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Which anime's female character was the most famous across the internet from
**JAN-2015** to **MARCH-2016** (Winter 2015 to Spring 2016)?

For clarification purpose:

My question is focused on data such as polls, internet page hits, imageboard
posts or any other method that proves to be accurate. _(Meaning: This is not a
opinion based question. If you want to leave a opinion do so in the
comments.)_

As an example, when the TV Show " _Amagi Brilliant Park_ " aired, the main
character Isuzu Sento was all over the internet, with several doujinshis, fan-
made images, and uses of this character in anime sites.

Further exemplifying: Suzumiya Haruhi (SHnY), Hatsune Miku (idol), Asuna
(SAO), Mikasa (SnK) are used a lot over the internet and all are easily
recognized faces, and this is what I'm looking for, but from the latest year
only.

What I want this for: I'm making an app which will use the female character.


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Which anime's female character was the most famous across the internet in 2015?


There are a few different ways of interpreting your question. Interpretation
#1 is "among all characters who appeared in anime from Jan 2015 to Mar 2016,
which of them is most popular on the internet by metrics X, Y, and Z".
Interpretation #2 is "among all characters who appeared in anime from Jan 2015
to Mar 2016, which of them is most popular on the internet _as a consequence
of their appearing in the anime_ by metrics X, Y, and Z". Interpretation #2 is
considerably more difficult to measure, but it may be more relevant to you.

It also matters whether by "the internet" you mean "all of the internet" or
"the English-speaking internet", because Japanese viewers tend to have
systematically different tastes than non-Japanese viewers.

## #1 / all

Under interpretation #1 and "all of the internet", the answer almost surely
has to be someone from _Kantai Collection_ , which is the biggest thing since
sliced Touhou. Take your pick from Shimakaze (an early character who achieved
high popularity and has maintained it since); Fubuki (brought to prominence by
the anime); Kashima (the newest high-popularity character from the franchise);
or any number of other shipgirls. (I think Shimakaze wins by most metrics,
including pixiv illustrations - [24000 as of
now](http://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E5%B3%B6%E9%A2%A8); [this pixiv poll from
2014](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9nejC.jpg) by a large margin; etc. But she did
have a considerable head start, being ship #10.)

## #1 / English

Under interpretation #1 and "the English-speaking internet", sites like MAL
are good places to look.

  * On MAL, the [top-ranking female characters](http://myanimelist.net/character.php) from anime that aired during the time period in question are Senjougahara Hitagi ( _Monogatari_ ), Suzumiya Haruhi (via _Nagato Yuki-chan_ ), Saber ( _Fate_ ), and Erza Scarlet ( _Fairy Tail_ ). 
  * On [Anime-Planet](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/top-loved) (which I think skews to a more casual demographic than MAL), the list is Erza Scarlet, Hyuuga Hinata ( _Naruto_ ), Suzumiya Haruhi, and Lucy Heartfilia ( _Fairy Tail_ ). 
  * [AniDB](http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=characterlist&orderby.rating=0.2&orderby.name=1.1&orderbar=0&noalias=1) is a bit more difficult to work with since they have ratings rather than just "likes", but the toppers by raw rating (without adjusting for confidence based on number of ratings) are Miyauchi Renge ( _Non Non Biyori_ , twice!), Kongou ( _KanColle_ ), Cure Beat ( _PreCure_ ), and Cure Moonlight ( _PreCure_ )

## #2 / all

Under interpretation #2 and "all of the internet", the answer may not be
someone from _KanColle_ , because the anime, while still very popular, was not
quite as ridiculously popular as the game on which it is based.

Idol shows are another common source of super-popular female characters.
Within the time period under consideration, _Love Live!_ and _Idolmaster_ both
aired, and both of these shows derive more of their popularity from TV than
_KanColle_ does. I know that _Love Live!_ has (had) periodic character polls,
but I can't find many of them at the moment. [Here's one from Jan 2016
ish](http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2142631062822870101) which has Nico at the
top (see, Japan has weird taste), and [another one from back in
2013](http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/otonokizaka/sp_election.html) that has Maki
at the top (okay, not _that_ weird). No idea whether _Idolmaster_ does them
too.

Other than that, I don't have any good data, but my impression is that the
various female leads from _Saekano_ , _Fate_ , _Oregairu_ , and _Monogatari_
are also potential contenders under this interpretation.

## #2 / English

For the English-speaking internet, interpretations #1 and #2 are actualyl
mostly the same, since most of the English-speaking internet's exposure to
"otaku culture" is through anime, with virtually no non-anime media achieving
prominence anywhere near the most popular anime. (Contrast Japan, where
_KanColle_ , the game, is very much a thing.)

Perhaps the key exceptions are a select few visual novels like _Fate/stay
night_ and _Muv-Luv_ ; and wildly popular manga like _One Punch Man_ and
_Shingeki no Kyojin_ (though these things pretty much always get anime
adaptations eventually). But I'm not aware of any non-anime properties like
this during the time period under consideration, so I expect no real
difference between interpretations #1 and #2.

# Miscellaneous notes

One other well-known source for this kind of thing is _Newtype_ magazine's
monthly character polls. But I warn you in advance, their polls skew in very
strange ways. For example, Kira Yamato is almost perpetually ranked, despite
not having been on TV since 2005. Anyway, I found most of these for the time
period in question, and it turns out that Saber tops about half the polls and
places in the top 3 in the rest.

# My personal take

If you choose to include _KanColle_ , I think the obvious answer is Shimakaze,
or possibly Kongou, given that you want a character with high recognizability
in the vein of Haruhi/Asuna/Mikasa/etc.

If you choose to exclude _KanColle_ , which may also be reasonable depending
on your target audience, I would recommend a character from _Monogatari_ ,
which has had 7 years to stew in the minds of people, yet is still putting out
new animated content. Senjougahara is probably the most recognizable of them,
but Shinobu/Kiss-Shot is more topical, given that _Kizumonogatari_ is
literally happening this year. The other reasonable option I see is Tatsumaki
from _One Punch Man_ , too, given the broad popularity of that show with
English-speaking audiences.

Alternatively, you could just use Mikasa. _Jiyuu no Tsubasa_ (recap movie #2)
did premiere in June 2015, after all.


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