Anime Anime Global

Aug. 13 is Left Handers Day.

The Left-Handers Club in the U.K. set this day to call on various manufacturers to create products that can be used safely by left-handed people. Aug. 13 is the birthday of the advocate.

It is said that roughly 10% of the world population are left-handed. There are many left-handed characters in anime, and they leave strong impressions like having an advantage in a sport or being gifted than the other characters. The question is, who is the most popular among them?

Here at Anime!Anime!, we brought back the survey from 2 years ago asking, “Who’s Your Favorite Left-Handed Character?” We received 134 votes during the voting period from July 29 to Aug. 5.
The voters were mainly female with the gender ratio at 30% male to 70% female, and the age range was on the younger side with 45% being under 19 and 25% being in their 20s.

■The left-handed sniper Akai from “Conan” took the top!
1st Place
1st place was taken by Akai Shuuichi from “Detective Conan” with roughly 25% of the vote, keeping the top position from the last survey.

Just as the comment, “Ikeda Shuuchi-san’s voice adds to the dandy and cool character he is!” said, Akai, the top-notch sniper of the FBI, is a popular character that appears a lot in Anime!Anime! surveys.
The line by Amuro Tooru, “It’s just that the man I hate so much that I want to kill is a lefty,” left a strong image of Akai being left-handed.
It has been announced that he will appear in the 2021 film “Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet”. The results show how fans have high expectations for the film.

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Ushijima Wakatoshi from “Haikyuu!!” with 15%. He moved up from 6th place in the last survey.

Ushijima Wakatoshi is the captain of the Shiratorizawa Academy volleyball team. The protagonists faced him in the 3rd season of the TV anime “Karasuno High School VS Shiratorizawa Academy”.
There were comments from readers referring to him as “The Threat of ‘Left'”, which was the title of season 3 episode 2.
“The super ace of ‘Haikyuu!!’, born on Left Handers Day. There’s no one better representing this day than him,” is one of the many comments pointing out that he was born on Aug. 13.

3rd Place
3rd place was a tie between Akiyama Mio from “K-On!” and Midorima Shintarou from “Kuroko’s Basketball”.

“You can instantly see that she is left-handed, since the left-handed base is pointing the other direction,” was for Akiyama Mio, and “That three-point shot from his left hand is so cool!” was a comment for Midorima Shintarou.

A bassist and basketball player are quite different, but their hands that made it on the screen seems to have left a strong impression on many fans.

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Echizen Ryoma from “The Prince of Tennis”, “I love the scene where he switches his racket from his right hand to left during the match! It’s where his serious switch flips on.”
For Graham Aker from “Mobile Suit Gundam 00”, “His distinct character stands out even more because of his irregular setting of being left-handed.”

For Sawamura Eijun from “Ace of Diamond”, “The lefty ace of Seidou High School. His hard work to overcome yips and many other obstacles makes me want to smile.”
For Shigeno Gorou from “Major”, another pitcher character, “He used to be right-handed, but due to injuring his right shoulder, he becomes a lefty. I love how he became a world-renowned lefty player.”

Various characters made the list in this survey, from snipers and sports players to ninjas and pilots. There was even a vote for Cobra from the “Space Adventure Cobra” series, a character that has a weapon for his left arm.

■Overall Ranking
[Who’s Your Favorite Left-Handed Character? 2020 Edition]
1. Akai Shuuichi “Detective Conan”
2. Ushijima Wakatoshi “Haikyuu!!”
3. Akiyama Mio “K-On!”
3. Midorima Shintarou “Kuroko’s Basketball”
5. Uchiha Sasuke “NARUTO”
5. Echizen Ryoma “The Prince of Tennis”
5. Graham Aker “Mobile Suit Gundam 00”
5. Saitou Hajime “Hakuouki”
5. Gin “Detective Conan”
10. Tezuka Kunimitsu “The Prince of Tennis”
11. Norman “The Promised Neverland”
12. Shigeno Gorou “Major”
13. Sawamura Eijun “Ace of Diamond”
14. Katakura Kojuurou “Sengoku Basara”
14. Cobra “Space Adventure Cobra”
14. Takamachi Nanoha “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha”
14. Meliodas “The Seven Deadly Sins”

(Voting Period: July 29 to Aug. 5, 2020)