dreamingair

dreamingair

A music undergraduate student with a somewhat unhealthy love for anime and literature.

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The Best Women in the Shounen Genre

The shounen genre of both anime and manga has come to be known as one that is synonymous with action and fighting, intense rivalries, and more often than not training arcs that are meant to lead to even more intense fighting. Another quirk of this genre is that most often shounen series are dominated by a male cast, and if a female is written into the series it is most often in a supporting role, one in she can do nothing more than wait to be saved. This topic seeks to talk about the more interesting and badass women to be found in this genre and how they are more developed than some of their counterparts in other series.

  • The first example that comes to mind for me is Soul Eater. The main protagonist is a woman who is very capable at fighting and has no explicit romance subplot to interfere with her characrer development. She does display some stereotypical personality traits (whining, nagging etc) but is otherwise very strong. There are many other women present in the maon cast, and two of the most powerful villains in the anime are women. The manga probably has more material to work with as well. – Grace Maich 10 years ago
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  • It'll be important in this article to stress that strong female characters don't need to become masculine in order to be really "badass". What makes them strong isn't their casting off of femininity to fit another stereotypical tomboy trope, but the integration of their agency and drive that is independent of the (usually) leading male roles. This can happen while still being hyper-aware of femininity. Bishamonten from Noragami comes to mind, or Kirihara of Darker than Black. Both are feminine characters who are in charge of their own destinies, independent of male characters, and are powerful all on their own without resorting to ideals of masculinity. – emiliemedland 10 years ago
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  • I'd also like to note that there's nothing preventing a female supporting character to be a damn good supporting character. There can't always be Nami's and Kirihara's, and sometimes, all you really need is a good damsel in distress. Agency doesn't dictate character quality, and character quality isn't confirmed by agency. – Austin 10 years ago
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  • Well, it's worthy to note that Shounen's target audience (let alone its very meaning) is boys around the ages of 10-13. It depends what you mean by best women. If you mean women who serve as good role models then you could point to Erza from Fairy Tale. In fact, since Fairy Tale is an insanely popular Anime/manga right now, and is a major Shounen title, she is important to mention. If you mean women who are simply characters with complexities be they good or bad guys, then you can note Yuno Gasai in Mirai Nikki who has psychological problems. Major psychological problems bordering on psychopathy. And you could look at the main female character in Naruto: Gaiden. It's the continuation of a series that was otherwise male dominated, now features a female main character. Perhaps, you could make the case that since this is a new manga but based off an old male-dominated one, things are changing. – SpectreWriter 10 years ago
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Latest Comments

dreamingair
Jul 27, 2015
dreamingair

Looking at Hatsume Miku and her success makes you wonder what’s the next step for the Vocaloid system. It sure will be interesting to see what they come up with next!

 Hatsune Miku: How a Virtual Idol Inspired Creativity
dreamingair
Jun 22, 2015
dreamingair

This was a very well written article. It was quite an interesting read and it’s nice to know more about the history of ballet and it has progressed and evolved through the ages. As a music student it is also interesting to see how the two art forms of dance and music coincide. I was particularly interested in your reference to the Rite of Spring as I studied this ballet in class last year, of course with more of a focus on the contemporary score composed by Stravinsky.

 Ballet as a Progressive Art: Expectations and Perceptions
dreamingair
Jun 22, 2015
dreamingair

Whoa, I did not know this was happening. Obviously I have been very out of the loop. Well count me as one of those very excited to see this out in theaters. I thought the Harry Potter adventure was over but apparently not, and it’s going to be exciting to see America’s magical society.

 Fantastic Beasts and How to Film Them
dreamingair
Jun 21, 2015
dreamingair

I definitely agree with many of the points you have made in this article. Nowadays, the genre of Romance seems to be treated as somewhat of a given for most anime, and as a result not given the development and attention it deserves instead being treated like a commodity. I particularly liked the way you used IS as one of your examples as that is one of the best examples of the commodity romance has become. Indeed, this show can hardly be called a romance as it hardly develops this concept at all and it never displays any truly romantic development or encounters, simply relying on cliches and fanservice.

I don’t really agree with your use of Nodame Cantabile as an example though for the fake love concept as I thought the romance between Chiaki and Nodame was quite well done. Their relationship seemed to progress quite naturally, slowly becoming closer over time after various interactions with one another, and their growing closeness shows in these interactions as the series progresses. And although Nodame’s crush on Chiaki does indeed propel her to greater musical achievement it isn’t the only thing that motivates her as she slowly finds her own love for music and wants to become and accomplished musician in her own right. While the romance is quite slow it does eventually go beyond the level of blushing and stuttering, and I kind of appreciate the slow burn in some respects as it feels more realistic. But those are just my opinions on their relationship, and I might be a bit biased as I very much enjoyed this series.

But overall, great article and hopefully the romance genre will once again receive the do attention it deserves as it is an interesting genre to both watch and explore.

 Anime: The World of Fake Romance