do you have some anime recs that have well written female characters? i really would like to know!! thank you :)
omg yeah sure! probably will just touch on why i like the female casts in these series rather than summarize them
chihayafuru by suetsugu yuki (manga/anime) → if you’re tired of constantly having to see sports anime be dominated by series about boys then i think you’ll be very pleased with this it’s probably the most prominent sports anime centered on girls (and boys bc the sport is co-ed) and it’s a huge range of girls too like high school students, mothers, teachers, sisters, etc.
kono oto tomare by amyuu (manga/anime) → i was only recently recced this but oh my goddd i binged it in like three days. satowa is one of the best female characters i’ve ever read about like the depth of her trauma and loneliness is so heartbreaking to read about but so worth it bc she tries constantly to overcome it. my babie my angel (also hiro is fantastic i’d die for her)
legend of basara & 7 seeds by yumi tamura (manga) → her ensemble casts are phenomenal and what i esp like about her female characters is they’re allowed to be simultaneously strong and feminine and over emotional without being condemned for it. sarasa’s like a crybaby with a sword i think yona fans would love her (she might even have inspired her now that i’m thinking about it)
magic knight rayearth by clamp (manga) → remember when isekai stories used to actually be good and girls had agency and wielded swords rather than be thrust into the role of male mc’s objectification target. thankfully clamp has got you on this (as they do with most of their series’ female casts tbh)
precure (anime) → i realize this is a tall order bc there are a bajillion precure installments, but that’s exactly the fun of it because you can choose. . . anything. you can never go wrong by watching the original (nagisa and honoka are so gay it hurts), and then heartcatch is probably the most famous installment in recent years and with very good reason!
hanasaku iroha (anime) → for the girls who love generational trauma between the various women in a family. . . omg the angst and personal strife of this series is so good. so so good. idek how to describe it but the grandmother-mother-daughter dynamics explored are phenomenal
nagi no asukara (anime) → what i love about the girls here is they’re not just distinct in terms of personality and aspirations but also romantic outlook. the perception of love and how we deal when it is or isn’t reciprocated is so well explored through their characters and it’s a love polygon anime that does really good justice to the narrative tool
shirobako (anime) → notice how this is the third pa works anime i’m recommending. they’re just rly good at developing interesting female casts also the girls here work in the animation industry so it’s nice to get a taste of working girls if you’re tired of narratives about high school ones
hibike! euphonium (anime) → admittedly i haven’t watched this yet but i trust my friends who have and like every other gif of it you’ll ever see is just so gay. is this a guarantee of well written female characters? idk but i would take homoeroticism between band girls any day over whatever tf shounen has going on
sugar sugar rune by anno moyoco (manga) → anno moyoco’s amaaaazing at crafting independent female characters and while the story here is pretty short and sweet, chocolat and vanilla (and their mothers) are nonetheless timeless as protagonists and i think anno subverts their initially presented character archetypes very cleverly
the twelve kingdoms by fuyumi ono (novels/anime) → another rec that i haven’t watched personally but it’s been lauded over and over again by friends i trust as one of the best examples of a series with an incredibly compelling female protagonist. and i mean, when can you go wrong with girls given swords and thrust into kingdom politics!
wolf’s rain (anime) → the female cast here is limited but still impeccable imo. there’s tragedy upon tragedy wrested into each of their fates and it’s so heartbreaking to watch but the kindness, perseverance, and humanity displayed by each of these women in different capacities is incredible. also there’s jaguara who is an absolute bitch but she’s sexy so it’s okay
i feel like i recced close to no shounen here so i will try to come back with more shounen recs if i can but at the same time i feel like shoujosei is just a better bet when it comes to well written female (and male) characters in general so. djkfsjaglfbhdslnfd
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