History ThePollyanna / AnimeAndManga

* Butterfly from ''Manga/MademoiselleButterfly''. Sold as a child to a geisha house, facing the perspective of getting married to a stranger and never seeing again his childhood love, [[spoiler: getting thrown into jail as a way of blackmailing said love, and after getting married having to get separated once he gets drafted into war]] aren't enough to break her spirit.
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Isanami comes across as this, but there is a lot of StepfordSmiler in her as the reason she has to stay positive is [[spoiler:so that her SuperPoweredEvilSide [[DestroyerDeity Izanami]] stays under control.]]
* Mako Mankanshoku from ''Anime/KillLaKill'' is amazingly cheerful and upbeat for a lowly Zero-Star student whose life is constantly imperiled by being entangled in Ryuko's adventures.
* Reki Kyan of ''Anime/SK8TheInfinity'', who, despite having suffered through BreakTheCutie by mid-series, bounces back to the point he's yelling about how "Skating is super fun after all!" in full sincerity, [[spoiler:right after the villain of the series graphically injures him several times, and tried to top it off with attempted murder (of Reki) to boot]].

* [[Anime/ExcelSaga Excel Excel]], the ultimate oblivious GenkiGirl, who will always believe that she is Il Palazzo's favorite minion no matter how violently he rebuffs her, until [[spoiler: Il Palazzo shoots her at the end of episode 23. Although he has shot her before, including with antimateriel weapons, during this episode the ToonPhysics are turned off]].

* Negi of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' ''starts'' as one of these, but when he begins training under [[NobleDemon Evangeline]], [[CombatPragmatist she]] specifically makes it a point to knock that out of him, because the world is not that nice, and he needs to realize that. As it turns out, she wasn't entirely wrong.

* Ash from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', after the Hoenn season was over, or specifically after his feud with Brawly. The guy has hardly lost his sunny disposition despite suffering many times in his adventure, though this is extremely exaggerated whenever he loses the chance of winning a league and he just keeps smiling and never considers having a rematch outside the league (contrasting heavily to how he was an emotional wreck when he lost the Kanto League). That is, unless he constantly butts heads with a {{Jerkass}} rival that riles him up for being a disrespectful prick to the title creatures or him.

* Another male example would be Yamamoto of ''Manga/Reborn2004'', who very rarely loses his smile (and when he does, [[BewareTheNiceOnes RUN]]) even in the worst of circumstances. Although he isn't unusually optimistic, he remains constantly cheerful despite the sometimes nightmarish situations he's encountered as guardian to a budding mafia boss. Perhaps this is because he [[{{failedaspotcheck}} thinks that his entire life in the mafia has all been one big elaborate role-playing game.]]

* Keiichi Segawa from the ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' manga. Lost his father in early childhood, and then his mother is killed in one of the earthquakes caused by the Dragons of Earth, yet he remains optimistic and kind until finally being phased out of the series.

* [[TheTrickster Romania]] and [[NiceGuy Spain]] of ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' remain optimistic, upbeat and cheerful, despite the fact that they've experienced many unfortunate and turbulent events in their histories.

* Mikan Sakura from ''Manga/AliceAcademy''. She's eternally optimistic, and happy. She's the EXACT DEFINITION of the Pollyanna. Even after [[spoiler: Mikan discovers her alices]] and all the horrible stuff that happens to her, she always cheers everyone up. Even [[spoiler: Natsume and Luka love her, eventually. And Natsume Truly and deeply loves Mikan. But really, who CAN'T love Mikan?]]

* Another male example would be Yamamoto of ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'', who very rarely loses his smile (and when he does, [[BewareTheNiceOnes RUN]]) even in the worst of circumstances. Although he isn't unusually optimistic, he remains constantly cheerful despite the sometimes nightmarish situations he's encountered as guardian to a budding mafia boss. Perhaps this is because he [[{{failedaspotcheck}} thinks that his entire life in the mafia has all been one big elaborate role-playing game.]]
** Though he has currently (as of the Time Travel Arc) been told the truth, and actually knows more about certain backstory elements than any of the main characters, not to mention the readers.

* Kafuka Fuura (pictured on the main page) is an extreme form of this trope, in order to act as an antithesis to the namesake and other protagonist of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''. She has had an amazingly tragic childhood and goes to a school filled with social misfits, yet she is either too oblivious to notice or in very, very heavy denial. She's also easily the scariest example on this page. Although she never breaks her [[StepfordSmiler cheerful facade]], the series drops many hints that she is [[CuteAndPsycho quite disturbed and a stone's throw away from killing everyone around her]]. [[spoiler:She is DeadAllAlong. [[FridgeHorror Now review the series and her actions again.]]]] For example: While her close friend and classmate turns into a giant after finding an ancient weapon during a festival and then begins to battle huge robots with toilet profanities on their chest ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking all while wearing underwear with a traditional Japanese dress]]), Kafuka can only remark about how well the Kanji on their chest are carved. Or how well Chiri is doing fighting the aliens. Or how professional dog rapist Mayo Mitama is sticking a branch up her neighbor's dog's butt.

* Tohru Honda from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' is portrayed as this in the 2001 anime adaptation, where she remains eternally perky and positive while helping various members of [[BigScrewedUpFamily the Sohma family]] through their troubles. In the manga and 2019 anime, however, she's actually more of a StepfordSmiler with serious self-esteem issues and it takes a while for her friends to realize that she needs help herself.

* Tohru Honda from ''Manga/FruitsBasket''. In the anime, the other characters [[ExtremeDoormat use her as a doormat]], but she remains eternally perky and eventually wins them over. In the ''manga'', on the other hand, while she acts the same, she's also shown as doing some serious repression.

* [[{{Trickster}} Romania]] and [[NiceGuy Spain]] of ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' remain optimistic, upbeat and cheerful, despite the fact that they've experienced many unfortunate and turbulent events in their histories.

* Usagi of ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' isn't as much of a Pollyanna as fanfic writers would have you believe (where Usagi is a perky saint and can never be pried from her hold on a "good in everyone" mentality), but she does have an overwhelming belief in the power of love in the anime. The [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] and [[Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon live-action]] are much darker, though.

* Jean from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is a shoe in for a inventor's competition which he ditches to save Nadia, and not only does his plane crash but he is perpertually on the run and in constant danger. And yet, through it all, he is cheerful and even enthusiastic about the technology from both sides in general. (Only exceptions is when he and Nadia exploring Gargoyle's base, and even reacting in horror to two deaths—one of an escaped fugitive, and another, a crew member. This latter incident causes for a BreakTheCutie moment that turns into a HeroicBSOD when he learns his father is dead. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Nadia cheers him up by reminding him of his promise to her and encouraging him to build a gyrocopter.]])

* Komachi Shokichi from ''TerraFormars'', in spite of having lost his childhood sweetheart to a Mars expedition gone wrong and witnessing his entire team die, does not let them beat down his laid-back, friendly nature toward his subordinates and his determination to make things right for humankind in Annex I expedition.

** We eventually learn that his Pollyanna nature is actually a front. Not that he feels sad about anything. Just the opposite: ''he's a sociopath.'' He doesn't care about anyone, but he wants everyone to smile just ''because.''

* Subaru during ''[[AudioAdaptation StrikerS Sound Stage X]]'' of the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' franchise. Turns out that the EmergencyServices she joined [[ItNeverGetsAnyEasier isn't all sunshine and roses]], and she not only gets front row seats to a PsychicAssistedSuicide, but she also loses the new friend she had rescued after she slips into a coma that may last a thousand years. Still, she never loses her smile and [[GenkiGirl energetic personality]]. After all "Even though you're so sad, you've still got to eat. And if you get sleepy, you got to sleep. And if you have to do something, you do it... When you're doing all that, all your painful memories start fading away..."

%%* [[CandyCandy Candace White Andree aka Candy]], of course.

** Just about every creature is like this, unless they like being a LoneWolf or they have a much more serious attitude as a late-stage evolution. It has been proven many times that being "adults" isn't enough to exclude them from the attitude and still may act like morons.

* Mikan Sakura from ''Manga/GakuenAlice''. She's eternally optimistic, and happy. She's the EXACT DEFINITION of the Pollyanna. Even after [[spoiler: Mikan discovers her alices]] and all the horrible stuff that happens to her, she always cheers everyone up. Even [[spoiler: Natsume and Luka love her, eventually. And Natsume Truly and deeply loves Mikan. But really, who CAN'T love Mikan?]]

* [[Anime/ExcelSaga Excel Excel]], the ultimate oblivious GenkiGirl, who will always believe that she is Il Palazzo's favorite minion no matter how violently he rebuffs he, until [[spoiler: Il Palazzo shoots her at the end of episode 23. Although he has shot her before, including with antimateriel weapons, during this episode the ToonPhysics are turned off]].

* Shu from ''NowAndThenHereAndThere'' is as straight an example of this trope as you could ask for.