And of course, behind those awesome student councils are iconic presidents prepared to lay down the school law hard on antics that cross over the line. Thankfully, a couple of anime have unforgettable student council presidents that just make fans wish they had these same students in their own schools.
8 Satsuki Kiryuin (Kill La Kill)
It’s one thing for a student council president to be in charge of student affairs and another entirely to rule them with an iron fist. Such is the status of Satsuki Kiryuin of Kill La Kill, the fearsome student council president of Honnouji Academy which she rules with utter pride, conviction, and unwavering passion. As with other students, Satsuki also wears a physically-enhancing Goku Uniform, but also the sentient fibers of the Kamui, allowing her to enhance her abilities even further.
In Kill La Kill, Satsuki serves as the main antagonist of its first half and its deuteragonist in the second. Whereas Ryuko Matoi has a more wild approach to combat, Satsuki serves as her perfect rival in terms of cunning, intelligence, and a more tactical approach to combat. A master swordsman and charismatic leader in her own right, Satsuki is easily an admirable and terrifying leader.
7 Misaki Ayuzawa (Maid Sama!)
Perhaps the most iconic example of a student council president in anime, Misaki Ayuzawa of Maid Sama! is the leader of the student body of Seika High, once known for its unruly population of rowdy male students, has become a co-ed school. Misaki aims to make Seika High a safer space for female students, reflected in her efforts to engage the athletics and academics department for her platforms.
Despite her reputation for being strict and being a boy-hater, Misaki is secretly working shifts as a maid in a cafe to help her sick mother and pay off her father’s debt. Things get heated when popular boy Takumi Usui discovers her secret - and such begins their awkward friendship. It’s Misaki’s rather “realistic” situation in life that makes her admirable, especially her having shared passions not just in student affairs but bettering her state of life.
6 Medaka Kurokami (Medaka Box)
In the world of Medaka Box, protagonist Medaka Kurokami is fulfilling her role as Hakoniwa Academy’s student council president in a solo council in rather unconventional ways, thanks in part to her best friend Zenkichi Hitoyoshi. When she discovers that she’s an “Abnormal” with supernatural abilities, Medaka also strives to stop an evil experiment called the Flask Plan that will force powerless “Normals” to have supernatural abilities.
Unlike student council presidents in anime, Medaka stars in her own show. And it’s her unique brand of adventurousness, hopefulness, and striving for success that makes her such a charismatic and admirable character. Not to mention, her Abnormality allows her to copy the powers of others!
5 Kanade Tachibana (Angel Beats)
Another interesting approach to the student council president is represented by Angel, or Kanade Tachibana, of Angel Beats. In the anime, souls are sent to limbo in the form of a high school in order to overcome challenges to prepare them for reincarnation, and is the setting where amnesiac Yuzuru Otonashi ends up in. He meets Yuri Nakamura, a girl who invites him to the Afterlife Battlefront to rebel against God, who they blame for their fate, and His emissary, the student council president called Angel.
Being tasked to suppress disruptive activities at school, Kanade is immediately a force against the Afterlife Battalion. However, Kanade’s true nature is that of helping others overcome their regrets and finally move on and reincarnate, something her blunt and rather cold personality doesn’t immediately show.
4 Milly Ashford (Code Geass)
In the alternate timeline of Code Geass, the Holy Britannian Empire has conquered much of the known world as one of its three main power blocs. With Japan now called Area 11, exiled prince Lelouch vi Britannia has donned a masked alter ego known as Zero and has begun a rebellion against the Empire, using his supernatural Geass to force anyone looking at his eyes to bend to his will. But when he’s not Zero, Lelouch is a mere student at the mercy of the whims of Milly Ashford.
Throughout Code Geass, Milly serves as the source of comic relief situations in the series. With her word being “law” at school, Milly can dictate what events can happen and when certain festivals begin or end, essentially making her a way for lighthearted situations in the series. However, what perhaps adds to Milly’s “power” as a student council president is her status, being secretly the daughter of a noble, making her the closest to Lelouch in terms of royal status.
3 Shizuru Fujino (Mai-Hime)
When Mai Tokiha transfers to Fuka Academy, she and other students learn that they are HiMEs, girls possessing magical powers that can manifest solid objects from photons. Mai, like others, can manifest Elements that serve as their primary implements, while their Children are creatures they manifest in battle. Mai and her other friends are entrusted with saving the world against monstrous Orphans, and Mai-HiME shows her journey towards growth and learning the true purpose of their creation.
Lucky for them, they have another HiME as their student council president. Shizuru Fujino begins as a mere student representative, and is revealed as another HiME like Mai and her friends. Throughout the anime, she wants nothing but to keep her fellow students safe, which she consistently does as the student’s representative to the authorities of the school.
2 Nao Tomori (Charlotte)
In the world of Charlotte, a meteor called Charlotte passes Earth every 75 years and releases dust that causes a number of preadolescent children to manifest powers during puberty. One such teenager is Yuu Otosaka who gets the power to possess someone for five seconds, with Charlotte starting when he’s forced to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy by Nao Tomori, its student council president who can turn invisible to a specific target.
Despite her abilities being rather mediocre, Nao invites Yuu to join her student council, which aims to not just have other ability-users enroll in their school but also warn them not to misuse their powers. While this is a rather “ordinary” goal compared to other student council presidents, Nao putting the needs of others over her own makes her quite admirable.
1 The F4 (Boys Over Flowers)
It’s practically another level of power entirely when a student council is deemed useless by a group of students with more influence at school. Unlike other shoujo series, it’s perhaps Boys Over Flowers that gained critical acclaim outside Japan, having spawned various adaptations throughout the years. This is precisely because of its comedic yet endearing approach to drama, that of ordinary yet hard-headed schoolgirl Tsukushi Makino being entangled with the F4 of the Eitoku Academy.
Whereas other rich students simply have influence at school, the wealth of the families of the F4 - Tsukasa Domyoji, Rui Hanazawa, Akira Mimasaka, and Sojiro Nishikado - may essentially render Eitoku’s student council useless. It’s established throughout the series that the F4 has total control over the school, making their “de facto” informal student council status more powerful compared to other “elected” council presidents.
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