Since it's International Woman's day, I thought it would be fun to talk a little bit again about some of my favorite animated female characters in media.
I go into details and cover more characters on this list so I'll try not to just repeat myself too much and just offer some overall thoughts on why I like these people.
Also, be careful with possible spoilers.
Catra, from She-Ra
I like the overall sense of tragedy that surrounds this character, how all she wants is to feel loved and accepted but because she just happened to be on the bad guys' side she keeps facing defeat after defeat, both from the heroes' side and from her own allies that keep abandoning her.
She's just so used to getting trashed by life that she can't even see the people that do try to be on her side anymore but instead of trying to change she just keeps digging deeper and deeper into her own downfall because that's all she knows.
She's someone who's lost and needs help but she's also so angry at those that ended up finding happiness without her that she won't even admit that she needs help, and I find it so interesting to watch her path of self-destruction while still hoping that she can realize her mistakes one day.
Lake, from Infinity Train
Very similar to Catra, another character who just keeps getting the short end of the stick, but this time she doesn't let her misery mold who she is, in fact, what's so cool about Lake is that she keeps rejecting the idea of letting anyone mold who she is.
She refuses to accept the cards that she was given and instead keeps trying to find new cards, or a new table, or a new player, just anything to change her situation because she refuses to accept she was born to not be happy and continues to seek for that happiness, no matter how far it might be.
Reagan, from Inside Job
My little ball of antisocial-ness. Reagan is that person that's just so used to living in her own little world that she's just totally unprepared to deal with the actual world around her.
She's an absolute mess when it comes to dealing with other people and getting out of her comfort zone, but when she does get into her comfort zone she just turns into a total badass who's always in control of the situation.
I love seeing the constant shift between Reagan the little dork and Reagan the boss lady. It just works so well to create such a likable and charming character that I never get tired of watching.
Kumoko, from I'm a Spider, so what?
Speaking of charming dorks...
If Reagan is an antisocial mess, Kumoko is an antisocial natural disaster. She spent years locked in a dark cave away from any form of civilization with her only other options of frequent communication being her own inner voices, which ended up driving her insane and in return making an absurdly funny and crazy Deadpool-like character.
This is one of those characters I could just hear going on rambles for forever. One moment she might be talking about food, and the next she might be talking about blowing up the world. Every second her thought process keeps shifting from one thing to another, and observing how she comes to these conclusions is always so engaging.
She's just so freaking funny and charming.
Asa, from Chainsawman part 2
Another antisocial mess!
Asa is kinda of a mix from the characters from before, in the sense that, she's terrible at dealing with people, AND she also keeps getting sh*t on by life.
But what I really, really respect about her is that she never uses that as an excuse to be a bad person. Even though she has all the reasons in the world to be the worst human being alive, she never ever makes her problems be someone's problems, she never uses her pain as an excuse to hurt others, even though people keep tempting her to.
Asa is what I describe as the basic essence of being a true hero, someone who doesn't let their misery change who they are and what they believe in.
Makima, from Chainsawman
One of my all-time favorite antagonists.
Talking about Makima involves a lot of spoilers so if you wanna know more just click on these past posts:
-Why I like Makima
-Bad Person vs Bad Character
-The importance of "Fun to Watch"
Nanahoshi, from Jobless Reincarnation
This is the character that taught me the importance of struggles in storytelling, why characters need walls to overcome, conflicts to defeat, challenges to face, and how facing these challenges show their true character.
She's another person who, just like Catra, Lake, Asa, and others, had a lot of bad luck in life, but again, how she chooses to face these challenges is what makes her awesome.
She basically said "no, I'm not gonna let the fact that the entire world is working against me keep me down!"
She kept fighting and moving forward even when things seemed hopeless and as a result, she ended up becoming one of the great genius of the world she lives in. She's the kind of person you wanna root for and want to celebrate whenever she does get a win.
Aggie, from Paranorman
This one is just fascinating.
A young girl who ended up receiving punishment for something completely out of her control and decided to take revenge by dishing out 100 times more punishment to her offenders.
Aggie is amazing because she represents the pain and suffering of prejudice as well as its futility. She shows that in its basic form, mindless hate is just a force of destruction that does nothing but break and corrupt, taking over you and molding you into becoming something you never wanted to be, and even worse, spreading it to others.
She's the embodiment of so many powerful themes and messages while still at the end of the day being just a simple little girl, one that got hurt by the world and now is doing all she can to show how that pain can affect you and those around you.
Momiji, from Good Luck Girl
My all-time favorite mentor character. I like how she represents one of the most important parts about the process of teaching and guiding someone, that being the frustration of teaching someone who doesn't want to be taught.
Even though the girl she's trying to help doesn't give a damn about her, Momiji still continues to stay by her side and helped her realize what she's missing by living life the way she's living, and what she could gain in return.
She's the best mentor because she's the mentor that doesn't give up on her student or gives up on the lesson she's trying to teach while also not caring too much about being appreciated, and just caring about doing her job.
Michi, from Even if you don't do it
Michi is the character that teaches the importance of loving yourself just as much as you love others.
For the longest time, she assumed that being happy was about trying to accept others and their needs while keeping inside her own needs and her own wishes of happiness.
She assumed that all the things that kept bothering her weren't worth thinking about it because she never felt her problems were important or big enough to be actually dealt with, and only after a long time of piling these things up was that she realized... She wasn't happy, and more than that, she had the right to be happy, even if that meant saying "no" to what other people asked of her.
I feel like this is such an important theme to talk about, the idea of remembering you matter just as everyone else and your needs matter just as everyone's needs, and watching her journey as she realizes that and finally manages to find peace in her life felt extremely satisfying.
___________
___________
And that's about it, I think. Hope you have a great International Women's day!
