August 13th was International Left-Handed Day! That means we’re back, yet again, for our third-year celebrating lefties. You can check out last year’s list and the 2020 version, here on the J-List Blog. Like always, we try to keep a nice blend of both anime, manga, and game characters. Here’s our 2022 highlight article of some of our favorite left-handed characters that originated in Japanese media!
Train Heartnet (Black Cat)
This year we’re starting with an “old but gold” protagonist many younger anime fans might not know of. Star of Black Cat is the lethal assassin, Train Heartnet. Originally part of the underground economic dictator group Chronos, Train was known as Black Cat and number XIII. However, when he abandons his job and chooses to become a sweeper, he discards everything associated with his old life, including his dominant hand — choosing to learn to do everything with his right.
Shadow the Hedgehog
That’s right! Not only is Sonic left-handed, but so is Edgey the Hedgey! How do we know this? The answer is in his (terrible) solo game. Although some artwork and CGI scenes show him using either hand to wield his gun, during all gameplay mechanics Shadow only picks up and uses his guns with his left hand.
Eri Yuki (Gravitation)
Cold. Aloof. Distant. The best romance novelist in the late 20th/early 21st century, and the main love interest in the musical Boy’s Love anime, Gravitation — we’re talking about Eri Yuki. It’s one of many facts mentioned off the beaten path from Maki Murakami’s many commentaries and inside stories that Eri is left-handed.
Sailor Mars (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon)
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is one show that needs no introduction in this day and age. We all know the Sailor Scouts and their planets by the color coordination. While the series’ most prominent (and possibly only) flaw is the character design suffering from “same-face syndrome”, Rei stands out from the rest of the sailor soldiers as a lefty by one distinctive attack. When using her Flame Sniper attack, she draws her bowstring the way left-handed people do.
Half of the Pokémon Protagonists
Okay, maybe a bit less than half, but we aren’t far off. It’s funny, but for the first four generations of games, every protagonist had a battle animation throwing their Pokéballs with their left hand. This came to an end starting in the 5th generation with Black & White. Interestingly enough, Trainer Red made appearances in Black & White 2 and retained his left-handed battle animations but was later reanimated when he appeared next in Sun & Moon (7th gen) to use his right hand.
Although the 3DS remake of Ruby & Sapphire (3rd gen) changed to right-handed animations, the most recent remakes, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (4th gen), remained faithful to the original, and feature the player character as left-handed, just like the series’ original creator, Satoshi Tajiri.
Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)
Well — it may not be officially stated, but that hasn’t stopped fans from accepting him as such from comparing his sprites and artwork. Anyway, you look at him. Everything Phoenix does, including drinking coffee, holding important documents, and objecting to a witness is done with his left hand.
Freya Crescent (Final Fantasy IX)
The ninth installment in the Final Fantasy series, (and the last one on the PS1) is a staple for the franchise that holds up so well even besides the most recent installments such as FF7R and FF15. One thing that sets the game apart is that, to this day, Final Fantasy IX features the largest cast of non-human playable characters in any mainline game. Freya Crescent is a Burmecian, a race of rat-like creatures that hail from the city of never-ending rain, Burmecia. While it never comes up as a plot point, Freya’s left-handedness is shown in battles in how she holds her spear. Funny enough, Freya continued the tradition of being a left-handed dragoon for the third character in a row after Kaine (FF4) and Cid Highwind (FF7).
Sawamura Eijun (Diamond no Ace)
Closing our list for the year is Eijun Sawamura from Diamond no Ace, because we have to include at least one sports anime star! Eijun is the main protagonist of a baseball anime regarded for his unusual pitching style that lands him a scholarship to Seido High School. In simple terms, when Eijun pitches, every ball flies in a random fashion over the plate. With national titles in his sights, Sawamura enters Seido High ready to compete as the team’s star rookie left-handed pitcher.
