Summary
March. The time the snows of winter finally depart, the flowers start blooming, and the animals come out of hibernation. Except for those south of the Equator, where things give way to autumn. Regardless of the season, March brings St Patrick’s Day, Women’s History Month, and the birthdays of Jon Bon Jovi, Shaquille O’Neal, and Christopher Walken.
It’s also whenLord of the Rings’ Aragorn, DC Comics’ Catwoman, andStar Trek’s Captain Kirk were born. Overall, March isn’t a bad month for famous fictional birthdays. But novels, comics, and live-action TV series aren’t the only media around. Who were the mosticonic anime charactersto be born in March? Here are a few standout examples.
Updated May 28, 2025 by David Heath:March is once more on the horizon, bringing an end to winter (or summer for those south of the Equator). Aside from the change in weather, it’ll bring a spate of new holidays and birthdays, hopefully giving some people the chance to lighten up in otherwise dark times.
The keenest anime fans among the March babies might even find a little joy in sharing birthdays with some of the most famous anime characters around. Which is why this list has been updated with more of anime’s best known characters born in March, be they rising stars or iconic genre figures.
When people think of bunny girls, they usually picture someone who’s docile and demure. Maybe even titillating like the Playboy Bunnies. WhileMy Hero Academia’s bunny girl has her devotees, she isn’t into being anyone’s pet. Rumi ‘Mirko’ Usagiyama was born onMarch 1st, and she’s more of a March Hare than a White Rabbit.
She’s brash and independent, preferring to speak her mind and face her foes directly rather than be a team player. It works well for her too, as her Rabbit Quirk gives her enhanced hearing to catch the sound of anything (or anyone) suspicious, then she can use her super strength, agility, and pain tolerance to rush them down no matter what they throw at her.
Most of the characters on this list are going to be out of this world, with special powers and/or dealing with special situations. But the hero ofGolden Kamuyis more down-to-earth. He isn’t a magical meta-human or cyborg. Saichi Sugimoto, also bornMarch 1st, is just a Japanese soldier, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War from the start of the 20th Century. Albeit a near-immortal one, as he has a knack for surviving the most deadly situations.
While panning for gold in Hokkaido, he hears a story about some Ainu miners who hid their gold in the mountains. Then one of their few surviving members tattooed a map of the location on the Abashiri Prison convicts. After some convincing, and seeking a way to repay the wife of a dead comrade, he goes in search of it, aided only by Asirpa, the daughter of one of the Ainu miners, who seeks to avenge her father’s death.
Speaking of searching for treasure,One Piece’s Sanji was born to the noble Vinsmoke family onMarch 2nd. His father wanted all his kids to be genetically enhanced, but his mother didn’t. She took a drug to stop this, compromising her health in the process. But it only worked on Sanji, who doted on his ailing mother with his talent for cooking until she passed away.
After he lost his mother and was in constant torment from his relatives, he fled their castle and cut his ties with the Vinsmokes. He served on the Baratie as their chef before joining Luffy and the Strawhats. With their help, he hopes to find the point where the East, West, North, and South Blues meet and see its wildlife. That, and charm Nami, but hiswomanizing ways make that less likely.
All is fair in love and war, but to Kaguya and Miyuki, they may as well be the same thing. Their pride in their prestigious reputation turns their burgeoning feelings for each other into a battlefield where whoever makes a public display of affection loses the fight. Which is why the show is calledKaguya-sama: Love is War. But their plans often hit snags thanks to their mutual friend Chika Fujiwara, who was born onMarch 3rd, as she’s unaware of the 4D love chess her friends are playing, and she tends to turn their plots on their heads in an instant.
She’s often oblivious to what’s going on around her, to the point where she seems kind of dumb. Yet she’s a master pianist, can speak five languages, and though she hates lying, she’s great at games that rely on bluffing, like Werewolf and Poker. She may be putting on a front, though she seems genuinely unaware of Kaguya and Miyuki’s feelings for each other, as she’s all too willing to provide romantic advice (despite her own lack of experience) as a ‘love detective’ to other couples in need.
Born onMarch 3rd, Kankichi ‘Ryo-san’ Ryotsu fromKochiKame: Tokyo Beat Copsisn’t the biggest name outside Japan. Within its shores, it became one of the best-selling manga ever released, running inShōnen Jumpfor 40 years before ending in 2016. Its anime adaptation didn’t last as long, but it had a decent decade-long run, alongside another decade’s worth of specials and a bundle of animated movies.
They basically followed Ryo-san, a humble cop in Katsushika, Tokyo, as he tried to improve his lot in life through various moneymaking schemes, as he’d attempt to capitalize on one fad or another sweeping the nation at the time. If his plots didn’t blow up in his face, he’d soon squander his ill-gotten gains. Either way, he’d need to be bailed out by his rich partner, Keiichi, the straight man to his bungler. It was that, or do some actual police work, but that wouldn’t be as funny.
Usually, shojo strips are aimed at younger girls, and josei ones are directed at women, but the line dividing them isn’t so solid. Some shojo stories feel more like josei ones, like inNana, where its two leads, Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki, befriend each other and try to make their dreams come true in Tokyo. But along the way, they come face to face with heartbreak, interrelationship turmoil, drugs, suicide, and death.
For Nana O, born onMarch 6th, she wanted to reach the top of the music charts with her band, the Black Stones. They’re stuck in a rivalry with another top band, Trapnest, whose bassist just happens to be Nana O’s ex-boyfriend, Ren. She gets back with him, which helps the Black Stones gain fame by association, but it puts Nana O’s friendship with Nana K in jeopardy, while Ren falls into the depths of a bad drug addiction. The road to fame is a rocky one indeed.
Born onMarch 6thas Michiru Kaiō, Sailor Neptune is one of the more infamous members ofthe Sailor ScoutsinSailor Moon. In canon, she’s the lover of Haruka Tenō, aka Sailor Uranus. They flirt, kiss, and generally do what couples do. They just had the temerity to both be women while doing it. The nerve of them. Jokes aside, they became one of the most popular gay couples in anime, if not media in general.
However, this proved to be too much for North American TV channels in the 1990s, so their relationship was censored, and the localization reframed as them being cousins. Cousins who flirted and cuddled with each other until the series ended. This would finally be fixed in the 2016 dub, where Uranus and Neptune could finally be out and proud instead of being portrayed as shojo Lannisters.
Sanji isn’t the only Strawhat to have been born in March. The cola-fueled cyborg fromOne Piecewas also born in the same month, albeit by a decade & a bit in advance. Born onMarch 9thas Cutty Flam, he was abandoned at the age of 9, when he was taken under the wing of Tom, the man who designed Gol D Roger’s ship, the Oro Jackson. He also held secret plans for a devastating weapon that the world government wanted to get their hands on.
His reckless behavior put Tom at risk, and despite Franky’s best efforts, he was captured. Left with nothing but the secret plans and some grievous injuries, Franky rebuilt himself as the cyborg head of his own band of brigands, Franky’s Family. After a series of skirmishes with the Strawhats, he eventually joined their crew as they had a mutual enemy in the Marines and CP-9. He’s a bizarre big man with a taste for exhibitionism and a disregard for the rules, yet he’s considered the most mature member of the crew. C’est la vie.
Technically,March 13thwasn’t when the assassin formerly known as the Reaper was born.Koro-sensei fromAssassination Classroomgrew up knowing nothing about his birth, or even his real name. He simply killed whoever needed to be killed until he was betrayed by a protégé and incarcerated as a test subject. But while he was behind bars, he bonded with a woman called Aguri. She decided to celebrate the anniversary of the first time they met as Koro-sensei’s birthday, and got him a tie.
He appreciated her kindness, even as the experiments turned him into a shape-shifting monster and led to her accidental death. His unstable form threatens to destroy the Earth in a year’s time, so he enrolls as a homeroom teacher to instruct his students on how to kill him before his time is up. Getting killed was his wish, but passing on life skills, knowledge, and compassion to the kids was Aguri’s, and he’ddo his best to fulfill it.
10Ichigo Momomiya
Tokyo Mew Mew
If the name and the show don’t seem familiar, but the face does, then fans might know Ichigo Momomiya fromTokyo Mew Mewbetter as Zoey Hanson fromMew Mew Power. But what’s in a name? A magical girl show by any other name will still feature a cutesy group of girls using their powers to defend the Earth from one threat or another. InTokyo Mew Mew’s case, it’s aliens who want to ‘reclaim’ the planet.
Born onMarch 15th, Ichigo became the leader of the Mew Mews when an earthquake left her at death’s door. Her life was saved when her DNA was infused with that of the endangered Iriomote Cat. The result gave her feline-esque reflexes, but also cat-like habits and features that appear when she gets worked up. Without great responsibility, her great power could give her cat ears and a tail, or even turn her into a full-on cat.
