Diana Farah

Japanese public broadcaster NHK has asked fans to pick their favorite character from popular anime Sailor Moon franchise in an online poll.

Main character Sailor moon was surprisingly not in the top spot in the popularity ranking for her own series.

According to NHK, a total of 82,706 votes were cast. 89 percent of the respondents were women, while only 11 percent were men.

In terms of age, the largest group of respondents were aged between 30-39, followed by 20-29 (30.6 percent), 19 and younger (11.7 percent) and 40-49 (8.3 percent).

The NHK poll split each character up into their alter egos, meaning that the votes for Sailor Moon, her schoolgirl persona Usagi Tsukino, her past life Princess Serenity, and her future-self Neo Queen Serenity were all counted separately.

15 of the top 20 rankings were dominated by the Sailor Senshi and their secret identities.
Notable characters who were not part of the top 20 included Setsuna Meioh (Sailor Pluto’s civilian form, ranked 48), Luna (30), Tuxedo Mask (27), Mamoru Chiba (26), Sailor Chibi Moon (25), Chibiusa (23). Sailor Pluto (22) and Rei Hino (Sailor Mars’ secret identity, 21).

Sailor Moon took over the number two spot, right after Sailor Uranus (1) and after Haruka Tenoh (3).

Below is the full list of top 20 rankings of the popular anime:

20. Sailor Jupiter
19. Black Lady
18. Luna (human form)
17. Tomoe Hotaru
16. Sailor Mars
15. Usagi Tsukino
14. Sailor Neptune
13. Princess Serenity
12. Sailor Venus
11. Fish Eye
10. Sailor Mercury
9. Ami Mizuno
8. Makoto Kino
7. Sailor Saturn
6. Michiru Kaioh
5. Kou Seiya
4. Minako Aino
3. Haruka Tenoh
2. Sailor Moon
1. Sailor Uranus