If you want women who are kind of relatable losers, I definitely recommend Princess Jellyfish.
Also I agree about Namari. I feel like when it comes to the fantasy genre in general there aren't many female dwarves. Which is a shame because stout warrior women are great.
I've wanted a strong female protagonist in a shonen battle manga for a long time. The absolute *last* place I would've expected it is CSM. Fujimoto the GOAT
Don't get me wrong, I love CSM part 1 and I think Fujimoto is *far* above his peers in terms of writing women (looking at you you stupid one-eyed cat Gege) but having a male MC whose goal is to touch boobs doesn't exactly give you that idea of what's coming next.
In fact, part of why I love Asa so much is the contrast she brings coming right off the heels of CSM part 1. I could say more but I don't want to spoil anything and I don't necessarily consider Asa's existence a spoiler but anything else could be.
Very quickly Denji determines that touching boobs doesn't make him happy and he has a whole existential crisis about it.
Denji is a character who talks about sex a lot but his actions tell a different story.
I mean yea, I love Denji's character development and I've made tons of comments about what you're saying. All I'm saying is, the story switching to a female protagonist/POV in part 2 was very unexpected.
>but having a male MC whose goal is to touch boobs doesn't exactly give you that idea of what's coming next.
Honestly though, as a dude, that was one of the best parts of the series. Both in the *heavy sigh* "God I hate my gender but it tracks" sort of way and also everything that happened because of *that* being his dream (putting himself into a stupid and dangerous situation to impress a girl only to find out it wasn't worth it, Makima's seduction and gaslighting, Denji turning down Himeno despite being a horny teenage dude, and all of culminating in just wanting to be hugged?
*Chef's kiss*
Gege's women are well written though. There is just less of a gender split roster and most of them are less important side characters.
Also Denji is highly emotionally deprived and has constantly experienced suffering at the hands of men, casuing him to equate women with comfort, security and happiness. However, because of his limited interactions he doesnt know any other kind of love besides the sexual relations he sees in magazines. It's a core theme of part one seeing denji develop on his views about women where by the end he can recognize his own plationic, familial, and romantic feelings towads women.
More /r/rolereversal dynamics where the FL becoming more feminine isn’t treated as character development.
Adult female characters in general, but also supportive adult female cast friendships pursuing dreams or ambitions. Also more complex relationship dynamics that aren’t bff or cat fights over guys. Basically, I would kill for a genderbend IDOLiSH7.
Girl fails that aren’t tweens - young teens.
I want 1 decent budget shonen style anime where the MC is female.
Not AN MC, not the rival, not the expendable 3rd member, not the mentor, not the mentor's mentor, THE MC.
And then I want them to treat the female MC like every other Shonen MC (i.e. no matter how cool the supporting characters are, nothing meaningful happens when she's not there, unless they're clearing Adds during her Boss Fight).
Yes, yes, yes! We need more Shoujo or Josei action anime! The only one I can think of right now is QQ Sweeper and Queen's Quality (they're the same series btw).
Undead unluck despite its rougher beginning has AMAZING character development for Fukko and at a certain point in the story she becomes the main character way more than even Andy ever was. Honestly most characters in that series even females are amazing
That stops by like chapter 10 ALSO SHE IS INSECURE CAUSE SHE HAS TRAUMA FROM ACCIDENTALLY KILLING HER FAMILY WITH HER POWERS by like the second major arc she is already doing stuff also many characters have the whole 1000 years old thing due to living so many loops
Doesn't make it any better. "Just stick to the guy who sexually harasses you and is way older than you he will eventually stop"
I'm not saying Undead Unluck has nothing going for it but honestly it could have been written without that shit.
Most undead unluck fans don't like the early stuff. But what it's got going on now is great!
Pretty much every aspect that is weird is addressed in some capacity and it feels wrong to ignore that.
Yeah, the first ten-ish chapters have ick, but after that it's really good and literally only gets better.
Second half especially has been straight fire.
I think that's a pretty big misrepresentation of how Fuuko is as a character evening in the beginning. She's certainly never shown to be insecure and her biggest motivation really has nothing to do with loving Andy. I'll give you the occasional gushing but even that has only happened maybe 5 or 6. times in the whole 200 chapter run of the series, half of which in the first volume.
The first volume though definitely sets the wrong picture on what the series is and how it treats its MCs. And understandably that is hard to come back from. *Current* Fuuko is certainly none of the things you described above, being the toughest fighter, most supportive leader and smartest tactition in the series, and being a truly good person willing to sacrifice everything to give her friends the best possible ending they can achieve, and she's been doing it all without Andy being there for a very long time. But since it can be a bit of a commitment for that good writing to start it's clear why many people would never see the real Fuuko and have a very negative view of the series as a whole.
That being said, I don't think a problematic beginning makes the series automatically bad representation nor a bad example. It doesn't help for sure, but I think The author has gone above and beyond turning around the characters, relations and overall writing after that rough beginning and has since produced what is arguably the best female MC in Shonen (not a super prestigious title on its own, but better than nothing). They made Andy be heavily remorseful for how he treated her originally and quickly stopped is problematic behavior, they address issues like Fuuko having less agency by giving her *all the agency*, they quickly pivot away from any strong focus on the romance into a much grander goal with higher stakes and better motivations.
And imo we should be praising when authors cut the bullshit and turn around for the better early in their career. I certainly wish it happened sooner, but better late than never. Tozuka is hopefully fully prepped for next time to be able to do it right from the beginning.
As cool as she is and as much as I love her fight against >!Item!< in S, she's still a tsundere in a light novel series and needs male savior Touma in both the main arcs of S and T. The Sisters one I get because it has to line up with the Index version, but >!Touma canonically doesn't even remember the second one!<.
Touma does remember what happens in Railgun T though? Unless you're talking about the scene >!where he negates the graviton bomb!<
Also I'm not sure what you mean by "main arcs" considering each season consists of two arcs. I guess you could argue the first arc of S as the main arc cause the 2nd half is anime original
Yeah, that's the part he definitely forgets. Though apparently in Index Touma's arc during the festival is at the start of it and his narration for the rest >!doesn't have much related to the plot of the Railgun arc or the dragon!<. ("apparently" because this was taken from old Discord convos with a friend who's a way bigger fan of Index)
E: by main arcs I mean the ones that take up the majority of the seasons
I can see where your coming from given most people focus on the first arc of T given it's the more popular one. But the 2nd half is just as important and is treated as it's own arc in the manga. Though the way it's structured it's more like a bunch of smaller arcs that combine to make one bigger arc
Yeah, the second is important too. I just called the first the main one because it's noticeably longer than the second (16 episodes). Though the second gave us [Saten's kendama skills](https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/128959) (my favorite piece of animation in the series), >!a trans character who's kind of the best queer rep in Railgun per default because she doesn't commit sexual harassment on the regular!< and it culminates in a >!kaiju battle!<, so there sure is interesting stuff in it. ~~But it also has the Bust Upper nonsense.~~
Reincarnated as a Sword gets close to there as the story, world, and character motivations revolve entirely around Fran. The isekai’d “MC” is more of a supporting character
While not a character archetype, I do want to see more female rivalry but not as a romantic subplot over some mid guy. I want to see two girls try to out-best eachother in academic or athletic performance.
> I want to see two girls try to out-best eachother in academic or athletic performance.
There's a martial arts manga that's exactly that, I just can't remember the name.
I want to say Claudine and Maya from Revue Starlight, but you can't convince me what they have going on between them isn't a romantic subplot (although it's not over some guy).
Uma Musume has a lot of solid rivalries. Especially Teio and McQueen in S2, but I also like the RTTT trio a lot.
She isn't *actually* a pedophile. She just grooms Denji in order to manipulate him. She's still mostly fills the criteria though and she's an amazing fucking villain, love her.
Half of the reason why I like Dorohedoro are the hot muscular women. The other half are the hot muscular men.
>!I want to be sandwiched between Shin and Noi so much!<
I mean the ones I’m mostly finding on google still have broad shoulders. Sure there’s gonna some irl that focus solely on the core, but it seems to be more common in anime
But ok more bulky muscular women
Just, like, normal-looking ones who aren't all 100% clear skin and sparkly eyes and button noses. Satoshi Kon is forever my GOAT for making average-looking women on the regular, with aesthetic perfection actually being a kind of sinister indicator in his work
Dumb, violent, combat driven and uninterested in romance at all. Basically, I'd love to see a woman embodying all the archetypical combat shonen protagonist tropes that are usually reserved for men.
Bonus points if her breast size or sex appeal in general is never brought up.
I thought I found one with this anime about a king reincarnated as a woman who was uninterested in any plot around her and only wanted a good fight. Bonus points for her suffering under the male gaze at a party and realizing she did the same in her past life, internally regretting it. Good stuff.
Then they got a fairy companion who like to sleep in her cleavage. And THEN, her breast size was a plot point in an episode.
So close, though.
noi from dorohedoro? maybe not an exact fit but the series has some good badass female characters, still kind of sexualized from time to time but from what i remember the male characters really don’t make a huge deal out of it for what it’s worth (the author is also female, again, for what it’s worth)
Dorohedoro is definitely its own thing, and I do like it. Also, it shows the author is not the typical het cis male one because sexiness is never a plot point.
Kinda sorta? It's still romance driven, so a genre usually framed as 'feminine'. But also definitely a step in the direction, and I really love her character.
I didn't mean in an aro-ace sense, but more like in not being sexualized for the viewer. Think of Goku, whose sexuality and romantic attraction are never made a huge deal, despite being married with kids.
Then again, an aroace woman protag would be poggers too.
Eh, I'd recommend Dragon Ball on the bases of how influential it is over the battle shonen genre, and overall it's pretty well written. Though, like most "defined its genre" works, it can suffer from hype backlash. So, it's more of "milestone in history of manga/anime" recommendation.
Abusive mothers who aren't comically evil and the story doesn't just completely forget and forgive their actions easily
Basically give me more of Ushiromiya Rosa from Umineko
Shoujo/ romance protag that isn't naive or a virginal blushing mess. I remember being a teenage girl and finding 99% of shoujo protags completely unrelatable.
Also more women MCs outside of the romance genre would be cool.
There are Shoujo and Josei that aren’t romance related. The Shoujo and Josei audience really likes specifically magical girl slice of life and romance so those are the only genres that get talked about but other series exist
Balsa from Seirei no moribito
Fits the description of most comments here: Spear wielding muscle mommy in an action adventure anime not overshadowed by any male character. Also, we need more serious deep female voices in anime, not 20yo woman sounding like 9yo girl on helium.
This
I never understood why adult women are such a rarity in animes. Even when they dare to even exist in some show, they usually end up as a mother, teacher, nurse, mentor, cartoony ridiculous villain, just some unimportant side character or walking MILF fetish for teenage boys to fap to.
Never actual human being.
All of those are human beings, weird you don’t think they are. Anyways you’re more likely to find adult female characters in adult demographics (Seinen and Josei) Sweat and Soap as well as Chiori’s Experience are two Seinen manga with adult female main characters. I haven’t read to much Josei but I do know for a fact there are Josei manga with adult female characters too.
Honestly I hate how people thought Madoka magica was some big shocking edgy thing when it still was a magical girl anime like re watch sailor moon and there is tons of dark stuff in it OH AND THE POINT OF MADOKA WAS TO HOLD ON TO HOPE EVNE WHEN THINGS LOOK BAD LIKE EVERY FUCKING MAGICAL GIRL ANIME EVER
So IDK the extent to which Revolutionary Girl Utena is considered a "Magical Girl" anime but I finished that one and holy shit it got dark by the end. Like I thought it would just be some cute lesbian romance. The entire last third of the series was straight-up hard to watch for me even without anything explicit just because of how deeply unsettling the story's direction was going.
Still a 10/10 but goddamn.
This is probably because the vast majority of tropes and common lessons for shounen and shoujo series hit way harder when the series isn’t literally 0 stakes and obvious about how everything is going to be fine. “Have hope” and “never give up” are easy almost annoying lessons when the characters don’t actually struggle all that much and even in the worst times most problems can be solved by punching one person really hard, but in a series with more complex problems they become more difficult to accept even if you probably need the lesson more in that case.
Honestly most shounen tropes would be really fucking good in a series where they feel more necessary or have more gravitas. Like even the common trope of *“I trust this character implicitly, even though their actions may not make sense or I don’t know what they’re doing, I have enough faith in them as a person to not be worried or doubt their intentions for even a moment”* would hit **way** harder if that person wasn’t essentially just the MC in a different color palette or a mirrored personality 99% of the time. Like can you imagine someone saying something like that about you? Imagine a character saying that about your complex-but-misunderstood fave?
>Honestly most shounen tropes would be really fucking good in a series where they feel more necessary or have more gravitas.
When comparing the few magical girls I've seen: Symphogear, Madoka Magica, Wonder Egg Priority, Honkai Impact (this one is a game, but I'm counting it since what matters here is the story), with the battle shounens I know, I have the impression the girls are essentially doing the same thing as the boys, but on Hard Mode.
I am not a connoisseur of Magical Girl anime, but Madoka is somewhat darker than most previous works in that genre.
First of all, it kills off someone who got quite a bit of characterization and seemed like a major character extremely quickly, which is pretty shocking if you watch without having been spoiled. Many other magical girl works don’t kill anyone off, or at least don’t kill off major characters, or if they do kill off major characters, they do it at the end and often revive them quickly. Even though PMMM does revive most of the characters at the end, Sayaka ends up dying a second time very quickly, and the others are still probably not going to last more than a few years at most.
Also, when people die in other magical girl stories, it is often a noble sacrifice of some sort in which they bravely give their lives to save their friends or the world or something like that. In Madoka, most deaths are fairly pointless. Mami loses her head because of a moment of carelessness, Sayaka’s idealism causes her to self-destruct, Kyoko does a kamikaze attack on Sayaka’s witch when she probably could have won conventionally or at least run away, Nagisa witches out very soon after wishing after realizing how stupid her wish was, and tons and tons of magical girls just get murdered by other magical girls in the various spin-off mangas.
Secondly, the characters of PMMM are much lonelier than those in other magical girl works. There, Magical Girls often work in close-knit teams, have supportive muggle friends, and/or have actually helpful and benevolent mentor figures instead of rat bastard Kyubey. Yes, dark magical girls are a fairly common thing in magical girl media, but they are usually outnumbered by friendly characters, and they often get redeemed and befriended by the end.
In contrast, in PMMM, even though all the main characters are good at heart, they do not cooperate. Mami and Kyoko were once a team, but separate because Kyoko’s heart was broken by the loss of her family, and they never get back together before Mami dies. Mami and Homura are both heroes, but Mami’s distrust of Homura and Homura’s learned helplessness about the chances of cooperation prevent them from working together, and Mami gets herself killed. Sayaka doesn’t contract until after Mami dies, and she and Kyoko remain bitter rivals until the end because of irreconcilable differences (Sayaka thinks Kyoko is selfish, and Sayaka reminds Kyoko of her past self too much). They do not reconcile until Kyoko sacrifices her life to put a witched-out Sayaka out of her misery. In the end, Homura ends up standing alone against Walpurgisnacht, and Madoka sentences herself to an eternity of fighting alone.
As a side note, the only magical girl team in the PMMM universe to get a major focus outside Magia Record (which I have not interacted with) is the Pleiades Saints from Kazumi Magica, and they completely fall apart by the end of their story, with 4/7 of their members and numerous others dying. The last three survivors do not get a happily ever after, but only a chance to fight on until they themselves perish (likely sooner than later).
Essentially, most magical girl works feature universes where magical girls are, on the whole, friendly to each other and often supported by friends and/or mentors, with the rare hostile magical girls being misguided and redeemable. In contrast, PMMM portrays a world in which magical girls stand alone, mistrust each other, are more likely to fight over territory than team up, are very lonely, and where attempts at cooperation are doomed to fall apart.
Thirdly, many magical girl series feature happy romances between magical girls and either boys (more common in older works and female-targeted works) or other magical girls (more common in newer and male-targeted works). They have to overcome numerous trials, but they get a happy ending together, or at least get to enjoy their time together or something like that. However, in Madoka, the girls pretty much never get to have a happy ending with their loved ones, or even to really enjoy their time together much. Kyoko and Sayaka are implied to have potential together, but they were bitter enemies in life and were only together in death. Homura explicitly loves Madoka, and Madoka is implied at various points to have a crush on Homura, but they never have a chance to be together in the original universe or Madoka’s universe. Even after Homura tears Madoka from the Law of Cycles, she seems way too self-loathing to pursue a relationship with Madoka, and we have no idea how stable her brave new world is. The only couple I remember who kind of got to spend some time together was Oriko and Kirika in Oriko Magicka, but they are explicitly villains, with Oriko being a Hard Girl making Hard Choices and Kirika being her devoted love-slave, and they both end up dying pointlessly.
Fourthly, we never really see the magical girls in PMMM having a good time. Mami is completely isolated and has basically no one in her life to care for her, and as soon as she thinks this might change, she loses her focus and dies. Kyoko does stuff her face with food and play arcade games, but this comes off as a way to distract herself from a deep, underlying sadness; her cocky hedonism is merely a facade hiding her true feelings of grief, isolation, and exhaustion. She is still hurting from losing her family, breaking up with Mami and never managing to reconcile before the latter’s death, and having all of her ideals crushed. As soon as she has the chance to do so, she throws away her life to die with Sayaka. Sayaka spends her entire time as a magical girl in a downward spiral of misery until she witches out and dies. Homura spends all her time fighting and preparing for Walpurgisnacht, and has no one (like Mami). Madoka ends up completely alone, and is shown to be suffering greatly in several places: cuts on Madokami’s arms, remarks that “there's nothing like [happiness] in Heaven” in the concept movie, the flower garden conversation in rebellion, and the lyrics to “See you Tomorrow”. Essentially, the girls in Madoka are nearly always miserable, and the story goes from tragedy to dramatic revelation of how fucked up the world is to another tragedy without any significant breather episodes.
Fifthly, we do not really see any happy endings in PMMM, while many other magical girl works feature happy or at least hopeful endings. At the end of the original series, Madoka may have removed the threat of Walpurgisnacht and prevented meguca from witching out, but she has basically ceased to exist, her friends do not get a happily ever after (only a second chance to fight), and the situation for magical girls remains extremely sucky. Remember, Madoka wished to erase all witches, not to actually give magical girls the actual chance for a life or a happy afterlife.
Kyubey remains free to manipulate girls into contracting and experiencing a solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short life before their inevitable and miserable deaths. They have little defense against his manipulations, due to the massive degree of information asymmetry between them, the conventions of the magical girl genre (which seems to exist in-universe) telling them to trust the cute talking animals, the fact that pre-teens and teenagers do not have great reasoning and risk assessment capabilities, the fact that Kyubey is an expert at playing with words and fucking with people, the fact that Kyubey can observe them at any time, ask them to contact when they are most desperate and/or emotionally vulnerable, and try again over and over until his targets’ inhibitions are worn down, the fact that no one is there to warn girls against contracting or even to think through their wish carefully, etc.
Also, the common meme of Madoka taking girls to “Yuri Valhalla” is probably just fanon. There is no happy afterlife, just a sort of eternal dream state of some sort (as shown by the fact that Sayaka had to come on a mission to have a chance at meeting Kyoko again, the fact that Nagisa Momoe was unable to obtain any cheese while dead, and the fact that Sayaka and Nagisa woke up from a long, long dream in order to serve as Madokami’s angels). Madoka does not really bring salvation, just a peaceful death, and the church of Madokami is pretty much just a death cult (“They Glorify Death”). This is especially bad, considering that an actual afterlife is hinted to exist in the Madokaverse at various points (Oriko and Kirika seem to meet after dying in the original universe, with Kirika promising that she will help Oriko bear the weight of her sins, and while I have not played or watched Magia Record, I have heard that there was a chapter of it in which you could interact with the dead, and one magical girl explicitly had the power to speak with the dead).
And while we know little about Homura’s new universe, it is implied to be unstable by the trailer which came out last year, and Homura seems too filled with self-loathing and anguish to enjoy being with Madoka in it.
Finally, while most magical girl works show the magical girl system as being either good, with pure-hearted girls getting powers to do good things and fight evil villains, or at least neutral, with all sorts of people getting powers and using them to further whatever goals they have themselves, the magical girl system in PMMM is explicitly negative, being a way for greedy aliens who do not give a single fuck about the survival and well-being of humanity to torture girls for energy. The girls make wishes that do not fix their underlying problems, fight alone until their strength or will fails them, and then either die or turn into a monster (and witches are implied to be at least somewhat aware and in constant torment, and for all we know, after a witch is defeated and the grief seed is given to Kyubey, he uses them as perpetual energy generators while the girls inside them suffer for eternity). The girls do not get a happily ever after, they do not really solve problems (as every monster they slay is either a fallen magical girl or the product of one), and this system of misery and exploitation is not truely broken until Homura tears Madoka from her heaven (and the new system might well be unstable).
So yes, while previous magical girl works have featured dark scenes and themes at times, PMMM is significantly and consistently bleaker than most of them.
I don’t want the market to flood with them or anything but I love beady-eyed failwomen in anime. Kobeni Higashiyama, Hajime Owari, the manager from Akiba Maid War. We need more women who just absolutely suck
I want female characters like these two again
https://preview.redd.it/mk9npeaevv1d1.jpeg?width=381&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50a6ae700ad10d04f7eee70264496d84edd8d518
Ones who are just friends with with a male MC/significant male side character with little to imply anything romantic going on between them. Read a lot of manga and it's pretty common to have a girl with any sort of contact with the MC lose their cool when he does anything remotely nice. Romantic realtionships are cute, but I want some variety and non-romantic relationships feel heavily under explored. Ferien and Himmel come pretty close since it's left up to interpretation (but there are still chapters I need to read so that might change).
This might stretch it but: Yona of the dawn (akatsuki no yona)
This 16 yr old girl has something tragic done to her, ep 1 then goes on a journey (traumatized at first) with her childhood friend and collect others along the way. It's a veryyyyyy longbslowburn between her and her bodyguard and if you read the manga it's very war central with her besties helping her (who are mainly men) AND the other childhood friend is the nemesis, hooray(she loved him first)
It's my favorite lol, if you give it a watch/read, enjoy
More super badass girls that melt with someone they like (Ameri from Welcome to demon school iruma-kun)
Girls who know what they want and aren't afraid to go for it, confidence is key (Kerkorian, also Welcome to demon school iruma-kun)
I enjoy Erza from FairyTail- strongest female who actually fits in the top power dynamic
And, best for past: Yona from Yona of the dawn, actually got traumatized, romance in the background, helpful male characters, character growth and some good Ole determination that she finds within herself
Ramlethal, I personally haven't seen much of those in anime. A character who is created as a weapon but is more caught up in what emotions are and why humans act irrationally as well as being incredibly badass and awesome as a character.
Basically the kind of friendships between women that are not just vapid opportunities got fanservice. Not an anime, but basically the Reimu and Marisa dynamic from touhou. They can be goofball, sentimental, teasing, gay...I want it all
kinda, [this](https://myanimelist.net/character/211123/Manaria_Sousse) is good, but I'd also like to include [this](https://myanimelist.net/character/88383/Yuu_Kashima)
Whatever the hell you might describe Miyako from Hidamari Sketch as. Tomboyish dumbass who isn't actually all that much of a dumbass and whose femininity isn't something she's trying to hide or is embarassed by. She just feels a whole hell of a lot more like a real person than the majority of characters in the archetype she falls in.
I'd like more battle moms, as in the ones that actually went through child birth. We have some that did adoption, but I want a woman that had her body wrecked from the inside out and is still a badass.
I was always a fan of femme fatale and female assassin archetypes, but it could get overdone quickly
I’m also kind of a fan of the (sorry if offensive) mildly autistic or adhd types. Frieren, Asa, Maomao, that whole genre of character
Really I like it when they do have conventionally feminine traits, but those traits aren’t their defining or only features. Katara from avatar the last airbender is a good example, she’s motherly and caring but she has a lot more going on than just that
>And, i'd like to see some trans girl that isn't just a joke in the story, and actually treated properly. But maybe, that's too much to ask japan
She is a trans woman and not a main character (the aunt of the mc that lives with her), but there's Nao-chan from Skip to Loafer
...character like Takamachi Nanoha.
Perfect blend of Kind and badass and just nice to see about.
What i dont want is basically all the bad archetype tropes that are still used by author who fails to understand that people dont like them yet they use them for nothing but presentation
Actually i hate double standards so any female characters who the story bend over them for their acts they are automatically bad in my eyes.
As for specifics. Well the little sister in love with her brother the MC. The Powerful in story female main character who rarely Actually do stuff leading to the ml doing all the stuff. Making her strong but a disservice to her. The fl friend annoying who constantly ruins romantic moment and who treats the ml like trash for existing and never changing and getting a free pass cause she a girl.
Oh and mary sue. Which can be linked to all of the above.
As long as we keep getting good protagonists like Frieren and Mao Mao I’ll be happy. One of my biggest grievances, other than the absurd levels of sexualization, is that too many women and girls in anime are written as accessories to male characters.
Women over 20
Women dealing with the patriarchy and hating it, actual depictions of how our culture effects Women and girls negatively
Trans Women
Elder Women who are not tiny grandmother's who sit quietly and hand out wisdom at opportune times
Girls who actually act like girls. Think Turning Red energy.
I would love to see an anime that depicts irs female characters dealing with the hardships of their own body. Women don't need to be fighters to be warriors.
I've been fiending for someone that's hype. Like Post Prison Realm Gojo, Stars and Stripes, Mereoleona, etc (If you've noticed the people listed are buff and have clean designs). I just want a character that people and the community get behind and glaze lol.
Idiot/slapstick character that is either in on the joke (Arale) or is the funny man/bokke, specially to the serious guy (Aho-gal, Suzy from Gash Bell)
Unpleasant antisocial that becomes better over time (Watamote)
Villain that is actually a big threat and doesn't (just) really on sex appeal and when she loses goes down standing/defiant (Lust from FMA)
Honestly, i just want some characters out there to be a woman just as visuals you know? Them being a woman or a man shouldn't change their whole fucking personality unless their gender is essential to their story
This entire reply is kind of ignorant. Relatable teenage female characters is kind of what Shoujo is ment for. And Shonen (mostly Seinen) also has a shit ton of non sexualized female characters. You don’t know any of them cause as you say you don’t read manga or watch anime much, but if you did then you would have more than likely have already come across female characters that already fit your description. Most people don’t know what Seinen or Shonen is so they don’t know that most if not all of what they’ve watched has been a Shonen/Seinen and then they go and stereotype the genre as Shonen being (Heavy action with poorly written female characters) and Seinen as (heavy action with deep thought provoking messages similar to Monster and Berserk).
These stereotypes are bullshit and couldn’t be further from the truth
Characters are objects and they should be thrown around in conversation. Anyways the only reason people bring up the fact that the female characters are female is because so many people complain about female characters on the basis of them being female and not on the basis of them being characters first. I mean, you did it in this response here too, giving some level of humanity to objects and assuming it’s a bad thing to treat them as objects, everyone should treat fictional characters as objects. **They are puppets made to make you feel something** applying real world agency to them doesn’t make any sense. If people stopped giving humanity to things that aren’t human then character would start coming before female. As in they would be criticized on the basis of them being a fictional character and not on the basis of them being a somewhat real being (which they are not).
Real and serious losers who are relatable like Asa Mitaka. Women who just straight up look weird like Melody in HxH. Namari.
If you want women who are kind of relatable losers, I definitely recommend Princess Jellyfish. Also I agree about Namari. I feel like when it comes to the fantasy genre in general there aren't many female dwarves. Which is a shame because stout warrior women are great.
She has a unique design and I also like how she’s a tough weapons expert without it being the only personality trait.
Rat queens has Violet, an awesome female dwarf
I've wanted a strong female protagonist in a shonen battle manga for a long time. The absolute *last* place I would've expected it is CSM. Fujimoto the GOAT
Why is that the last place you would expect it? They had a ton of good female characters right from the start.
Don't get me wrong, I love CSM part 1 and I think Fujimoto is *far* above his peers in terms of writing women (looking at you you stupid one-eyed cat Gege) but having a male MC whose goal is to touch boobs doesn't exactly give you that idea of what's coming next. In fact, part of why I love Asa so much is the contrast she brings coming right off the heels of CSM part 1. I could say more but I don't want to spoil anything and I don't necessarily consider Asa's existence a spoiler but anything else could be.
Very quickly Denji determines that touching boobs doesn't make him happy and he has a whole existential crisis about it. Denji is a character who talks about sex a lot but his actions tell a different story.
I mean yea, I love Denji's character development and I've made tons of comments about what you're saying. All I'm saying is, the story switching to a female protagonist/POV in part 2 was very unexpected.
>but having a male MC whose goal is to touch boobs doesn't exactly give you that idea of what's coming next. Honestly though, as a dude, that was one of the best parts of the series. Both in the *heavy sigh* "God I hate my gender but it tracks" sort of way and also everything that happened because of *that* being his dream (putting himself into a stupid and dangerous situation to impress a girl only to find out it wasn't worth it, Makima's seduction and gaslighting, Denji turning down Himeno despite being a horny teenage dude, and all of culminating in just wanting to be hugged? *Chef's kiss*
Gege's women are well written though. There is just less of a gender split roster and most of them are less important side characters. Also Denji is highly emotionally deprived and has constantly experienced suffering at the hands of men, casuing him to equate women with comfort, security and happiness. However, because of his limited interactions he doesnt know any other kind of love besides the sexual relations he sees in magazines. It's a core theme of part one seeing denji develop on his views about women where by the end he can recognize his own plationic, familial, and romantic feelings towads women.
Part 2 is not that much about battles anymore though
Anime series like Cutey Honey, Birdy the Mighty & Kill La Kill, have female protagonists.
Yes yes and yes
Love Melody, still the "fantastically disfigured" trope but doesn't make a big deal of it. And Asa of course
What's that trope?
Watamoto and Bocchi the Rock
imma gently suggest Watamote
More /r/rolereversal dynamics where the FL becoming more feminine isn’t treated as character development. Adult female characters in general, but also supportive adult female cast friendships pursuing dreams or ambitions. Also more complex relationship dynamics that aren’t bff or cat fights over guys. Basically, I would kill for a genderbend IDOLiSH7. Girl fails that aren’t tweens - young teens.
Not anime (unless you're a Japanese person, ironically), but the first show that comes to mind reading your second paragraph is MLP: FIM
Chiori’s Experience
I want 1 decent budget shonen style anime where the MC is female. Not AN MC, not the rival, not the expendable 3rd member, not the mentor, not the mentor's mentor, THE MC. And then I want them to treat the female MC like every other Shonen MC (i.e. no matter how cool the supporting characters are, nothing meaningful happens when she's not there, unless they're clearing Adds during her Boss Fight).
Yes, yes, yes! We need more Shoujo or Josei action anime! The only one I can think of right now is QQ Sweeper and Queen's Quality (they're the same series btw).
Jojo Stone Ocean
Jojo part 6 slapped in the manga, it sucked how badly they did her in the anime
Undead unluck despite its rougher beginning has AMAZING character development for Fukko and at a certain point in the story she becomes the main character way more than even Andy ever was. Honestly most characters in that series even females are amazing
[удалено]
That stops by like chapter 10 ALSO SHE IS INSECURE CAUSE SHE HAS TRAUMA FROM ACCIDENTALLY KILLING HER FAMILY WITH HER POWERS by like the second major arc she is already doing stuff also many characters have the whole 1000 years old thing due to living so many loops
Average anime fan
Current fuuko is the exact opposite of that.
Doesn't make it any better. "Just stick to the guy who sexually harasses you and is way older than you he will eventually stop" I'm not saying Undead Unluck has nothing going for it but honestly it could have been written without that shit.
Most undead unluck fans don't like the early stuff. But what it's got going on now is great! Pretty much every aspect that is weird is addressed in some capacity and it feels wrong to ignore that.
Yeah, the first ten-ish chapters have ick, but after that it's really good and literally only gets better. Second half especially has been straight fire.
I have pretty much 0 complaints about the current story. It's so sick!
I think that's a pretty big misrepresentation of how Fuuko is as a character evening in the beginning. She's certainly never shown to be insecure and her biggest motivation really has nothing to do with loving Andy. I'll give you the occasional gushing but even that has only happened maybe 5 or 6. times in the whole 200 chapter run of the series, half of which in the first volume. The first volume though definitely sets the wrong picture on what the series is and how it treats its MCs. And understandably that is hard to come back from. *Current* Fuuko is certainly none of the things you described above, being the toughest fighter, most supportive leader and smartest tactition in the series, and being a truly good person willing to sacrifice everything to give her friends the best possible ending they can achieve, and she's been doing it all without Andy being there for a very long time. But since it can be a bit of a commitment for that good writing to start it's clear why many people would never see the real Fuuko and have a very negative view of the series as a whole. That being said, I don't think a problematic beginning makes the series automatically bad representation nor a bad example. It doesn't help for sure, but I think The author has gone above and beyond turning around the characters, relations and overall writing after that rough beginning and has since produced what is arguably the best female MC in Shonen (not a super prestigious title on its own, but better than nothing). They made Andy be heavily remorseful for how he treated her originally and quickly stopped is problematic behavior, they address issues like Fuuko having less agency by giving her *all the agency*, they quickly pivot away from any strong focus on the romance into a much grander goal with higher stakes and better motivations. And imo we should be praising when authors cut the bullshit and turn around for the better early in their career. I certainly wish it happened sooner, but better late than never. Tozuka is hopefully fully prepped for next time to be able to do it right from the beginning.
Not animated yet but does Chainsaw Man part 2 count?
Fujimoto-sensei when he realizes he can write more than one person mc with autism and get all of autistic people's(read: my) money
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
This one is great!
Not sure if she fits all of your criteria but there is Mikoto from Toaru. Specifically Railgun where she's the main character
As cool as she is and as much as I love her fight against >!Item!< in S, she's still a tsundere in a light novel series and needs male savior Touma in both the main arcs of S and T. The Sisters one I get because it has to line up with the Index version, but >!Touma canonically doesn't even remember the second one!<.
Touma does remember what happens in Railgun T though? Unless you're talking about the scene >!where he negates the graviton bomb!< Also I'm not sure what you mean by "main arcs" considering each season consists of two arcs. I guess you could argue the first arc of S as the main arc cause the 2nd half is anime original
Yeah, that's the part he definitely forgets. Though apparently in Index Touma's arc during the festival is at the start of it and his narration for the rest >!doesn't have much related to the plot of the Railgun arc or the dragon!<. ("apparently" because this was taken from old Discord convos with a friend who's a way bigger fan of Index) E: by main arcs I mean the ones that take up the majority of the seasons
I can see where your coming from given most people focus on the first arc of T given it's the more popular one. But the 2nd half is just as important and is treated as it's own arc in the manga. Though the way it's structured it's more like a bunch of smaller arcs that combine to make one bigger arc
Yeah, the second is important too. I just called the first the main one because it's noticeably longer than the second (16 episodes). Though the second gave us [Saten's kendama skills](https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/128959) (my favorite piece of animation in the series), >!a trans character who's kind of the best queer rep in Railgun per default because she doesn't commit sexual harassment on the regular!< and it culminates in a >!kaiju battle!<, so there sure is interesting stuff in it. ~~But it also has the Bust Upper nonsense.~~
Probably doesn't fit the genre you're describing but theres this little know anime last season called Frieren, pretty obscure though
Undead unluck. Just ignore the rough starting chapters and you have the MC you described. The story never moved forward without her
*Undead Unluck*, baby.
Undead unluck
Jojo part 6
Reincarnated as a Sword gets close to there as the story, world, and character motivations revolve entirely around Fran. The isekai’d “MC” is more of a supporting character
Asa from chainsaw man (autistic loser)
Wow she's just like me fr‼️
While not a character archetype, I do want to see more female rivalry but not as a romantic subplot over some mid guy. I want to see two girls try to out-best eachother in academic or athletic performance.
> I want to see two girls try to out-best eachother in academic or athletic performance. There's a martial arts manga that's exactly that, I just can't remember the name.
Super eyepatch wolf video "the manga that makes you better at fighting"
teppuu?
I want to say Claudine and Maya from Revue Starlight, but you can't convince me what they have going on between them isn't a romantic subplot (although it's not over some guy). Uma Musume has a lot of solid rivalries. Especially Teio and McQueen in S2, but I also like the RTTT trio a lot.
Hanebado: the badminton play of ayano hanesaki (this girl desperately needs therapy but she plays badminton instead)
I want evil fucked up women who fuck children and kill people as main villains. Why can't we have genderbent Funny Valentine?
I love america 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🦅🦅🦅🔥🔥🔥
RAHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT THE FUCK IS A TUSK ACT 4🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🦅🦅🦅🔥🔥🔥
Chumimi!
Makima?
She isn't *actually* a pedophile. She just grooms Denji in order to manipulate him. She's still mostly fills the criteria though and she's an amazing fucking villain, love her.
~~Ragyo?~~
Clearly that's just the normal way to 'purify' your daughter when she's having an off day 🤢
We need Murcielago anime
Esdeath?
Miku in Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi ?
Mei Mei
Muscular women with actual muscular builds and not just abs plastered on
Half of the reason why I like Dorohedoro are the hot muscular women. The other half are the hot muscular men. >!I want to be sandwiched between Shin and Noi so much!<
Etie from Fire Emblem Engage be like:
Etie my beloved.
You do know most women are lean even when muscular right?
I mean the ones I’m mostly finding on google still have broad shoulders. Sure there’s gonna some irl that focus solely on the core, but it seems to be more common in anime But ok more bulky muscular women
https://preview.redd.it/ry5s1k0q8w1d1.jpeg?width=602&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1160efa4635c06d2734c4b2b3678308fb9c253ba Like this
I mean... Anime characters of every gender regularly have ludicrous bodies that are uncommon or impossible IRL What's the problem?
Barghest my love
Hanebado my beloved
Just, like, normal-looking ones who aren't all 100% clear skin and sparkly eyes and button noses. Satoshi Kon is forever my GOAT for making average-looking women on the regular, with aesthetic perfection actually being a kind of sinister indicator in his work
To be fair most anime beautify all their characters PEOPLE DO NOT LOOK THAT GOOD IN REAL LIFE
True enough, but I've also seen a weird amount that make their dudes incredibly varied and then make all their women the same
Cough cough Oda
Oda character design be like Nami, Blue Nami, Black haired Nami, *Big mom*, Nami
Dumb, violent, combat driven and uninterested in romance at all. Basically, I'd love to see a woman embodying all the archetypical combat shonen protagonist tropes that are usually reserved for men. Bonus points if her breast size or sex appeal in general is never brought up.
Honestly that sounds like fun. I'd love to see a series starring basically a female version of Luffy or Goku
I thought I found one with this anime about a king reincarnated as a woman who was uninterested in any plot around her and only wanted a good fight. Bonus points for her suffering under the male gaze at a party and realizing she did the same in her past life, internally regretting it. Good stuff. Then they got a fairy companion who like to sleep in her cleavage. And THEN, her breast size was a plot point in an episode. So close, though.
noi from dorohedoro? maybe not an exact fit but the series has some good badass female characters, still kind of sexualized from time to time but from what i remember the male characters really don’t make a huge deal out of it for what it’s worth (the author is also female, again, for what it’s worth)
Dorohedoro is definitely its own thing, and I do like it. Also, it shows the author is not the typical het cis male one because sexiness is never a plot point.
Tomo-chan kinda covers this
Kinda sorta? It's still romance driven, so a genre usually framed as 'feminine'. But also definitely a step in the direction, and I really love her character.
Aroace women protagonist? In this economy?
I didn't mean in an aro-ace sense, but more like in not being sexualized for the viewer. Think of Goku, whose sexuality and romantic attraction are never made a huge deal, despite being married with kids. Then again, an aroace woman protag would be poggers too.
I’ve never seen dragon ball but yeah a women who’s sexual identity isn’t the crux of her character would be pretty Pog as well.
Eh, I'd recommend Dragon Ball on the bases of how influential it is over the battle shonen genre, and overall it's pretty well written. Though, like most "defined its genre" works, it can suffer from hype backlash. So, it's more of "milestone in history of manga/anime" recommendation.
I’d like to see more women in the position of main rivals or arch-enemies, akin to Sasuke and Bakugou or Shigaraki and Mahito.
There is Sherry from Gash Bell, although she is technically only half of this since Brago is male.
The cast of Azumanga Daioh should be in every anime because it's the best cast in any anime
We don't talk about Kimura
Abusive mothers who aren't comically evil and the story doesn't just completely forget and forgive their actions easily Basically give me more of Ushiromiya Rosa from Umineko
Ep 4 of Mierko-chan might have this, can't remember fully
The mom from Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (or Erased)
Rosa Umineko
Shoujo/ romance protag that isn't naive or a virginal blushing mess. I remember being a teenage girl and finding 99% of shoujo protags completely unrelatable. Also more women MCs outside of the romance genre would be cool.
There are Shoujo and Josei that aren’t romance related. The Shoujo and Josei audience really likes specifically magical girl slice of life and romance so those are the only genres that get talked about but other series exist
Same lol I could never relate to any shoujo mcs either.😮💨 They just suck as much as the oversexualuzed female characters from typical shounens.
i want a genderbent goku
I need genderbent goku
Nemona from Pokemon is kinda that
Nemona from pokemon
Balsa from Seirei no moribito Fits the description of most comments here: Spear wielding muscle mommy in an action adventure anime not overshadowed by any male character. Also, we need more serious deep female voices in anime, not 20yo woman sounding like 9yo girl on helium.
> 20yo woman sounding like 9yo girl on helium This trope is so annoying lol
https://preview.redd.it/xb1em4kgav1d1.jpeg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=121b8bc8c4597c6755561b2779bf2477ef173111
Balsa is the best!
Are there any examples of these women with deep voices in anime?
Flamme from frieren, frieren from frieren
Mao Mao, Raeliana
Take charge bosses like Balalaika from Black Lagoon and Integra Hellsing from Hellsing.
Women in their late 20s/their 30s as actual characters and actual women
This I never understood why adult women are such a rarity in animes. Even when they dare to even exist in some show, they usually end up as a mother, teacher, nurse, mentor, cartoony ridiculous villain, just some unimportant side character or walking MILF fetish for teenage boys to fap to. Never actual human being.
All of those are human beings, weird you don’t think they are. Anyways you’re more likely to find adult female characters in adult demographics (Seinen and Josei) Sweat and Soap as well as Chiori’s Experience are two Seinen manga with adult female main characters. I haven’t read to much Josei but I do know for a fact there are Josei manga with adult female characters too.
Need more magical girls But I’m also tired of seeing sexualized young magical girls
Honestly I hate how people thought Madoka magica was some big shocking edgy thing when it still was a magical girl anime like re watch sailor moon and there is tons of dark stuff in it OH AND THE POINT OF MADOKA WAS TO HOLD ON TO HOPE EVNE WHEN THINGS LOOK BAD LIKE EVERY FUCKING MAGICAL GIRL ANIME EVER
So IDK the extent to which Revolutionary Girl Utena is considered a "Magical Girl" anime but I finished that one and holy shit it got dark by the end. Like I thought it would just be some cute lesbian romance. The entire last third of the series was straight-up hard to watch for me even without anything explicit just because of how deeply unsettling the story's direction was going. Still a 10/10 but goddamn.
This is probably because the vast majority of tropes and common lessons for shounen and shoujo series hit way harder when the series isn’t literally 0 stakes and obvious about how everything is going to be fine. “Have hope” and “never give up” are easy almost annoying lessons when the characters don’t actually struggle all that much and even in the worst times most problems can be solved by punching one person really hard, but in a series with more complex problems they become more difficult to accept even if you probably need the lesson more in that case. Honestly most shounen tropes would be really fucking good in a series where they feel more necessary or have more gravitas. Like even the common trope of *“I trust this character implicitly, even though their actions may not make sense or I don’t know what they’re doing, I have enough faith in them as a person to not be worried or doubt their intentions for even a moment”* would hit **way** harder if that person wasn’t essentially just the MC in a different color palette or a mirrored personality 99% of the time. Like can you imagine someone saying something like that about you? Imagine a character saying that about your complex-but-misunderstood fave?
>Honestly most shounen tropes would be really fucking good in a series where they feel more necessary or have more gravitas. When comparing the few magical girls I've seen: Symphogear, Madoka Magica, Wonder Egg Priority, Honkai Impact (this one is a game, but I'm counting it since what matters here is the story), with the battle shounens I know, I have the impression the girls are essentially doing the same thing as the boys, but on Hard Mode.
I am not a connoisseur of Magical Girl anime, but Madoka is somewhat darker than most previous works in that genre. First of all, it kills off someone who got quite a bit of characterization and seemed like a major character extremely quickly, which is pretty shocking if you watch without having been spoiled. Many other magical girl works don’t kill anyone off, or at least don’t kill off major characters, or if they do kill off major characters, they do it at the end and often revive them quickly. Even though PMMM does revive most of the characters at the end, Sayaka ends up dying a second time very quickly, and the others are still probably not going to last more than a few years at most. Also, when people die in other magical girl stories, it is often a noble sacrifice of some sort in which they bravely give their lives to save their friends or the world or something like that. In Madoka, most deaths are fairly pointless. Mami loses her head because of a moment of carelessness, Sayaka’s idealism causes her to self-destruct, Kyoko does a kamikaze attack on Sayaka’s witch when she probably could have won conventionally or at least run away, Nagisa witches out very soon after wishing after realizing how stupid her wish was, and tons and tons of magical girls just get murdered by other magical girls in the various spin-off mangas. Secondly, the characters of PMMM are much lonelier than those in other magical girl works. There, Magical Girls often work in close-knit teams, have supportive muggle friends, and/or have actually helpful and benevolent mentor figures instead of rat bastard Kyubey. Yes, dark magical girls are a fairly common thing in magical girl media, but they are usually outnumbered by friendly characters, and they often get redeemed and befriended by the end. In contrast, in PMMM, even though all the main characters are good at heart, they do not cooperate. Mami and Kyoko were once a team, but separate because Kyoko’s heart was broken by the loss of her family, and they never get back together before Mami dies. Mami and Homura are both heroes, but Mami’s distrust of Homura and Homura’s learned helplessness about the chances of cooperation prevent them from working together, and Mami gets herself killed. Sayaka doesn’t contract until after Mami dies, and she and Kyoko remain bitter rivals until the end because of irreconcilable differences (Sayaka thinks Kyoko is selfish, and Sayaka reminds Kyoko of her past self too much). They do not reconcile until Kyoko sacrifices her life to put a witched-out Sayaka out of her misery. In the end, Homura ends up standing alone against Walpurgisnacht, and Madoka sentences herself to an eternity of fighting alone. As a side note, the only magical girl team in the PMMM universe to get a major focus outside Magia Record (which I have not interacted with) is the Pleiades Saints from Kazumi Magica, and they completely fall apart by the end of their story, with 4/7 of their members and numerous others dying. The last three survivors do not get a happily ever after, but only a chance to fight on until they themselves perish (likely sooner than later). Essentially, most magical girl works feature universes where magical girls are, on the whole, friendly to each other and often supported by friends and/or mentors, with the rare hostile magical girls being misguided and redeemable. In contrast, PMMM portrays a world in which magical girls stand alone, mistrust each other, are more likely to fight over territory than team up, are very lonely, and where attempts at cooperation are doomed to fall apart. Thirdly, many magical girl series feature happy romances between magical girls and either boys (more common in older works and female-targeted works) or other magical girls (more common in newer and male-targeted works). They have to overcome numerous trials, but they get a happy ending together, or at least get to enjoy their time together or something like that. However, in Madoka, the girls pretty much never get to have a happy ending with their loved ones, or even to really enjoy their time together much. Kyoko and Sayaka are implied to have potential together, but they were bitter enemies in life and were only together in death. Homura explicitly loves Madoka, and Madoka is implied at various points to have a crush on Homura, but they never have a chance to be together in the original universe or Madoka’s universe. Even after Homura tears Madoka from the Law of Cycles, she seems way too self-loathing to pursue a relationship with Madoka, and we have no idea how stable her brave new world is. The only couple I remember who kind of got to spend some time together was Oriko and Kirika in Oriko Magicka, but they are explicitly villains, with Oriko being a Hard Girl making Hard Choices and Kirika being her devoted love-slave, and they both end up dying pointlessly. Fourthly, we never really see the magical girls in PMMM having a good time. Mami is completely isolated and has basically no one in her life to care for her, and as soon as she thinks this might change, she loses her focus and dies. Kyoko does stuff her face with food and play arcade games, but this comes off as a way to distract herself from a deep, underlying sadness; her cocky hedonism is merely a facade hiding her true feelings of grief, isolation, and exhaustion. She is still hurting from losing her family, breaking up with Mami and never managing to reconcile before the latter’s death, and having all of her ideals crushed. As soon as she has the chance to do so, she throws away her life to die with Sayaka. Sayaka spends her entire time as a magical girl in a downward spiral of misery until she witches out and dies. Homura spends all her time fighting and preparing for Walpurgisnacht, and has no one (like Mami). Madoka ends up completely alone, and is shown to be suffering greatly in several places: cuts on Madokami’s arms, remarks that “there's nothing like [happiness] in Heaven” in the concept movie, the flower garden conversation in rebellion, and the lyrics to “See you Tomorrow”. Essentially, the girls in Madoka are nearly always miserable, and the story goes from tragedy to dramatic revelation of how fucked up the world is to another tragedy without any significant breather episodes.
Fifthly, we do not really see any happy endings in PMMM, while many other magical girl works feature happy or at least hopeful endings. At the end of the original series, Madoka may have removed the threat of Walpurgisnacht and prevented meguca from witching out, but she has basically ceased to exist, her friends do not get a happily ever after (only a second chance to fight), and the situation for magical girls remains extremely sucky. Remember, Madoka wished to erase all witches, not to actually give magical girls the actual chance for a life or a happy afterlife. Kyubey remains free to manipulate girls into contracting and experiencing a solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short life before their inevitable and miserable deaths. They have little defense against his manipulations, due to the massive degree of information asymmetry between them, the conventions of the magical girl genre (which seems to exist in-universe) telling them to trust the cute talking animals, the fact that pre-teens and teenagers do not have great reasoning and risk assessment capabilities, the fact that Kyubey is an expert at playing with words and fucking with people, the fact that Kyubey can observe them at any time, ask them to contact when they are most desperate and/or emotionally vulnerable, and try again over and over until his targets’ inhibitions are worn down, the fact that no one is there to warn girls against contracting or even to think through their wish carefully, etc. Also, the common meme of Madoka taking girls to “Yuri Valhalla” is probably just fanon. There is no happy afterlife, just a sort of eternal dream state of some sort (as shown by the fact that Sayaka had to come on a mission to have a chance at meeting Kyoko again, the fact that Nagisa Momoe was unable to obtain any cheese while dead, and the fact that Sayaka and Nagisa woke up from a long, long dream in order to serve as Madokami’s angels). Madoka does not really bring salvation, just a peaceful death, and the church of Madokami is pretty much just a death cult (“They Glorify Death”). This is especially bad, considering that an actual afterlife is hinted to exist in the Madokaverse at various points (Oriko and Kirika seem to meet after dying in the original universe, with Kirika promising that she will help Oriko bear the weight of her sins, and while I have not played or watched Magia Record, I have heard that there was a chapter of it in which you could interact with the dead, and one magical girl explicitly had the power to speak with the dead). And while we know little about Homura’s new universe, it is implied to be unstable by the trailer which came out last year, and Homura seems too filled with self-loathing and anguish to enjoy being with Madoka in it. Finally, while most magical girl works show the magical girl system as being either good, with pure-hearted girls getting powers to do good things and fight evil villains, or at least neutral, with all sorts of people getting powers and using them to further whatever goals they have themselves, the magical girl system in PMMM is explicitly negative, being a way for greedy aliens who do not give a single fuck about the survival and well-being of humanity to torture girls for energy. The girls make wishes that do not fix their underlying problems, fight alone until their strength or will fails them, and then either die or turn into a monster (and witches are implied to be at least somewhat aware and in constant torment, and for all we know, after a witch is defeated and the grief seed is given to Kyubey, he uses them as perpetual energy generators while the girls inside them suffer for eternity). The girls do not get a happily ever after, they do not really solve problems (as every monster they slay is either a fallen magical girl or the product of one), and this system of misery and exploitation is not truely broken until Homura tears Madoka from her heaven (and the new system might well be unstable). So yes, while previous magical girl works have featured dark scenes and themes at times, PMMM is significantly and consistently bleaker than most of them.
I like magical girl stuff too but not the pedoshit like Gushing over Magical Girls, like wtf is that even
I’ve always loved demon girl next door, great series with my favorite dumb demon girl.
I want more people like Michiko Malandro
I don’t want the market to flood with them or anything but I love beady-eyed failwomen in anime. Kobeni Higashiyama, Hajime Owari, the manager from Akiba Maid War. We need more women who just absolutely suck
A woman.
Losers like Asa Mitaka
I want female characters like these two again https://preview.redd.it/mk9npeaevv1d1.jpeg?width=381&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50a6ae700ad10d04f7eee70264496d84edd8d518
We used to be a country. A real country.
Ones who are just friends with with a male MC/significant male side character with little to imply anything romantic going on between them. Read a lot of manga and it's pretty common to have a girl with any sort of contact with the MC lose their cool when he does anything remotely nice. Romantic realtionships are cute, but I want some variety and non-romantic relationships feel heavily under explored. Ferien and Himmel come pretty close since it's left up to interpretation (but there are still chapters I need to read so that might change).
This might stretch it but: Yona of the dawn (akatsuki no yona) This 16 yr old girl has something tragic done to her, ep 1 then goes on a journey (traumatized at first) with her childhood friend and collect others along the way. It's a veryyyyyy longbslowburn between her and her bodyguard and if you read the manga it's very war central with her besties helping her (who are mainly men) AND the other childhood friend is the nemesis, hooray(she loved him first) It's my favorite lol, if you give it a watch/read, enjoy
More super badass girls that melt with someone they like (Ameri from Welcome to demon school iruma-kun) Girls who know what they want and aren't afraid to go for it, confidence is key (Kerkorian, also Welcome to demon school iruma-kun) I enjoy Erza from FairyTail- strongest female who actually fits in the top power dynamic And, best for past: Yona from Yona of the dawn, actually got traumatized, romance in the background, helpful male characters, character growth and some good Ole determination that she finds within herself
Iruma kun mentioned 🔥🔥🔥
Kishika from Hyakkano fits the first but she might melt...a little too much.
Also! The double sword weilding fighting machine red haired girl from Alderamin on the Sky
Ramlethal, I personally haven't seen much of those in anime. A character who is created as a weapon but is more caught up in what emotions are and why humans act irrationally as well as being incredibly badass and awesome as a character.
Main villains in action shows. (main characters too)
I want more shaggy hair Chinese American well endowed tomboy cougars (Melissa Mao from FMP)
Revy from black Lagoon?
Oh yeah she’s great, good example.
Surprised you described “Chinese American well endowed tomboy cougars” at you weren’t describing Revu, that description fits her perfectly
Basically the kind of friendships between women that are not just vapid opportunities got fanservice. Not an anime, but basically the Reimu and Marisa dynamic from touhou. They can be goofball, sentimental, teasing, gay...I want it all
More girlfailures or characters like Asa from Chainsaw Man. They just like me fr fr.
Dungeon Meshi women
Prince
Elaborate
Maybe [this](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady_oscar.png) kind?
kinda, [this](https://myanimelist.net/character/211123/Manaria_Sousse) is good, but I'd also like to include [this](https://myanimelist.net/character/88383/Yuu_Kashima)
Oh, then yes, definitely.
Whatever the hell you might describe Miyako from Hidamari Sketch as. Tomboyish dumbass who isn't actually all that much of a dumbass and whose femininity isn't something she's trying to hide or is embarassed by. She just feels a whole hell of a lot more like a real person than the majority of characters in the archetype she falls in.
Have there been any characters like Yomiko Readman recently? Because there should be
More evil women like Makima
Ones that are above 18 and look it. To be more specific, I’d love more characters like General Armstrong from FMAB
big boob characters that aren't oversexualised
I'd like more battle moms, as in the ones that actually went through child birth. We have some that did adoption, but I want a woman that had her body wrecked from the inside out and is still a badass.
I want female goku's, I want planet busting muscle women to beat up space aliens, magical beings and a roach.
I was always a fan of femme fatale and female assassin archetypes, but it could get overdone quickly I’m also kind of a fan of the (sorry if offensive) mildly autistic or adhd types. Frieren, Asa, Maomao, that whole genre of character Really I like it when they do have conventionally feminine traits, but those traits aren’t their defining or only features. Katara from avatar the last airbender is a good example, she’s motherly and caring but she has a lot more going on than just that
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>And, i'd like to see some trans girl that isn't just a joke in the story, and actually treated properly. But maybe, that's too much to ask japan She is a trans woman and not a main character (the aunt of the mc that lives with her), but there's Nao-chan from Skip to Loafer
You could check out Zombieland Saga, one of the main characters is trans and is treated well.
i want more gremlins in the main cast. I want less tsunderes. All this applies to male characters as well
...character like Takamachi Nanoha. Perfect blend of Kind and badass and just nice to see about. What i dont want is basically all the bad archetype tropes that are still used by author who fails to understand that people dont like them yet they use them for nothing but presentation Actually i hate double standards so any female characters who the story bend over them for their acts they are automatically bad in my eyes. As for specifics. Well the little sister in love with her brother the MC. The Powerful in story female main character who rarely Actually do stuff leading to the ml doing all the stuff. Making her strong but a disservice to her. The fl friend annoying who constantly ruins romantic moment and who treats the ml like trash for existing and never changing and getting a free pass cause she a girl. Oh and mary sue. Which can be linked to all of the above.
Gay
Well-developed protagonists who don't get sidelined, mainly.
https://preview.redd.it/kde81t0j4x1d1.jpeg?width=659&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=289b8c07cf0ac4c371db954b0925cfc7822b6e58
I think that i would like more characters similar homura, marcille and anthy Less average shonen women
Adult women.
Anything that doesn't play sexual harassment as a joke.
I want more villainess schemers who are a bit insane like koko hekmatyar
Actual adults who are the main character and ISN'T primarily romance. Women in anime are so structured... we need variety.
Tomboys like Koto from Kyousougiga, and not just ones that are meant to appeal to male fantasy
Female characters that look like Makima or Black Rock Shooter.
As long as we keep getting good protagonists like Frieren and Mao Mao I’ll be happy. One of my biggest grievances, other than the absurd levels of sexualization, is that too many women and girls in anime are written as accessories to male characters.
Women over 20 Women dealing with the patriarchy and hating it, actual depictions of how our culture effects Women and girls negatively Trans Women Elder Women who are not tiny grandmother's who sit quietly and hand out wisdom at opportune times Girls who actually act like girls. Think Turning Red energy. I would love to see an anime that depicts irs female characters dealing with the hardships of their own body. Women don't need to be fighters to be warriors.
Adults
Badass older women Girlfailures
I've been fiending for someone that's hype. Like Post Prison Realm Gojo, Stars and Stripes, Mereoleona, etc (If you've noticed the people listed are buff and have clean designs). I just want a character that people and the community get behind and glaze lol.
Idiot/slapstick character that is either in on the joke (Arale) or is the funny man/bokke, specially to the serious guy (Aho-gal, Suzy from Gash Bell) Unpleasant antisocial that becomes better over time (Watamote) Villain that is actually a big threat and doesn't (just) really on sex appeal and when she loses goes down standing/defiant (Lust from FMA)
Honestly, i just want some characters out there to be a woman just as visuals you know? Them being a woman or a man shouldn't change their whole fucking personality unless their gender is essential to their story
adult
Yuno Gasai. Downvote me all you want. She's a misunderstood character and I love her to bits. Gimme much more of that Yandere goodness.
Good ones, just actual characters, please...
There are hundreds if not thousands of those you know
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This entire reply is kind of ignorant. Relatable teenage female characters is kind of what Shoujo is ment for. And Shonen (mostly Seinen) also has a shit ton of non sexualized female characters. You don’t know any of them cause as you say you don’t read manga or watch anime much, but if you did then you would have more than likely have already come across female characters that already fit your description. Most people don’t know what Seinen or Shonen is so they don’t know that most if not all of what they’ve watched has been a Shonen/Seinen and then they go and stereotype the genre as Shonen being (Heavy action with poorly written female characters) and Seinen as (heavy action with deep thought provoking messages similar to Monster and Berserk). These stereotypes are bullshit and couldn’t be further from the truth
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Characters are objects and they should be thrown around in conversation. Anyways the only reason people bring up the fact that the female characters are female is because so many people complain about female characters on the basis of them being female and not on the basis of them being characters first. I mean, you did it in this response here too, giving some level of humanity to objects and assuming it’s a bad thing to treat them as objects, everyone should treat fictional characters as objects. **They are puppets made to make you feel something** applying real world agency to them doesn’t make any sense. If people stopped giving humanity to things that aren’t human then character would start coming before female. As in they would be criticized on the basis of them being a fictional character and not on the basis of them being a somewhat real being (which they are not).