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December 1 is “Iron Anniversary”.

On the same day in 1857, it was the first anniversary of Japan’s successful steelmaking with a Western-style blast furnace.

There are many characters in anime and games associated with iron. There are various ways of showing it, such as make them dealing with iron weapons like chains and hammers, wearing heavy armor, boasting a body like steel, and having related to iron names.

Here at Anime! Anime!, we conducted a reader survey entitled “Who do you think is an ‘iron’ character?” We received responses from 97 people during the survey period from November 16 to November 23. The male-female ratio is about 40% for males and about 60% for females. About 50% of the age group were minors, and about 30% were in their 20s.

■ Topping the list is Al from “Fullmetal Alchemist”. Overseas heroes are also ranked in
1st place
1st place goes to Alphonse Elric from “Fullmetal Alchemist” with an approval rating of 20%.

Readers commented, “He lost his entire body as a result of human alchemy, and usually looks like iron armor carrying a soul. Contrary to its rugged appearance, it has a gentle personality, which is an interesting gap, and Kugimiya Rie’s voice is also very cute.”, and “This is the character that came to my mind first. Even though he is a younger brother, I like the fact that he is more calm and mature than his brother Ed.” This character is often mistaken for Ed, who has the nickname of “Fullmetal Alchemist” because his whole body looks like armor.

2nd place
2nd place goes to Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from “My Hero Academia” with an approval rating of 15%.

Many fans were attracted by the outstanding name, which is impossible to forget, “I don’t think there is any other character who has the word “Tetsu” (*”iron” in Japanese) in his name four times.”, and “Only a few names are so memorable like this one. When I heard about iron characters, he came to my mind first.”
The character’s ability to turn his skin into steel according to his name also left an impression on the readers, “Since his special skill is steel, ‘iron’ for me is Tetsu-kun!”, and “As this name suggests, the can turn his entire body into iron. Since the strength is proportional to the iron content in the body, I am worried about his usual eating habits.”

3rd place
3rd place goes to Gajeel Redfox from “Fairy Tail” with an approval rating of 12%.

Readers commented about the character with an ability to control metal, “He is the iron dragon slayer who turns his body into iron, puts out iron from his mouth, and eats iron.” You can clearly see that he is the iron character from the jagged hairstyle and the piercing on the entire face.

Characters with similar abilities ranked 2nd and 3rd.

■ Let’s introduce other comments!

About Frankie from “One Piece”, “In the beginning, he was human-like, but now he’s almost a robot!”
About Hoshino Tetsuro from “Galaxy Express 999”, “Iron means the railway! Railway means 999! And if so, there is only Tetsuro!”

About Tetsuo from “Slam Dunk”, “Mitsui’s former fighting companion, as the name suggests, has a strong body like iron. Tetsuo, who was clumsy but was happy with Mitsui’s return to basketball, was impressive.”
About Superman from “Superman”, overseas characters also ranked in, “Because he is a hero with the nickname ‘Man of Steel’.”

■ Overall ranking
“Who do you think is an ‘iron’ character?”
1st place Alphonse Elric “Fullmetal Alchemist”
2nd place Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu “My Hero Academia”
3rd place Gajeel Redfox “Fairy Tail”
4th Frankie “One Piece”
5th place Iron Man / Tony Stark “Iron Man”
6th place Jail-Murdock “Plunderer”
7th place Superman / Clark Kent “Superman”
7th place Aone Takanobu “Haikyu !!”

(Response period: November 16 to November 23, 2020)

* This survey is part of a survey of readers’ awareness of “current interest in and attention to anime works and characters.” Regarding the results, we do not intend to decide the superiority or inferiority of any character or work. We hope that this article will help you to get to know new works and characters, and to deepen your understanding and interest.

■ Characters whoreceived votes
“Who do you think is an ‘iron’ character?”
Alphonse Elric “The Alchemist of Steel”
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu “My Hero Academia”
Gajeel Redfox “Fairy Tail”
Frankie “One Piece”
Iron Man / Tony Stark “Iron Man”
Jail-Murdock “Plunderer”
Superman / Clark Kent “Superman”
AoneTakanobu “Haikyu !!”
III (Trey) “Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal”
Edward Elric “Fullmetal Alchemist”
Goblin Slayer “Goblin Slayer”
Daigunder “Daigunder”
Aggron “Pokemon”
Reiner Brown “Attack on Titan”
Linebarrels “Linebarrels of Iron”
Risotto Neero “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Golden Wind”
Rem “Re: Life in a Different World from Zero”
Rob Lucci “One Piece”
Machine God “Hot Blood Strongest Gozaurer”
KurooTetsuro “Haikyu !!”
Munechika Mikazuki “Touken Ranbu: ONLINE”
Yamada Ayumi “Honey and Clover”
Hoshi Ittetsu “Star of the Giants”
Leonhard Saijo “The Irregular at Magic High School”
Tetsuiwa Ishitou “This is Katsushika Ward Kameari Koenmae Police Station”
Tetsu Sendagaya “SERVAMP”
Murata Tetsuko “Gintama”
Tetsujin 28-go “Tetsujin 28-go”
Tetsuo “SLAM DUNK”
Hoshino Tetsuro “Galaxy Express 999”
Shima Tetsuo “AKIRA”
Anonymous “Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress”

(Survey period: November 16 to November 23, 2020)