Guest Post by Louis Toms (owner of Carolina Comic Geek, a Pinterest board which catalogs birthdays of anime, cartoon, comic, and manga characters).
Greetings!
This entry continues our series of identifying anime’s top characters based on their birthday.
Anime is overflowing with a host of iconic protagonists, antagonists, and support characters. The depth of diversity makes the task of selecting the best a bit of a challenging endeavor. Hours of thoughtful introspection and research went into the process of creating a pretty good list of anime personalities. The result of this undertaking is a list that provides equal representation across multiple genres who, according to their creators, have an October birthday. See part one of October’s birthday here.
As you review the post, please feel free to let me know if I overlooked your favorite anime or manga character. Leave a comment below and let me know your picks.
10. Krul Tepes
- Birthday: October 27
- First Anime Appearance: Seraph of the End Ep. 1 “The World of Blood Legacy” (2015)
A high-ranking member of the Progenitor Council, Krul Tepes is the series leading antagonist. She is responsible for turning the protagonist’s friend into a vampire.
Over 1,200 years old, Krul was the human daughter of a Greek noble family. The townspeople would revolt, destroying her family’s home and killing Krul’s mother. They would seek to sell her and her younger brother into slavery. The First Progenitor would turn them into vampires. A thousand years later, Krul is the queen of the Sanguinem. She desires the destruction of humanity and bringing her brother back by capturing Yu.
Family-focused, Krul Tepes demonstrates that she owes no allegiance to either humanity or the vampire horde. Her mission is to reunite with her brother and this mission leads her actions. With the combination of strategic focus and disarming appearance, Krul is a great first entry for the best anime character with an October birthday.
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9. Miyuki Takara
- Birthday: October 25
- First Anime Appearance: Lucky☆Star, Ep. 1 “The Girl Who Dashes Off” (2007)
Miyuki Takara is a cute and intelligent young lady attending Ryoo High School. A major character, her physical appearance and personality embrace anime’s slice of life moe trope.
Miyuki is the only child of wealthy parents, Yukari Takara, and an unnamed father. A well-mannered girl, she served as class president in her first year of high school. Classmates lean on Yuki-chan’s encyclopedic knowledge and good study habits to understand the course lectures. Her supportive personality aligns with the genre’s formulaic friendly “healing-type meganekko character. However, Miyuki is generally an absent-minded individual outside the structure of academia.
Lucky☆Star is a successful parody of anime and otaku culture. Kagami Yoshimizu successfully captures the essence of the slice of life genre without making the characters campy. His well-crafted narrative is why Miyuki Takara and Lucky☆Star continue to be favorites among the fandom.
8. Rize Kamishiro
- Birthday: October 18
- First Anime Appearance: Tokyo Ghoul, Ep. 1 “Tragedy” (2014)
Rize Kamishiro is a pretty young woman, who embraces her place at the top of the food chain. She is the instrument of Ken Kaneki’s free-fall into the world of Tokyo Ghoul.
Rize is the natural daughter of Tsuneyoshi Washuu, a former Commission of Counter Ghoul commissioner. Discarded, the young ghoul’s voracious appetite earned her the nickname “Binge Eater.” Her indiscriminate hunger lust was cause for concern in both ghoul and human circles. A cold and calculating seductress, Rize lured unsuspecting victims to their demise. Her overzealous eating habits would give rise to the story’s protagonist.
Rize Kamishiro is unrelenting and unremorseful about her desire to feed. She views humanity as nothing more than cattle. An emotionally damaged individual, the “Binge Eater” is one of this month’s favorite anime characters.
7. Kobato Hasegawa
- Birthday: October 18
- First Appearance: Haganai: I don’t have many friends, Ep. 1 “We Can’t Make Any Friends” (2011)
Kodaka Hasegawa’s younger sister, Kobato Hasegawa is a supporting character suffering from “second-year disease.” Specifically, she is under the delusion of being a vampire.
Kobato is a mediocre middle school student at St. Chronica’s Academy. Stand-offish, she prefers a chūnibyō lifestyle to that of making friends with peers. Along with a quirky personality, Kobato also suffers from a brother complex. This obsession leads her to view the Neighbor’s Club mentor, Maria Takayama, as a rival for her brother’s attention. In spite of her odd behavior and isolation, Kobato is a popular girl.
Kobato Hasegawa’s quirkiness has its endearing qualities. Her story is one of shared awkwardness and insecurities faced when leaving childhood behind. Kobato’s personality and cuteness make her one of our favorite anime characters with a birthday in October.
6. Nunnally vi Britannia
- Birthday: 25 October 2003
- First Anime Appearance: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Ep. 3 “The False Classmate” (2006)
Princess Nunnally vi Britannia is a major character in the Code Geass saga. She is the younger daughter of Emperor Charles zi Britannia and consort Marianne vi Britannia.
Brown hair and violet eyes, Nunnally is a generally kind-hearted and empathetic teenage girl. Her mother’s assassination would leave the princess blinded and paralyzed. In spite of this setback, Nunnally still holds out hope to right the wrongs of the kingdom. Her passive engagement to affect the lives contrasts dramatically from the one taken by her brother. Nunnally’s path would lead her to become the 100th Empress of Britannia, but her success is only fleeting.
The young royal is an admirer of the tragic life of her ancestor, Queen Elizabeth III. Their similarly tragic lives resonate with us, the anime viewer. Our connection is just one of the many reasons why Nunnally vi Britannia is a popular anime character.
5. Yūichirō Hyakuya
- Birthday: 16 October 2004
- First Anime Appearance: Seraph of the End Ep. 1 “The World of Blood Legacy” (2015)
A naturally talented swordsman,Yūichirō Hyakuya is central to the Japanese Imperial Demon Army’s plan to defeat the vampire menace. However, the military’s leadership is suspect of the young warrior’s true intentions.
An orphan, Yūichirō and his foster siblings became the blood supply for their vampire caretakers. Unwilling to be cattle to vampires, he would successfully escape their captivity. The young lad’s defiance would result in the vampires killing his foster siblings. Seeking retribution, he would join the army’s Moon Demon Company and acquire the skills necessary to threaten the vampire’s reign. His impact is more profound, as Yūichirō learns to unlock his demon and Seraph of the End abilities.
Yūichirō never loses sight of a need to care for and protect others. His drive is on display when he risks it all to save a childhood friend turned by the vampires. A spirited underdog, Yūichirō Hyakuya or “Demon-boy” is our fifth favorite character with a birthday in October.
4. Fumikage Tokoyami
- Birthday: October 30
- First Anime Appearance: My Hero Academia Ep. 5 “What I Can Do for Now” (2016)
Within Japanese mythology, the Karura where a race of bird-headed humans adopted into the pantheon of gods as a protector deity. Fumikage Tokoyami, a bird-headed human, may not be a Karura but he does aspire to become a protector of humanity.
Stoic and methodical, Fumikage is a student at U.A. High School. His Dark Shadow Quirk uses a shadow bird-like monster to fight and ward off attacks. Light or the lack thereof influences the amount of control Fumikage retains over his quirk. He would solidify his shadowy aesthetic by hero name “Tsukuyomi,” a Shinto lunar deity. The combination of powerful quirk and strategic thinking make Fumikage a great counterbalance to his hotheaded peers.
Kohei Horikoshi has proven to be an excellent world-builder with the My Hero Academia franchise. His roster of fleshed-out characters is astonishing. With this admiration, we can appreciate Fumikage Tokoyami as one of our favorite anime characters with a birthday in October.
3. Death the Kid
- Birthday: October 31
- First Anime Appearance: Soul Eater, Ep. 2 “I Am the Star! The Big Man is Showing Up Here?” (2008)
Death the Kid is the leader and headmaster of the Death Weapons Meister Academy. He is masterful with the Meister of the Demon Twin Guns, Liz Thompson and Patty Thompson.
Residing in Death City, the Kid is Death’s teenage son. His abilities place him at the top of the Death Weapons Meister Academy’s Especially Advantaged Talent class. He is a pragmatic reaper, with a strong driving force to bring order to chaos. Death the Kid is mature compared to his peers, which causes Dr. Franken Stein to refer to him as an “uptight personality.” The series would see the Kid to go on and inherit his father’s role, as Lord Death.
Death the Kid demonstrates a fiery, single-minded focus whenever engaging the supernatural. His growth and personality resonate with fans, who rate him as their favorite personality in the series. These traits make him one of our favorite characters with a birthday in October.
2. Sabastian Michaelis
- Birthday: October 31
- First Anime Appearance: Black Butler, Ep. 1 “His Butler, Able” (2008)
Sebastian Michaelis is a major character within Kuroshitsuji, whose primary responsibility is serving as the protagonist’s butler. He is the Phantomhive estate’s majordomo or head of household staff, who just so happens to also be a demon.
Witnessing his brother’s death, the Earl of Phantomhive summoned a devil to meet out justice upon the responsible parties. The demon agreed to become an attendant to the young noble while awaiting his death to collect payment. On the surface, Sabastian is a proper English servitor and estate manager. His professional façade cloaks an unsympathetic, single-minded focus to acquire Ceil’s soul. These competing priorities manifest themselves as a ruthless protector, who’s unafraid of risking the young ward’s life for amusement.
Sebastian Michaelis is a compelling character, as he lures us into forgetting his true motivations. The Black Butler is only providing a service in exchange for Ceil to pay the devil its due. A well-imagined character, Sebastian Michaelis is one of October’s most popular anime characters.
1. L Lawliet
- Birthday: 31 October 1979 (manga) / 31 October 1982 (anime)
- First Anime Appearance: Death Note Ep. 2 “Confrontation” (2006)
The world’s greatest detective, L Lawliet becomes aware of an anomaly in the number of natural deaths. His keen sense of observation leads to a cat and mouse game with the series antagonist, Kira.
L grew up in the Wammy’s House in the English town of Winchester. He is one of three gifted investigators sent to ferret out the true identity of Kira. Quiet and focused, L’s fact-finding comes from a need to win rather than a sense of justice. This is clear in his declaration, ‘Kira is childish and he hates losing… I’m also childish and hate losing.’ Ultimately, Kira is a better gamer.
Based on fan polls, L Lawliet is unapologetically the best anime character over the past fifteen years. This is only possible due to the great work of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. L’s well-deserved admiration is why he is our favorite anime character with a birthday in October.
