2021 has finally begun. Many of us are hoping that this year will be a year of celebration.

There are many “happy” characters in anime. Some of them are very lucky, some of them bring smiles to the faces of those around them, and some of them are sycophants who are constantly being cheated on by others.

Anime! Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “Who do you think is a “happy” character? We received 71 responses during the survey period from December 19 to December 26.
The ratio of males to females was about 35% for males and 65% for females, with more females. About 50 percent of the respondents were under the age of 19, and about 30 percent were in their 20s.

A wide variety of “happy” characters!
The characters that stood out in the survey this time were those with good luck. Takafuji Kako from “THE iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS” is the first of these idols, named after the phrase “1 Fuji, 2 Taka, 3 Kako,” which is said to bring good luck if you see it in your first dream. She is also very lucky and has received many votes.
Lucky Man of “Very! Lucky Man” is a hero who defeats his enemies with only his good luck as his name suggests. When I think of lucky, this is the only character I can think of. A teenage fan voted, saying, “I’m not from that generation, but I’ve seen it many times in reruns.

Mouri Ran from “Detective Conan” has a hidden talent as a gambler. It was pointed out that she always wins a travel coupon in a lucky draw, and incidents often occur on her trips.
Sengoku Kiyosumi from “The Prince of Tennis” is so lucky that he is called Lucky Sengoku. We received a comment about him saying, “Lucky is his favorite word, and he likes fortune telling too.”

These characters are also popular for making people around them feel happy.
Monkey D. Luffy of “One Piece” is a popular character because “he always brings everyone around him into the world and makes everyone smile! For Hakone Yumoto of “Bijou High School Earth Defense Club LOVE!” this comment “The lightness and purity of his personality, his silliness, and his sermons about how he twists the monsters around with brute force make you give up thinking for good”, for Tsuru Maki from “BanG Dream!” the following “She always has a smile on her face and turns all troubles into happiness.”

Koma-san from “Yokai Watch” was chosen because “he is a guardian dog yokai, which is originally a good luck charm, and he is light hearted character who always seems to be happy,” and Bishamonten from “Noragami” was chosen because “seven gods of good fortune are associated with happiness. Among them, Bishamon is beautiful, cool, and conspicuous,” said a comment about a character whose very existence is good luck.

The main character Rengoku Kyoujyurou of the film that broke the all-time box office record, “Demon Slayer： Kimetsu no Yaiba”, was also voted in, with “You can’t leave out the man with 30 billion in box office revenue”. The results show the variety of meanings of the word “happiness”.

Characters with multiple votes
“Who do you think is a “happy” character?”
Takafuji Kako “The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls”
Lucky Man “Very! Lucky Man”
Todoroki Shoutotsu “My Hero Academia”
Kousaka Honoka “Love Live!”
Rengoku Kyoujyurou “Demon Slayer： Kimetsu no Yaiba”
Osomatsu Matsuno “Osomatsu-san”
Monkey D. Luffy “One Piece”
Sera Masumi “Detective Conan”
Sengoku Kiyosumi “The Prince of Tennis”
Nobi Nobita “Doraemon

(Response period: December 19, 2020 – December 26, 2020)

This questionnaire is part of a survey on readers’ awareness of current anime works and characters. We hope that this article will provide you with an opportunity to learn about new works and characters, and deepen your understanding and interest in them.