Perhaps best known for playing cute, sweet, gentle heroines like Chii (Chi) in Chobits, Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed, Kujou Hikari (Shiny Luminous) in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart and Maria in Hayate no Gotoku! [Hayate the Combat Butler], Suigintou is one in Tanaka Rie's evergrowing line of antagonistic, evil, and villainous roles - Morganna Mode Gone in .hack//SIGN, Tomoe Marguerite in My-Otome, Nomura (Takagi) in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Fujou Kirie in Kara no Kyoukai, Yamanobe Sayara in Mnemosyne -Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi-, Helga Neumann in Phantasy Star Portable (PSP local multiplayer RPG), Sakuya Haibara in Zero ~Gesshoku no Kamen~ (Zero ~Mask of the Lunar Eclipse~) / Fatal Frame IV (Nintendo Wii horror adventure game), etc. - securing her position as a first choice among voice actresses to portray sinister, crazy, maniacal, psychopathic, sadistic evil villains.

In episode 35 of the Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler) anime (2007-2008?), Maria briefly dons a Suigintou custume. This parodies Tanaka Rie's role as Suigintou and her penchant for cosplay (costume play). She has cosplayed or dressed up as Suigintou, one of her favorite characters, on more than one occassion.

This is in itself nothing too unusual, as a number of Hayate seiyuu have had their roles in other anime parodied in the Hayate anime.

But there is much, much more...

For the week of Monday, December 10, 2007 - Sunday, December 16, 2007, in the 156th chapter of the Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler) manga by Hata Kenjirou serialized in Weekly Shounen Sunday magazine published by Shougakukan, after getting poked in the face in bed by Nagi who is suffering from muscle pain, Maria says, "Junk ni shimasu yo" (I'll turn you into junk!").

This is Maria's version of Suigintou's famous phrase in the Rozen Maiden anime series, "Junk ni shite ageru(wa)!!" ("I'll turn you into junk!!"). Hata Kenjirou is paying tribute to Suigintou voice actress Tanaka Rie, who also voices Maria in the Hayate no Gotoku! anime.

The Rozen Maiden anime is a topic in the highly popular, long-running manga by Akimoto Osamu, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo (aka Kochikame), serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump magazine published by Shuueisha, the week of December 3, 2007 - December 9, 2007. Kochikame protagonist Ryoutsu Kankichi, aka "Ryou-san," attends a quiz show. A question at the quiz show asks who is the first doll in Rozen Maiden? The answer: Suigintou.

Many Japanese and foreign fans note that Nomura/Takagi, the mysterious, evil woman with long, silver hair who first appears in episode 17 of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai anime (2007), bears an unmistakable resemblance to Suigintou ("Ginsama") from the Rozen Maiden anime series, both in appearance and in voice. The Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) for Suigintou, Tanaka Rie, also voices Nomura/Takagi. According to a number of Japanese fans, the Higurashi staff modeled Nomura/Takagi after Suigintou and specifically cast Tanaka Rie to play her, as an homage to Suigintou (and her voice actress).

The Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i Vol. 3 Internet Radio CD, starring Tanaka Rie as Suigintou, went on sale in Japan on Wednesday, December 5, 2007.

The January 2008 issue of Animage magazine published by Tokuma Shoten, which went on sale Monday, December 10, 2007 in Japan, includes as an extra gift an Animage original edition of "Gin-sama Chronicle 'Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i'" Internet radio CD. Among other things, Animage is apparently banking on Suigintou's popularity to help sell more copies of the magazine.

Use this link to the page on the Animage official website for the January 2008 issue of Animage when the February 2008 of Animage comes out in January 2008.

(Incidentally, the Animage original edition of Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i Internet radio CD hints at a possible third season of the Rozen Maiden anime in the works. Some Japanese fans speculate that the third season will start no earlier than Fall 2008, because the director of the Rozen Maiden anime series, Matsuo Kou, will be busy with the Kure-nai anime in early 2008.)

In the official TBS Rozen Maiden Traumend character popularity poll back in February 2006, Suigintou finished in second place, behind Suiseiseki who finished in first place. Souseiseki finished in third place, followed by Shinku in fourth place.

Since Rozen Maiden Ouverture (December 2006) and Sugintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i (January 2007-), however, Suigintou, also known as Gin-sama, has surged in popularity.

According to a post on the 764th Rozen Maiden Synthesis anime thread at 2ch, an original investigation conducted by the drama CD production company (Mellow Head?) finds that, in terms of Rozen Maiden character popularity, Suigintou is now No. 1, followed by Suiseiseki at No. 2.

The Alice Election Revenge Poll, which ends New Year's Eve, Monday, December 31, 2007, 11:59:59PM Japan Time, supports the findings of the Rozen Maiden drama CD company.

Rank Character Number of Votes
01. Suigintou 3,517 votes
02. Suiseiseki 2,149 votes
03. Hinaichigo 1,514 votes
04. Shinku 1,271 votes
05. Souseiseki 1,266 votes
06. Barasuishou 833 votes
07. Shibasaki Motoharu 516 votes
08. Suzumi Tamao (Strawberry Panic!) 205 votes
09. Minamoto Chikaru (Strawberry Panic!) 202 votes
10. Kanaria 130 votes
.
.
.
There are 12,323 total votes.
(Poll results are from a short while ago.)

UPDATE: Final Alice Election Revenge Poll Results - Poll Closed on Monday, December 31, 2007, 11:59:59PM Japan Time

Rank Character Number of Votes
01. Suigintou (Ginsama) 3,786 votes
02. Suiseiseki 2,201 votes
03. Souseiseki 2,004 votes
04. Shinku 1,736 votes
05. Hinaichigo 1,522 votes
06. Barasuishou 841 votes
07. Shibasaki Motoharu 520 votes
08. Suzumi Tamao (Strawberry Panic) 206 votes
09. Minamoto Chikaru (Strawberry Panic) 202 votes
10. Kanaria 141 votes
.
.
.
There are 13,987 total votes.

Animage's Rozen Maiden Doll Ranking Poll on "Who You Want To Spend Christmas With?" also supports Suigintou as now the most popular character in Rozen Maiden.

01. Suigintou
02. Shinku
03. Suiseiseki
04. Hinaichigo
05. Souseiseki
06. Kanaria
07. Barasuishou
08. JUM (Jun) / Megu / Rozen (They're dolls?)

Japanese fans have likened Suigintou to male anime villain icons - Char Aznable in Kidou Senshi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam), Freeza (Frieza) in Dragon Ball Z, Dio Brando in Jojo no Kimyouna Bouken (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), and Raou (Raoh) in Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) - to explain her surging popularity, continuing marketability, ongoing tribute from Japanese fans and Japanese creative people in the anime and manga industries alike, and seemingly inevitable enshrinement as an anime villain icon, perhaps the first for a female character.

Because of the dearth of truly memorable, enduringly popular female villains, Japanese fans regularly compare female villains voiced by Tanaka Rie - such as Suigintou and Tomoe Marguerite in My-Otome - to male villains. And not only to male villains from anime.

After "Tanaka Rie's extraordinary acting performance" ("Tanaka Rie-san no kaien" -- Obara Masakazu, My-Otome director) as Tomoe Marguerite [and Fiar Grosse] in episode 22 of My-Otome/Mai-Otome which head writer Yoshino Hiroyuki commented, "I take my hat off to" ("Datsubou desu"), and left director Obara Masakazu in awe (see page 115 of the My-Otome Anime Perfect Guide, published by Akita Shoten, ISBN: 425313016X), some Japanese fans at 2ch likened Tomoe Marguerite to the English theatrical villain Richard III, the titular character in William Shakespeare's play Richard III.

An early 2006 entry on an English language anime blog, whose URL I can no longer find on Google, described Tomoe Marguerite as a theatrical villain.

Rozen Maiden director Matsuo Kou's initial image for Suigintou in the Rozen Maiden anime differed from the original image of Suigintou in the Rozen Maiden manga by PEACH-PIT. When auditioning for the role of Suigintou, Tanaka Rie dressed up all in black. (Going by her pictures on the Internet, Rie apparently likes to wear black clothes.) Although her image of Suigintou differed from his image of Suigintou at first, Matsuo Kou decided right then and there that Tanaka Rie is Suigintou. There were to be no rival candidate for the role.

Suigintou seems to have captured the imagination of not only Japanese fans of anime, but also of Japanese creative artists and producers of anime and manga, like no other female villain in anime has done before.

And a major reason for this is Tanaka Rie. The anime version of Suigintou is largely Tanaka Rie's interpretation of her, if Matsuo Kou is to be believed on why he cast Tanaka Rie as the black winged doll of darkness.

Or as a Japanese observer in this post on the 765th Rozen Maiden Synthesis anime thread at 2ch puts it, Suigintou "brainwashes" anime/manga creative artists and staffs into paying tribute to her the way Pink Religious Sect Founder (Pinku no Kyousosama) Lacus Clyne, another Tanaka Rie character, "brainwashes" Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, and people all over the CE Universe to do her bidding in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED DESTINY. Still another Tanaka Rie character, Kujou Hikari (Shiny Luminous) in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart, "brainwashes" Tako Cafe owner Fujita Akane into believing they are cousins.

Ever since the debut of Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED several years ago, Japanese posters at 2ch like to point out the "brainwashing" power of characters voiced by Tanaka Rie.

From late 2002 to early 2007, Lacus Clyne seemingly had also "brainwashed" tens of thousands of Japanese readers of Newtype Japan, Animage, and Animedia into voting for her as the most popular female anime character, dominating annual popularity polls in those magazines like no other female character has done in history.

Tanaka Rie characters do seem to have a way with "brainwashing" Japanese fans into voting them No. 1 in character popularity polls, such as Futami Eriko in the KimiKiss game and Kirijou Mitsuru in the Persona 3 game.