Anime Anime Global

Oct. 19 is Ikumen’ day. (Iku+men : men who help their wives with child-rearing and other domestic duties)

Coming from the word-play ‘Tou-san (10) Ikuji(19)’*, it was established in 2011. ‘Ikumen of The Year’, giving an award to famous people that enjoy child care, is held every year.

*’父 and 10′ and ‘育 and 19′ have the same sound in Japanese. 父さん(Tou-san) means father, and 育児(Ikuji) means child‐rearing.

A lot of father characters appear in anime. The anime features the scenes where they cook, go pick up their kids from nursery school or kindergarten, and play with their kids. On the other hand, some dad characters support their kids from a distance even though they cannot stay together.
Who do the readers think is the “best father” among anime characters?

Here, at Anime!Anime!, we conducted a readers’ survey titled ‘Who is the “best father” among anime characters?’ The survey was conducted from Oct. 7 to Oct. 14, and we received 102 answers. The male-to-female ratio was about 30% to 70%, which means that the female readers accounted for a large percentage. About 50% of the readers were minors, 30% were in their twenties, which means that the young readers accounted for a large percentage.

■Nohara Hiroshi The father in Kasukabe was ranked the top!
The 1st place
The 1st place went to Nohara Hiroshi in “Crayon Shin-chan” with about 25% support ratings.

Comments have arrived for Hiroshi who supports the Nohara family, which admire his kindness. ‘He is nice, and thoughtful about his family. He always spends time with his kids on weekends.’ ‘He tries to stand at the kids’ eye level, and never scolds them without listening to them.’
Comments like, ‘His feet smell really bad, but he looks great when he is working for his family.’, and ‘He is always caring about his family. He is the king of dads among all the anime ‘, show his high popularity.

The 2nd place
The 2nd place went to Kinomoto Fujitaka in “Cardcaptor Sakura” with about 12% support ratings.

Fujitaka is the father of the protagonist Sakura. He is calm, and always speaks in a polite way. He is also good at cooking, and sometimes appears in an apron. Some readers voted for him, saying ‘He is nice, and he can take care of the housework perfectly…He is an ideal father with no doubt!’

The 3rd place
The 3rd place went to Ishigami Byakuya in “Dr.STONE” with about 6% support ratings.

Ishigami Byakuya is the father of the protagonist Senku. In the anime, he doesn’t see Senku face to face, but he is playing a very important role that influences the story. The readers commented like, ‘He truly trusts Senku, which is great.’ and ‘He always remembers Senku. He is the very best father.’ Some readers commented that he/she was moved to watch the final episode of the 1st season.

■Other comments are below.
For Mori Kogoro “Detective Conan”.
‘He is a heavy drinker, and womanizer, which makes him look irresponsible as a father, but he is a good father that does whatever he can to help Ran in case of an emergency! No matter what he says, he is nice to a freeloader Conan as well.’

For Medama-oyaji in “GeGeGe no Kitaro”.
‘He was reborn as his own eyeball, but still has a great love for his son. He is a nice father!’

For Gru in ‘Despicable Me’ series.
‘He was villainous before, but is a good father now that does whatever he can for his three daughters. When they are in a tough situation, he doesn’t hesitate to risk his life to protect them. He is a great father.’

For Goto Kakushi in “Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition”.
Some reader voted for a title that was broadcast in 2020, saying ‘He is caring about Hime-chan more than anyone while he keeps a secret from her. He is nice father! I was moved by the final episode.’

In this survey, some fathers are reliable in case of emergency, and others are always supporting a protagonist.
The character like Sakata Gintoki in “Gintama” are ranked in top 20 as he is reliable just as a real father. Please check out the entire ranking.

■Ranking Top 20
1. Nohara Hiroshi “Crayon Shin-chan”
2. Kinomoto Fujitaka “Cardcaptor Sakura”
3. Ishigami Byakuya “Dr.STONE”
4. Mori Kogoro “Detective Conan”
5. Uzumaki Naruto “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations”
5. Umibouzu “Gintama”
5. Kudo Yusaku “Detective Conan”
5. Goto Kakushi “Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition”
9. Takanashi Otoharu “Idolish7”
9. Kafu Takahiro “Is the Order a Rabbit?”
9. Sakata Gintoki “Gintama”
9. Namikaze Minato “Naruto”
9. Fuguta Masuo “Sazae-san”
9. Honoka’s father “Love Live!”

(Survey Period was from Oct. 7 to Oct. 14, 2020.)