Anya Forger, Twilight's adopted daughter in Spy x Family. Haruka Kotoura, the titular protagonist of Kotoura-san. Both girls are psychics with telepathy powers. (They can read the thoughts of those around them.) Each girl is the heroine of her story.
These characters despite being from different series have many similarities along with other contrast points, I wanted to make this comparison article between them. Like the comparison between Myne and Index, I wrote a few weeks ago.
Introduction
Origin of Power
Haruka Kotoura was born with her power. In her series setting, people could be born with psychic powers but they are rare cases and are not recognized nor believed by the public. Leading to many prejudices against them. Only Haruka's immediate family and her friends believed she actually has that power, everyone else wouldn't admit it.
Anya on the other hand is an interesting case. When she was younger, she experimented on by an underground research facility. Only known as "Subject 007" at the time, the experiments accidentally gave her telepathic powers. Sometime between that and the start of the series, she ran away. Not much is known about that period of her life, but in a flashback, the scientists didn't allow her to draw, play or cry for the world's peace. She's also the only character thus far who has a psychic ability, and all other super powered characters got theirs via training.
Prejudice & Special Treatment
Both girls have been treated horribly because of their powers, they are exposed to prejudice even from their families. Both of them got better after meeting the right people though:
Haruka was abandoned by her mother as a child because she unknowingly revealed the lies the family was built on. The girl faced prejudice every day which destroyed her self-esteem and it was up to Manabe and the friends she met with him to save her from it.
Anya's past was similar. While nothing is known about her real family, (or if she had any at all,) Anya who escaped from the research facility has gone through 3 foster parents before meeting Loid. All of them abandoned the girl because they knew something was off about her. Even her relationship with Loid started badly! He didn't care about her at first. The only reason he doesn't know she can read minds yet in the story, is because she learned how to hide it so no one would hate her for it.
I'd say Anya had a better life because she met her saviors sooner than Haruka. The stories portray their suffering differently though. Anya's is only used as a sympathetic backstory. Kotoura's whole plot is about dealing with the PTSD of that suffering.
Difference in Personality
Anya Forger is a child and her personality is what you expect from a highly energetic child. She shows some ADHD traits and acts more childish than other characters her age. She shows excitement over random things and is set on living happily together with her Spy father and Assassin's mother. She's not above manipulating people and do questionable stuff to get what she wants, which is mostly a childish thing.
Anya's childish nature is justified in three ways. She never had any deep social interactions as she never had friends due to her upbringing. She also seems more of a child compared to the other kids, since all of them are children of important people in the nation. Finally, it's implied that her stated age is a lie and that she's younger than what she says.
Haruka Kotoura was a bit similar to Anya when she was around the same age, minus the selfishness. Because she didn't understand how her power worked, she tended to blurt out people's secrets which caused her to be hated by everyone. By the time the story started, she acted cold and distant to drive people away from herself not to hurt them. Once she gained true friends in the story she began to gradually regain her cheerfulness.
While both girls are naïve and want the best for those around them. Anya is more outgoing & selfish and is prone to making enemies. Haruka is introverted and would try to compromise her needs if it meant pleasing other people.
According to the wiki, Haruka Kotoura possibly has the INFP personality type, a quiet girl with strong values. If I had to guess, Anya's personality would most likely be ESFP as she's an attention seeker & adventurous little brat!
Interesting Contrasts
Most of the contrasts I have are about the girls' roles in their respective stories. Haruka is her story's main protagonist and she's directly involved with most of the conflict. Her character arc revolves around accepting herself as who she is and allowing herself to have friends.
Anya takes a supporting role most of the time, and her powers are secondary to everything else. Mostly used for comical effects because she's not very good at using her mind-reading
Another thing I noticed is that Kotoura can't control her powers at all. She doesn't distinguish between spoken words and the thoughts she reads, (at least not without effort.) Anya seems to know when her powers are active. She also could use her powers on animals when she tries, which implies that she has a sort of control over her telepathy.
What do you think?
I loved researching for this article because I loved Kotoura-San's anime & Spy x Family's Anya is my favorite Manga character of 2020! I think both stories succeeded in portraying girls who have telepathic powers in a world in which such powers are unheard of.
There are many points I wish to expand on but I took way long already, so I see you in the next article!
I hope to write more about comparisons like these in the future!
If you have any suggestion. Hit the comments!