Anime Anime Global

August 10 is the “Global Lion Day”.

Even though the lion is familiar in a zoo, it has been listed as Vulnerable Species. The anniversary was established to consider the environment surrounding the lions.

The lion is known as the king of beasts, and one of the most popular animals. There are many characters in anime and games, who are reminiscent of the lions.
They are depicted in various ways. Some of them are extremely strong like the lion or have a scary appearance, and others are the lions themselves. Among such characters, who is the most popular?

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “Speaking of ‘lion’ characters, who comes to your mind first?”. During the survey period from July 25 to August 1, a total of 164 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 75% while the males were about 25%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from the young readers: about 45% were from teens, and 30% were from those in their 20s.

■Both human and animal characters have been ranked in!

1st Place

1st place went to Leona Kingscholar from “Disney: Twisted-Wonderland”. The support rating was about 24%.

Many readers mentioned his reliability, saying “Leona-san is the leader of Savanaclaw and classified into the beast-man group, so he has cute ears and a tail like a lion. Other than that, he is like a lion inside and out as he has high physical abilities, and takes care of women”, “Although he is smart, strong, and cool, his ears and tail are too cute!”, and “His bossy personality and Umehara Yuuichirou-san’s voice is the perfect combination, which enhances his presence as a king”.

2nd Place

2nd place went to Kon from “BLEACH”. The support rating was about 10%.

The readers said that he is one of the most conspicuous character among many characters of “BLEACH”, and left comments such as, “He typically inhabits a stuffed lion, and he is like a mascot character of the work” and “Although he is a stuffed animal, he frequently makes comical moves, which are so funny”.
The character from the popular work, which is releasing its latest series, has been ranked high.

3rd Place

3rd place went to Shishimaru Takaomi from “DREAM!ing”. The support rating was about 8%.

The received comments include, “The characters of ‘DREAM!ing’ respectively has an animal motif, and he has a lion one”, “He doesn’t like being in a group, and has a habit of biting whenever there is something bothering. He is just like a lion”, and “He doesn’t seem strong like a full-grown lion, but adorable like a baby lion. I love him so much”.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!

Lion “African Office Worker”
“He has an adorable personality, and not like the king of beasts. If I had such an open-minded boss, I would be so excited to go to work every day.”
Leo “Kimba the White Lion”
“Baby Leo is too cute! I especially have watched the remake ending anime that was broadcast in 1989 many times.”

Simba “The Lion King”
“I am moved to see him growing up from a baby. He has grown up as an excellent, full-grown lion… I cannot help being moved as if I were his mom.”
Cure Gelato “Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode”
“When it comes to the lion characters, they tend to be connected with yellow and orange colors, but she is rare in terms of being depicted with blue as a combination with ice cream. Her double tooth is also cute!”
The heroine inspired by a lion has also been ranked.

Unusually, both human and animal characters have been ranked in this survey. A mascot character of a company has also been ranked in the top 20, and the result has come with a wider range of characters than usual.

■Ranking Top 10

[Speaking of “lion” characters, who comes to your mind first?]
1. Leona Kingscholar “Disney: Twisted-Wonderland”
2. Kon “BLEACH”
3. Shishimaru Takaomi “DREAM!ing”
4. Simba “The Lion King”
4. Lion “African Office Worker”
6. Shishiou Tsukasa “Dr.STONE”
7. Cure Gelato / Tategami Aoi “Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode”
7. Saber “Fate/stay night”
7. Leo “Kimba the White Lion”
10. Ibuki “BEASTARS”
10. Entei “Pokémon”
10. Kuraha “Noragami”
10. Shishioh Gui “The King of Braves GaoGaiGar”
10. Haiba Lev “Haikyu!!”
10. Lio Convoy “Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers”

（Survey Period: July 25 – August 1, 2021)

■Ranking Top 20

[Speaking of “lion” characters, who comes to your mind first?]
1. Leona Kingscholar “Disney: Twisted-Wonderland”
2. Kon “BLEACH”
3. Shishimaru Takaomi “DREAM!ing”
4. Simba “The Lion King”
4. Lion “African Office Worker”
6. Shishiou Tsukasa “Dr.STONE”
7. Cure Gelato / Tategami Aoi “Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode”
7. Saber “Fate/stay night”
7. Leo “Kimba the White Lion”
10. Ibuki “BEASTARS”
10. Entei “Pokémon”
10. Kuraha “Noragami”
10. Shishioh Gui “The King of Braves GaoGaiGar”
10. Haiba Lev “Haikyu!!”
10. Lio Convoy “Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers”
16. Escanor “The Seven Deadly Sins”
16. Kiyose Haruta “Hana Doll＊”
16. Shishioh “Touken Ranbu-ONLINE-”
16. Leo Aiolia “Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac”
16. Holdem “One Piece”
16. Melamelion “Yo-Kai Watch”
16. Liyonchan “MBS’s Mascot Character”
16. Leone “Akame ga Kill!”

（Survey Period: July 25 – August 1, 2021)