Anime Strong/sympathetic female characters

[Dagger]

I tend to be overly critical of the girls and women in anime; at times it seems as though they're all either loud and obnoxious, strong but heartless, or pathetically shy. That's why I pay special attention to series which feature intelligent, likeable female characters, even if the vast majority of their cast is male. Below I've listed a few examples of such shows, and I invite you to do the same. Conversely, feel free to complain about the more annoying girls or women that you've encountered in various anime.

[b]Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040:[/b] Like R.O.D the TV, this series is driven primarily by women. While Lina, Priss, Nene and Sylia do have vaguely archetypal personalities, they're engaging characters with plenty of chemistry and a great group vibe. They aren't presented as sex objects, and the fanservice in BGCT is always very classy--which allows me to savor the eye candy without feeling like an idiot.

[b]Peacemaker Kurogane:[/b] There are perhaps three significant women in all twenty-four episodes of PMK. The anime revolves around males, yet ultimately Ayumu and Akesato are shown to be the most courageous and devious characters in the entire cast. Akesato [spoiler]leads a double life, pretending to be a beautiful but lonely and submissive geisha, when she's actually a talented and ruthless shinobi.[/spoiler] For much of the series, Ayumu is portrayed as a kind-hearted cook/laundress who assumes all the trappings of a traditional female role while her younger brother spies for the Shinsengumi. Yet as PMK winds to a close, [spoiler]she bravely ventures into enemy territory in order to obtain information. Her brutal death[/spoiler] galvanizes the Shinsengumi and gives the show's plot some much-needed momentum.

[b]Hunter x Hunter:[/b] Although most of the characters in HxH are male, the women who appear in this series are uniformly smart, competent and mature (despite having radically different personalities). Menchi, Shizuka and Machi are among my favorites, but Biske just blows all of them out of the water. She's wily, powerful and incredibly cute. Although she appears to be about thirteen, she's actually [spoiler]fifty-seven,[/spoiler] and takes full advantage of her innocent looks. Her good-natured bickering with Killua and Gon could easily become tedious or irritating, yet somehow never does.

~Dagger~

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I can definately understand what Dagger's saying. Too many times the women of anime get these really off or non existant personalities. What gets me is the ones who act all tough, but still go looking for a boyfriend all the time (ie Kino Makoto of SailorMoon and Tendo Akane from Ranma1/2)

I think Tsukino Usagi from Sailor Moon is a very good example of a leading lady. Although you may not notice it if you focus completely on the dub and the first season.

The reason I think she's a strong individual is because she's pretty much willing to die for her friends and in order to protect everyone. Yes, she's a cry baby, but she has a very strong sense of loyalty towards everyone even Mamo dork. In the five seasons of the show Usagi grows and matures from a whiny cry baby who eats way too much and sobs at the drop of a hat to a mature young woman willing to fight without thinking of the consequences.

After seeing her growth, especially in the manga I figured I could forgive her flakyness in the first two seasons.[/color]

[Hevn]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][SIZE=1][B][COLOR=Purple]Sailormoon [/COLOR] - Again and again we feel girl power in this anime. The anime almost covers the different types of women. Need I say more?

[COLOR=Purple]Get Backers[/COLOR] - I think every female character in this movie is a fighter and yet they don't lose their feminine touch. Women in this anime doesn't just sit back and wait for their heroes or watch when there's a big fight. Each of them treat themselves equal to the male characters both physically and mentally.

[COLOR=Purple]Yuyu Hakusho[/COLOR] - And then again there are those animes with girls just sitting around watching the action take place. They act as support to the male characters or even the reason to add either dramatic, romantic, or annoying scenes that aren't really necessary.

[COLOR=Purple]Chobits [/COLOR] - Well, almost all female persocons in this anime are submissive to men. It's a good anime overall but I don't see a really strong female character here. Every girl's just shy or too feminine. Except maybe for Sumomo, whose really loud, and Kotoko, who I think is the most mature persocon in the anime.[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Dagger]

Yep, that's one of the reasons I stopped reading the Chobits manga after finishing the first four or five volumes.

Kumiko, the main character of [b]Gokusen[/b], is a really fantastic female lead. For one thing, she's fully capable of beating up just about every every male in the entire show. Her moods swings are amusing but not annoying, and she's portrayed as a natural leader with plenty of courage and common sense. Kumiko's efforts to conceal her Yakuza heritage are consistently hilarious. More importantly, the strength of her personality makes it easy to believe that she's capable of winning her students' respect.

~Dagger~

[Okita]

I mentioned this in another thread but my favourite character (who happens to be a strong female lead) has to be Youko from Junni Kokki, her strength, conviction and sheer character blows me away, I will forever remember episode 39 where she [spoiler] confronts the corrupt ministers as the empress after fighting for the rebel, that and the following address to the poeple [/spoiler] had to be on of my all time favourite moment in anime.

I idolise her as someone to aspire to after finishing the series, she is humble yet majestic, noble and kind yet harsh and critical when needed; in short a [spoiler] perfect Empress! [/spoiler].

Other female characters that I particularly liked include:

Sarasa from legend of Basara, again another figure of great strength and conviction whom I fell in love with throughout the very short anime (a pity), though I admit she tends to lean towards the shy category when the show's shoujo nature emerges.

Makoto from Ghost in the Shell SAC etc... she holds a special place in my heart for being the most unique female lead I've ever come across that I find both likable and stylishly classy. She's smart, practical and has great character depth. (though I prefer the series' interpretation of her better than Oshii's film, she just seems... more feminine in the former's case.)

[Hevn]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][SIZE=1][B]Cherry, Lime, and Bloodberry of Saber Marionette are some girls of both worlds. Cherry can be a little annoying with her constant clinging on Otaru. Lime is a mother figure and Bloodberry is one strong character.

Still, all of them are good fighters with pure hearts who fight for a simple causes. I will never forget the ending of Saber Marionette J [spoiler]when they were all smiling as they fight. They were willing to sacrifice their happiness with Otaru for the sake of all others.[/spoiler] I think that was a very special trait of a true woman and is something to be proud of. ^_^x[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[densuke]

The characters in BGC 2040 impressed me a lot, and to me the show is more about them than the plot or action.

How about [b]ROD[/b]? Yomiko is rather windblown in the first two episodes of the OAV but she makes a big impact on the finale. And whatever she's about, it doesn't seem to have much to do with competing with or playing up to men...

The TV show is more emphatic. The 3 main characters are a very strong team who manage to assert their independence from everything that happens in the show, and they give strength to the other characters.

I don't see why being tough precludes falling in love, or wanting to... for either a man or a woman. [b]Yawara![/b] features and is named after a world-class judo wrestler who really wants to be more of a normal girl. She is honest and hard-working and nice to people. The story makes fun of her struggles and circumstances but treats Yawara respectfully.

[Guest Ranma 1/5]

I got to go with Tomoe from the Kenshin OAV's. She put aside a lot of justifiable hate and lust for vengenance to see real Himura. Not many people are strong enough of character to do so. This is just one of the many reasons why she is my all time favorite female anime character.

[Guest Kloudy_Grey]

I think that Organic Angel Alexial (from Angel Sanctuary{a most excellent anime}) is a pretty cooli and strong female. i mean, she was a leader of the demon/angel war, and she saved a little demon child from being murdered or worse and hundreds of years later, they were still trying to recover her.

[Shiro_Ryuu]

I personally don't have much of a problem with girls who are shy, like Miu from Gatekeepers 21, I really like her kind personality. I can't stand girls who are total b****es and act so tough, aggresive, and heartless like Asuka from Eva. I don't know how anyone can handle being with her for even a second. As for strong personalities, I like Minako Aino and Rei Hino from Sailor Moon and Megumi from Rurouni Kenshin.

[JazzLady22]

Great thread idea! ^__^

[B]Naruto[/B]- Possibly my favorite character in Naruto is Hyuuga Hinata. She doesn't exactly fit the archetype of a "strong woman," per se, as for most of the beginning of the anime, she's potrayed as a shy, somewhat weak character who is mostly defined by her crush on Naruto. But [spoiler]during the Chuunin Exams, the episodes where she fights her cousin, Neji, showed her as a very strong, detirmined character. She did get the crap beaten out of her, and eventually lose, but during the fight, you really found yourself cheering for her. I always thought she was cute, but she proved herself to be a good fighter, and strong individual, as well.[/spoiler] Thus, cementing my love for the show. (I'm not fond of Sakura or Ino...)

[B]Peacemaker Kurogane[/B]- I agree with Dagger. I love Ayumu and Akesato! Although I'm afraid neither of them get a lot of screentime; Akesato gets less than almost any other major character, but that's redeemed later in the manga, when she gets a more serious and tragic story. The point being, both of these ladies are, arguably, the most unpredictable characters in the anime. Won't say anything else, because Dagger covered it nicely.

[B]Fullmetal Alchemist[/B] While this anime has quite a few likable female characters (like Riza Hawkeye and Maria Ross) I'm extremely partial to Izumi, who is Ed and Al's former teacher. Some of the angst surrounding her story arc could be tough to take (then again, this is FMA we're talking about), but simply put, the woman is awesome. [spoiler]She could even hold her own against Greed for a bit, and still, it was her condition that got in the way.[/spoiler] And as I mentioned before, Riza Hawkeye and Maria Ross are very likable, and hold their own in the otherwise male-dominted military.

[B]Read or Die, The OVA[/B] Yomiko and Nancy. They're [I]complete[/I] opposites, Yomiko being utterly adorable and Nancy being classy, but both of them are, for lack of a better word, totally badass. [spoiler]The dollar-bill swordfight was possibly the coolest, and most original, thing I'd ever seen.[/spoiler]

And that's enough from me for today.

[Dagger]

Senorita Grandis (from [b]Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water[/b]), has rapidly become one of my favorite female characters. She's very beautiful and feminine, with hourglass curves and gorgeous red hair. However, Grandis is also coarse, loud and accustomed to giving orders. She single-mindedly pursues whatever objects strike her fancy, whether they're rare jewels or just a rugged-looking middle-aged man. Her infatuation with [spoiler]Captain Nemo[/spoiler] is surprisingly endearing.

Grandis is tough and prepared to take control of almost any situation; she demonstrates unusual skill both working in the kitchen and using a gun. In my opinion, Grandis's personality combines a number of desirable female traits without including the timidity and submissiveness which too often accompany them.

~Dagger~

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I notice that nobody has mentioned Lina Inverse from the Slayers. She's a little bit of column A and a little bit of Column B.

I like how Lina is a pretty powerful Sourceress and looks nothing like most of her female anime counterparts (ie the large breasts on many other anime women.) Which of course led to a few jokes throughout the series. She's also very determined to get what she wants no matter what stands in her way. Just look at the first episode of the first season where she blasts all those bandits just to get her treasure. (or listen to the opening lines in Try Again (or whatever the name of the first opening song is)

Okay, so she's a bit .... okay very greedy. And she can be slightly obnoxious like when she taunts people and enemies. But she's a force to reckon with that's for sure.[/color]

[Okita]

I think she falls too much into the loud and obnoxious category to really fit the bill here, true she is strong and if you actually familiarise yourself with her and her past becomes very sympathetic, and she's also very likable despite the quirks she exibit (or is it beacuse of them?). But if you build on a character like her, then every voilent but slightly likable character would have a chance at this.

I think Lina is close (VERY CLOSE) to the criteria recommend here, and she's a step ahead of the violent brigade with her attitude and strength of character...