Good female characters are hard to find

[thingymuwatsit]

Don't expect an analysis of common trends in female character writing, folks, I just have a question.

I decided a few moments ago that I wanted to watch a new anime, but after just having watched Death Note again, I really just wanted to see a female character done right.
So I decided to take to the internet, and found that googling it I found few specific links to analyses of proper character integrity, and the most common links were either lists of 'badass' characters (eg. http://ayubi.hubpages.com/hub/The-Strongest-Female-Anime-Characters ), or of 'hot' characters (eg. http://ayubi.hubpages.com/hub/The-coolest-and-hottest-female-anime-characters ).

So my question to you, dear Escapist, is: what anime (or live action)series have you found to have intelligently written female characters as frequent members of the cast? You don't have to go and compare them to the Bechdel or Mako Mori tests (but a pass on either would be great)- I just want your honest opinion.

 

[tippy2k2]

I'm not sure what the rest of the internet thought of it but I absolutely ADORE Soul Eater

The female characters in the show are all interesting in their own little ways. They have pros and they have cons. Most importantly, except possibly for the Witch if you're ultra sensitive, they are not sex toys that anime has a stereotype for providing.

Another nice plus is it is available on Netflix and (I believe) Amazon Instant. An excellent series with a clear beginning and ending. The series takes a tic to take off as the first three episodes introduce the three primary duos but I'd highly recommend the series.

 

[Asita]

Try Baccano and Monster. In the former you have Nice Hollystone, Eve Genoard, Ennis, Chane Laforet and Miria Harvent (though granted, the last is very much a comic relief character just like Isaac Dian...for exactly the same reasons). Rachel also counts but she probably gets the least focus of the bunch of them. Suffice to say though that nobody ever makes much issue of gender in the story (which given that it's about gangsters in 1930s America is more surprising than it sounds).

In the latter you have Nina Fortner, who ultimately deconstructs the whole 'action character' thing much like Tenma himself does, albeit for somewhat different reasons.

Even ignoring that, both are still worth a gander.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So my question to you, dear Escapist, is: what anime (or live action)series have you found to have intelligently written female characters as frequent members of the cast?

Azumanga Daioh. Sure, it's a comedy/slice of life manga/anime, but virtually without exception every character in it is female (and hugely entertaining). One of the funniest shows I ever watched.

By all means, though, avoid the wretched English dub.

 

[FalloutJack]

Let's start with Major Motoko Kusinagi, the full-prosthetic cyborg of Ghost in the Shell. Apart from Chief Aramaki, she is the highest-ranking member of Section Nine, very combat and ghost-hacking capable, intelligent and very deep. There's alot of that in the show/manga/movie, but lead is of course the Major.

Then, of course, we have to hit my all-time favorite anime, Heroic Age, for the two important female characters there, Dianeira and Yuty La. Dianeira is one of the few psychics in human society, and a leader besides. She is young and inexperienced, but has the will to search through uncharted space for the one the Golden Race left behind to help human civilization. She is mentally strong, enough to combat other psychic characters and lead her crew out of disaster while Age and Belcross fight it out. She also rose to the challenge of high diplomacy and leadership when her asshole brothers were cocking things up. One the flip side, Yuty is a member of the Silver Race and holder of a Nodos. She is, therefore, devastatingly powerful and dangerous, though we don't SEE that power until much later. Until then, we see her as coordinator and tactician for the others in her group, fighting for the Silver Race. She's a villain character, but in the gray morality sense because the non-emotional Silver Race doesn't even understand evil.

That's all for now because I'm running low on time, but I'll keep thinking.

 

[Hagi]

Planetes and Library Wars would be my personal recommendations.

They're both animes with what I consider to be genuinely authentic characters. As in, they're not written to appeal to the viewer. Both of them feature female protagonists and a decent cast of supporting female characters.

I'd seriously recommend them if you're looking for a good series with interesting characters.

 

[Asita]

You mentioned Monster and forgot Eva? She's the type that looks like an awful character at first, but by the end she has some development, and while most people might not like her, she's a well made character in my opinion.

I didn't forget her. I decided against using her as an example because her character development comes so late in the series. While this certainly doesn't disqualify her, it does make it more difficult for a newer viewer to relate to her as a well made female character given her early characterization, and I'd just as soon they see the development themselves without me hyping it up for them.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Let's start with Major Motoko Kusinagi, the full-prosthetic cyborg of Ghost in the Shell. Apart from Chief Aramaki, she is the highest-ranking member of Section Nine, very combat and ghost-hacking capable, intelligent and very deep. There's alot of that in the show/manga/movie, but lead is of course the Major.

Now if only the show hadn't decided she wasn't allowed to wear pants, and they didn't use that creepy sex doll CGI animation for the opening. I hear she gets pants in Second Gig, but I haven't seen it yet. I got tired of switching between "hey look, an intelligence operative!" and "Oh, and for some reason she's wearing a leotard with a camel toe".

 

[SckizoBoy]

I'm tempted to say Coppelion (OK... I just did), but only one episode's out... we'll have to wait until more's out before we can accurate judge it.

Anyway, it's about a post-nuclear accident Tokyo where three girls who were lab grown/mutated to withstand the radiation levels are chucked into it as eyes for some higher authority who want to nose around. *shrug* Awesome backgrounds/layouts if nothing else.

Other than that... whoever mentioned GitS, I agree. Along with maybe Bamboo Blade... all female central cast, loads of kendo, but kinda trope-y character archetypes. Quite fun nonetheless.

EDIT - Oh, oh... Black Lagoon... Balalaika... 'nuff sed...

 

[Relish in Chaos]

How about Riza Hawkeye, Olivier Mira Armstrong, Izumi Curtis, Maria Ross, and Martel in Fullmetal Alchemist? It's probably got one of the best cast of not just female, but male and female (and agender, if you count the homunculi), characters in any anime. They're all fleshed-out human characters.

 

[Rastrelly]

Don't forget about Ergo Proxy, NGE, Shana (he-he), Crest of the Stars, Shikabane Hime, nearly every Miyazaki movie, Hellsing, Claymore, and aforementioned Soul Eater and GitS (ESPECIALLY GitS - IMO, it's the best example of awesome female character done right. Though Major's suit in the first SAC season was not the best choice XD).

 

[Lieju]

Higurashi no naku koro ni (Higurashi, when they cry), has a cast made up mostly of girls, and they have their own characters. Apart from some a bit questionable fanservice it's one of my favourite anime/manga ever, with a great mystery.

I can't even get into why so many of the characters are good without spoilers, but if you like mystery and can handle gore and scariness (and tooth-aching amoung of CUTE), give it a watch/read.

Also, I love Sasamekikoto, which is my favourite shoujo-ai series with a funny sense of humor and likable characters, but if school-life romance isn't your thing, it might not be for you.
http://www.mangareader.net/601/sasamekikoto.html

And HayateXBlade is another series with some shoujo-ai content, more jokes and undertones, though. It's more a comedy/action series about a school for swordswomen, but it has a ton of characters I just love for their varied and silly personalities.
http://www.mangareader.net/1351/hayate-x-blade.html

 

[optimusjamie]

Not an anime (the OP did say live-action series), but I wish to put the Alien series forward.

Female characters serve a variety of roles, both in terms of the plot and the universe they inhabit. The protagonist, Ellen Ripley, is a badass without much attention being drawn to her gender, and what there is is mostly symbolic. In addition, a typically feminine ideal (motherhood) is given an overwhelmingly positive portrayal: in Aliens, Ripley's surrogate mother/daughter relationship with Newt is her primary motivation for the second and third acts. Need I say more? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnOIvn8hMS4]. Among the Marines, we have Vasquez the machinegunner, Ferro the pilot and Dietrich the medic. Call in Resurrection displays almost none of the typical female tropes.
The Xenomorph is an alien parasite that deforms the host's body, kills them when it's 'born' and is 'generally unpleasant'. Basically, an unwanted pregancy, specifically, from rape. Furthermore, you have the scientists under Weyland-Yutani treating the Xenomorphs as being more important than the humans they endanger. "Crew Expendable" indeed.

TL;DR: The Alien films not only have excellent female characters, but a crapload of feminist subtext.

 

[FalloutJack]

Let's start with Major Motoko Kusinagi, the full-prosthetic cyborg of Ghost in the Shell. Apart from Chief Aramaki, she is the highest-ranking member of Section Nine, very combat and ghost-hacking capable, intelligent and very deep. There's alot of that in the show/manga/movie, but lead is of course the Major.

Now if only the show hadn't decided she wasn't allowed to wear pants, and they didn't use that creepy sex doll CGI animation for the opening. I hear she gets pants in Second Gig, but I haven't seen it yet. I got tired of switching between "hey look, an intelligence operative!" and "Oh, and for some reason she's wearing a leotard with a camel toe".

It is a fact that a full-prosthetic cyborg in that world feels almost no embarassment about nudity in such a shell. The body is a machine, not something fleshy with bits exposed. They can think of the body AS clothing. We know straight from the original movie that Motoko just doesn't care, for the most part.

Anyway, let's get back on the horse and see if I can come up with anyone not said already.

Oh, oh... Black Lagoon... Balalaika... 'nuff sed...

Balalaika AND Revy, AND the Determinator Maid-who's-Really-A-Super-Deadly-Killer.

Aha... And from Kara No Kyouki, Ryouji Shiki. Eyes that can see how to cut the world...

From the Robocop movies, Anne Lewis. Murphy's partner.

Leeloo from The Fifth Element.

MANY of the female cast of Babylon 5.

 

[Talaris]

A quick skim through and I'm shocked that no one has mentioned Lain yet from Serial Experiments Lain.

She's neither a badass nor a "hot" character. In fact I don't believe she follows any stereotypic traits at all, and yet plays the reclusive, introspective teenager that many common people can relate to. Her character simply steals the show, and her emotional bluntness combined with her philosophic pondering on human communication, and our reliance on technology can be at times difficult to watch, but very intellectually and emotionally satisfying.

 

[Wraith]

I'm surprised no one has mention the two Avatar series' yet. They may not have been made in Japan, but they have that anime style and do focus on Asian backdrops. You can find a heap of good female characters there.

 

[Yuuki]

Good female characters are hard to find? In ANIME? Are you serious?

Anime has by far the largest collection of female protagonists with a fairly large variance in personalities to boot. Sure it has it's tropes and cliches (like everything does) but at the same time it's still better than any other art medium for female protagonists.

 

[VanTesla]

In the Persona game series there are some good female cast with main roles, but some do get stereotypical at times and if in the latter two of the games they can become worse in the whole romance option depending on your point of view of it.