The Organization due to his control of sound. For some reason, his nonsensical behavior annoys the usually lackadaisical Toki who happens to be Nenene's estranged brother. Naturally, Nenene is easily distracted as Sakura says "This is your brother!" while standing in front of a guy with the same hair and Mismatched Eyes as her. To his (or his handlers') credit, Yuuki uses his nonsensical ideas ("He's a middle-aged mushroom suffering from depression") to become the chief of a multi-billion dollar toy empire, although all he really wants/needs are friends.
  • Though not a regular Cloudcuckoolander, Makino from the manga version of Hana Yori Dango has at least one time when she does this. In volume 33 when she's given up on Tsukasa because of Umi she compares her situation to the plot in The Little Mermaid (the real story, without the Disneyfication) and ends up ranting about how she doesn't want to become bubbles (or something to that effect) in front of her little brother who's very confused.
  • Hikari from Amanchu! arguably qualifies. She blows on a pea whistle everywhere she goes (including during class) and jumps from a big rock in a way divers jump from a boat--even though there's no water. Whether her mild flirting with Futaba, another girl from her class, is simply part of her off-beat attitude or perhaps something else is up to interpretation.
  • Minami-ke‍'‍s Hosaka is so caught up in his own little world he ends up acting his fantasies out in real life. People tend to think he's off his rocker as a result. Further, being a master of the Imagine Spot, we the viewers tend to actually see what's going through his head at the time.
  • Franken Fran, which shows what happens when you give a well-intentioned cloudcuckoolander the skill, mind, and reputation of a Black Jack level surgeon. Hint: It's not pretty.
  • Combine a hefty helping of this with a Stoic Spectacles Bishounen and you get Kairi from Nightmare Inspector. He's the owner of a building called the "Delirium," a literal Cloudcuckooland -- getting locked in a room there means you get to live all your wildest fantasies until you die (or until you realize that it's just a hyped-up daydream, whichever comes first). Kairi himself is always sitting behind the desk, staring off into space, and daydreaming about all manner of weird things. The reader actually gets to see some of his trips to Cloudcuckooland...
  • Miki "Nodamiki" Noda from GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class is living in her own little world compared to her friends. She believes that she can remove mold from paint with her "aura" and has started impromptu mini theaters on at least two occasions (once with a collage, once with a can of paint). She is quite boy crazy to boot, to the point of believing random guys have a crush on her. Still, she seems to be on top of things.
  • Hikari from Haibane Renmei, who once used the halo mold for making donuts.
    • Which resulted in Rakka's halo being charged with static electricity for the first few days after she got it. Rakka was not exactly pleased.
  • Noda Megumi "Nodame" from Nodame Cantabile, who is a brilliant pianist, but often has strange notions about things.
  • Kaoruko Odagiri from Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo. Upon seeing the results of Fumio's heartbreak driven chainsaw massacre in the school hallway, she gives her friend a stern lecture... about how she should really be more careful, since blood can be so hard to wash out of your hair.
  • Elie from Rave Master. As a child, she told her father she wanted to grow up to be a bug. Perhaps because that is impossible, she settles for being the greatest dancer in all the land.
  • Commander Mars of Team Galactic in Pokémon Special, who skips, smiles, and giggles her way through all of her well intentioned villainy.
  • The just-barely-literate Ryuichi Sakuma from Gravitation, and to a lesser extent Shuichi Shindou. They both combine this with Genius Ditz, which is probably the only reason anyone puts up with their glomps, shrieking, emotional extremes, bizarre ideas, and sheer mind-blowing stupidity.
  • Katsuya Jounouchi/Joey Wheeler of Yu-Gi-Oh! is yet another shonen Big Eater of a space case, prone to many bouts of goofy behavior and painfully awkward moments. He's just, ahem, lucky that he's also street smart, and a decent out-of-the-box thinker.
    • Ryou Bakura is this as well when his evil side isn't trying to take over, particularly in the manga.
  • Code Geass has quite a few, including Covert Pervert Ninja Maid Sayoko, amnesiac Anya, and Ax Crazy Psychopathic Manchild Mao.
  • Abel Nightroad of Trinity Blood has elements of this, particularily in the manga. It's espicially more prevalent in the earlier chapters, when he's traveling to the Vatican with heroine Esther and Terminator 2-esque Tres; at one point, he opens a window in a moving train because he wants to feel the breeze. A few chapters later, while on a cruise ship, he's immediately suspicious of how nice it is and insists that something bad will happen, citing the events of fiction such as Treasure Island and Titanic, which Esther immediately Lampshades. In this case, he's right, which may qualify him as being somewhat Genre Savvy.
  • In her first few appearances, Lacus Clyne Gundam Seed was one. She seemed utterly unaware of the fact that she was on an enemy warship, and condemns Kira to an Accidental Pervert moment when he takes off her dress right in front of him. Gradually, she shifts and shows that she wasn't nearly as dumb as she looked, or really even dumb at all, and often appears very jaded (her father getting murdered by a paranoid nut probably contributed to that).
  • Miu Matsuoka from Ichigo Mashimaro.
  • Excel Saga: The main cast is an evil organization bent on city then World Domination, but do not have a concrete plan on how to go about it. The title character Excel, who is oblivious to the destruction she causes, how ineffective the group is, and how little her boss likes her. Their enemies are a gourp os disinterested civil service employees who do not care that they are saving the day, when they do not destroy a place themselves.
  • Ellis from El Cazador de la Bruja, who does things like bringing a rope to help Nadie out of a well, and then going down said well to personally hand the rope to her. Other examples including casually describing feeling the "incandescent flames of love" over a keychain and volunteering to help fend off a duo of gun-toting bounty hunters with a fork, and when she's turned down, pulling out a second fork and trying again.
    • Although the fork incident was reference back to Noir, where Kirika first picked up a little fork from her and Mirielle's 'Mad Hatter's teaparty' with Chloe to use as a weapon. Later on, she kills Chloe with it.
  • Several characters from Ranma ½ have tendencies this way, notably the Kunos
    • One of the biggest is figure skater Azusa Shiratori she's a teenage girl who acts like a five year old, she will steal anything she considers cute and will give it a pet name often a fancy sounding female name even if the person or animal she takes is a male, she will also take strange things like cooked fish, rice balls, bicycles, police sirens, and steel girders and give them names.
  • Izaya Orihara of Durarara!!. For example, he once came across three girls attempting to bully a fourth. His response to this situation is to rant incoherently at them for a few seconds before announcing that while he does not hit girls, he does rather enjoy stomping on their cellphones. He then proceeds to steal the lead girls cellphone and stomp on it while laughing maniacally for a few second before stating that stomping on cellphones in extremely boring, and is no longer his hobby. At this point, the lead girl sics her boyfriend on him, prompting Izaya to pull out his razor blade and shave the man's head, though considering his status as a Troll, the clouldcuckoolander-ish behaviour was most likely deliberatly invoked.
    • Though it has to be said, Izaya's got nothing on Walker & Erika, or Shingen.
    • And Slon beats them all with this quote. "I'm not moving an inch until I've solved the mystery of the male nipples! This is my war!!"
  • Almost every character from Galaxy Angel classifies as this in some manner, but Milfeulle Sakuraba is the biggest offender.
  • Carina Verritti of Shukufuku no Campanella, every time she fantasizes romancing, or being romanced by, protagonist Leicester Maycraft. Interesting that he usually just lets her enjoy herself over it.
  • Keiichi's father from Ah! My Goddess. He looks not unlike Andy Warhol. He shows up at Chihiro's shop and starts doing some work (having never met Chihiro before), speaks barely a word, and freaks out if a woman touches him or gets too close (the exceptions being his wife and Belldandy). When he freaks out, he silently runs to his motorcycle and races off -- he's a skilled racer, even when he's going to the local pastry shop. He also defeats Sigel and Banpei outside the temple in hand to hand combat, no mean feat for a mere mortal, just so he can get past them to say hello.
  • Mari Illustrious Makinami is an excellent example of this trope - when not fighting, that is. Inside an Eva however, she's Ax Crazy incarnate.
  • Umino Masachika from Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai (A Lollipop or a Bullet), who claims to (among other things:) Be a mermaid who has been granted human form, need the true friendship of the protagonist or she will turn into sea-foam in one month's time, and to have been sent by her father to buy a machete so that he could chop up a body in his bath-tub. Throughout the early part of the series, it is a major question for the protagonist of the series as to whether or not anything Umino says is true.
  • Katsura from "Gintama" is apparently quite skilled in avoiding the authorities while carrying out his anti-government activities. Yet, he also seriously thought Gintoki was capable of hiding in a small metal can, and at one point, dressed up as a "yellow curry ninja" in order to rescue his equally bizarre friend, Elizabeth. Any time Katsura makes an appearance, bizarre behavior is sure follow.
  • Edaniel from Bizenghast is as random as they get.

"I almost choked to death on a Dick Tracy watch once. In retrospect, I should not have eaten it box and all. But the bottom line is that communism is bad for your eyes. *beat* I mean television. I get those confused."

  • While most of the characters are weirdos at some point in this series, Noelle from Tenshi ni Narumon still stands out the most. So much that in the last episodes she manages to come off as one of the saner characters.
  • Bu-Ling from Tokyo Mew Mew is... strange. She once suggested that Zakuro was going to America to play baseball, and on another occasion thought that spinning plates wile balancing on a ball was a form of ballet.
  • Kaizo from Katteni Kaizo lives this trope, the first thing we ever see him doing is accusing old people of being aliens and trying to take over earth. Although some of his wild imaginings turn out to be correct.
  • Referenced by name in Highschool of the Dead; when Saya Takagi asks Shizuka Marikawa why she is dazing off, Shizuka replies that she is a Cloud Cuckoolander.
  • Run from A Channel. She even forgot to put on her panties to school. Her Panties!
  • Eri from Fujimura-kun Mates. Actually, everyone except Fujimura.
  • Hatsuharu Sohma from Fruits Basket will say some of the most nonsensical things.

"The teacher didn't like my hair, so now I have to get my ears pierced."

  • Fran of Katekyo Hitman Reborn seems to be this as a child.
  • Yuu Narukami (Protagonist) of Persona4 The Animation is shaping up to be quite the Cloudcuckoolander. While Yosuke and Chie are freaking out over things like being inside a TV, a bear mascot talking to them, said bear mascot being hollow inside, and Yosuke needing the bathroom, he's completely deadpan. When bitten by Teddie, he says that it's making him cry in a completely deadpan voice.
  • Erza and Juvia from Fairy Tail the former takes EVERYTHING seriously, Juvia has permanent Shipping Goggles is convinced she is in a Love Dodecahedron
  • Sora and Hajime in Magikano come off as completely nuts, but they may be the only ones who have any idea that something really strange is going on: that everyone is caught in a time loop, living the same year over and over again, and can't escape.
  • Koyuki in Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai. The reason why is expanded upon only in the Visual Novel, in the Ryuuzetsuran route.
  • Okabe Rintaro, the protagonist of Steins;Gate, likes talking to himself on the phone, rambling about weird conspiracies, pretending to be a Mad Scientist despite barely being able to create random, useless junk... he even calls himself Hououin Kyouma, as it's a much more impressive name than his actual one. He was right all the time- or at least most of it, and he even calls his future self out for not having changed in 15 years
  1. ↑ Fuuko quite likes sea slugs, so this is actually a compliment in her mind
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Cloudcuckoolander/Anime?oldid=2044252"