Comments on: Anime

By: Keziah

Keziah — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:26:17 +0000

Full Metal Panic is a good one with strong female characters. It’s an action/adventure/comedy/romance mix about a soldier sent to guard a high school girl who is a target for kidnapping. It’s really funny, and all the girls are strong and interesting.

Ouran High School Host Club is another amazing anime that never ceases to make me crack up, but there’s only one strong female character, the rest are fairly brainless. But that’s mostly because most of the main characters are guys and all the other girls play a very small part. The main girl is very smart and independent and an all-around great character.

Fruits Basket and Bleach are both great as well (though Bleach has one female character that’s just as annoying as Misa Amane. But the rest of the girls are pretty awesome, Rukia specifically)

By: J.T. Wilbanks

J.T. Wilbanks — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:01:20 +0000

Oh, and I’d take a look at NANA if I were you, it’s about two completely normal girls who meat and happen to have the same name. One’s an unworldly girl with dreams of making her long time boyfriend happy, while the other is a rocking songstress hoping to form a band. It’s a really nice story, great characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCXCgIjRE-g&feature=related love the style, it’s so befititng of the story.

By: J.T. Wilbanks

J.T. Wilbanks — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:53:49 +0000

I’m not a fan of Naruto, not because it’s bad, but the anime seemed..off in some way for me. I think it’s because the main female character is totally uninspiring.

I’d suggest Blood+, becasue it’s leading lady Sia, has a dark past as well as AMAZING cast of supporting characters. Her enemy, Diva, is about as scary as a girl in a fluffy dress can get. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5MHYB7v2ZU&feature=related

If you’re looking for something a light and fun to watch, I’d suggest the Magical Girl series, Pretty Cure, Pretty Cure Max Heart, and Pretty Cure Splash Star. The two seasons after that are good, but the lead character starts off as a Salior Moon knock-off before maturing. The new seasion,Pretty Cure Fresh!, holds promise in the introduction of older cures and a darker plot. The same guy that works on the fight scenes in DBZ works on this series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1yRtiVobyY&feature=related

Tsubasa Chornicals is a CLAMP series, so you know you’re going to get an awesome lead in the form of Sakura, a smart male lead, and a little boy love on the side. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVzrWXh-dYk

If you want something retro I’ve heard good things about KKJ and Ghost Sweeper Mikami. Though I haven’t watched either I heard they’re great fun. And who doesn’t love 80′s anime? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EloWc8_L5CY

Though I have yet to watch it Ranma is one of the most recommened Animes I’ve come across. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14YYokS4DV8&feature=related

Hope you’ll find at least one of them to your liking.

By: DK

DK — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:46:37 +0000

I’d like to second/third/whatever-number-we’re-up-to PRINCESS TUTU (which starts rather slowly but gets quite epic by the end), and REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA (which is basically the boss). A new recommendation, perhaps the MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA? It’s told from a guy’s perspective, but Haruhi Suzumiya is deliciously her own person and the series as a whole is unbelievably whacky.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:24:32 +0000

I’d suggest Rozen Maiden. Though all the female characters are, infact, dolls and it’s centered on a male character, the dolls all act like real, strong, girls, and the main doll, Shinku, is strong and it’s based of the manga Rozen Maiden, which is beautifully done by Peach-Pit, with a very good story (basically about rehibilitation of a social recluse, Jun) that I adore.

By: Butch Howard

Butch Howard — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:33:48 +0000

Of course, you just can't go wrong with any of Steven Den Beste's recommendations at Chizumatic.

By: Avalon's Willow

Avalon's Willow — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:45:40 +0000

*face palm*

Totally forgot Claymore. If you can handle some gore, it’s pretty enjoyable. I think of it as ‘What if Slayers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, lived in a medieval European world’. The main character is Clare, but there are SEVERAL strong warriors and I happen to love the artwork in both the manga and the anime, because even though all the women are blonde with silver eyes they all look different; they’re drawn with varied body types, face shapes, hair, heights, etc and given different individual skills in fighting.

By: Dana A

Dana A — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:23:37 +0000

You have enough for some time, but I thought I’d add a few anyway, who knows

Scrapped Princess has interesting female characters, though not stereotypically “strong” they are at least each strong in her own way. (Same with the male characters) It’s got odd world building, but intriguing enough, starting with a fantasy world scenario and slowly adding the “advanced technology” explanations for the magic. Capsule summary: “royal scapegoat flees with her family from those who must kill the girl to save their world – or so they think”

Angelic Layer, one of my all time favorite animes, has mostly female characters. The main character is sweet and determined, looking for the mother who left her to be raised by grandparents due to disability. It also has a fun tournament-style plot common in movies and tv series, so very accessible to young kids. Capsule summary: “12 year old girl joins virtual battle sport tournament, following in her absent mother’s footsteps”

Mai Hime has crazy world building but a huge cast of personalities. Many are strong females, though they all have their issues, to say the least. It has an ending that many hated though… and it goes from silly to angstful very quickly and back again. “Teenager and her brother go to strange boarding school, get caught up in mystic reenactment of an ancient deity’s curse”

Madlax has very charming and (in some cases) strong female characters, absorbing world full of intrigue and unexplained events that doesn’t fully make sense but hangs together as well as it needs to, and also I really liked the music. “Physically invulnerable airhead spy is more than she seems, as is solitary quiet rich girl, mysteriously linked in a web of intrigue and war”

I also liked Kiddy Grade, it was silly and playful but I thought it had good characterization and effective storytelling anyway. “Lipstick martial artist and girlish techno-whiz are interstellar agents, and best friends, fighting crime and hiding secrets – even from each other”

Literally, martial arts lipstick… you have to see it — less disgusting than fist of the nose hair anyway (Nose hair martial arts: that’s in Bobobo bo Bobobo, a crazy nonsense anime that is also pretty funny).

By: Li

Li — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:55:42 +0000

I’m thirding Moribito, because I love it to bits.

I’m not sure if it’s out in the US yet, but there’s also Dennou Coil, which has awesome animation and a whole bunch of strong female leads, and is sadly under-loved by the majority of anime fans despite having won (I think) an award.

By: Avalon's Willow

Avalon's Willow — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:31:03 +0000

Very, very late to this party – seconding

Juuni Kokki (my fav anime of all time) also known as ‘The Twleve Kingdoms’. I will mention as I always do, that you have to stick past episode 5 – as you’re not initially meant to like the protagonist.

My second fav anime of all time is Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit.

My Third, is Saiunkoku Monogatari.

They all involve female protagonists either discovering their truth depths or fighting intelligently for what’s right or both at once, especially when what’s right involves them becoming a better person with far reaching consequences.

As for Naruto – I mostly enjoyed it up to a certain point and then I was done. Basically I stopped caring after ‘The Hunt For Saske’ because it was no longer the show I wanted to watch.

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:18:47 +0000

One other thing… As for the Naruto anime, I recommend avoiding it because Naruto is Weekly Shonen Jump and suffers from the exact same thing that (almost) every other show based on a Shonen Jump property has suffered from: over 100 episodes of plot-free filler. One of which involves urine. I’m not going into details. I’m just warning you away. FAR FAR AWAY.

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:10:15 +0000

The thing that’s truly unfortunate about Death Note is the series’ unfortunate portrayal of female characters. For such a… provoking series, I find it to be incredibly mysogynistic. (Which is interesting considering that the anonymous writer of the manga is rumored to be female.) The only positive portrayal of a woman at all is Naomi Misora, and she… well, you know what happens to her. HOWEVER, if you liked her, she’s one of the main characters in Nisio Isin’s spin-off novel, “Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases” which chronicle’s the case that L initially met Misora on. (And yes, this has been translated and published in English by VIZ.)

Only one person mentioned this, so I’m going to double the recommendation for Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.
Eastern fantasy with an incredibly strong adult woman protagonist. The wife of the Emperor hires Balsa to protect her young son, who is believed to be possessed by a demon and is being chased down by assassins. It’s based on the first of a series of light novels. Scholastic is publishing the English versions and I believe that the first one is available right now.

But mostly, I’m going to go a little off the beaten path with these:

1) RahXephon. I don’t know how to explain it, but if you know anything about Neon Genesis Evangelion, take EVA and remove 90% of the mental neuroses. (Protag is a teenage boy. He’s gonna have SOME. None of which are Daddy Issues or Oedipal in any way.) It’s still a bit of a head trip, but it’s the most beautiful Sci-Fi show I’ve ever watched. The female characters are strong and realistically portrayed. And it’s loosely based off of Robert F. Young’s short story, “The Dandelion Girl.”

2 & 3) And while these are a far cry from the fantasy that most people have been reccing, here’s a duo from manga-ka Ai Yazawa.

First, Paradise Kiss. 12 episode series about a teenage girl who, while studying to take her college entrance exams, gets swept into the world of underground fashion design when a group of fashion school students decide they want her for their model. (FUNimation picked up the license from Geneon, so it should be pretty easy to find.)

The second suggestion is NANA, basically about two girls named Nana who are completely different in every way. (One is the lead singer in a rock band. The other is very Future Housewife material.) They end up becoming roommates when the one follows her boyfriend out to college. Personal discovery ensues. (This isn’t out on DVD, but it is available streaming at several locations, including the Anime News Network’s streaming service and FUNimation’s youtube channel, plus it’s available on FUNimation’s OnDemand station, if you have access to cable that carries it.)

Ai Yazawa does coming-of-age like it’s no one’s business, plus her work is josei rather than shoujo, so the themes are more mature and all the characters skew a little older. The characters in NANA are all collegiates and the main characters in Paradise Kiss are all approximately 18.

… There is actually a professional reason why I know all of this stuff, I swear.

By: Celia C

Celia C — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:42:37 +0000

I recommend Mushi-shi and Kino’s Journey. They don’t exactly meet your criteria (they’re more episodic than one continuous series, for example), but they touch on some of the deeper issues that Avatar raises. Kino’s also kind of cool (especially her talking motorbike sidekick)! There’s also Please Save My Earth, about six aliens reincarnated on Earth, but you might have some difficulty finding the DVD. I really, really love PSME though, and I highly recommend it (it’s short, just six episodes).

I did a marathon viewing of Avatar for the first time only a week ago, and I fell completely in love with the story and the characters (can’t get enough of the music either!). I’d be sorry that I wasn’t able to catch it when it was shown on TV, but I heard there were long waiting periods in between episodes and seasons, so maybe it was better to have caught them all in one go.

By: Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:49:40 +0000

I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Revolutionary Girl Utena, which is not only the best anime ever, but the best television series in the history of the whole world!

Okay, I sounded like a real fanboy there, but I’m not alone in this conclusion. I’ve watched the whole series five times now, and it gets better and richer and more complex on every viewing.

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:01:11 +0000

Oh, I just realized reading all these comment I have both Fullmetal and Lain on my queue to watch.

By: Ninja Fanpire

Ninja Fanpire — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:57:40 +0000

I think Full Metal Alchemist is the winner. It’s been mentioned by 9 different people.

By: Travis

Travis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:49:46 +0000

Fullmetal Alchemist is amazing. The first actual anime I watched from beginning to end. Bleach has strong female leads, but isn’t as story driven as most of the other shows mentioned.

By: stacy

stacy — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:35:58 +0000

How could I forget Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit? Now that’s a strong female character–rarely do you see mature women (the main character who protects the prince is about 29) who have it together, and are the hero of their own story. If you know Cheryl Klein, she edited the US editions of the light novels upon which the anime is based. I have the first book but haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’ve watched the whole anime and wow, it’s just beautiful. A great relationship (mentor, almost-parent) between the main character (a bodyguard who has sworn to save as many lives as she’s once taken in the past) and the boy prince she’s protecting.

By: Karen Healey

Karen Healey — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:17:37 +0000

You might like Justice League Unlimited (which follows Justice League, a cute but inferior series). You can generally find most of it on youtube if you want to take a quick taste, but generally, it’s over 50 superheroes doing awesome, awesome things in a big universe, with a focus on individual stories within a meandering, but satisfying plotarc, and usually very clever writing, especially when it comes to humour. It’s Bruce Timm-style art, so the women are all hot, but differentiated an awesome, and the voice acting is just incredibly good across the board.

It’s the only drawn series I like almost as much as Avatar, which is why I thought of it.

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:44:49 +0000

Um, can someone help me with an anime rec? I watched one episode a long time ago and I can’t remember what it was called but it was recommended to me.

It starts with a girl falling through the sky. then there are all these kids at a school — they’re angels, with little wings and halos. And they are cleaning up in a library that has what looks like a giant cocoon in it. And then you see inside the cocoon and the girl who was falling is inside of it.

By: Jennmonk

Jennmonk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:39:10 +0000

I am going to second a few of these recommendations. For world building and good characters: Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Full Metal Alchemist. For strong female characters: Read or Die, Aria, Ghost in the Shell, Utena, Romeo x Juliet, Witch Hunter Robin.

Please check out Ouran High School Host Club. Now a few warnings….this is parody. It is making fun of all the other shoujo out there. You have to get past the excessive amount of pink and crazy behavior. Once you do, you will find one of the strongest female characters in anime.

Also Serial Experiments Lain. This is a bit older and very scifi. Kind of like Matrix if directed by David Lynch. But the main reccy for this one is Lain herself. Even though her world is odd and confusing, she is the one constant. And her “friend” Alice is pretty amazing too.

Oh, and have you seen some of the less known Miyazaki? Definitley check out “The Cat Returns,” “Whispers of the Heart,” “Pompopo,” and “Castle in the Sky.” Most of these are older Miyazaki, but they continue in the vein of strong heroines and interesting worlds. Oh, and one of my favorite Studio Ghibli movis is actually not a Miyazaki per se, “Only Yesterday.” Talk about your strong females!

By: Zahra

Zahra — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Ohhh, I used to be a hardcore anime fan, do I ever miss it!

First off, Avatar is AMAZING. Don’t you just love the intricate world? But whitewashing the movie depresses me!
And Death Note, my goodness, what a show. I do miss sitting through the night watching it intensely.

My reccommendation: FULL METAL ALCHEMIST. I love love love this show to death. It’s totally steampunk and the characters absorb you! Talk about a much more interesting Edward.. *cough*

I also second Inu-Yasha, one of my favourite shows ever. How fun would tripping into old eras be? The characters are believable in this,complete with mind boggling antogonists, betrayals, romance, humour. Aww, this makes me want to rewatch some eps. I’ll get to that now.

Hmm, although I do enjoy Naruto sometimes, it’s the Twilight of the anime world. The anime just elongates scenes for no apparent reason, but do give it a try.

By: Tim Keating

Tim Keating — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:24:24 +0000

You are probably SOL, in that Avatar was created by Americans who allowed themselves to be influenced by anime. Everything else you find out there will either be A) an authentic Asian creation (and therefore, completely off its nut) or B) a shitty American knockoff.

OK, perhaps “completely” off its nut is an exaggeration. I did really enjoy Samurai Champloo, and its predecessor Cowboy Bebop. The former is only a season long, though, and should give you some idea whether that studio’s style is for you.

By: Annalee Flower Horne

Annalee Flower Horne — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:29:41 +0000

I second Ghost In The Shell: Stand-Alone Complex. It’s nothing like Miyazaki’s work, but strong female characters and an intricate, fast-paced story? Yeah, it’s got those. The Uglies world actually reminded me a bit of Ghost in the Shell–not in an “omg ripoff” kind of way, because they’re completely different, but in a “weee, transhumanism!” kind of way.

(and yeah, I know it looks like the MC doesn’t own any pants at first, but that gets fixed later).

Plus, the tachikoma are awesome.

By: wingstodust

wingstodust — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:45:09 +0000

I’ll join the chorus and say WATCH FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST. Actually I personally prefer the manga, but the anime will do, lol.

and HONEY & CLOVER FOR IT’S THE BEST ANIME EVER. =D

As much as I liked Code Geass, it doesn’t particularly treat its girls well. =/