Anime Anime Global

September 20 is “Sky Day”.

This is an anniversary that derives from Aviation Day established in 1940, and it was renamed Sky Day to commemorate the 40th anniversary since civil aviation was resumed.

There are many characters related to the sky in anime and games. They are depicted in various ways; pilots who freely fly in the sky, characters with supernatural abilities to float on air, heroines fell out of the sky, etc.

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “Speaking of ‘sky/flying/jumping’, who comes to Your mind ?”. During the survey period from September 5 – 12, a total of 177 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 70% while the males were about 30%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from the young readers: about 55% were from teens, and 25% were from those in their 20s.

■This is about sky, so “Jump” characters occupied the top!

1st Place

1st place went to Hinata Shoyo from “Haikyu!!”. The support rating was about 16%.

The readers praised him as a volleyball player, saying “I still remember him jumping high, aiming for the top. His name has ‘翔’ (represents jumping in Japanese), so if it is combined with one letter from his buddy’s name Kageyama Tobio, it becomes ‘飛翔’ (represents flying and jumping in Japanese), which is interesting”, “He jumps high like a bird to a ball set by Kageyama, which is so cool”, and “He is short, but he jumps higher than anyone else and constantly strives to be stronger”.

2nd Place

2nd place went to Hawks from “My Hero Academia”. The support rating was about 11%.

Hawks is a Pro Hero that has a Quirk of Fierce Wings. His abilities attracted the fans, and the received comments include, “I still remember him flying around with bright red wings on his back” and “He freely manipulates his wings, and never forgets to smiled at fans”.
Also, Uraraka Ochako from “My Hero Academia” tied for 6th place. She has a Quirk of Zero Gravity, which enabled her to nullify the effects of gravity on what she touches.

3rd Place

3rd place went to Son Goku “Dragon Ball”. The support rating was about 6%.

The received comments include “I have a strong impression of him as flying in the sky such as Flying Nimbus also known as a cloud’s machine, and the Levitation Technique that he acquired in the episodes. I got the first desire for flying and jumping due to Dragon Ball”, and “He has ‘空’ (ku, meaning sky in Japanese) in his name, and his battling scenes in the sky are so spectacular”. The character from the popular series, which is releasing the latest title “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” in 2022, has been ranked in the top 3.

■Let’s introduce other comments!

Kaito Kid “Magic Kaito”
“The scene where Kid-sama grabs a treasure and dashingly leaves with a hang glider is cool.”

Sora “No Game No Life”
“Aside from if he is a flying/jumping character or not, he immediately came to my mind as his name is 空 (Sora, means sky in Japanese). He is not a basic or normal character, so he can be a flying/jumping character in a sense.”

Konno Makoto “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
“The time-leaping scene where she flies with her arms pulled back and the blue sky behind is very impressive.”
Howl “Howl’s Moving Castle”
“The scene at the beginning where he walks in the sky with Sophie was beautiful. He was flying a lot in other scenes.”

A character from a film has also won some votes.

In this survey, various characters such as a hero, sportsman, pilot, witch, etc., have been ranked in. The results confirmed again that there are many characters related to the sky.

■Ranking Top 20

－Speaking of “sky/flying/jumping”, who comes to your mind?－

1. Hinata Shoyo “Haikyu!!”
2. Hawks “My Hero Academia”
3. Son Goku “Dragon Ball”
4. Doraemon “Doraemon”
5. Kaito Kid “Magic Kaito” “Detective Conan”
6. Uraraka Ochako “My Hero Academia”
6. Hibiki Wataru “Ensemble Stars!”
8. Kashiwagi Tsubasa “The Idolmaster: SideM”
8. Kinomoto Sakura “Cardcaptor Sakura”
8. Sora “No Game No Life”
8. Nausicaä “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”
8. Nakahara Chuya “Bungo Stray Dogs”
8. Lan Wangji “Mo Dao Zu Shi”
14. Anpanman “Anpanman”
14. Ohara Sora “TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION”
14. Kiki “Kiki’s Delivery Service”
14. Kosaka Honoka “Love Live! ”
14. Xie Lian “Heaven Official’s Blessing”
14. Howl “Howl’s Moving Castle”
14. Happy “Fairy Tail”
14. Pidgeot “Pokémon”
14. Skyla “Pokémon”
14. Marco “One Piece”

（Survey Period: September 5 – 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 anime and characters.