The world of Japanese anime is populated with thousands of characters of all kinds, and anime fans can categorize these characters in all sorts of ways, from their MBTI personality type to their Dungeons & Dragons alignment to their astrological signs. Some anime characters are the perfect embodiment of their astrological sign, while others simply aren't.
A different approach can be taken when it comes to horoscopes and anime characters. Instead of evaluating a character based on their actual astrological sign and date of birth, anime fans can describe a character by the sign they fit, regardless of their date of birth. This method also works well on characters who have no clear date of birth. Now, which anime characters are best described with Cancer, one of the three water signs?
10 Tohru Honda Cares Deeply For Others (Fruits Basket)
Cancer the crab, as a water sign, describes people who are deeply attuned to mystic energies and the emotions of others. Cancers have a strong preference for family, a comfortable home and being a bit withdrawn for the sake of comfort. They are like crabs who hide in their shells to avoid a turbulent world.
Tohru Honda, the shojo heroine of Fruits Basket, is a fine Cancer, a deeply empathetic girl who will drop everything to help another person with their problems and emotional distress. She is also a great cook and can make any house feel like a true home.
9 Izumi Miyamura Is Welcome In Any Home (Horimiya)
Izumi Miyamura is a secretly "edgy" kid who may seem like a punk or a loser, yet he is anything but that. He may look gloomy at school and like a troublemaker in the streets, but under the surface, Izumi is a carefree and cheerful fellow who can make anyone feel at ease.
Izumi is easy to like, and he can seamlessly integrate into any household and make everyone feel like family all over again, like a true Cancer. He's also a decent cook and knows how to bake cakes, since his family runs a bakery. His girlfriend, Kyoko Hori, is always in for a treat.
8 Hitohito Tadano Is Deeply Attuned To The Needs Of Others (Komi Can't Communicate)
Hitohito Tadano is a major character in Komi Can't Communicate, a perfectly ordinary high school boy who never really stands out. He's not a geek, a nerd, a jock, a punk or much of anything. But that's actually his greatest strength, since that allows him to focus on the needs of others instead.
Cancers are highly attuned to the needs and thoughts of others, and Hitohito is so closely attuned to other people, it's borderline telepathic, especially when it comes to his shy new friend, Shoko Komi. Hitohito is also a fine host for his friends at home, just like a bonafide Cancer.
7 Futaro Uesugi Is A Great Tutor (The Quintessential Quintuplets)
Futaro Uesugi could be described with a few of the astrological signs, and he might have some elements of Libra and Leo in him. But he may be best described as a Cancer, an empathetic and selfless boy who can be comforting to anyone who needs him.
Futaro is the appointed tutor of the five Nakano sisters, and Futaro's Cancer side shows when he gets to know the girls better and provide them with a helping hand while doing his best to understand their emotional state. He is also a comforting and soothing presence at home, and his little sister Raiha really looks up to him.
6 Megumi Tadokoro Loves Home-Style Cooking (Food Wars!)
Megumi Tadokoro is a fine Cancer, a shy but talented girl who enrolled at the Totsuki culinary school to expand her skills and realize her potential. Megumi's Cancer side is mostly expressed through her home-style cooking, and she learned the ways of traditional Japanese hospitality from her mother.
Such an emphasis on home comforts is very much Cancer's domain, and it helps that Megumi is an emotionally sensitive and selfless person who puts others first. She's rather timid and withdrawn, as Cancers might sometimes be, but she can also form strong friendships over time.
5 Ryuji Takasu Has Serious Domestic Skills (Toradora!)
Based on his stern and scary eyes, most people think Ryuji Takasu is a tough-talking punk, and they keep their distance from him. But like Izumi Miyamura, Ryuji is actually a cuddly Cancer crab on the inside, and his friends and family all love him for it. He's easy to get along with.
Ryuji lives with his busy single mother, and it often falls on him to run the household and provide all meals, which is just like a true Cancer. He is also kind and selfless, being fairly attuned to the needs of others.
4 Mr. Yoshimura Runs A Cozy Café & Is Sympathetic To Ken (Tokyo Ghoul)
At first, Tokyo Ghoul seems like an odd series to have a warm and friendly Cancer character, but most anime series have at least one. In this case, the Cancer is Mr. Yoshimura, an elderly ghoul who runs a café named Anteiku. He's like a doting uncle or grandfather to most of Anteiku's employees, most of whom he hires personally.
Mr. Yoshimura's café is a neutral ground for humans and ghouls, and this warm, welcoming environment marks Mr. Yoshimura as an exemplary Cancer. What is more, Mr. Yoshimura is highly sympathetic to the troubled young ghouls he hires, including Ken Kaneki. Early on, he was Ken's lifeline.
3 Trisha Elric Is A Soothing Cancer (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Trisha Elric is an unambitious and nurturing woman who took pride in her two sons and her husband, and taking pride in their accomplishments is enough to give her a fulfilling life. Trisha Elric may not have alchemy or the mind of a scientist, but she does have a sensitive and wise heart, and that's just what Van Hohenheim needed in a partner.
Trisha needed just a few words to understand Hohenheim's distress and cheer him up, which reduced him to happy tears. She also ran a tight household and loved her sons, and that's why she was missed so deeply when she died of an illness.
2 Princess Shuna Loves The Peaceful Life (That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime)
Princess Shuna is one of the six surviving ogres, and while she can fight with holy magic, she'd rather have her brother Benimaru do the real fighting to defend Rimuru City. Shuna prefers peaceful pursuits such as weaving, hosting formal parties and giving Rimuru fancy new outfits to wear.
Shuna is a comforting and warm person to know, and she can cook fine meals and make any house feel like a home, even for diverse species such as goblins, orcs, dire wolves and lizard-men. She is also a gentle and selfless person who can easily sympathize with anyone who's in distress.
1 Mirajane Strauss Is Comforting But Sometimes Pinches (Fairy Tail)
Mirajane Strauss is one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, but she rarely boasts about that. In fact, Mirajane is happiest when there is no fighting at all, and she usually volunteers as a barmaid and waitress in the guildhall. She enjoys serving others in this capacity, and such hospitality marks her as a Cancer.
Mirajane is also a comforting and empathetic person, and she is quick to help anyone who needs a few kind words from a big sister type like her, including Lucy. Cancers are also known to sometimes "pinch" people who annoy or antagonize them, though, and Mirajane isn't afraid to use the rod if people are getting unruly.