Ai Haibara from Detective Conan won first place, with about 29% support, in a reader poll on characters who are good at English. The Japanese outlet Anime! Anime! published the 2026 results on October 27, 2026.
The outlet last ran the poll two years ago. This time it collected 123 responses between October 5 and October 12, 2026. About 65% of respondents were women and 35% were men. About 35% were 19 or younger, and about 30% were in their 20s.
The outlet describes Haibara as a scientist who once held the code name Sherry in the Black Organization and who studied in the United States as a child. Readers who voted for her pointed to her scientific background and her upbringing. One mentioned her British heritage on her mother's side.
Ukyo Saionji from Dr. Stone placed second with about 6%. According to the outlet, he moved up from third place. Ukyo is a former sonar operator on a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine. One reader singled out a scene where he starts a phone call with Gen by saying "However..." in English. Another noted that voice actor Kensho Ono performs the lines in English in the anime.
Conan Edogawa took third place, very close behind Ukyo. Detective Conan placed two more characters in the top 10: Heiji Hattori at fourth and Ran Mori, who tied for fifth with Rin Itoshi from Blue Lock. Nine characters tied for seventh, including Ryoma Echizen from The Prince of Tennis and Chisato Nishikigi from Lycoris Recoil.
Anime! Anime! notes that its reader polls are not meant to rank characters or works against one another.