Sometimes you have a character with normal straight or curly hair, but occasionally those curls are taken to the next level. Drill hair is a staple hair style in anime. It’s the cute girl with big poofy circular curls that are almost as long as their entire bodies, or even the short fluffy ones that help make their faces even cuter. Drills are one of my favorite anime hairstyles that are unfortunately difficult to replicate in real life. But generally, if you have the style, you’ve probably shot yourself up on my waifu list a little faster than other characters. And if you’re looking for a complete list of anime girls with iconic drill hairstyles, here’s our picks for these drill-haired cuties!
1. Ravel Phenex
Anime: High School DxD First up on the list had to be one who lived up to the noble drills archetype. Ravel is the daughter of a lord, after all. And despite her nobility, much like many of the other cast of DxD, she’s a devil, though she’s pure blooded. That kind of lineage has caused her to be aggressive and haughty, thinking she’s the most skilled person in the room, but later does soften up as she gets to know the rest of the cast.
2. Montmorency
Anime: The Familiar of Zero Naturally talented in water magic, Montmorency x2 is one of Louise’s rivals in a sense, being one of the people who does mock her when she fails. Even with her somewhat teasing and sometimes mean spirited behavior, she’s leagues better than her womanizing boyfriend. She’s a noble who cares a lot about her name and is talented in music & magic. Montmorency is probably my best girl in the show.
3. Miharu Shimizu
Anime: Baka and Test Changing up the normally blonde drills, here we have Miharu sporting some cute orange ones instead. She’s a lovestruck girl who’s unfortunately in love with one of the protagonist’s love interests, which we all know never ends well for the side character. Despite that she’s very dedicated to being a good partner, though she may go a bit far with her jealousy… usually resulting in her attacking poor, dumb, Yoshii.
4. Elizabeth Midford
Anime: Black Butler Being probably one of the most overtly doll-like in appearance, Elizabeth has some very complicated looking drills that look really cute on her. But despite her very cutesy appearance, she’s also an extremely awesome swordsman, even being acknowledged as a talented fighter by Ciel. I always love when a character doesn’t let their appearance dictate their talents in a fight. She may look like an easy target on the outside, but she hides the spirit of a fighter.
5. Celestia Ludenberg
Anime: Danganronpa Considering Danganronpa is a mystery show, you may want to skip past this one to avoid spoilers. So just to be safe: spoiler warning for this one! Now that you’ve committed or not, Celestia is cunning. She’s frighteningly smart and knows how to lie and manipulate anyone that she wants to be under her thumb. It’s actually impressive to see just how well she’s able to play everyone during her case, even going so far as to faking an assault on her to throw others off. She’s a smart and cunning gothic lolita with some giant black drills that help her deceptive personality – and make her one of the most dangerous players in the Killing Games.
6. Mami Tomoe
Anime: Madoka Magica Coming from that Magical Girl show, Mami is already a very cool character – much like everyone else in the series. This cute yellow themed magical girl has got just about every aesthetic that I personally like in a magical girl (with yellow being my favorite color), so she was an easy favorite for me. Plus she fights with guns and ribbons that she uses to slice things up, which is just so cool aesthetically. She’s kind, cheerful, and has my favorite weapon set in the group.
7. Beatrice
Anime: Re:Zero This sassy little girl does not pull any punches whenever she’s on screen, not afraid to insult Subaru whenever she believes he’s acting foolishly. Though despite her rough exterior, she has a heart and brain as big as her regal drills. Even through the insults she still seems to enjoy Subaru’s company when he shows up. But she’s a soft hearted girl at her core, and a very talented and smart keeper of the library in the Roswaal mansion.
8. Selnia Iori Flameheart
Anime: Ladies Versus Butlers Right away, my absolute favorite thing about this character is her hair. And not just because they’re some big anime drills – but because they actually spin around when she’s angry. I’m genuinely surprised more shows don’t use this kind of visual gag with characters like this, but I digress. She’s a cute. And in my opinion she’s an underused tsundere – also coming from a noble family much like many others on this list. But most importantly? She has one of the best visual gags that I’ve ever seen.
9. Nui Harime
Anime: Kill la Kill Nui is easily one of the most deceptive appearances on this list – because she is an absolute monster, both morally and physically. She’s frighteningly talented at fighting, and so fast that she puts up a crazy difficult fight for both Ryuko and Satsuki when she first shows up. She has very little mercy for people that she fights with, using both one of the scissor blades, as well as her iconic parasol, and is one of Ragyo’s most deadly weapons.
10. Sherry Belmont
Anime: Zatch Bell OK so she’s not really a villain, but one of the best antagonists in the show. Sherry actually shows up very early on in the show and absolutely decimates Kiyo and Zatch/Gash. She lets Zatch continue on living though, as she realizes just how deep of a bond that the two have, and promises that they’ll fight again later. Despite many of the more sinister enemies we see in this anime, it’s very clear that Sherry is the endgame. It’s known almost from the start of the show that the final showdown will be between her and Kiyo.
11. Tenjōin Saki
Anime: To Love Ru If Mean Girls was an anime character, Saki would be one of the all-time best representations of that kind of character. And I’m absolutely here for it. Saki is the kind of character that will make it known as soon as you meet her that she’s the top girl in the school, and you need to remember it if you want to be on her good side. She also has one of my favorite renditions of that classic anime rich girl laugh. I just love characters who know who they are as much as her, and I can’t help but love her so much.
12. Miyako Gotokuji
Anime: Power Puff Girls Z Bubbles was always my favorite of the Power Puff Girls. And when I found out there was a magical girl anime about them that was made in Japan, I was already sold. Miyako or “Rolling Bubbles” actually sports a pair of short drills, instead of the usually longer ones, which generally seems to be tied to more kind personalities. She’s not haughty, and is far more of a cutesy and ditzy girl. But despite that she has a lot of maturity for her age – probably due to her having to act as a maternal figure so young.
13. Ymir
Anime: Queen’s Blade A royal daughter of the Dwarf King, Ymir has a giant axe that lets you immediately know what she’s all about. She’s a small girl who can and will hit you like a truck. She may dress cutely, oftentimes donning a puffy dress, it doesn’t stop her from swinging around that axe with as much talent as a berserker. She likes to compete, she likes you to know how good she is, and despite her fighting talent, she can revert back to her more childish tendencies. But she is not to be messed with.
14. Domino
Anime: Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns Here’s a character that I really wish would come back at some point in the anime, but I know that’s just about a lost cause. Still, I love Domino’s look and personality. She’s an agent of Team Rocket, who’s actually quite high up in the chain of command, only really answering to Giovanni directly. She’s a tough girl who’s great at infiltration and combat (not even using Pokémon). And while it is limited, she does have a conscience, as she’s one of the people who stops Mewtwo from dying at her boss’ hands. As much as I love Jesse and James, sometimes it’s just nice to see a more competent member of Team Rocket, you know?
15. Hermione
Anime: Romeo X Juliet Hermione (no not that one) was actually Romeo’s original fiancé, as she was arranged to marry him at the beginning and even really wanted to do it. The poor girl unfortunately got shown up by the age old story working against her, and Juliet eventually taking Romeo away. It’s unfortunate too, because Hermione was far more of a cute character who unfortunately was never able to get out much during her youth – causing her to be a lot more sheltered than many. But even when Romeo and Juliet are together, she’s happy for them, instead of being jealous. It’s okay Hermione. You’ll find your partner one day!
16. Biscuit Kreuger
Anime: Hunter x Hunter Biscuit is a girl who knows just how cute she is. She uses her looks to the best of her abilities in her role as a hunter. Despite her looks though, she’s actually in her 50s, making good use of a disguise to often throw people off of their game. She’s very cunning, although one of her biggest downfalls is compliments. When people compliment her then she’s ready to swing to their side.
17. Nate Mitotsudaira
Anime: Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere These aren’t drills. These are industrial sized diggers attached to this girl’s head. And I absolutely love this aesthetic for her. Nate is a respectful knight with an absolute regal appearance, and she has a big bonus going for me as well, considering she’s a half-werewolf. Yeah I’m a big fan of the shapeshifting puppers. She also has one of the biggest designs in this entire list, and probably one of my own personal favorites.
18. Miyuki Haruno Azuki
Anime: Bakuman Miyuki is a girl who was unfortunately unable to tell the person that she loved her confession, causing her to go on to marry someone else. Despite this, Miyuki is a very supportive mother with a very beautiful and youthful appearance, sporting some cute ringlets that made her instantly win my heart. Absolutely adorable and well worth the addition to this list.
19. Ame-warashi
Anime: xxxHolic Here’s another girl like Celestia who dons the more gothic lolita aesthetic, rather than the more brightly colored doll-like appearances of many others on this list. She’s actually a water sprite who’s not really a huge fan of humans in general. And she constantly carries around an umbrella, assumedly to fit the aesthetic if it rains, or to block her vision of people. She may be a short-tempered girl – but she has a lot of style to show off whenever she shows up.
20. Mileina Vashti
Anime: Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Here we have the only one with purely brown drills, which is a nice change of pace from the usual blonde bombshells. Mileina is a very high energy girl who loves tinkering with all sorts of technology – really anything that has to do with the gundams. She also holds a personality much different than everyone else in her field, actually showing off a happy personality that shines even during some of the darkest situations in the series.
