BREAKING NEWS: Oricon Polls 1000 in Search of Popular Female Cartoon Characters

Our Hero Ties for Third!

Oricon is a Japanese Company much like Billboard in America. They provide Japan with music charts and music industry-related information. Oricon Group is a company under this umbrella, which surveys for other things that are not necessarily music related. 1000 people were asked to rank their favorite female cartoon characters, and they recently published the top 10. This survey was conducted on the internet, and had evenly distributed groups among the genders of University students, High School students, and members of society in their 20's or 30's. One member of Oricon's research panel was in her 40's. We now present to you those top ten, followed by a composite image with vintage dates of the original manga!

1- Fujiko Mine (Lupin the 3rd)
2- Minami Asakura (Touch)
3- Nana Osaki (NANA), Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)
5- Maetel (Galaxy Express 999)
6- Reika Ryuzaki (Ace Wo Nerae)
7- Oscar François de Jarjayes (Rose of Versailles)
8- Lum Invader (Urusei Yatsura)
9- Ran Mori (Detective Conan)
10- Nami (One Piece)


The article went further to explain why the top 3 characters were picked by the people who were surveyed. Fujiko Mine was the epitome to them of the perfect woman in society and was beautiful. One surveyor said that she wanted to be wonderful just like her! Minami Asakura was an idol to some for she was beautiful, youthful and gentle. We especially liked what a university student said with regards to Sailor Moon , "After all, it is Sailor Senshi"! She also said that as a child she looked up to her and wanted to be just like her when she grew up. University students in Japan admired the real-lifeness of Nana Osaki and were captivated by her beauty from the first manga.

On the side of that main list, you will notice two short lists. The top one is the top 5 among female voters, and the bottom one is the top 5 among male voters. They found that the women were more likely to vote for beauty , and the men were more likely to vote on their "first love" (anime girl crush?). It was also found that most people tended to vote for characters that they watched during their childhoods. Keep in mind a lot of these anime on the list are very old! The top 5 are:

Female Voters:
1- Fujiko Mine (Lupin the 3rd)
2- Nana Osaki (NANA)
3- Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)
4- Reika Ryuzaki (Ace o Nerae)
5- Oscar François de Jarjayes (Rose of Versailles)

Male Voters:
1- Minami Asakura (Touch)
2- Fujiko Mine (Lupin the 3rd)
3- Maetel (Galaxy Express 999)
4- Lum Invader (Urusei Yatsura)** (is this one any surprise?!)
4- Nami (One Piece)