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March 18 is “Shouryou no Hi” (Spirit Day).

It is said that this is the day that the poets Kakimoto no Hitomaro, Izumi Shikibu, and Ono no Komachi passed away. Many may think of spiritly entities in various things when seeing the word “精霊” (seirei), but this day is called Shouryou (with the same kanji “精霊”) no Hi, which is used for spirits of the dead.

Many spirits and fairies that look like humans appear in anime and games. They can be partners of the protagonist, be a prankster, or have an important mission to accomplish.

We at Anime!Anime! conducted a readers’ survey asking “Who is Your Favorite ‘Fairy/Spirit’ Character?” There were 165 votes during the survey period from March 2 to March 9.
There were slightly more female voters with a gender ratio of 40% male to 60% female, and the age range was on the younger side with 55% under 20 and 20% in their 20s.

■A wide variety of fairies and spirits made the list!
1st Place
Topping the list were King from “The Seven Deadly Sins” and Puck from “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World” both with roughly 9% of the votes.

King received votes such as, “King is one of the members of the Seven Deadly Sins and is also the king of fairies who has two faces, a large fat man and a small young boy. How Fukuyama Jun-san brings life to the contrasting characters as separate individuals is amazing,” “He’s the one fairy that doesn’t have any wings, but I love how he fights for his friends,” and “His true potential was awakened through pain and suffering, and he looked fascinating.”

Puck is a familiar of the heroine Emilia. He looks like a cat but is actually a great spirit of fire and has overwhelming power. “He will always be on your side. Above all, he’s cute!” and “I want a cute and strong partner just like him,” are some comments that show fans love his cute looks and how he is reliable when needed.

3rd Place
Yui from “Sword Art Online” came in at 3rd place wth roughly 7% of the votes.

“Though she’s actually an AI, which is different from a fairy, but her dress and wings on her back makes her look just like a fairy of flowers.” As this comment says, she’s a character that often appears with a fairy-like look. Many fans fell for her lovely charm, “Yui-chan helping Kirito in her fairy-form soothes my heart. Her voice and looks are both my type!”

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Gipple from “Magical Circle Guru Guru”, “I used to doodle him when I was a kid, so I can still draw him without looking at the character.

For Lip from “Rilu Rilu Fairilu”, “‘Rilu Rilu Fairilu’ is the anime when talking about anime with many fairies. Among them, I chose the main character Lip. I want to see another anime of the series.”

For Fengxi from “The Legend of Luo Xiaohei”, “Not only Sakurai Takahiro-san’s performance but also the way he lives his life as a faithful warrior who cares about the fairies really hit me and made me feel melancholic.”

There was also a comment for a character with a nickname related to fairies, Sheryl Nome from “Macross Frontier”, “She is called the Galactic Fairy and fascinates her fans with her looks and songs. She’s certainly a fairy!”

In this survey, not only the classic little fairies but also several characters with fairy-like beauty made the list. Fantasy titles were dominant, but there were also characters from sci-fi, action, and even comedy.

■Top 20
[Who is Your Favorite ‘Fairy/Spirit’ Character?]
1. King “The Seven Deadly Sins”
1. Puck “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
3. Yui “Sword Art Online”
4. Tinker Bell “Peter Pan”
4. Bell “Black Clover”
6. Cham Huau “Aura Battler Dunbine”
7. Malleus Draconia “Disney: Twisted Wonderland”
7. Yatogami Touka “Date A Live”
9. Emilia “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
9. Tokisaki Kurumi “Date A Live”
9. Don Patch “Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo”
9. Mepple “Futari wa Pretty Cure”
9. Lucy Heartfilia “Fairy Tail”
14. Elaine “The Seven Deadly Sins”
14. Gipple “Magical Circle Guru Guru”
14. Crysta “FernGully: The Last Rainforest”
14. Coco “Yes! PreCure 5”
14. Kodama “Hozuki’s Coolheadedness”
14. Zacian “Pokémon”
14. Sheryl Nome “Macross Frontier”
14. Ramiris “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”

(Voting Period: March 2-9, 2021)

※This survey was held to investigate the readers’ “interests and attention towards current anime titles and characters”. The results should not be used to determine the supremacy of characters and titles. We hope this article will help you find new anime/characters and deepen your understanding of them.