Shonen manga has a problem with female characters and it needs to change

The most popular anime that have defined pop culture in the past few decades have been Shonen manga. Dragon Ball, Hunter X Hunter, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, and Jujutsu Kaisen have pushed manga to the zeitgeist. The popularity of Shonen manga can be attributed to its simple storylines and straightforward characters. Shonen characters are stereotypically male, powerful, and driven.

This driven nature is what makes them universally loved by anime fans. There is also the boyish charm most of them possess, as their worldview is not jaded by the harsh reality of life; this allows them to be overtly optimistic and masochistic. For all of its merits, Shonen manga has many demerits, and one of them is how it handles female characters.

Like most popular media of fiction, female characters are written terribly; Shonen manga also suffers from this predicament. Female characters are written to be vapid, and in cases where they aren’t vapid, they are written to complement male characters. Even the most powerful female characters have their motivations built around men, which is sexist. This needs to change in the genre, as women are capable of being independent of male approval and attention.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

---

Shonen manga and its female character problem

Nobara's character is discarded cheaply (Image via MAPPA)

The beauty of Shonen manga is its simplistic storytelling, which is one of the reasons for the popularity of these stories. Its character motivations also match with Shonen’s simplicity, and that is what makes the genre relatable. While this factor is channeled through its main characters as they need to perform traditionally masculine roles, with women, it can come across as sexist.

Naruto is one anime with female characters who are written to be strong, but for some odd reason, these characters never perform at the height of their male colleagues.

Mei Terumi is a clear example of a female character who is written to be strong, but fails to perform like her male counterparts. Mei Terumi also constantly pines for male attention by mentioning how she wants to be married. This fits the derogatory trope of women needing a man to feel accomplished.

Some of the female characters who suffer from poor writing in Shonen manga the most are Orihime from Bleach and Sakura from Naruto. Each ability they possess is purely supportive. Orihime’s ability heals Ichigo through his many near-death experiences, and Sakura returns from a time skip with exceptional healing abilities. Even with these abilities, none of these characters can stand close to their male colleagues, and that is disappointing.

---

Why Shonen manga needs better female characters

Mikasa chooses herself, and that is groundbreaking in Shonen (Image via MAPPA)

If Shonen manga keeps on producing female characters that act purely as crutches for their male characters, it perpetuates harmful/sexist stereotypes. The first stereotype is that women are inferior to men. While this is not stated outrightly, it is implied. When viewers see Sakura, who was stated to be a prodigious ninja early on, act like a distressed damsel whenever trouble comes, it passes a subtle message that women are not reliable.

Another stereotype that can be passed from this poor writing is that female characters only exist to support their male counterparts. In most Shonen anime, the female characters only have the dreams of their male leads to support. They seldom have any dreams of their own. Attack on Titan, Bleach, and Naruto are guilty of this.

---

Final thoughts

Newer Shonen anime are changing the way they write their female characters. Some are giving them personalities that are separate from their male leads, while some are subverting female stereotypes. In Attack on Titan, Mikasa starts as a male-centered character, but at the end of the story, she puts her will above the love she feels for Eren.

---