There seems to be an unwritten rule in anime that the main character will often be surpassed in popularity by the side characters around him or her. Sometimes this is extreme, like in Evangelion, Sailor Moon or Ojamamajo Doremi, where virtually all the side characters are more interesting to viewers than the main characters. I asked J-List’s cool followers to tell me their favorite side characters in anime, and this is what we came up with!
Who’s your favorite side character in anime? This is Mina from Takagi-san. pic.twitter.com/5WDOCTbmJL
— J-LIST 🎃 (@jlist) November 18, 2019
Mako Mankanshoku. A great sidekick for Ryuko from Kill la Kill, she is always the most entertaining character on screen.
Chitose Ikeda. She can’t stop having yuri fantasies about the other girls, especially Ayano x Kyouko. Her nosebleeds are the best.
Miharu Mikuni. One of the many side chicks in Kiss x Sis, she was entertaining and fun to watch, though her “charm point” was, er, incontinence.
Writing about the best side characters in anime, who can become quote popular with fans, like Himiko from K-On!, a background character who won the hearts of fans. Who are your favorite anime side characters?
(Full version at https://t.co/SOnvAE16q1) pic.twitter.com/eQlQGFcENU
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) November 27, 2019
Himeko Tachibana. One of the hallmarks of Kyoto Animation is that their characters are so beautifully designed, even the side characters become beloved of fans. Himeko, the girl who sits next to Yui, developed a huge fan following.
Inosuke Hashibara. There are a lot of great characters in Demon Slayer, but Inosuke is the most entertaining to watch. He’s one of my favorite side characters in anime.
Ena Saitou. Though not one of the five main girls in Yuru Camp, she’s a fun character to watch whenever she appears in an episode. She’s the owner of Chikuwa the dog.
Mina, Sanae and Yukari. Though they’re side characters, they’ve got a huge following by fans who say they’d watch a series just about them.
Tsuruya-san. The friend and defender of Mikuru, we know very little about her, including her full name. Yet she’s a very popular side character in anime, spawning memes, and a whole manga just about her.
Saten and Uiharu. Though they lack the flashy esper powers of the other Railgun characters, they’re always entertaining us, usually while exposing poor Uiharu’s pantsu.
Tina Foster. All the characters from the 90s classic Ai Yori Aoshi are great, but my favorite was Tina Foster, the American girl who grew up in Osaka and doesn’t speak English.
Hibiki Tsukahara. You’d think the six main heroines of Amagami SS would be enough for fans, but many of them obsessed over Hibikim the friend to Haruka. There’s tons of fanart focusing on her.
Well, what did you think of our list? Did we miss your favorite side character in anime? Let us know on Twitter!
