Anime heroines are a dime a dozen, but very few are the main characters in series that explode into big-time hits like The Apothecary Diaries or Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Unfortunately, heroines who become major supporting characters in popular anime often fall victim to being sidelined in favor of putting more focus on the male cast members.
It’s a dreadfully common thing in anime for female characters with great potential to be kicked to the curb. No matter how well-written they may be, they become reduced to plot devices or love interests, rather than being presented with equal treatment and given a fair chance to develop like their male counterparts.
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10 Anime Heroines Who Were More Badass Than The Hero
Anime heroines like Mereoleona Vermillion from Black Clover are much more badass than the heroes in their stories.
10
Kallen Kozuki was Ripped Away From the Main Spotlight in Code Geass
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Kallen Kozuki is the ace of the Black Knights in Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, possessing a mastery in knightmare combat that can only be matched by very few characters. She’s a well-written heroine with a life and motivations outside of her eventual feelings for the main protagonist and serves as a key character in the anime’s major events.
Kallen’s character gets written out of the main plot for a huge chunk of Code Geass’ second cour, as she was captured and bartered away during an international conflict. However, she was eventually rescued and could return to the front lines during the anime’s final battles.
9
Uraraka Ochaco had her Spot in the Main Trio Usurped in MHA
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Uraraka Ochaco was presented as one of the main characters in the beginning of Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. Although she remained somewhat important to the plot, especially during the latest season of the anime, it feels as though she (alongside Tenya Iida) was pushed aside in favor of making Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo 2/3 of the series’ main trio instead.
My Hero Academia has one of the most diverse and better-written female casts in shonen anime, but that doesn’t make up because they add much less value to the series’ plot than their male castmates. Uraraka and her fellow female cast members have great potential but are underutilized to a woeful degree.
My Hero Academia
- Release Date
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April 3, 2016
8
Misa Amane is the Bane and Boon of Death Note
Streaming on Netflix
Every anime fan either loves or hates Death Note’s main female heroine, Misa Amane. She’s often classified as a ditzy young woman whose main personality trait is her infatuation with Light Yagami, though she has more motivation behind her unflappable loyalty toward the man who infamously became known as Kira.
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Death Note’s Misa Amane was ready to give her undying devotion to Kira, but that didn’t earn her the type of unconditional love she gave.
It’s no secret that Death Note is one of many anime that mishandled its female characters. Despite Misa being a key part of the series, she’s nothing more than a pretty tool for Light to use. She hardly exhibits any agency of her own when it doesn’t concern her love for the protagonist, which is the main reason many anime fans dislike her character.
7
Jujutsu Kaisen Trades Nobara Kugisaki for the Shonen Anime’s Male Characters
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Nobara Kugisaki debuts in episode 2 of MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaisen, becoming a first year at Tokyo Jujutsu High alongside Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro. She completes their shonen anime trio in a series full of captivating horrors and intense fight scenes, practically carrying an aura of confidence and power while holding a great dynamic with her teammates.
Just like her predecessor, Shoko Ieiri, Nobara eventually gets pushed to the sidelines of the story. Her character becomes less and less relevant to the plot as the anime moves forward, directing more attention towards the character arcs of Itadori and Fushiguro, as well as her teacher, Satoru Gojo.
Jujutsu Kaisen
- Release Date
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October 3, 2020
- Directors
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Sunghoo Park, Shōta Goshozono
6
Naruto’s Hinata Hyuga Wasn’t Significant to the Plot Unless it Involved Naruto
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Hinata Hyuga from the Naruto franchise was a soft-spoken and shy girl who grew into a beautiful and powerful kunoichi who never lost her gentle nature. She was second only to Neji regarding her clan’s Gentle Fist combat style, and she had an immovable fidelity towards Naruto that can never be replaced.
The issue that many anime fans have with Hinata’s character arc is that much of her development revolves around her romance with Naruto, which doesn’t truly start taking root until much later in the anime’s story. For most of the series, Hinata remained a character who played up the “shy and timid” trope until it grew tiresome.
Naruto
- Release Date
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September 10, 2002
5
Yuki Asuna Became a Damsel Used to Propel Sword Art Online’s Most Infamous Arc
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Yuki Asuna is the main love interest of Kirito, the protagonist in the controversial isekai anime known as Sword Art Online by A-1 Pictures. Although she plays more of an integral role in the first half of the franchise’s first season, Sword Art Online eventually reduces her to nothing but a caged damsel for the main character to save.
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The treatment of Asuna’s character is a large reason part two of SAO’s first season received so much criticism. She was a fighter who mastered combat and swordplay alongside Kirito. Many fans disliked how much of a plot device she became during the “Alfheim Arc” and absolutely hated how her sexual assault was used mainly to torture and motivate the main character.
4
Tokyo Ghoul’s Touka Kirishima was a Grade-A Tsundere who Lost Plot Relevance
Watch Tokyo Ghoul Now on Crunchyroll
Touka Kirishima is a major character in Sui Ishida’s dark seinen anime series, Tokyo Ghoul. In the first season, she was a feisty and dangerous young woman who helped the main character, Ken Kaneki, realize the harsh and horrific realities of the lives of ghouls. Eventually, Kaneki and Touka became husband and wife towards the end of the series.
Despite being important to the main character, Touka receives very little screen time between the end of the first season and the series’ finale. She sinks into the sidelines of the story until Kaneki reunites with her again, and she doesn’t play much of a part outside of being his love interest.
Tokyo Ghoul
- Release Date
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2014 – 2018
- Network
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Tokyo MX
3
Sakamoto Days Doesn’t Treat Lu Shaotang Fairly At All
Streaming on Netflix
Lu Shaotang is the main female character in the hit action-comedy anime known as Sakamoto Days. She’s the second person that was unexpectedly adopted into the Sakamoto family, as well as the one who most upholds the family rules, created by Aoi, the legendary Taro Sakamoto’s beloved wife.
Lu is a strong and capable character and one with a heart of gold, yet the anime constantly forgets she exists until her presence becomes needed to move the story along to its next phase. Lu functions more as a glorified plot device than an actual member of Team Sakamoto.
2
Shoko Ieiri Became a Neglected Heroine in Jujutsu Kaisen
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Shoko Ieiri is a minor supporting character in Gege Akutami’s dark shonen anime series, Jujutsu Kaisen. Although she doesn’t get much focus, she has a significant connection with two of the anime series’s major characters: Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. Shoko attended Tokyo Jujutsu High with them during their teenage years, functioning more or less as the “Sakura Haruno” within their group of three.
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15 Most Underrated Jujutsu Kaisen Characters, Ranked
Jujutsu Kaisen may be known for its merciless battles & characters like Satoru Gojo, but there are many underrated characters that fans overlook.
The second season of Jujutsu Kaisen reveals that Shoko, Gojo, and Geto actually had a rather close relationship with one another. Her history with them made Shoko an intriguing character to fans, who became curious about her cursed technique and her personality. However, the anime’s storyline ended up leaning heavily on Gojo and Geto’s development, barely touching on her character again and thus making her feel like a token shonen anime heroine.
1
Sakura Haruno Comes Second to Sasuke & Naruto’s Iconic Bromance
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Sakura Haruno is the most famous pink-haired anime heroine in modern anime, and she is the kunoichi of the original team 7 in the Naruto franchise. She was a potential love interest for Naruto Uzumaki, the main character, but eventually became the wife of the deuteragonist, Sasuke Uchiha.
Aside from playing a role in major characters’ romantic lives, Sakura receives a substantial amount of focus and development to her character, becoming a powerful medic-ninja and the protégé of Tsunade. However, her story eventually drowns in the shadow of her male colleagues, whose relationship receives even more depth and development throughout the anime’s run.
