Anime Anime Global

October 4 is “Angel Day”.

Triumph, an underwear manufacturer that is known for Tenshi no Bras (lit. Angel Bras) established the anniversary after a wordplay “Ten (10) Shi (4)”, as 10 is obviously Ten in English, 4 is Shi in Japanese, and Angel is Tenshi in Japanese.

Angels are considered to be the servants of the god, and often appear in anime and games. They are depicted in various ways; some of them come to the human world for discipline, bad angels that were expelled from heaven, or others have a warm heart just like angels.

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “Speaking of ‘angel’, who comes to your mind?”. During the survey period from September 20 – 27, a total of 220 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 55% were from teens, and 35% were from those in their 20s.

■1st place was shared between 3 characters! Angels with their own characteristics

1st Place

1st place was shared among Kujo Ten from “Idolish7”, Shiratama Mikan from “PriPara”, and Angel from “Angel Beats!”. The support rating was about 7%.

Kujo Ten is the center of an idol unit TRIGGER. His cute looking attracted a lot of fans, and the received comments include, “He is also known as ‘Modern Angel’ as he is so cute and friendly to the fans!” and “His autograph has an angel’s feather design”. As he is a perfectionist, he sometimes makes harsh remarks. Such a devilish side is also one of his attractions.

Shiratama Mikan, a sixth-grader at the Primary School Division of Paprika Private Academy, is also an angel-type idol. The received comments include, “She formed a unit Aromageddon with a devilish idol Kurosu Aroma. She is always wearing frilled clothes, and so cute” and “Even though there are many idols with unique habitual phrases in ‘PriPara’, Mikan’s ‘-gel’ was too impactful”. Different types of idols have been ranked in the same place.

Tachibana Kanade is a mysterious girl, who is called Angel by The Shinda Sekai Sensen members. The received comments include, “As her another name ‘Angel’ shows, she is full of angelic cuteness in terms of both looking and personality”, “I still remember that the slang ‘Tenshi-chan, maji Tenshi (lit. Tenshi-chan truly is an angel)’ had become so popular……”, and “I couldn’t help crying in the latter part of the stories”. Many fans were surprised by the fact that was gradually revealed, although she didn’t show much of her feelings in the beginning.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!

Tsushima Yoshiko “Love Live! Sunshine!!”
“She proclaims herself to be ‘Yohane, the Fallen Angel’, which is so cute. I want to be a little demon of Yoshiko-chan.”

Licht Jekylland Todoroki “Servamp”
“He is Violence Angel-chan that has his own strong faith, and is determined to carry it out whatever happens. His signature line ‘Because I am… an angel’ is impressive.”

Tsukioka Tsumugi “A3!”
“His role as the role of Angel Michael in ‘Sympathy for the Angel’, which is the first stage play of Winter Troupe, left strong impressions on me. The huge wings were beautiful.”

Azumaya Junta “Dakaichi: I’m Being Harassed By the Sexiest Man of the Year”
“He is an all-rounder, and everyone says that his smile is angelic. That is fantastic! I want him to make out more with Totaka in the film.”
Some readers voted for the title, a new film of which will be released on October 9.

In this survey, few real angels have been ranked in. On the contrary, beautiful characters just like angels or self-proclaimed angels are standing out.

■Ranking Top 20

－Speaking of “angel”, who comes to your mind?－
1. Kujo Ten “Idolish7”
1. Shiratama Mikan “PriPara”
1. Angel “Angel Beats!”
4. Mouri Ran “Detective Conan”
5. Tsushima Yoshiko “Love Live! Sunshine!!”
6. Emilia “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
6. Azumaya Junta “Dakaichi: I’m Being Harassed By the Sexiest Man of the Year”
6. Licht Jekylland Todoroki “Servamp”
9. Krista Lenz “Attack on Titan”
9. Angel Devil “Chainsaw Man”
11. Elizabeth “The Seven Deadly Sins”
11. Tsukioka Tsumugi “A3!”
13. Amahane Madoka “Aikatsu!”
13. United Kingdom “Hetalia: Axis Powers”
13. Angemon “Digimon Adventure”
13. Crimvael “Interspecies Reviewers”
13. Sho Kusakabe “Fire Force”
13. Tenshouin Eichi “Ensemble Stars!”
13. Totsuka Saika “My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU”
13. Bianchi Yuni “DREAM!ing”
13. Pit “Kid Icarus: Uprising”
13. Filo “The Rising of the Shield Hero”
13. Pekola “Dropkick on My Devil!”
13. Matsuno Jyushimatsu “Mr. Osomatsu”
13. Maria Campbell “My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X”
（Survey Period: September 20 – 27, 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.