Anime Anime Global

Oct. 4 is “Angel’s Day”.

The underwear manufacturer Triumph, known for their angel bras, established the day as a play on the Japanese word for angel, “天使 (Tenshi)” (10=ten, 4=shi).

There are many angel characters in anime. Some come to the human world to train, some are fallen angels who were banished for doing wrong, and some are human but have a beautiful voice of an angel.

We at Anime!Anime! took a readers’ survey asking, “Who’s the First ‘Angel’ Anime Character that Comes to Your Mind?”. 162 votes were received during the voting period from Sep. 18 to Sep. 25.
There were more female voters with a gender ratio of 35% male to 65% female, and the age range was on the younger side with 50% being under 19 and 30% being in their 20s.

■A variety of characters, true angels to idols, made the list!
1st Place
Angel/Tachibana Kanade from “Angel Beats!” topped the list with roughly 14% of the votes.

She received comments such as, “The members of the Afterlife Battlefront call her Angel, and her looks and voice are so cute,” “The gap between being called Angel in the first half and appearing as the enemy in the second half was very interesting. Her appearance with wings in the second half made her really look like a beautiful angel,” and “Her voice by Hanazawa Kana-san was just like an angel!”. Appearing as an opposing character to the protagonist while having an angelic look left a strong impression on the fans.

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Tenma Gabriel White from “Gabriel DropOut” with roughly 7% of the votes.

Gabriel graduated from the angel school and came to the human world. She was popular for being tainted by human culture, receiving comments such as, “I like how she became addicted to online games, making her different from any other angel character”, and “I love how she was super-cute at the beginning but becomes the perfect example of a fallen angel”. The comment “There’s no other character that best represents a no-good angel”, shows how fans could relate to her sloppiness.

3rd Place
3rd place went to Shiratama Mikan from “PriPara” with only a few votes shy from 2nd place.

Shiratama Mikan is active as an angelic idol. Many fans fell for her cute charm, saying, “Her costume has angel wings all over and she ends her sentences with ‘-gel’. She is angelic both on the inside and outside”, and “She’s so cute hanging out with the devilish idol Aroma”. There was also a comment, “Because she was born on Oct. 4!” pointing out that she was born on Angel’s day.

■Here are comments for some other characters!
For Emilia from “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”, “Her whitish silver hair and gentle personality are as if an angel came down to earth. There’s even the word EMT (Emilia-tan Maji Tenshi)”.
For Shirosaki Hana from “Wataten!: An Angel Flew Down to Me”, “How she is easily lured with snacks and looks so happy when she gets them is so cute that it soothes my heart”.

For Yazawa Niko from “Love Live!”, “Niko wearing the special costume with angelic wings at the end of Season 2 Episode 4 left a strong impression on me”.
There was even votes for a male character, Licht Jekylland Todoroki from “Servamp”, “He proclaims he’s an angel in his signature phrase ‘Because I’m an angel,’ and he has an impressing backpack with angelic wings!”

Not only actual angels but also lovable and eccentric characters made the list in this survey. The list was a collection of characters that make you feel peaceful just by being there.

■Top 20
[Who’s the First “Angel” Anime Character that Comes to Your Mind? ]
1. Angel “Angel Beats!”
2. Gabriel “Gabriel DropOut”
3. Shiratama Mikan “PriPara”
4. Emilia “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
5. Crimvael “Interspecies Reviewers”
5. Matsuno Juushimatsu “Mr. Osomatsu”
7. Tanaka Youko “Idol Angel Yokoso Yoko”
7. Tsushima Yoshiko “Love Live! Sunshine!!”
9. Ikaros “Heaven’s Lost Property”
9. Elizabeth “The Seven Deadly Sins”
9. Kujou Ten “Idolish7”
9. Collette Brunel “Tales of Symphonia The Animation”
9. Shirosaki Hana “Wataten!: An Angel Flew Down to Me”
9. Teruhashi Kokomi “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.”
15. Azumaya Junta “Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu.”
15. Angemon “Digimon Adventures”
15. Kagura “Gintama”
15. Platelet “Cells at Work!”
15. Koizumi Hanayo “Love Live!”
15. Nagisa Kaworu “Neon Genesis Evangelion”
15. Nanase Riku “Idolish7”
15. Hyakuya Yuuichirou “Seraph of the End”
15. Filo “The Rising of the Shield Hero”
15. Pekola “Dropkick on My Devil!”
15. Licht Jekylland Todoroki “Servamp”

(Voting Period: Sep. 18 to Sep. 25, 2020)