Defining a strong female character is difficult, but many anime offer female characters that are fun, memorable, and relatable.
Strong female characters are not a rarity in all sorts of media, but concerns have been raised that weak female characters are something of an anime trope. To be clear, it is not just an anime problem. There are tropes that surpass genre like fridging (killing a female character for the sake of a male character’s development) or smurfette (the only token female character among male characters). It does not mean that there are no strong female characters in anime, though, and today we want to discuss a few of them.
But what is a strong character? For us, there are a lot of flavors to them, and not all of them are easy to explain. It is not always the strength of the body or mind; it can be spiritual strength or the strength to believe in something. It does not have to be strength at all, either; it may be kindness or the power of love and friendship that sets the character apart. If you believe in the character, feel for them, like them, they are probably well written.
In the end, a strong female character is the opposite of a weak female character, which is unnecessary and empty. Weak female characters are usually useless (or just meant for fanservice), badly written, done dirty by the plot, and most of the time not even important to it. Often enough, such characters exist only so that the male protagonist can have a love interest or someone to save.
But remember that it is not a fatal flaw to need help. For example, one of the most powerful female characters of all time, Sailor Moon, is regularly saved by Tuxedo Mask. Both characters are from the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi. And Sailor Moon, or Usagi Tsukino, is a strong female character. She does need help every now and then, but that is normal, that is human. Besides, she has her friends to rely on because she is a good person and cares for those around her. She has her weaknesses, such as eating a lot of sweets or sleeping in, but those only make her more relatable to us. And she saves the world over and over again from monsters of the day, which also makes her powerful and amazing.
To be fair, all the characters in the Sailor Moon are well-developed and complex. There is space for their development, too, especially in the original 1990s anime. One of the things the anime is famous for is its filler episodes, which are not loved by every fan, but are certainly enjoyed by many. That filler is there to show the characters interacting with each other, and that is what helps in demonstrating their friendship and characters.
But dozens and hundreds of episodes are not a requirement for showing a character’s strengths. Think of Chihiro, the main protagonist of Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. She is established as a strong character within just two hours. She is a young girl, too; she is basically a child, but that does not stop her from being a very, very well-developed character. Just like Sailor Moon, she is not an invulnerable creature. Over the course of the anime, we see her scared and in need of help, being sad and crying out loud from the pain she feels as she is ripped from her family and thrust into a new, unfamiliar world with nobody to rely on. But she is a strong character; she is hardworking, resourceful, and, above all, kind. Her kindness and her love for her family are the qualities that let her return home, and she manages to help a few other people and creatures on the way.
Finally, it needs to be said that a strong female character does not have to be a positive one. Medusa Gorgon from Atsushi Ohkubo's Soul Eater may be a bad person, but she is surely not a badly written character. She wormed her way into the Meister Academy as a nurse and was quite skilled at not letting the mask slip. She showed incredible intelligence, and she proved to be a formidable opponent, especially due to her cunning nature and magic and combat skills. Overall, she is written as a complicated and powerful character, even though you can argue that she is not the most multidimensional of villains. Indeed, she does not seem to grasp the concepts of love and friendship, but there are people she cares for, even though those people (especially Stein) would be better off without her care.
There are many complicated, beautifully written female characters in anime. They can be used to show that even though anime may have a problem with too many underdeveloped female characters, it is also capable of producing brilliant characters that happen to be female. They are powerful in both literal and metaphorical ways; they are unique and interesting to follow along their arcs, and they make you feel for them, root for them, or find them intriguing and compelling villains. And if at times they need help, it does not mean they are stereotypical damsels in distress; it means they are not overpowered and have other characters to rely on.
Defining a strong female character is difficult, but many anime offer female characters that are fun, memorable, and relatable.
Strong female characters are not a rarity in all sorts of media, but concerns have been raised that weak female characters are something of an anime trope. To be clear, it is not just an anime problem. There are tropes that surpass genre like fridging (killing a female character for the sake of a male character’s development) or smurfette (the only token female character among male characters). It does not mean that there are no strong female characters in anime, though, and today we want to discuss a few of them.
But what is a strong character? For us, there are a lot of flavors to them, and not all of them are easy to explain. It is not always the strength of the body or mind; it can be spiritual strength or the strength to believe in something. It does not have to be strength at all, either; it may be kindness or the power of love and friendship that sets the character apart. If you believe in the character, feel for them, like them, they are probably well written.
In the end, a strong female character is the opposite of a weak female character, which is unnecessary and empty. Weak female characters are usually useless (or just meant for fanservice), badly written, done dirty by the plot, and most of the time not even important to it. Often enough, such characters exist only so that the male protagonist can have a love interest or someone to save.
But remember that it is not a fatal flaw to need help. For example, one of the most powerful female characters of all time, Sailor Moon, is regularly saved by Tuxedo Mask. Both characters are from the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi. And Sailor Moon, or Usagi Tsukino, is a strong female character. She does need help every now and then, but that is normal, that is human. Besides, she has her friends to rely on because she is a good person and cares for those around her. She has her weaknesses, such as eating a lot of sweets or sleeping in, but those only make her more relatable to us. And she saves the world over and over again from monsters of the day, which also makes her powerful and amazing.
To be fair, all the characters in the Sailor Moon are well-developed and complex. There is space for their development, too, especially in the original 1990s anime. One of the things the anime is famous for is its filler episodes, which are not loved by every fan, but are certainly enjoyed by many. That filler is there to show the characters interacting with each other, and that is what helps in demonstrating their friendship and characters.
But dozens and hundreds of episodes are not a requirement for showing a character’s strengths. Think of Chihiro, the main protagonist of Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. She is established as a strong character within just two hours. She is a young girl, too; she is basically a child, but that does not stop her from being a very, very well-developed character. Just like Sailor Moon, she is not an invulnerable creature. Over the course of the anime, we see her scared and in need of help, being sad and crying out loud from the pain she feels as she is ripped from her family and thrust into a new, unfamiliar world with nobody to rely on. But she is a strong character; she is hardworking, resourceful, and, above all, kind. Her kindness and her love for her family are the qualities that let her return home, and she manages to help a few other people and creatures on the way.
Finally, it needs to be said that a strong female character does not have to be a positive one. Medusa Gorgon from Atsushi Ohkubo's Soul Eater may be a bad person, but she is surely not a badly written character. She wormed her way into the Meister Academy as a nurse and was quite skilled at not letting the mask slip. She showed incredible intelligence, and she proved to be a formidable opponent, especially due to her cunning nature and magic and combat skills. Overall, she is written as a complicated and powerful character, even though you can argue that she is not the most multidimensional of villains. Indeed, she does not seem to grasp the concepts of love and friendship, but there are people she cares for, even though those people (especially Stein) would be better off without her care.
There are many complicated, beautifully written female characters in anime. They can be used to show that even though anime may have a problem with too many underdeveloped female characters, it is also capable of producing brilliant characters that happen to be female. They are powerful in both literal and metaphorical ways; they are unique and interesting to follow along their arcs, and they make you feel for them, root for them, or find them intriguing and compelling villains. And if at times they need help, it does not mean they are stereotypical damsels in distress; it means they are not overpowered and have other characters to rely on.
_15560.webp)
