Why Nezuko Keeps Winning
September 6 is Little Sister's Day in Japan, a calendar observance created by writer Kunio Hatada, who also came up with matching days for younger brothers (March 6) and older sisters (December 6). Japanese anime news site Anime Anime marks the date every year by asking readers a simple question: who is the definitive little sister character? The 2026 results are in, and for the fifth year running the answer is Nezuko Kamado.
The Demon Slayer heroine took about 9 percent of the vote. Nezuko, turned into a demon in the attack that killed the rest of the Kamado family, spends the series refusing to harm humans and fighting to protect her brother Tanjiro. That double life is exactly what voters cited. One reader said they love her both ways: shrunk down small inside Tanjiro's wooden box and fighting fiercely with her claws. Another pointed to how she resists her demonic instincts and shields her brother at his most desperate moments, writing that it made them feel "the strong bond between brother and sister." A third singled out the Swordsmith Village arc, where Nezuko overcomes a demon's fatal weakness to sunlight and manages to say "good morning," as the emotional peak of her slow change across the series.
Her hold on the crown is loosening, though. In the 2025 edition of the same poll, Nezuko pulled roughly 22 percent of the vote. This year that fell to about 9 percent, with support spreading across a field full of recently animated shows.
A Rom-Com Breakout and a Gintama Comeback
Second place goes to Iroha Kohinata of My Friend's Little Sister Has It In for Me!, the romantic comedy that got a TV anime in fall 2025. Iroha is the younger sister of protagonist Akiteru Ōboshi's best friend Ozuma. At school she plays the polite honor student; around Akiteru, and only Akiteru, she turns into a clingy, teasing menace. Voters found the act irresistible, citing the way she calls him "Senpai" and lounges on his bed like she owns it. She earned about 5 percent of the vote.
Kagura of Gintama takes third at roughly 5 percent, up from fourth place last year. Kagura hails from the Yato, the universe's strongest warrior clan, and lives and works at Gintoki Sakata's odd-jobs shop. She got a fresh push from Shin Gekijōban Gintama -Yoshiwara Dai Enjō- (roughly, "New Gintama the Movie: Yoshiwara in Flames"), which opened in Japanese theaters on February 13, 2026. Voters brought up her complicated relationship with her older brother Kamui, a division commander in the Harusame space pirate fleet, along with her showings in the film's battle scenes.
The Full Top 10
Here is the complete 2026 top 10, with ties at sixth and eighth:
1. Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer)
2. Iroha Kohinata (My Friend's Little Sister Has It In for Me!)
3. Kagura (Gintama)
4. Asa (Yomi no Tsugai)
5. Flandre Scarlet (Touhou Project)
6. Ruby Hoshino (Oshi no Ko) and Mia Adenauer (The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom), tied
8. Koishi Komeiji (Touhou Project), Naomi Tanizaki (Bungo Stray Dogs), and Komachi Hikigaya (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), tied
Asa, who calls her brother Yuru "nii-sama," got votes for devotion one reader described as love that is "a little too heavy." Two characters from the Touhou Project games made the list without any TV anime behind them. Below the top 10, readers also wrote in for Miya of the summer 2026 anime My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren't Wicked, who braced for abuse from her new stepfamily and got smothered with affection instead; Itsuki Nakano, the youngest of The Quintessential Quintuplets; and Xiaolan of The Apothecary Diaries, a little-sister figure to the heroine Maomao, with one voter admitting they cried along with Maomao at the letter scene in the Season 2 finale.
As for the numbers behind the ranking: 165 readers responded between August 25 and September 1, split about 55 percent male and 45 percent female, and skewed young, with roughly 30 percent aged 19 or under and another 25 percent in their twenties. Anime Anime notes that many of this year's entrants come from series with new anime or sequel announcements across 2025 and 2026, spanning action, rom-com, and fantasy.
Looking Ahead
Several of the poll's winners have something on the calendar. The Gintama film returns to Japanese theaters on September 25, 2026 in a retouched "Super Blazing Edition," per the film's official site. The Apothecary Diaries, whose Xiaolan drew write-in votes, just had a live-action drama adaptation announced in Japan. For international fans, Demon Slayer remains the easiest entry point of the bunch, with the TV series streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix, while My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren't Wicked streams with English subtitles on Viki.
The poll itself runs every year for Little Sister's Day, so Nezuko's streak goes back on the line in September 2027. Whether a five-time champion gets dethroned by a rom-com upstart or a space pirate's little sister is next year's question.