Anime Anime Global

April 18 is the day of incense.

It is written in Nihon Shoki that an aromatic tree was drifted to Awaji Island in April 595, which became the origin of the anniversary. 18(十八 in Kanji) is set due to the wordplay of disassembling ‘香’ (aroma in Japanese).

Many of Anime!Anime! readers may have burnt incense or aroma for relaxation. In recent years, various fragrance products featuring the characters in anime or games have been released.

So, here at Anime!Anime!, we conducted the annual reader survey titled ‘Who seems to give off a pleasant smell?’. During the survey period from April 5 to April 12, a total of 200 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 80% while the males were about 20%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from the readers of younger ages: about 65% were from minors, and 20% were in their twenties.

■’Jump’ characters tied for the top!
1st place
Gojo Satoru “Jujutsu Kaisen”, Kocho Shinobu “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, and Sakata Gintoki “Gintama” tied for the top. The support rating was about 4 %.

Some readers voted for him as he is rich, saying ‘Gojo seems to have to use expensive perfume and softeners with good scents as he is rich!’. He likes sweets, so he also received a comment such as, ‘He seems to smell sweet.’

As for Kocho Shinobu, many readers mentioned her knowledge about pharmacy, saying ‘She is making poison with wisteria, so she seems to give off floral fragrance’. Kanroji Mitsuri has got 4th place with a comment ‘She eats a lot of Sakura-mochi, so she seems to smell sweet’.

Sakata Gintoki also has a sweet tooth like Gojo Satoru: ‘He always eats sweets, so he seems to smell like sugar’ ‘He will make me hangry’. Some readers mentioned his characteristic gray hair, saying ‘His hair is smooth and shiny, and will give off a good scent of shampoo’.
Three characters from ‘Weekly Shonen Jump’ tied for 1st place.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!
Mikazuki Munechika “Touken Ranbu -Online-”
‘He is like a noble in the Heian period, so he seems to wear a scent of incense.’
Levi “Attack on Titan”
‘He is a clean freak, so he must be taking care of his smell.’

Ginoza Nobuchika “Psycho-Pass”
‘He is much sexier with his long hair, and his pheromone must be giving off a good smell. The perfume featuring him is actually too good to the point that makes me faint.’ There are some comments from the readers who purchased the fragrances inspired by the characters.

In this survey, various characters have been ranked such as a sweets lover, clean freak, cooking lover, and etc. The theme ‘smell’ lets our imagination run wild, so 15 characters tied for 16th place.

1. Gojo Satoru “Jujutsu Kaisen”
1. Kocho Shinobu “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
1. Sakata Gintoki “Gintama”
4. Kanroji Mitsuri “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
4. Vil Schoenheit “Disney: Twisted-Wonderland”
4. Panda “Jujutsu Kaisen”
4. Levi “Attack on Titan”
8. Asagiri Gen “Dr. Stone”
8. Asuna “Sword Art Online”
8. Emilia “Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World”
8. Ginoza Nobuchika “Psycho-Pass”
8. Fushiguro Megumi “Jujutsu Kaisen”
8. Vermouth “Detective Conan”
8. Minami Kotori ”Love Live!”
8. Yato “Noragami Aragoto”
16. Izanami Hifumi “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
16. Shino Hajime “Ensemble Stars!”
16. Uncle Jam “Soreike! Anpanman”
16. Takasugi Shinsuke “Gintama”
16. Chikorita “Pokémon”
16. Tippy “Is the Order a Rabbit?”
16. Teruhashi Kokomi “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K”
16. Nakano Nino “The Quintessential Quintuplets”
16. Nakahara Chuya “Bungo Stray Dogs”
16. Matsuoka Rin “Free!”
16. Mikazuki Munechika “Touken Ranbu -Online-”
16. Mine Fujiko “Lupin III”
16. Mouri Ran “Detective Conan”
16. Yumeno Gentarou “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
16. Rokuya Nagi “Idolish7”

（Survey Period: April 5 – April 12, 2021)

*This survey is intended to research the readers’ “interest in anime and characters today”. It is not intended to discuss the relative merits of each character nor work. I would be glad if this article can help you develop an understanding and interest in the anime and characters.