The last of Nicc’s trio of short commissions for March is especially fitting. It’s a short short – or shorties, if you like. Yes, my favorite vertically challenged characters from anime. I shudder to think how many examples completely slipped my mid when I was putting this together, but there are still a lot of really good options here.

In terms of eligibility, let me just say this: I didn’t choose anyone who was short simply because of their age (in either direction). Like, what sense would it make to put Kotarou from Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi on here when he’s a kindergartener? But I didn’t want to exclude underage characters here (it would have seriously drained the pool if I had). So my rule was “short for their age” – be they children, adolescents, or adults. Some are more obvious than others, and as usual (you know the drill by now) these are in no particular order.

• Ichikawa Kyoutarou (Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu) – Ichi was the first name I thought of here (unsurprisingly as I think he’s the best character in manga at the moment), so he’s first on the list. He definitely qualifies as one of those “short for his age” teens – and his height is a significant plot point given that the love of his life is extremely tall and a model. You could easily go two for the price of one here and include Kyou’s older sister Kana, too.
• Ootani Atsushi (Love Com: Lovely Complex) – Atsushi fits the mold even more than Kyoutarou given that he’s a high schooler, and his height is an even bigger factor (maybe the biggest). Love Com is a really funny romance set in Osaka, where the tall (roughly 172 cm) girl and short (156 cm) boy are something of a manzai team.
• Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin) – I’m not sure people are aware of how vertically challenged Kenshin is (at least until Hiko shows up). In fact he’s 158 cm (about 5’2″). That’s not extraordinarily short for Meiji-era Japan, but it sure ain’t tall for someone who does what Kenshin does for a living.
• Aharen Reina (Aharen-san wa Hakarenai) – Even by Japanese standards Reina is a very small girl, which is accentuated by the fact that Raidou-kun is rather hulking for a Japanese boy. Their physical contrast isn’t the main gag in the series but it provides a very amusing contrast, and does directly lead to some of their hjijinks.
• Taneshima Popura (Working!!) – Poplar was the victim of a bit of a false main character scam. But I always liked her better than the female lead, and wished she got more attention as the series progressed.
• Hinata Shouyou (Haikyuu!!) – I can’t not include Hinata on here, given that his vertical challenges in a sport dominated by giants are a major component of the story. He may be short, but Shouyou makes up for it with phenomenal leaping ability and crazy instincts and determination.
• Kanada Oe/Komano Tsutomu (Chihayafuru) – The focus was usually on the main trio, but Chihayafuru’s B-couple was a consistent highlight of the series and a welcome break from the former. These two are almost too perfectly matched, and that includes height.
• Kuchiki Rukia (Bleach) – I didn’t realize at first read just how short Rukia is – at 144 cm one of the shortest on this list. I’m not a huge Bleach fan but Rukia is one of its more interesting and popular characters.
• Bojji (Ousama Ranking) – Ranking of Kings may have kinda jumped the shark plot-wise, but Bojji never stopped being adorably charismatic as its heart and soul. He may be a kid but Bojji is crazy short even so, and the reason why is a major plot element.
• Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) – Not only is Edward really small (149 cm or so) during most of the series, but he’s seriously got a complex over it. He does appear much taller in the epilogue but that’s a drop in the narrative ocean.
• Thorfinn Karlsefni (Vinland Saga) – Here’s one for you: Thorfinn is canonically 153 cm tall. I knew he was pretty short, but I never thought of him as being barely over 5′. This was a millennium ago of course but the Norsemen are pretty tall as a rule, so that definitely stands out. He’s kind of a Viking Kenshin – and that fits, as I noted the similarities in their character arcs on more than one occasion.

A few others I considered… Maomao – Princess Usagi really pushed for her but honestly, 155 cm for a 16th Century-ish Chinese girl doesn’t seem unusually short to me. Izuku Midoriya, Froppy, Isaki from Houkago no Insomnia (again, not that short), Czeslaw Meyer, and Netero (who actually is pretty short, but then, maybe that’s where the “for their age” thing factors in). Overall there were more males than females here, and this exercise really showed me that shortness as a trope is used more often with boys than girls in anime.