October 14 is “Day of Railway”.

The anniversary was established to commemorate the opening of the first railway in Japan between Shinbashi and Yokohama on the same day in 1872. Many events are held to deepen understanding of and interest in railways.

In anime and games, many characters associated with railways appear. They are depicted in various ways; some of them travel on trains or locomotives, and others have much knowledge about railways or are the characters inspired by railways.

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “Speaking of a ‘railway’, who comes to your mind?”. During the survey period from September 29 – October 6, a total of 111 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 60% while the males were about 40%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from the young readers: about 40% were from teens, ,20% were from those in their 20s, and another 20% were from those in their 30s.

■Various characters, from protagonists to antagonists, have been ranked in!

1st Place

1st place went to Enmu from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”. The support rating was about 23%.

He is a demon affiliated with the Twelve Kizuki, which is under the direct command of Kibutsuji Muzan. He became an antagonist in “Mugen Train”, and the readers mentioned his cruelty in the film, saying “It is awful that he fed on numerous passengers on the train” and “I like the gap between his temporizer-like personality to make Tanjiro and others stray into the world of dream, and cute looking”.

The TV anime version of “Mugen Train” is currently on air. The antagonist, who still keeps attracting attention after the film, is topping the list.

2nd Place

2nd place went to Thomas from “Thomas & Friends”. The support rating was about 14%.

Thomas is a tank engine who works on the Island of Sodor. The title has fascinated many people over the years, and the received comments include, “I have many favorite railway characters, but Thomas is the best! Different characters have different personalities, positions, and figures, this title taught me that anyone can help people”, “I used to enjoy this title with my younger brother. Back then, Toda Keiko-san was playing the role of Thomas, and dioramas of railway models were used for shooting”, and “I went to watch the film with my son, and we were greatly pleased with it, including the singing scenes!”.

3rd Place

3rd place went to Hayasugi Hayato from “Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion”. The support rating was about 9%.

Hayasugi Hayato is a driver of the Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa. He is a railway buff that can hardly be expected to be an elementary school student, which received a lot of comments, including “He is a super enthusiastic railway buff! His overwhelming love toward railways is so charming and fun to watch”, “His dream is to become a driver of Shinkansen. He is a man that keeps to time and what he said”, “He knows a lot about the advertisements of railways in the past as well as railways”. The protagonist of the title featuring Shinkansen, has been ranked in the top 3.

■Let’s introduce other comments!
Dvořák “ClassicaLoid”
“He is a music composer that is also known as a railway buff in the actual history. This hippopotamus character is inspired by him and has traveled to a lot of places”.

SL-Man “Anpanman”
“SL-Man can run even without rails. His colorful body would make a lot of people happy. His short arms attached to the body are cute.”

Hisakawa Tetsudo “Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day”
“His name itself is ‘Tetsudo’*. His nickname is ‘Poppo’, which reminds us of the whistle of a locomotive.”
*’Tetsudo’ means ‘railway’ in Japanese.

Hoshino Tetsuro “Galaxy Express 999”
“Tetsuro continues his journey on Express 999 to get mechanical bodies. He taught me that the romance of railways is to head for unknown territory.”
The protagonist from the timeless masterpiece has received some votes.

In this survey, various characters, from railway characters to a character that causes an incident in a train, have been ranked in. Animal characters have also received some votes, which makes the results richer in variety.

■Ranking Top 10

－Speaking of a “railway”, who comes to your mind?－
1. Enmu “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
2. Thomas “Thomas & Friends”
3. Hayasugi Hayato “Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion”
4. Dvořák “ClassicaLoid”
5. Rengoku Kyojuro “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
6. Tazaki “Joker Game”
6. Hoshino Tetsuro “Galaxy Express 999”
8. SL-Man “Anpanman”
8. Hisakawa Tetsudo “Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day”
10. Astrotrain “Fight! Super Robot Life-Form Transformers”

（Survey Period: September 29 – October 6, 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.