“I love Shinoa- She’s different from normal heroine characters”
Reasons why I believe the statement above is absolutely biased and untrue. According to an article about what traits a strong female protagonist should have, I will analyze which ones Shitnoa (Shinoa) has and doesn’t have or more that needs to be done to her character to actually make her “strong”. Please note that I have not yet read the Light Novel so I could be missing something monumental or important about Shinoa that for some reason I can’t fathom make her likable.
She has a story goal that defines the narrative arc.
As far as I can tell in both the manga and the show, Shinoa doesn’t have a definitive story goal. Her goal is not clearly stated; the only thing that seems to be obvious is that Shinoa wants Yuu to be happy. She’s following the lead of a man’s desire rather than her own.
She captures our attention.
I admit that when she was first introduced, I found her troll-like personality fun and refreshing. I especially loved it when she showed Yuu her demon gear. But as the story progressed, her fun joking personality slowly turned into a typical tsundere-like character that had to get her stupid ass saved over and over again. Not too much like our blonde tsundere Mitsuba but in the sense that she becomes embarrassed and gets “blushy-blushy” around Yuu. She went from a strong, potentially dangerous if provoke, independent woman to a blushing damsel in distress.
She changes over the course of the story.
Other than her personality trait starting to go flat, she doesn’t exhibit any changes in her demeanor. We get more of her joking nature in calling Yuu a cherry boy and teasing Mitsuba. BUT Shinoa doesn’t take responsibility for her mistakes. She struggles with admitting her faults and/or even fails to even TRY to fix her flaws. At least Mitsuba is aware of her flaws and contribution to the team and makes an attempt to become better.
She does not exist as a support for another character.
She’s supporting Yuu in his desire’s and following him without question.
She has the ability to stand up to the antagonist.
She’s strong, I’ll give her that. But not strong enough. She works well in her team, which is understandable since she is the team leader, but she allows her emotions to control some of her actions. Or she conveniently forgets something important in a fight and doesn’t reveal it until the end.
That wraps up some of the reasons why I can’t like Shitnoa Hoeragi, the flattest character of all time.