Anime Anime Global

Oct. 30 is 「First Love Day」

The same day back in 1896, is the day a great literary writer of the Meiji period, Shimazaki Touson, released his first love poem, and later established Nakadanasou in Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, an inn which is related to him. This poetry that begins with the line 「You had swept back your bangs for the first time」 is still loved to this day even after 100 years.

There are loads of attractive characters in anime that you might potentially fall in love with. So it's not really uncommon for people to have their first love to be anime characters. Especially the characters that we loved back when we were children are particularly memorable, and will leave a special impression even after we grow up.

That's why Anime!Anime! decided to conduct a reader survey asking 「Which character is your first love?」 continuing from last year. During the survey period from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25, 220 responses in total were received. The male-female ratio is about 30% for men and about 70% for women. The age group was about 45% for those under 19 years old and about 30% for those in their 20s, mainly young people.

In this article, we will present the results of the male characters.

■The top goes to Doi Hansuke from 『Nintama』 Falling for his kindness！
1st place goes to Doi Hansuke from 『Nintama Rantarou』. The support rate was about 5%.
Comments for Doi, a teacher in charge of the first years such as 「I was attracted by his smile and kindness when I was young, which made me instantly fell in love!」, 「Doi-sensei was kind and cool! “And that voice of his … everything about him is perfect」 and 「I like everything about Doi-sensei, like his kindness and how he doesn't eat kneaded food.」. Votes were received from a wide range of people, from teens to those in their 40s because of its popularity after broadcasting for over 15 years.

2nd place goes to Okita Sougo from 『Gintama』 and Todoroki Shoto from 『My Hero Academia』, both with the same amount of votes. The support rate was about 3%.
Comments for Okita Sougo, 「I like how he's strong and cool but a sadist at the same time！」 gaining popularity with his sadist trait.「I like his personality gap when he's with her older sister, Mitsuba」and「Because he cares about his commander, Kondo（Isao）-san」, his kind side sometimes is also one of his charms.
For Todoroki Shoto, 「The gap of where he seems cool and collected on the outside、but actually has a burning admiration towards heroes is what made me fell for him！」, he also had a strong belief as well.

■Introducing the other comments!!
Li Syaoran from 『Cardcaptor Sakuura』, with comments like 「Sometimes strict and sometimes gentle. Always thinking of others, but clumsy when it comes to love, his cuteness when his honest feelings will always show on his face…. I love them all」

Saotome Ranma from 『Ranma 1/2』, with comments such as 「Fell in love at first glace when I was a child! An ideal boy who is cool, gentle and strong. I still love him now!!」 and 「He's the only boy who suits braids in a china dress！」。

Seravy from 『Akazukin Chacha』 with comments 「I was an elementary school student when I watch this anime. Seravy's greatness and the absolute peaceful vibe he gives off but I remembered there was a contradiction that crumbles his personality, his perverted tendencies」.
Comments for the main protagonist of an old popular work, Kodai Susumu from 『Space Battleship Yamato』 like 「I only have my yearning for him back when I was a junior high student 40 years ago. I love his unwavering strength even when he messed up a mission, and how he shows his weak side sometimes」.

The top 3 were characters from anime that were on air from evening till night, which were the easiest time for most children to watch. There are a lot of people who fell in love with characters when they watch TV right after school by chance.
In this survey, the votes were in scrambles, with 14 characters in the 12th place. The results for the female characters edition are also announced. That concludes the results or the male character edition, please look forward to the results which became a warzone as well!

■Top 20 Ranking
[Which anime character is your first love？ Male Character Edition 2019 Edition]
1st Doi Hansuke 『Nintama Rantarou』
2nd Okita Sougo 『Gintama』
2nd Todoroki Shoto 『My Hero Academia』
4th Kirito 『Sword Art Online』
4th Li Syaoran 『Cardcaptor Sakura』
6th Akashi Seijurou 『Kuroko's Basketball』
6th Akabane Karuma 『Assassination Classroom』
6th Izumi Izzy 『Digimon Adventure』
6th Kinniku Suguru『Kinnikuman』
6th Kurama 『Yuu Yuu Hakusho』
6th Sakata Gintoki 『Gintama』
12th Akai Shuichi 『Detective Conan』
12th Inuyasha 『Inuyasha』
12th Uzumaki Naruto 『NARUTO』
12th Uchiha Itachi 『NARUTO』
12th Kaitou Kid 『Detective Conan』 『Magic Kaito』
12th Saotama Ranma 『Ranma 1/2』
12th Tsukishima Kei 『Haikyuu!!』
12th Nakahara Chuya 『Bungou Stray Dogs』
12th Natsume Takashi 『Natsume's Book of Friends』
12th Matsuno Osomatsu 『Osomatsu-san』
12th Hattori Heiji 『Detective Conan』
12th Hibari Kyoya 『Home Tutor Hitman REBORN!』
12th Eugeo 『Sword Art Online』
12th Roronoa Zoro 『One Piece』

（Survey period：Oct. 18 ～ Oct. 25, 2019）