Ask John: Have Any Anime Supporting Characters Been Popular Enough to Get Their Own Series?

Question:
Have any sub-characters from an anime ever had a full spin-off series of their own because of their popularity? I can think of numerous examples within the comic-book realm where characters show up for a story arc and then end up getting their own series, but none for anime.

Answer:
Responding to this question is a bit tricky because of the precise stipulations contained within the question. The question isn’t simply about characters that appear in spin-off; the question inquires about supporting characters whose popularity earned them staring roles in spin-offs. Now famous American comic book characters like The Punisher and John Constantine were first introduced as supporting or incidental characters. The same thing happening in the realm of anime seems to occur less often. It’s especially difficult for a foreigner like me to determine which characters earned spin-offs due to their popularity and which earned spin-offs because of the desires of creators and animators. For example, the heroes of Saint Beast and Nanoha Takamachi of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha first appeared in the earlier Tenshi no Shippo and Triangle Hearts anime, respectively, but their graduations into their own series were certainly not a result of massive fan demand.

One possible example is the Dirty Pair. The crime fighting partners Kei and Yuri first appeared on screen briefly in the 1983 Crusher Joe motion picture. Their cameo appearance reportedly generated enough fan interest to support a release of their own television series two years later.

Another excellent example is Di-Gi-Charat supporting character Piyoko. After being introduced as an antagonist in the Di-Gi-Charat anime, Piyoko developed enough of a fan following to earn her own spin-off manga, drama CDs, and OVA series. With a panda theme, three bishonen guardians, an amusingly devious but simple-minded personality, and a voice provided by fan-favorite actress Megumi Hayashibara, it’s not difficult to understand why Piyoko became so popular.

Komugi Nakahara had little more than a cameo role in the SoulTaker television series, but she went on to much greater success as the star of her own Nurse Witch Komugi-chan OAVs. There can be little doubt that Komugi-chan’s popularity among fans was partially responsible for her spin-off anime. However, at the same time I can’t dismiss the probability that Komugi also get a spin-off anime series because of a marketing decision made by Tatsunoko Productions executives.

Similarly, Tenchi Muyo supporting character Sasami has appeared in as many of her own anime as she’s appeared in Tenchi Muyo anime. Part of the reason for Sasami’s numerous spin-offs must lie in her popularity among fans. But at the same time I also have to believe that part of the reason why Sasami has had so many of her own anime series spin-offs is simply because studio A.I.C. wanted to turn Sasami into a franchise celebrity.

There are almost certainly other anime characters whose popularity has generated spin-off anime. But it’s very difficult to determine or guess whether Gin-Rei got her own OAV series because of her popularity or because of interest in additional Giant Robo anime, or whether the medicine seller in Ayakashi returned in the Mononoke television series because of fan demand or because producers considered him and his world unrealized potential.