Cagalli Yula Athha - Reception

Reception

Cagalli's character has been very popular in Japan; she has appeared various on the popularity polls in Anime Grand Prix as one of the best female anime characters. In 2002, she came in second, and later went fourth in 2003. She was second in both the 27th and 28th, and remained fourth in the 29th. In a Newtype poll, Cagalli was voted as the most popular female anime character from the 2000's. Cagalli was also the winner in a Sunrise poll that asked fans what female character from Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny would they want to see in swimsuit. She was also first in another that asked what female characters from the Gundam franchise would they want to see in a wedding dress. Two other polls from the same site asked fans what was the most memorable characters from Gundam SEED and from Gundam SEED Destiny; Cagalli was fourth in both of them.

Publications for manga, anime and other media have commented on Cagalli's character, giving generally positive response. In a review by Mania Entertainment writer Kim Wolstenholme, Cagalli was described with praise as a strong female character rather than a "wishy-washy character" seen in other anime series. He also liked her involvement in Gundam SEED following her short appearance in the series' first episode. A similar comment was made by Ross Liversidge from UK Anime Network who praised Cagalli's return in the series due to the fact the importance from her role was found "unexpected". Moreover, Liversidge favorited the episodes in which Cagalli and Athrun meet and fight for the first time, as it also developed their characters as the two talked. Writing for Mania, Chris Beveridge also liked Cagalli's involvement in the series citing her experience in combat as well as a romantic triangle that appeared to be between her, Kira and Flay Allster. In a later episode, Wolstenholme found that Cagalli's character had become more mature when she confronts Athrun about the reasons to kill somebody following her father's teachings, citing it as a strong quiet moments from the series. Reviewing the manga of Gundam SEED Destiny Julie Gray from Comic Book Bin praised Cagalli's romantical relationship with Athrun featured in the volume, emphasizing how integral is it to the story and pointing as the romantical theme brought by the series. Vanessa Morley's work as Cagalli's English voice actress was found to be "satisfyingly tomboyish" by Anime News Network writer Theron Martin despite noting that her Japanese voice actress, Naomi Shindō, portrayed more manly.