In honor of March being Women’s Month the Pop Break staff thought it would be a good idea to talk about strong women in anime. Anime has such a broad spectrum of genres, but there are strong women within each genre. So whether it be a fantasy, comedy, horror, thriller, or romance series check out the women that made our list. – Sheena Fisher
Alisha Weinberger’s Picks:
Popuko & Pipimi from Pop Team Epic
Between inhumanly large busts and menacing tentacles, it’s no secret the ladies of anime have it pretty rough. You’re either a helpless love interest or a flat one-dimensional, badass archetype rocking infinite double-D’s. Whether it be Inuyasha or Black Lagoon, some of these tropes belong to shows I admittedly hold dear to my heart.
Very rarely does an anime come along and successfully poke fun at its own genre. The crass, little ladies of Pop Team Epic, are the gonzo chibi schoolgirls that our meme culture (and any Cromartie High School fan) needs and deserves right now. Voiced by an ever changing cast, sometimes by grown men, Popuko and Pipimi aren’t afraid of gate crashing slice-of-life, “girl” anime clichés.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ragyLlptlc4
Integra from Hellsing
Glasses? Check. Cigar? Check. Pet primordial vampire to aid you in the global battle against Nazi vampires? Check.
Head of the occult fighting organization Hellsing, Integra inherited her duties from her father and fought for them against a murderous, jealous uncle, all the while taking command of history’s most powerful vampire, Alucard…and to top it off, she was just a kid.
When she isn’t sicking Alucard on home invaders, Integra is a proper English lady who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty or bloody.
Rachel Freeman’s Picks:
Clare from Claymore
While you should ABSOLUTELY watch Claymore, they only made 26 episodes for a manga that has 27 volumes. So when the show ends and you desperately need more Clare in your life, because you will, just remember that the manga is out there and its complete.
Why, you ask? Well. Because Clare is one of my favorite anime characters ever. Not just female characters, overall top 10 characters. I love her. Clare is a Claymore. Hence the title of the anime. A Claymore is generally a female that is half-human and half-yoma (basically a demon), but Clare is special, she is only 1/4th yoma. By human standards, she’s incredibly strong, but Care starts out as the lowest ranking Claymore. She does eventually get truly strong, but rather than your usual OP protagonist, Clare has to work really hard and literally sacrifice limbs to get stronger. She may not be the strongest, but her ability to sense aura and her intelligence is what gets her victories against stronger opponents. As a Claymore, Clare is supposed to be cold and lack emotion, which she does her best to but ultimately having her emotions also furthers her strength. She is basically this awesome warrior who starts out not so awesome and everything that makes her viewed as weak turns out to make her strong.
Deunan Knute from Appleseed
Appleseed is a CGI anime movie from 2004 (there was an OVA in the 80s but it’s not as good in my opinion). In this cyber-punk future, people are mostly half-human-half-clones known as Bioroids. Bioroids are essentially exactly like humans, but with significantly shorter lifespans due to their suppressed reproductive capabilities. However, special data created by Deunan’s late mother, known as “Appleseed”, can restore these capabilities and save the future of humanity.
The movie focuses mainly on two protagonists: Briarios Hectonchires, a cyborg, and Deunan Knute, a human. Now, while Briarios is a cyborg and really cool, it’s commander Deunan Knute that takes the lead pretty much all the time. She is a soldier, one of the last survivors of the Global War and is also among the minority being entirely human. Deunan is a strategist. She can think on her feet and she can handle herself. Even when she is at a clear disadvantage, her military training, understanding of a variety of weapons, and ability to adapt to and use anything at her disposal generally lead to her gaining the upper hand. She also just doesn’t take crap from anyone and though she loses many comrades, she always continues the mission.
The Major a.k.a Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell
You can’t make a strong females of anime list without the Major Kusanagi. Have you really never watched Ghost in the Shell? Do I really have to tell you to watch Ghost in the Shell? I guess so.
First off, let me explain that Motoko Kusanagi is a “ghost”. A soul. The body we always see in the anime is not her original. She doesn’t even know what her original body looked like or if it ever existed, as she often thinks that her ghost, her soul, might be entirely fabricated – synthetic just like the rest of her. So she is a soul implanted in a cyborg body, a shell. Ghost in the Shell. Got it? Excellent. Even though she isn’t sure she is or ever was human, she still dedicates herself to her job and protecting the public.
The Major is the squad leader of the field agents for Section 9 – a group of special agents who work directly for the Prime Minister. Basically she gets to circumnavigate the law as long as it’s ultimately for the good of protecting the people. She is an incredibly skilled hacker and net diver, on top of being an excellent fighter. And guns. She’s really good at guns (though Batou might be a better shot). She’s very stoic and isn’t a very emotional character and she doesn’t hesitate to kill whoever she needs to, despite this, she clearly cares about her team and their well-being. She’s just badass in every sense of the word. Plus, especially for being a super skilled cyborg, she’s a very complex character.
Sheena Fisher’s Picks:
Minako Aino AKA Mina/Sailor V/Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon
She was the original Sailor Senshi to awaken as Sailor V in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. I should also mention she had her first stand-alone manga called Codename Sailor V written by Naoko Takeuchi. In interviews Naoko Takeuchi has said without writing Codename Sailor V first she may have never expanded to make the worldwide phenomenon Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Minako was a solo act with her cat guardian Artemis long before Luna approached Usagi who would later become Sailor Moon.
Why is Minako important? Not only was Minako the first to awaken, but she plays as a decoy to protect the Moon Princess, Usagi, from the forces of evil that want to destroy life as we know it. Minako also guides and trains Usagi into the bad-ass she eventually becomes, Sailor Moon. But, before any of that, Minako was fighting totally solo. She survived so much turmoil before becoming a member of Sailor Moon’s team of warriors in the form of Sailor Venus. And, she inspired an entire universe of senshi that protect the galaxy. There would be no Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, or Uranus without her laying down the ground work. If you want strong women in your life and you haven’t watched or read Sailor Moon or Codename Sailor V do it now. Each Sailor Guardian is awesome and have their own detailed back story. Obviously every single one of them is strong as well. Your favorite guardian is waiting on you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83vsBwLOWAM
Moriko Morika From Recovery of an MMO Junkie
One of the main characters in Recovery of an MMO Junkie is my unsung hero. From the first episode we learn that Moriko has given up her powerful corporate career and becomes and elite NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Her anxiety just got the best of her and she needed to take a break from it all. This may sound like an odd way to introduce a character, but trust me it’s important.
Why is Moriko important? Throughout the series it’s obvious that she has been dealing with anxiety her entire life. She was remarkably relate-able to me to the point where my husband proclaimed she is a caricature of myself. And, I know many other individuals that deal with anxiety as well. Moriko was strong enough to realize she needed a break, and so she takes it. Then Moriko works through it by picking up a new MMO and meets another player that reminds her of a friend she once made previously in a different game. She is able to be herself around this other player even though her avatar is of the opposite gender.
Things get really interesting whenever she tries to talk about her personal life and constantly has to switch stories up to sound more masculine. I don’t want to ruin the plot of MMO Junkie, but I do want to point out that Moriko is strong because she knew when it was time to throw in the towel at work. She didn’t do anything negative to herself while working through stuff and focused on gaming. And, because of the avatar and interaction with in-game friends she gains confidence to interact more with the real world. And, she even makes life long friends. You absolutely should watch.
These are just some of our favorite awesome females in anime. If you haven’t watched any of these shows/movies, you need to – If you have, that’s spectacular and I am giving you two thumbs up through the screen, please continue to watch and support amazing anime characters – If you’re new to anime, these are not only great characters, but great shows to get you started. Join us. Watch anime. More importantly, watch good anime with good characters. Like these. – Rachel Freeman
