The female got it wrong on the dxd part when she said it’s for those 3 dude no. It’s only issei the mc and the anime didn’t do it justice and you should read the Ln since it’s more cannon and shows u more depth to all the characters
Demon Slayer has some really underapritiated fantastic female characters for a battle shonen. Like Shinobu Kocho, her design isn't sexualised, she's physically weakest out of the Hashira yet despite that she has worked to overcome it and formed her own way of fighting demons and is just as important as the other male hashiras, if you read the manga you know.
To make a good female character, you must : -Write them human -If you write a female as an expert in fighting, then make her an EXPERT, not just an amateur with a title too high for her (y'know, like saying a female is one of the strongest swordsman and then make her weak as heck, she's ONE OF THE STRONGEST FFS)
So writing a female character revolves around writing them as a person. Yes that’s a very simplified response but why is it so hard for people to understand?
EXACTLY! You'd be surprised how many concerning comments I've seen on this video haha. It's easy for writers to get into their own heads or fantasize I guess and it leads to poor portrayal of women characters.
@@MonitorComics and basing it off of a pre-existing good character, someone you know in your life, or a historical figure can make that easier (applies even outside of this).
My personal points idk if they overlap with yalls. 1. Make em strong. When it comes to action, give them important fights, not just fodder. When illustrating a wounded from battle state, make it realistic not just torn clothers around the private parts and the 🍒 for fan service purposes. 2. Dont do the cliched "I am though girl that grew up with my father and 25 brothers, i can do this myself". Dont have women SAY that they can do something themselves and be independent strong whamen. JUST SHOW IT WITHOUT VERBALLY IMPLYING IT. 3. NEVER center their entire character around being a love interest. If theres going to be a relationship make it an equal dynamic, not a character-less body there for the Mc to save. Ex. Noelle from Black Clover is a love interest done right. One of her main character traits is being a tsundere for Asta, however her personal drama with her family makes for great storytelling which culminated in the latest chapter of Black Clover. Those 3 things are the main starting point for anybody who wants to write a woman but doesnt know how. A personal advice: Forget gender norms for a second and create the basis of the character without thinking of it as a woman. First create a good structure for the characters. A backstory, a goal, a trauma, a motivation, a manner of speach even and so on. After you have already created a good character, you can start adding some feminine traits to it. Ex. Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen loves make up and shopping. However you dont really HAVE to add feminine traits to the female character. Its just nice to add it here and there. However even without it, female characters can be great. Another JJK character would be Maki. She doesnt really have any feminine traits yet everybody loves her because she is a good character. Hange from Aot as well. And Olivier Armstrong from Fmab.
Just to add on to your advice, the practice of “show don’t tell” is a good foundation to not just writing good female characters, but characters in general. Also, love your advice! (From, a noob in writing).
I find Noelle from Black clover an enormous step to writing good to great female charactets, she actually is a good written one alreafy she almost checks off all the boxes you listed in the end
Great pick! I personally am not fully caught up to Black Clover so I can't speak on her entirely, but from what I have heard you are correct! Thank you for sharing!
@kollie79 true i enjoy the female cast but she stands head and shoulders above almost every modern female shounen charachter, 100% deserved to win that massive popullairty contest
As someone who’s writing a female MC in my story, I really strive to make her a realistic character and have her portray the message/theme of my story in a reasonable, impactful way. So I really appreciate videos like these that go into depth with it. Banger videos as always, Monitor! Edit: My favorite female MC is Ihwa from a WEBTOON/manwha called Hero Killer. It’s a amazing story btw, totally recommend it.
@@orenji-sama514 Well the plan was to start it off as a novel and then if it got popular, make it a manga. But I do have to admit that I’ve been conflicted about that idea for some time. Also thank you.
I find it extremely easy...I write like I do males just some female aspects. I dont like overly girly female characters or generic tomboys. Just tough chick that not afraid to be tough or have her girly side too. Edit: Didnt think so many would agree, glad I'm doing it right-ish haha
Many don't know about Gintama and its amazing cast. Both male and female characters are fantastic. They can be goofy, badass , say sex jokes , puking , sarcastic and so much more. Hands down my favorite cast of character including male and females as well.
Everybody is forgetting about JoJo's Stone Ocean. JoJo's has overall amazing characters and after part 6 with main female protagonist it just gets better. For example: Lucy in part 7 and Yasuho part 8
Since Jojo is pretty much the only anime I’ve gotten into, she’s pretty much my first choice for a good female anime/manga character, yet she’s barely talked about. I haven’t gotten to part 7 or 8 though, but it’s good hearing that the female characters get better :0
@@guydude1110 part 7 is amazing and even though not many people would agree with me my favourite is actually part 8 when it comes to characters and story themes.
Jolyne is the greatest charecter in fiction is embarrassing how many people put her as just daddy issues punch hard queen when no jolynes charecter isn’t just about her and her daddy issues
idk abt that that no one notices some people just dont even question qusestion cause she s been made look cool or for marketing they wont judge a des unless its a character doing something realted to dialogues and her reasoning
You know what’s funny though? Fairy Tail gets such a bad rep for just being a basic shounen cliche but the female characters are extremely well-written. Other than the author’s flaw of needing the main character solve everything, the character development for every female is consistent and entertaining. They all have a individual story and is still as important long after their initial story has closure. Erza is a person who escaped slavery, working up a metaphorical amour around her before embracing her family. Though her armour is attractive and fanservice, she is feared and extremely physically powerful. She come sto terms with the fact that her childhood friend needs punishment for what he’s done and helps him regain honor. Her own mother abandons her but she’s okay with that because she knows that because of that abandonment, she could find true happiness. Lucy(one of the MAIN characters) is a rich girl who had a neglectful father. She decides to stand up for herself and leaves her home, considering Fairy Tail to be her true family. When she to find that her rich father lost everything and is using the “blood is thicker than water” argument to get money from her, she is conflicted and she ultimately abandons him to the streets. Only to find out he dies years later trying to atone for himself by sending her birthday gifts with the little money he earned through hard labor but she was in a coma for 7 years so she never got to truly say goodbye. I could go one with Wendy, Cana, Lisanna, Marijane, Cobra’s snake, Aries, etc etc. All great characters in their own right with amazing stories.
While I do agree to a certain extent (Maybe like half of the FT females are well written imo) Fairy Tail has many flaws pass just its character writing.
Whats good about csm's female cast is that theyre fan favourites and well loved by the community. in the recent csm popularity pole the top ten male to female ratio was 4:5 (one being Kobeni's car) which is crazy since i cant think of another shonen manga series in which its female characters are equal to or more popular than its male characters. even in the jjk popularity poles the only female character to ever make the top ten was Nobara, and even she's never cracked top five.
Just wanted to point out that female artists and authors can get female characters wrong as well. Tsubasa, which was used as an example in this video, was written and illustrated by Clamp, an all female mangaka group. Their work can be very hit or miss with female characters, especially if the protagonist of the series is male.
I want to add to the tips given: 1. Storytelling concepts still apply. Have these female characters express their opinions through words and more impactfully, action. And have them be LISTENED to, i.e. the story world reacts and provide consequences relevant to the story. Having female characters do something that ends up not mattering in the end diminishes their influence and power. 2. Show these female characters acting on their own, out of their own interests rather than solely in service of the protagonist (if they're not the protagonist). This shows that they do have their own identity. Sometimes have these characters disagree with the main character. 3. Character flaws should be real, and should have effect on the story's other characters/the world in the story. Having a flaw that doesn't affect anything would make the flaw seem less real/doesn't count and people will perceive it more as an annoyance. 4. I think not all female characters have to be 'proactive', some can be timid, struggling with anxiety, etc. But do have a variety of personalities in your female characters, rather than all the same. 5. Similar to no.2-4 6. Be creative when defining 'Strength', not all female characters need to be kicking ass to be good female characters. Have them demonstrate strength where it matters in the story. 7. Agree with this! Female characters in shonen don't have to resort to female rivalry all the time!!! Personally hate it when female characters resort to insulting each other's boob size when they meet. More female solidarity! 8. To go further - design some important female characters that are NOT conventionally attractive! Women come in all shapes and sizes!
Amen to point four. (And six) Not all female characters have to abide by the tough-girl knock-your-teeth-out trend. There's still plenty of women (I'm sure men too) that struggle with confidence, anxiety, or are just introverts or quiet. Having a spectrum of personalities (and abilities) also allows more readers to connect with one or more characters. (Eg. It's easier for me to connect with shy, quiet girls like Yuna from Final Fantasy X over more tough girls like Erza from Fairy Tail or Izumi from Full Metal Alchemist.)
How do you do point 8 if you’re doing anime? I’m trying to study how to write characters, females especially because I’m writing shounen manga, so I enjoyed reading your points
if you like badass female characters (who are also really well written and humanized) I highly recommend checking out Black Lagoon, I finished it this weekend and it's damn good ^^
One of my favorite female shone characters is jolyene from jojo since she’s badass and really helps show all the different things you can do with stands
Black Clover's Noelle has been one of my favorites recent female characters. She starts off not really powerful but mid season she picks up and starts fighting main antagonist and currently popping off against her own villain.
I believe Noelle Silva is the best example of great female writing because she represents character growth. Since childhood she was bullied by her siblings, couldn’t controlled her own magic power, grew up without a mother and denied her feelings for Asta. As the story progress she gain better character development on her self and controlling her magic power. She is able to stand up against her trashy sibling and later free her mother soul by defeating the villains who murdered her. Noelle held no grudge for her family and only wanted to protect them. Also she had accepted her feelings for Asta and the only thing left for her now is to confess to him. This is just my opinion by the way.
I don't think Lucy from Fairy Tail is a poorly written female character nor characters from Fairy Tail. They can have fan service and still be actual characters Lucy is shown to be very clever in the series especially given her power level compared to the rest of the cast.
No she was poorly written. Natsu is her main lover and is a battle maniac. Half the time her magic doesn't work for and the other half is for plot reason. Her team spends most the time fighting each other when doing mission. Sadly she was give the wrong kind of magic to help her grow as a character. The rest of the cast has muscle for brains and are idiots. You are comparing Lucy to Fairy Tail S-class Battle Maniac.
The root of the issue is that male authors are for obvious reasons write male-centric stories as women are not as easy for them to relate to. Girls who enjoy male-targeted works then often follow a similar pattern. Just arbitrarily switching a character's gender is a flawed solution that relies on the same inability to write female characters, and in many cases just wouldn't work. I think the best piece of advice here is to just consider it. If you want to write an important and compelling female character, just keep that in mind and make sure to flesh out their character as well as possible. With enough attention, you could even have them conform to certain stereotypes, be damsels in disress, love interests etc. and still be interesting characters regardless of all that.
This. My motto has always been "Anything is a good character if you write it properly" You can have the damisel in distress if you don't just make it her only trait. A good example is pepper Potts, she is not a super hero nor can she do much when kidnapped, but the moment she can do SOMETHING she will. Her relationship with Tony is also that of a love interest, but at the same time she's his voice of reason and proved herself to be able to run a company just as good as tony could, which is the reason why she landed that job in the first place. She can be defined in simple words: a lot of stereotypes, and more.
[anime/manga spoilers] Great points were made in this video, but I personally don’t think Mikasa is poorly written. Considering the brutality of the AOT world, I actually think it’s MORE realistic to cling onto the people you love in that kind of setting. In terms of Mikasa’s specific backstory, it’s not unrealistic to admire Eren the way she does, as HE was the person to SAVE her during childhood trauma and accept her into his family. While her character mostly revolved around Eren in the beginning, it developed in subtle ways and she learned to prioritize her duties as a soldier (she wasn’t always by Eren’s side, even during life threatening situations) and the wellbeing of others (she prioritized saving Krista over Eren in the cave, and mourned for Sasha). CONTEXTS is important when trying to understand a character. Although it’s easy to write off Mikasa as an Eren simp, she has many moments where she goes through her own personal conflicts (questioning her identity as an Ackerman). She even goes as far as to detach herself from Eren (leaving her scarf behind) and finally let him go (killing him for a greater purpose). She is a far cry from being poorly written. Orohime, on another hand, is different when considering contexts. Her initial strongest bond was with Tatsuki, but eventually that bond didn’t seem as prevalent and she was diminished into a damsel in distress for Ichigo- only for them to become lovers (who would’ve thought 🤔)
I’m glad someone else talked about Orihime. She is honestly my least favorite character in Bleach for this. Her whole role in the Hueco Mundo arc was just to sit there and whine about Ichigo to save her. Even when she was literally beaten by two characters, she didn’t do anything and a man came to save her. Like come on, girl, do something. Why give her powers in the first place? I love Bleach, but every time she’s on the screen, I want to punch her.
The thing with Mikasa is that she is more of a plot device not a character becuase she doesnt really have a character arc that effects other characters in any meaninful way which i think is weird becuase Isayama gives a lot of hints that he is going to give Mikasa her moment for example revaling that Levi is also an Ackerman and then the thing with the Hizuru and Mikasa being a descendent of the Royal family. But isayama never really gives Mikasa her moment
I do have to say that Uraraka has gained back that strong female lead in the more recent chapters of My Hero, she's taken the spotlight and they've talked about her dreams and what drives her
Yeah...not really? 5 seconds doesn't count as taking it back. Besides she wasn't strong since her fight with Bakugou. Real MVP of bnha female cast is without a doubt Momo.
I love this so much!! I honestly think the better representation of females we have, the better we will be treated in real life! Thank you both for making this video! I have one inclusion I think is really important! Please don't follow the trope of a girl losing all of her spark and personality after getting together with her love interest ( unless that's a part of the plot)! Sometimes you'll see these amazing characters with an empowering message who are "fixed" or "tamed" by a man and it's so disheartening! People can change in relationships but when this trope happens it makes it feel like she was wrong for not being traditionally feminine in the first place and makes me and my fellow female nerds feel pretty crappy! Also older females without being mothers, grandmas or old hags would be incredible to see! Anyways thank you for your time reading this! Good luck with your stories! God bless!
I’m very glad that you made this video, even when I was younger I remember really hating a lot of the female characters that my siblings would always assign me. I remember specifically hating that I was always Daphne from Scooby doo or princess peach whenever we played games. I really appreciate your channel and I’m glad that your channel has been growing!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share that I really appreciate it! I'm happy you enjoyed this video! I'm sorry about the characters you were assigned, especially Princess Peach LOL
Write your characters as living breathing human beings who screw up, fall down, need help, get stronger, and either succeed or fail. Don't be afraid to have your character freak out, not know what to do, get scared, or need help just because she's a female. They also don't need to be a fighter. Just make them a character who has agency and a mind of their own. Winry doesn't get enough love. I have no problem with the mom staying at home. Each one doesn't have to stay at home of course, because at one point in time, everyone had to move as a unit. People were nomadic. Take from that. Hit up some history books. I don't need my female characters to be the main character, as strong or stronger than the guys, or always get their way. I get annoyed with people thinking strong female means tsundere/jerk who knows all does all and gets her way just because of her physical anatomy and all men are all of a sudden stupid jerks who don't know anything. If you have to dumb everyone else down and align the cosmos for your female character for them to be written, just erase them. I'd rather do without. I just want people to be human and competent in what they're doing. I'm extremely sick of all the MARY SUES popping up or females who're called "strong" but they're actually just annoying, obnoxious, and toxic people each time. I get there are toxic people but all females aren't toxic just like all men aren't toxic. And make them WORK for what they want (I feel the same way about gotten and trunks). I nearly punted my computer when they handed the DBS female saiyans the super Saiyan mode like that... So much so I replayed the the time she was Kamehameha'd in the face multiple times.
@@byronsenior6499Oda actually said sorry to his female readers for that and is trying to give his female character more impact on fight scenes *MINOR MANGA SPOILERS* Robin and Nami actually had fights against main villains in the manga. And another female characters are having more action sequences.
@@ericregis3912 Not caught up so I'm not gonna read the rest. But if that's true I'm glad. It shows growth on his part. I mean he can write however he wants. But it would be nice if he tried to vary his females more, give them more impact etc.
I have a female character who I have very fleshed out backstorys and all. Though after watching this I feel like it would be a turn off in that at first in my story she's entirely support, though later on she does become the most powerful of the main characters for awhile and isn't just the support. It would take too long to explain what I mean by this in depth, though I will say she isn't WEAK at all even at the start of my story, just due to backstory reasons she would rather use her efforts to keep her colleagues in top shape during fights, and in one case I have planned she literally tanks a barrage of very powerful attacks for a important reason. (Ima end this here before this becomes an essay in it's own right)
Thank you for taking the to share! It all comes down to execution! It seems like you have good intentions and are being mindful about this, so I feel like you'll be fine! Best of luck with your story!
For me when it comes to manga and anime, Gintama has the best female charecters!They have their own driving factors, their own personalities, and their own objectives.
I was afraid of treating the female characters like dudes, but glad to hear that it's actually a good base to write a character. Also glad to hear that beginning with personality and expending from there is also good and I'll try to do that more often. P.S I hate how the did Iraka dirty. I like a well rounded female character than fan service, despite being a guy
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti it can be fun on occasion, but when the cat chick from Fire force literally disrupts the fight when the star dude was literally trying to kill people is where I draw the line on it. I like a good fight scene, but when they do that during a fight is where I really get annoyed.
@@monke4163 I will watch it, but it was the fact that they turned a serious situation and put in a cloths gag for no real reason and didn't contribute to much, being the real issue with her. For her serious scene at the end of S1 was instantly snatched for a gag, basically the creators saying we don't plan to do anything with her and don't expect character development. She got a moment of growth at the end of S2 where she got growth, but now it's kind of late to give me hope on it. My frustration comes from just wanting a little better treatment for her since she is mainly with Shinra and story frontrunner.
I like to think of gender as secondary and character first. I'm a guy and I know nothing about girls I don't even know anything about boys. I just do my best.
Kind of part of why I hated when people asked which MHA girl I thought was best. The only one with half a reason for me to care about them was Uraka, because of her whole family situation and personal drive. Le Brava is one of my current favorite female characters in the setting, and it's because I have no reason to care about them. In one piece, I like Robin more than Nami because they don't overdo the whole "wooow she so sexy haha" thing with her and even though her backstory was derivative of Nami's, she still feels like a separate person. Just let me get attached to the character first please.
So basically write your character as a person, it doesn't matter what they are as long as your write your character as a person first, traits second you will have a believable and non-insulting character. We are all persons no matter what we are, so our characters should be persons as well.
Thank you so much for creating this video my manga has female characters in it and I didn't want them to be like the other cliche female characters in shonen /shoujo manga One of my favorite manga titles of a strong female character is takiko from fushigi yuugi genbu kaiden series and sango from inuyasha
This is pretty insightful. And also speaking in Fire Force defense it's still has Maki and Hibana. Maki being the strong and badass woman she is with Hibana also serving a purpose in resolving the mystery surrounding the story.
Ameri from Iruma Demon School is, while I won’t say perfect as I’m sure other people might look at her with a more critical eye then I will ever be able to, is a great female character. A strong willed character at the start who wants to make demons be proud of themselves and protect her school, and even when she does fall for the main character, she still does her duty as student council president. I haven’t read the manga, so maybe she changes later on, and this is just from my point of view, but she’s still a damn good character, and I bet she still is on later on in the story. Also while I agree with your argument of Highschool DxD, I still like the show and will watch it.
I think shortening Orihime from Bleach's issue to her being kidnapped missed the point. Her being kidnapped is not the problem. The Arrancar arc was doing her a lot of solids. The Vizards hyped her up (surprised by her being able to find Ichigo), Aizen hyped her up, the Arrancars hyped her up, and Grimmjow threw out some amazing forshadowing to her state of mind. Her obsession or love for the main character even worked. All of it worked because it was leading to this big payoff. Ichigo dies in front of her. That was supposed to be the inciting incident for her character growth. The kidnapping, the rescue, this unbeatable opponent. Everything the writing worked towards was thrown away so that the main character could steal the spotlight. The big takeaway for this entire scenario is to not give someone's resolution to another character. Symptoms of that can be damsel in distress or main character attraction. I think my favorite main female character in a shounen is Fuuko from Flame of Recca. Pound for pound I think they went above and beyond in making her strong with balanced fanservice, calculating and never downplaying her accomplishments.
Thank you for the clarrication! I dropped bleach in the middle of the Arrancar arc, at volume 31 I believe, so I never saw the entire arc all of the way through. I have heard bits and pieces about what happens, but I was mostly speaking on what I knew from what I had experienced. Thank you for clearing that up though and providing your insight into what went wrong! I really appreciate it!
Showing Orihime and Rukia is a real disservice to their characters. Orihime _willingly_ went with to Hueco Mundo because she thought it would protect her loved ones. It feels like you're just looking at her at a surface level. Bleach actually has a lot of great female characters.
I think Orihime is mistreated by the fandom solely because of how she's portrayed in the anime. There are quite a few scenes in the manga where Orihime either spurs Ichigo on when he's indecisive or grounds him when he spirals due to overthinking whatever battle he just lost. The most prominent example is when Orihime encourages Ichigo to go save Rukia in the SS arc. The anime tends to replace Orihime with other characters which really reduces her to a one-dimensional character. She isn't physically strong and is very much aware of this which results in her losing whatever self-esteem she had and Aizen takes advantage of this. She isn't kidnapped, she willingly goes with the Espada because she thinks it's the only way she can contribute. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's not without her flaws as a character and there are some scenes in the last manga arc which are kind of questionable (though that isn't limited to Orihime, Yoruichi and others get the same treatment) but she isn't just a damsel-in-distress love interest either.
Orihime gets shit on so bad by people who haven't even touched the manga and it's so fuckin annoying. The anime did a bad job adapting her character and she was already pretty complex, but just not as likeable. Another Bleach character no one gives enough credit for is Unagiya Ikumi. She's just an average (maybe slightly above) human being with no spirit powers whatsoever, and got barely any screen time but she's already better written than the entire female cast of JJK and DS
What I found what works for me is just focusing on them as an actual character first and foremost. I list down all of the personality traits, redeeming qualities and flaws before even coming up with a gender for the character. If I think a female would fit the list more, then that character is a female and vice versa. But thats just me.
My order of doing things goes like this - Narrative Purpose - Strengths & Weaknesses - Interesting Quirks - Character Releationships - Appearance - Sexuality
Wow this video was great! It was insightful and provided a constructive perspective for the conversation (rather than just list poorly written characters and condemn anime/ shonen in general). It also gave me a heap of series to read. I also agree with the comments by Krimanga on Ochako. I liked her when I first started but have felt she has gradually lost her own motive (which was established and could have carried her throughout the series) and she has become a love interest, which is sad because she was pretty cool. It also sadly has not yet been rectified and I doubt it will.
(SPOILER FOR MHA MANGA) ... ... ... Okay, Ochako has improved slightly in the latest few chapters, having taken on a key role but it is still intrinsically connected to Deku, even if not romantically at the moment. I think I just find her more frustrating than other Shonen girls because I liked her to begin with and I wasn't used to the treatment of women in manga yet. She's still better than many of her predecessors in that she fights and does have a motive other than love and she has a reason to like Deku. Sakura just likes Sasuke because he's the most attractive guy around, the two hadn't even really talked before they were put in the same team (if someone knows more about Naruto and I am incorrect please correct me, I have read the whole manga but I haven't studied it like I have other series).
Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that! I really appreciate it! Like you have already noticed, Kri is an anime-only for MHA. That's the main reason I didn't interject with my thoughts about the latest manga chapters I think what happened to Ochako was worth mentioning though because it wasn't until RECENTLY that Kohei started caring about including her again. I thought she really peaked during the sports festival arc and was on her way to being one of the better written shonen female characters Thank you again for checking out the video and sharing your thoughts!
@@forgettableotaku Nah you are correct. On MANY occasions Sasuke has insulted Sakura, flat out ignored her, and tried to kill her LOL. Her unwavering love made zero sense for me too because like you said, it was one sided UNTIL THE VERY END I agree with your points about the recent MHA development. It makes me mad that it took the author THIS long to give her a more important role, but tbh he forgets about and sidelines ALL of his characters Todoroki had SO much potential and ALWAYS gets sidelined for the Deku and Bakugou show. Hopefully in later chapters he can improve this bad habit haha
@@MonitorComics Do any of you like to read fanfiction? I know fanfiction has a bad reputation for crappy storytelling, among other factors, and I admit that's the case for a majority of fans fics, however, when you really dig deep through all the garbage, you eventually find several gems worth reading. One of them is a My Hero Academia fan fiction titled "Green Tea Rescue." While the story is a retelling of the canon story, there are several tweaks and changes that are made that make the story differ greatly from canon, as a good number of AU (Alternate Universe) fan fics do. But with that said, I do believe the author of this story managed to make these tweaks and changes work very well to the story's benefit. Romance is one of the main plot points of this story, and the main pairing is Izuku and Ochako like in canon. However, I think their friendship and chemistry is written way better than in said Canon, and that makes the budding romance between the two feel more natural instead of forced. Speaking of Ochako, the author manages to not only maintain the traits and qualities of what made her likeable in the beginning of the canon story, but he also adds more to those traits, while adding a bit more depth too. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that Green Tea Rescue Ochako is everything that Canon Ochako could've been and should've throughout the canon story. Even side characters are given much more love, depth, development, and more moments to shine. I also think the worldbuidling is also given a bit more focus as well. There are overall many aspects of Green Tea Rescue that I think are done and executed a lot better than canon so far, but that is only my personal, subjective opinion. The only take away is that there a few grammar errors that can be spotted throughout the story, even in current chapters, but aside from that, Green Tea Rescue is a very well written story, probably the best MHA fan fic that I've read so far, and I highly recommend that you read it as well. It's still ongoing, but each chapter is pretty lengthy so it'll take some time to catch up to the current chapter. Here is a link if any of you are interested. Link: archiveofourown.org/works/18469372/chapters/43759279
I like most of the girls in Hiro Mashima’s works (Rave, Fairy Tail and Edens Zero), sure there’s a lot of fan service but with the exception of one girl, most of the rest have personalities that don’t always focus on the guy characters.
Agreed, female cast in hiro mashima series IMO are awesome. OMG have you seen the hype everytime erza fight, a good example would be when she fight the 100 monster in grand magic game. The latest series, Edens Zero had tons of female character that not only beautiful but also awesome. As a female reader, at first i kinda turn off with the excessive fanservice but Mashima really can write an awesome character that just happen to be female. If you read the 2 series the female character here is not an cannon fodder or side character rather have an active role to the plot and series.
Agree. Lucy and Rebbeca are the Main female characters but they're goal isn't a man. They have their tragic backstoties their ambitions, development etc. Sadly People forget about them because they have fanservice
people also forget that Hiro Mashima sexualizes both genders, not just girls. I mean, have you seen how almost all the fairy tail male characters have minimal cover showing abs and muscles, and often times shirtless (Guess who)? Seriously, Mashima, tone it down, please... the action is awesome though.
Yea I don't aggre with the claim that she suddenly stopped being a good character just because her feelings for izuku got more notice it was more of her being underutilized which was on purpose since it was addressed in the overhaul arc and slowly built up afterwards which now has its pay off .
@@thatoneblackdude3333 Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! We didnt mean to imply she stopped being a good character JUST because of her feelings for deku, we were more annoyed she got sidelined after popping off in the sports festival The deku love interest was a minor complaint but the cherry on top. TBH Kohei forgets about a LOT of his characters, not just her, so the problem is more than just his treatment of her I agree in recent chapters she is having her moment. Kri is an anime-only with MHA though so i didn't want to get too into it with her
@@MonitorComics that's completely fair she did fall off after season 2 but so did a lot of characters juggling characters is not easy clearly but I don't think her character was bad post season 2 she didn't get any major role sure but she remained still involved in the story and still progressed little by little.
The entire female cast in Black Lagoon are amazing, more awesome than the Male cast. Revy is elite. Balalaika is elite, Roberta is elite, Fabiola etc. All of these women serve a huge purpose to push the plot forward without generic tropes.
TRUE. It's been a while since I heard someone mention Black Lagoon, but you're absolutely right! Revy especially is one of my favorite characters from any anime!
I believe that you should focus on making a good character instead of focusing on making a "good male character" or a "good female character" you should strive for all of your cast to be well written at least that's what I think
That is a good point! However you can't just ignore that women are misrepresented in the media just as they are mistreated in real life! While YES good character writing should be the main goal, SOME people are prone to writing stereotypical, demeaning, etc portrayals of women because that is all they know!
@@MonitorComics I don't think they're misrepresented in media and, I don't really get how they're handled in media correlates how they're treated in real life. As for the writers portrayal of them I don't believe it's all they know I think it matters on the genre and who they're trying to appease for example shoujo has pretty weird portrayals of guys too
@@monke4163 Bro women are literally paid WAY less than men in MANY jobs. Women are often the target of sexual harassment. Women are often denied opportunities SOLELY because they are women. These issues are why feminism exists lol Women are sexualized in real life all of the time. A common example is girls who are catcalled all of the time on the street. Girls can be fully covered wearing jogging pants and a sweatshirt and still get catcalled
@@DrGJaggyZ Bro i dont know how you're able to say women arent misrepresented in media lmao. The BECHDEL TEST EXISTS BECAUSE women are misrepresented in the media. This is why feminism exists, because the women in tv and movies and anime are often delusional representations created by sexist men. How they are handled in media correlates to how they are treated in real life because both are demeaning and a result of patriarchy lol. "Who they're trying to please" isn't an excuse to objectify, sexually harass, etc women characters lol You do have a argument with shoujo manga's portrayal of guys, but that's a different/unrelated topic
ok. heres why i understand urarakas sudden uncoolness. lets compare it to iida. at first we see him as one of our main characters. the trio. once his serious arc is done he becomes irrelevant, still there but barely being noticed in the main plot. this is similar to uraraka who has now after her short arc has only become relevant to be the love interest. I'm not saying its right I'm just saying its happening to a lot of characters in the show
Yeah, the author has a bad habit of forgetting about his entire cast LOL. It just sucks because he was creating Uraraka to be one of the better written female characters in recent shonen manga, and then just... stopped
The way I see it, female characters should just be written the same as male characters. It's not like female characters are some rare, special creature. In fact, I say ignore gender when writing a character altogether.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, while I agree to some extent I have to add a bit. The advice "write your women characters the same as your men characters" is a bit misleading and I should have clarified when kri said that. That statement pretty much assumes that men are the standard and women should be written like THEM. When in reality, gender is fluid so they can be written any way you want like you are saying. I've seen some concerning comments from people saying things like "never make muscular women or tomboys those are just men in disguise." I don't want people to think there is ONE way to do something, especially when writing characters Representation and positive portrayals are important so as long as you are mindful and your intentions are right you should be fine! I think it's a little too easy to say "ignore gender" when writing a character because there is SO MUCH gender inequality in the world. While your story doesn't have to get political, you have to remember most things are the way they are because men have made it that way
@@MonitorComics personally I think gender norms should be ignored for male characters as well. I think it would be best to write any character as "genderless" unless their gender is part of their character for whatever reason. I find the "men in disguise" thing to be pretty dumb, as it's saying "men have to be this way" and "women can't be this way", reinforcing gender roles even more. If you can write a character of any gender, change their gender, and the character still works just as well as they did before, then that's a character I'll probably like. "write your women the same as your male characters" assumes that your male characters are also written well, and it could easily be swapped for "write your men the same as your female characters", assuming your female characters are also written well.
@@nerotoxin0661 You make some very good points! I especially like your insight about ignoring gender norms. You have swayed my thoughts on this subject! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and explain!
Personally while I feel that the idea of "Ignore gender" can and has worked I think its simply unrealistic writing if done too much. Like if every 1 in 10 manga/anime were like that I probably wouldnt even question it but realisticly at least from my experiences most females are feminine and most males are masculine, obviously people are more than just masculine or feminine but its a good basis for realisic character writing imo. But of course take everything I say with the fact that im sure I have a very biased view point that just comes down to my own taste in characterization.
I don't think "write your female characters like you would guys" is good advice. It leads to sexism on its own. There's a rather sexist trend lately (in American/Western media, not manga) where, in order to write a "strong" female character, the writer/creator will just shove as many masculine traits as they can into said female character. If you criticize this, you're often called sexist by the series' defenders, who perceive these characters as "feminist" in nature. More often than not you'll be falsely labeled as right wing, regardless of if you're very left wing or not. One huge consequence of this is the idea that women can only be strong characters if they're PHYSICALLY strong. I see a lot of people these days claiming that if a female character doesn't win every battle she enters with a man, whether that be a battle of swords or a battle of wits, that's sexist. And, I really think that mentality is itself what's sexist. Instead of advising people to write women the same way they would a man, I would advise people not to focus on the feminine traits too hard. It's okay for a female character to have feminine traits, and for a female character to have masculine traits. But these traits should never be the focus of the character. It's the same for a male character whose sole personality is masculine traits - it's just bad writing.
If your male characters characters are based solely on male stereotypes, then yes, this advice would also backfire. In my opinion, male or female characters who only kick ass and are emotionless is not a “masculine trait” it’s just a poorly written character that makes them feel less human And I agree! Your characters can be masculine or feminine in their own respect, just don’t have their gender DEFINE their personality. Male and female characters both have the ability to be complex, whether they are physically strong or not. Just make them human, relatable, and have characters that young readers of any gender can look up to.
Just facts. All of this is facts. I hate that trend too! Like Haruhi said in Ouran being a boy or girl shouldn't really matter: who they are as a person is more important. (Paraphrased. It's been a while since I've seen that episode.)
The way Western media portray stereotypically "strong" females is sexist in itself, as it inadvertently places the blame on _women_ for not being as strong as men, instead of the systemic societal structure built to oppress and crack down on women and those with feminine traits. LGBTQIA+ individuals and girly girls, for instance, face prejudice constantly for having traits or characteristics that are considered "feminine", i.e., being attracted to men (if you're not a straight cis woman), having transfem identities, liking shopping, clothing, feminine products, etc., expressing and being in touch with your emotions, and more. Back in the day before people started to have sympathy for gay men, they would insult them by claiming they're un-masculine for being attracted to men or not living up to the hypermasculine image society had for men, so once again, erasure of femininity ties to misogyny against women. Same with why people used to say that men should not cry, because it's something women do. Sorry if this sounds too political or left leaning, but I feel that it's something that needs to be addressed.
they never really have consistency with their female character although nezuko and another female character in demon slayer are actually pretty well developed tbh
Counter argument: What is the purpose of the character? Most would understandably think its to drive the plot. The best characters will help in this regard. In my opinion the main purpose of any character is to hold the interest of the reader. This can be accomplished by the elements they introduce. Conflict, fear, loss, intrigue, humor and yes sexual tension are all valid reasons for the make up of a character. Each character outside of main characters are is like a side quest in a game. The last thing you want is for that character to be the equivalent of a fetch quest. If it doesn't help the main story or is at the very least incredibly interesting then its a waste. A good character keeps you engaged. Knowing you're audience is also very important when it comes to holding there interest. What are they interested in? What have you as the author promised the reader? Is the character doing its job? Keep in mind everything I've said is applicable to all characters. The issue I'm seeing is confusing gender with value. I would say if a depiction of a female character irks you ask yourself would you have that same issue if the genders were reversed? Is the dead love interest any more lackluster than the dead bestfriend? What's most telling of all is how rarely the worse female character depiction in media brought up, the strong female character. One note, flawless, and utterly devoid of interesting qualities these "characters" skate by on the fact that they're female. These trojan horses of mediocrity are both terrible and yet praised. That is what makes it the worse. A character that would be unremarkable by any other standard falsely attributed merit due to gender, race or sexuality is still a bad character. Don't take my word on that, listen to the actresses that say they hate the trope. I saw a comment that said "Conclusion: Don't create FEMALE characters Create female CHARACTERS" To that I'd say create Good characters
I remember reading a story that actually twists the entire “female revealed = guys underestimate her/want her to stop fighting for shitty reasons” on its head. It was really interesting because the moment the guy started his bullshit the women took a gun and shot him in the mouth, then took over an entire military group, later entire empire. She turned out to be the main antagonist and it was epic. I don’t remember what book that was, but I legit felt fear and intimidation reading about her.
Hello! I've just started watching your videos today and learned from what you've said. It's given me a lot to think about and I plan on watching the rest I haven't watched at yet. Keep up the good work and I hope to see more!
Well I can clearly see a trend in shonen manga. Most female characters are very one-dimensional and exist solely for the male protagonist. When I discovered shonen shows like blue exorcist, noragami, d. gray-man, magi, FMA etc. with amazing female characters I was so happy until I realise that all of them are written by female authors. Are men just incapable of writing women? Are women the only ones to see women as actual people with personalities? It's very disappointing to find this trend in something that I enjoy so much. But it might have to do with the gender stereotype that still exist in Japan, and in a lot of the world. Where, at the end of the day, women still needs to rely on men even if the character was initially designed as independent and empowering.
Yes, Japan is a very conservative country, so outdated gender views are still the norm there. It goes a long way to explaining why latent sexism is prevalent in their media.
Well, to a female character it would give a personality regardless of its gender, of course, it would not ignore its feminine touch, it would also give it some relevant development, great powers, internal conflicts, weaknesses and in terms of design, I rely more on Western animated series than on anime (obviously)
Orihime being side lined is to fit the actual story because that arc was meant to have symbolism and parallels to the Kaguya Princess story. Orihime in TYBW arc didn't have much of an important role but she was better.
true. orihime finally stood side by side with ichigo in the final arc. before, she was always left behind or made to watch as the main character gets bodied. in the final arc, we were shown how literally overpowered her abilities are. but if you look at Bleach as a whole, there would be literally a lot of dead characters if it weren't for Orihime. so her being a support role played significantly in the story.
8:33 she's a protective older sister I don't really see as much of a problem with her a common admirable trope is a protective older brother of his little sister this is basically just the role reversal of that, 10:17 ochako is still just as good in my opinion because yes more recently she's been doing that a lot but you can't do too many plot lines at a time so the romance between her and Deku had to get sidelined so that they could make her an actual character so that she wasn't an example of what you said earlier only thinking about the male protagonist and in season 4 and 5 and 3 she still has badass rememberable moments and goals and a personality and she was especially a badass in her dedicated internship episode
This is a bit late but I feel like out of recent anime and manga, Jujutsu Kaisen does an amazing job with Nobara as a female character that has flaws and grows.
That is true! I have heard amazing things about the female characters in JJK. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to check it out yet or else I would have definitely mentioned it!
Here is how you write a female character: you don't. Don't come with the mindset of writting a woman, you are here to write a character who happens to be a woman, the same way that you write a character who happens to be blonde or have brown eyes. Unless your character's identity has an important part in the story the don'r base their entire personality in that identity. Just write a character, then you give them their physical features, one of which is their gender.
Great points! Making this video felt dumb at first because I'd like to think EVERYONE thinks like you when writing, but after reading the comments I can tell stuff like this still needs to be said lol
It's true that Ochako loses protagonisum on the middle seasons, but I don't know you you already read the manga, where Uraraka is taking a really important role
You would be correct! I am currently up to date with the manga but kri is an anime-only for MHA so I didn't want to get into the recent stuff. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts though!
@@collecter343 sorry for the late answer but even in season 4 and 5 I don't think she's bad, she's still as badass in my eyes but now she is more driven by love which I don't consider to ne a weakness. Especially in season 5, I find her very well written and talented in a more realistic way. That's my view on the subject though!
Something i dont enjoy on how people trying to write strong female characters is that their womanhood is extremely shallow. In all metrics they posess the same temperament and personality as your average male character but with stereotypically shallow femenine interests like shopping, flowers and cute animals added on top, add some romantic tension with some of the male cast and you have the laziest way to write a female character in fiction. I think we can all agree its way more interesting when we write our characters as actual honest to god people. Especially women when we write them like actual women, women have their own set unique problems, insecurities, motivations and worries that dont work the same way men's do and that is completely normal, and i think its way more interesting when male writers treat these pieces of the female experience with maturity and make a genuine effort to understand them. Which mostly happens if said writer is married and/or raising a daughter, most male writers try to make an effort but not with the same care as a father trying to understand what his daughter is going through and writing based off of his experiences. We're all better off trying to understand each other in general. As a writer, one of the most powerful sayings is write what you know, but i'd add to that if you want to write more, learn more. Even as a man aspiring to write a story about characters and their own mental struggles learning to understand and love each other. i more than anyone understand that women do not necesarily behave and act the same way us men do, and have different insecurities, fears, interests, motivations and struggles that work different than mens, so i believe trying to learn from women and their experiences will make my story much more interesting, personal and real. Doing otherwise would limit my character writing skills and i would miss out on great potential for interesting characters. Besides trying to understand the people around you as well as the world itself is always a great exercise in general for writers and non-writers alike and one of the main skills for any aspiring artists to learn so their work is more coherent. Regardless of that any aspiring writer and artists should know that your art will be a projection of your soul, every character will have a piece of everyone you've ever met and talked to, every thought you've had, everything you wished you said to someone, the way you want people to percieve you, the way you feel other people percieve you, the way you percieve others, every interest and every insecurity, every desire, every fantasy, etc. All of your ideas dont exist in a vaccum, embrace the fact that even though its fiction, its something that is the most personal, so always draw from your experience and the expreiences of others to make your story feel more real and genuine. But i digress.
Those are some REALLY GOOD points! Thank you for taking the time to write all of that! I'm sure your response will be very useful to writers looking for more information in the comment section!!
14:00 For those who need it and don’t have time and want to go straight to the point. I watched the entire thing and it’s interesting as a novice writer to go into detail of what I should do when writing a story. It includes examples too.
My favorite female character in mha is toga idk she just seems like a really cool character with the depth she has with the villains and he goals could be different but other then that she becomes very story in Greg manga that’s why I love her character so much with good development 🤝
I honestly don't like the way newer movies/games write Female characters, they are all tomboyish, have short hair, wear non-sexualized clothes in the slightest, have the exact same personality as well, i honestly don't see a reason to make them female at this point. I personally think people complicate writing women, women are fundamentally different from men in a lot of ways, an average woman is physically weaker thsn an average man and has a smaller body, women are more inclined to be driven by emotion than men, etc..., but keep in mind women are also people, different women have different personality, so using the same personality for all women in your show, no matter how good or bad that personality is, is bad writing. Have a tomboyish woman, but also have a love crazy woman, have an arrogant woman who cares about her looks, have a crazy one, a calm one, a manipulative one, a gullible one, women can have different goals and motivations too, from revenge to love to fame to power to wealth to peace to even world domination. TL:DR; theres no formula for good female character, just have variety as you do with males and give them the same thought process as males.
Very good points! it sucks that this video even had to be created, but if you take a second to look at some of the comments, you can see WHY it was needed haha. Your advice is good advice though!
@@lan5482 I am humbled my good sir! I agree a lot of people misunderstand the difference between men and women, hopefully eventually we will see better writing for women in media
women are actually not more driven by emotion than men but yeah just understand we have personalities like men and it will be alright... and tomboy are still girl but i think guys are havin dificulties writing strong feminine women that's why strong women are usually kind of boyish
@@stopprocrastinating4181honestly, from personal experience, the probability of emotionally driven women happens more often than not, like women I know get pissed off more quickly than men I know, or get jealous of other women more often, and of course on the good side, they are more merciful and have tendency to love kids and pets, etc.. but as I said, people are different, just because a lot of women are like this doesn\t mean all women are. There are all kinds of men and women, what I was saying is the probability of men or women being this way happens more often than not. As for tomboyish girls, I know they exist, but writers sometimes get them wrong, thinking tomboy translate automatically to a 100% manly man in a woman's body, they must act like a stereotypical man, which is not the case. Tomboyish girls are simply girls who are not interested in girl stereotypes snd have more male-ish interests, tomboys in media are more like feminists trying too hard to prove women are exactly like men like that's their only purpose of life, that is just my personal opinion, I rarely ever met girls like this so I could be wrong.
JJK's Maki Zenin is one of the best female characters in anime, especially if you have read the manga. she is a strong character with her own moving background that grounds her in the show. she is an amazing character, who just happens to be a female. she isnt sexualized or a Mary Sue, which is a honestly a serious issue for male and female characters to be honest. her strength, abilities, and characters all make sense within the verse. she is pretty awesome
To me a strong female character is someone who has confidence in their skills and isn't afraid to show that they're scared when things get serious, strong does not equal having daddy issues tho and that is seriously an overplayed troupe that just needs to die off for the time being because that's what most hack writers think a strong woman is. If you want examples of real strong female characters try looking Ace and Leila from Doctor Who or the Core Era Lara Croft, they don't mess around and they always get the job done.
FOR REAL. SOME OF THE COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO ARE A LITTLE CONCERNING TOO HAHA. It sucks this video even had to be made, but it only scratched the surface. I definitely want to make more videos revolving around this topic and gender representation in general!
While I agree that Mikasa was not written very well, I disagree with the accusations in this video. Firstly her character's purpose actually is to have an unhealthy obsession with Eren that she should overcome, which is even a central part of the story (though I don't like how central it became), so it's not like that part can be done away with. Eventually she starts breaking away from Eren due to circumstances as well as her own morals and strays away from her previously Eren-induced violence-centric worldview. Ultimately she and her relationship with other characters was not fleshed out enough in comparison to how important to the plot she turned out to be, but that makes her poorly written as a character in general, not as a female one
I don't believe Bleach should be in here primarily the examples of Orihime and Rukia come to mind but there are also many other female characters that have their own lives; and or push the story not only for the pleasure of the men in the story. Rukia from chapter 1 to the end of the manga has progressed so much; I won't spoil anything for those still reading but she is not a damsel in distress. However, she is a character that is trying to find her way and help Ichigo protect his loved ones. All the other examples I can live with though great content as always!
Thank you for support I really appreciate it! I can see your point about Rukia, but I still have to disagree with Orihime. She was BUILT UP, the arrancars, Aizen, The Vizards, and Grimmjow ALL HYPED HER UP SO MUCH and then Ichigo stole the show...
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I am personally just not a fan of the series as a whole, I've heard good things about the female characters, but I couldn't bring myself to get past the 10th episode if i rmemeber correctly
Very good video. I think this is only scratching the surface of it - it's a very broad topic and the Bechdel Test alone deserves a serious discussion. I generally agree with these points, although I would shy away from "create your female characters as male characters and givd them female traits later". To me, this reinforces the idea that the male is the norm and the female is the "thing". One comment here mentioned, that goals and dreams should be nongendered and I agree with that. So writing a female character, is just writing a character. No difference between the genders. It's kind of sad that we even need this video - it shows we still have a long way to go with writing women, apparently, but at the same time, these discussions are healthy and can help many writers writing good characters - female, male, everything in between. ☺
Very true Grimm! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! I really appreciate it! It does suck that this video had to be made, and I plan to dive more into detail with topics like the Bechdel Test in the future! I also want to talk about gender because like you said it's not just black and white "masculine vs feminine." I've seen a concerning amount of comments in this video about people just adding "girly traits" or "feminine features." I even had someone say something like "avoid tomboys or muscular girls those are just men in disguise" LIKE BRO I DON'T WANT TO GET POLITICAL BUT YALL ABOUT TO MAKE MY FEMINIST SIDE COME OUT LOL Maybe WE can collaborate on the Part 2 to this video...
4:39 For everyone who's looking for a manga with great female characters I highly do recommend checking out MochiJun's works, the author for The Case Study of Vanitas, like Pandora Hearts or Crimson Shell. They are some of the best manga you can find. Also why does everyone pronounce the series like this? It's not VaNEEtas, it's VAnitAs. (long A, short i, short a, emphasis on the As) xD
Another thing I notice, is that sometimes they force the characters to be useless by giving them a power that contradict their personality For example: Orihime, “so, we have two support abilities, so let’s give her an insta-kill ability! Wait, she’s a pacifist, she wouldn’t use an insta-kill murder weapon, let’s even it out with an ability that lets her negate space and time! Oh, well now she’s too overpowered, so off to the sidelines you go”
Jojo part 6 for me is a perfect approach, they have their feminine qualities but present as bad ass. The women all have more going on in their goals than liking a guy with that role being placed on an actual male character. Jolynes struggle to uncover the plans and stop pucci for me was outstanding as many authors may of used her female side solely as a way to seduce men instead she stands along side the jojo's in her own strong determined way.
This video resumed more of the things I wanted to explain from Kodomo no Jikan female characters, but I didn't know how to. Yeah, is not a Shonen manga, but makes relatable characters both children and adults: they're incomplete, they're broken, and they function regardless of their gender (the Genderbend Time extras and special illusts are a fine example). +Someone who is an orphan, and thus lacks the parental limitations. +Someone who began to being attracted to people of the same gender. +Someone who has to deal with an early puberty, and doesn't know what to do. +And finally someone who has troubles in drawing the line between duty and desire. Plus, has a female author that loves to poke fun of the most common "loli tropes" in H-themed mangas. Always had me burst in laughs. Nice video, both of you. It will help me to improve my female chars writting.
Nobara and Mai Zennin - nobody’s lovesick for boys Mereoleona Vermillion, Noelle Silva - strong, never inferior to boys Akame and Esdeath - boys are an option Bleach women are good, but Kubo just doesnt want to explore them more. Yoruichi, Unohana, Rukia, Inoue are are not weak characters,
I’m a caught up manga reader, Ochako Uraraka will rebound in Season 6 so keep watching. Her growth is slow and gradual but good and building to something great and amazing. Ochako is an amazingly well written female character that it’s hard to tell in the middle of Seasons. Her get more major focus again in Season 5 forward so I recommend rewatching it for the build up of her amazing climax coming in Season 6 next spring. Hope you enjoy MHA next year in Season 6 as it will be the best season ever. Enjoy, it’s gonna be amazing. The manga right now has been incredible every week and chapter 324 of My Hero Academia was one of the greatest manga chapters ever made.
the no 1 female characters for me in all of the anime are from Gintama, in terms of characters, their role everything is so good, I really want people to appreciate the female characters in Gintama which have continued to exist from 2006 and be such inspiration and iconic charecters
I think I’m Mikasa’s case, they put such an emphasis on her liking Eren so that there could be that part in season 4 where Eren calls her a slave really just to add emotion to that scene.
Thank you so much for the constant support Peach! I'm happy you enjoyed the video! And yes please do look into the Bechdel Test, it's CRAZY how many current Films and Television shows still fail it!
Might be because the Bechdel test is kind of a meme which doesn't really help you measure anything of value. The test itself gets criticised rather often for this exact reason. Mini rant incoming: Most of Tolkiens works fail the Bechdel-test, which should mean that Tolkien wrote bad female character's right? Wrong, just look at Galadriel for example... not the Amazon version, she is a well written character with a very important role in the events around the Lord of the rings for one. Amazon's "Rings of power" passes the test with flying colours btw, so does season 8 of "game of thrones". Don't get me wrong, writing good female characters is just as important as writing good male ones, I just find it more important to actively think about the characters you're creating, while you're creating them instead of relying on surface lvl tests to check if what you just created is a good piece of media. Tl;Dr: the Bechdel-test is a meme and Tolkien rules! Rant over, I hope y'all have a great day! -food for the algorithm
I'm someone who writes a lot of female characters but i write them like character first. I mean i can make them like "girly" stuff too but i always does my best to make them other things too. One of my favorite is named Nemesis Royariti. She is at first a high schooler who values money over all things. She is really upbeat and a little bit selfish and started out has the weakest member of the team because she was not a fighter at all, she was hanging out with a team of teenager that all were fighting geniuses and she was never in a fight in her life. Has the story progress she gains a role has the "indic" of the team but also gains a teacher for sword mastering. she begins too be more serious and more helpful to other and now helps her team even in a fighting role beating even one of the strongest foe the team ever gotten (not by sheer strength but by strategy). She also learns a lot about the MC and the two develops a sibling-like relationship and goes to be ride or die (even if the MC has a girlfriend). She also learns the true value of what "Money" is to her when her mother dies. She is also paired up and a rival to a girl who rejects "feminine" and "immature" values and Nemesis shows her that even if you like feminine stuff or that you are little bit of a kid it's not bad it's just part of who you are. most of Nemesis arc revolves around personality and not the fact that she is a girl. She has some girlish features (loves nail painting, do multiple diet) but it's just part of who she is
Other people: *h o r n y* Me an intellectual: Ah yes a good character that happens to be female Found your content a couple days ago and I've been loving it. I was in a manga class but it sadly ended yesterday. On another note I don't think its bad if a female character is a damsel in distress or love interest. Its when they stay that way for a long time with no growth. A character like emilia from re zero was a little helpless at first but eventually grew more independent and less reliant on others.
Good points! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! I really appreciate it! Sorry to hear about your class ending, I hope it was fun, it sounds cool! And thank you for your recent support I really appreciate it!
The way I like to think about creating things is by first thinking of the base. Like for characters it could be “the love interest” or “the chosen one” then add more as you go. Gender should almost always be one of the things you add the only case where the character should have gender in their base should be when the story is about gender or something like that. To me this kinda forces people to brainstorm and get more creative with more and more ideas that doesn’t have to result in one character. You can basically look at anything in a story and break it down like this.
The First 1,000 People To Use This Link Will Get A 1 Month Free Trial Of Skillshare: skl.sh/monitorcomics09211
Female characters get treated pretty bad, but I can do it well.
@@Coolgamer.. That's awesome to hear!
@@Coolgamer.. you being able to write them well!! not the treated poorly bit LOL
The female got it wrong on the dxd part when she said it’s for those 3 dude no. It’s only issei the mc and the anime didn’t do it justice and you should read the Ln since it’s more cannon and shows u more depth to all the characters
wish you'd talk about gintama and black clover as they has great female characters
Conclusion:
Don't create FEMALE characters
Create female CHARACTERS
Short advice but understandable
and the thing is… I understand this completely
Such a short, but impactful summary.
SHORT. SWEET. TO THE POINT. PERFECTION!
indeed
Demon Slayer has some really underapritiated fantastic female characters for a battle shonen. Like Shinobu Kocho, her design isn't sexualised, she's physically weakest out of the Hashira yet despite that she has worked to overcome it and formed her own way of fighting demons and is just as important as the other male hashiras, if you read the manga you know.
Very true! Thank you for taking the time to share!
demon slayer is written by a woman so it makes sense
@@sm1purplmurderedme583 wait what
@@nicolaschenclaudialin7339 a woman would know how to write a female character than a man would
@@sm1purplmurderedme583 ofc but I didnt know the creator was a woman
To make a good female character, you must :
-Write them human
-If you write a female as an expert in fighting, then make her an EXPERT, not just an amateur with a title too high for her (y'know, like saying a female is one of the strongest swordsman and then make her weak as heck, she's ONE OF THE STRONGEST FFS)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! You make some good points!
That strongest fighter in name only is one of the most annoying things out there.
Just write a character and be like, "Oh, she's a female."
This reminds me of Aqua the godess from Konosuba😂
@@catalinasirbu3311 aqua is a godess though I mean she is kinda gag
So writing a female character revolves around writing them as a person. Yes that’s a very simplified response but why is it so hard for people to understand?
EXACTLY! You'd be surprised how many concerning comments I've seen on this video haha. It's easy for writers to get into their own heads or fantasize I guess and it leads to poor portrayal of women characters.
It really sucks that a video like this even had to be made haha
@Jablink as a stereotype it’s a starting point but people tend to forget that in order for characters to have chemistry they need… CHARACTER
@Jablink facts. And yet people will still fall for it
@@MonitorComics and basing it off of a pre-existing good character, someone you know in your life, or a historical figure can make that easier (applies even outside of this).
My personal points idk if they overlap with yalls.
1. Make em strong. When it comes to action, give them important fights, not just fodder. When illustrating a wounded from battle state, make it realistic not just torn clothers around the private parts and the 🍒 for fan service purposes.
2. Dont do the cliched "I am though girl that grew up with my father and 25 brothers, i can do this myself". Dont have women SAY that they can do something themselves and be independent strong whamen. JUST SHOW IT WITHOUT VERBALLY IMPLYING IT.
3. NEVER center their entire character around being a love interest. If theres going to be a relationship make it an equal dynamic, not a character-less body there for the Mc to save.
Ex. Noelle from Black Clover is a love interest done right. One of her main character traits is being a tsundere for Asta, however her personal drama with her family makes for great storytelling which culminated in the latest chapter of Black Clover.
Those 3 things are the main starting point for anybody who wants to write a woman but doesnt know how.
A personal advice:
Forget gender norms for a second and create the basis of the character without thinking of it as a woman. First create a good structure for the characters. A backstory, a goal, a trauma, a motivation, a manner of speach even and so on. After you have already created a good character, you can start adding some feminine traits to it.
Ex. Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen loves make up and shopping.
However you dont really HAVE to add feminine traits to the female character. Its just nice to add it here and there. However even without it, female characters can be great.
Another JJK character would be Maki. She doesnt really have any feminine traits yet everybody loves her because she is a good character.
Hange from Aot as well. And Olivier Armstrong from Fmab.
Just to add on to your advice, the practice of “show don’t tell” is a good foundation to not just writing good female characters, but characters in general.
Also, love your advice!
(From, a noob in writing).
Amazing advice!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights and giving some examples! I really appreciate it!!
@@kt1787 True!
@@MonitorComics thanks man! Also I gotta check out the rest of your videos, I think they’re a good start in drawing manga and writing characters.
@@kt1787 Thank you so much I really appreciate it!
I find Noelle from Black clover an enormous step to writing good to great female charactets, she actually is a good written one alreafy she almost checks off all the boxes you listed in the end
Great pick! I personally am not fully caught up to Black Clover so I can't speak on her entirely, but from what I have heard you are correct! Thank you for sharing!
@@MonitorComics you're welcome, great content btw Ive been binging your videos lately
There are also Mereoleona, Charmy and Vanessa even tho they aren't as well written as Noelle they are still awsome
Secré Swallowtail (Nero)...
@kollie79 true i enjoy the female cast but she stands head and shoulders above almost every modern female shounen charachter, 100% deserved to win that massive popullairty contest
As someone who’s writing a female MC in my story, I really strive to make her a realistic character and have her portray the message/theme of my story in a reasonable, impactful way. So I really appreciate videos like these that go into depth with it. Banger videos as always, Monitor!
Edit: My favorite female MC is Ihwa from a WEBTOON/manwha called Hero Killer. It’s a amazing story btw, totally recommend it.
What kind of medium? Are you making a comic?
@@orenji-sama514 I’m making a manga and novel (of the same story).
@@Rekter That seems tedious but good luck
@@orenji-sama514 Well the plan was to start it off as a novel and then if it got popular, make it a manga. But I do have to admit that I’ve been conflicted about that idea for some time. Also thank you.
@@Rekter Would people care as much about a comic if they know the story already?
I find it extremely easy...I write like I do males just some female aspects. I dont like overly girly female characters or generic tomboys. Just tough chick that not afraid to be tough or have her girly side too.
Edit: Didnt think so many would agree, glad I'm doing it right-ish haha
Thank you for taking the time to share! That's awesome to hear!
this man knows whats up man of culture right here great taste lol
I like tough girls, but who still wears dresses and stuff! I don't like those female characters that put down girly woman simply for being girly.
My favorite type
Dorohedoro got some good female cast
Many don't know about Gintama and its amazing cast. Both male and female characters are fantastic. They can be goofy, badass , say sex jokes , puking , sarcastic and so much more. Hands down my favorite cast of character including male and females as well.
This has encouraged me to push everything else aside and finally catch up on Gintama
Everybody is forgetting about JoJo's Stone Ocean. JoJo's has overall amazing characters and after part 6 with main female protagonist it just gets better. For example: Lucy in part 7 and Yasuho part 8
Since Jojo is pretty much the only anime I’ve gotten into, she’s pretty much my first choice for a good female anime/manga character, yet she’s barely talked about.
I haven’t gotten to part 7 or 8 though, but it’s good hearing that the female characters get better :0
@@guydude1110 part 7 is amazing and even though not many people would agree with me my favourite is actually part 8 when it comes to characters and story themes.
FINALLY, JOLYNE!
Jolyne and the other part 6 cast is awsome
Jolyne is the greatest charecter in fiction is embarrassing how many people put her as just daddy issues punch hard queen when no jolynes charecter isn’t just about her and her daddy issues
You know the female character design is good when you don't actually notice or question about it 😌
True!
idk abt that that no one notices some people just dont even question qusestion cause she s been made look cool or for marketing they wont judge a des unless its a character doing something realted to dialogues and her reasoning
When you don't notice a female character it's good?
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti Exactly!
@@tmariomanI don't think they meant it like that
More like you don't notice good panelling like in DBZ but you do notice when it's bad
You know what’s funny though?
Fairy Tail gets such a bad rep for just being a basic shounen cliche but the female characters are extremely well-written. Other than the author’s flaw of needing the main character solve everything, the character development for every female is consistent and entertaining. They all have a individual story and is still as important long after their initial story has closure.
Erza is a person who escaped slavery, working up a metaphorical amour around her before embracing her family. Though her armour is attractive and fanservice, she is feared and extremely physically powerful. She come sto terms with the fact that her childhood friend needs punishment for what he’s done and helps him regain honor. Her own mother abandons her but she’s okay with that because she knows that because of that abandonment, she could find true happiness.
Lucy(one of the MAIN characters) is a rich girl who had a neglectful father. She decides to stand up for herself and leaves her home, considering Fairy Tail to be her true family. When she to find that her rich father lost everything and is using the “blood is thicker than water” argument to get money from her, she is conflicted and she ultimately abandons him to the streets. Only to find out he dies years later trying to atone for himself by sending her birthday gifts with the little money he earned through hard labor but she was in a coma for 7 years so she never got to truly say goodbye.
I could go one with Wendy, Cana, Lisanna, Marijane, Cobra’s snake, Aries, etc etc. All great characters in their own right with amazing stories.
While I do agree to a certain extent (Maybe like half of the FT females are well written imo) Fairy Tail has many flaws pass just its character writing.
@@projectmessiah
I didnt say it was perfect. Just that despite its flaws, it writes decent female characters in comparison to alot of shounen
@@seraphywang4638 Tbh I was more venting my own opinion than countering yours.
ehh lucy kinda was useless most of time but erza was strong
@@projectmessiah
Oh, okay then
Every female in Chainsaw man especially Makima and Power are great characters and serve as the driving force of the series
True!
and they all tried to kill denji atleast once 😅😂
@@tobias9790 Except Nayuta. For now
Whats good about csm's female cast is that theyre fan favourites and well loved by the community. in the recent csm popularity pole the top ten male to female ratio was 4:5 (one being Kobeni's car) which is crazy since i cant think of another shonen manga series in which its female characters are equal to or more popular than its male characters. even in the jjk popularity poles the only female character to ever make the top ten was Nobara, and even she's never cracked top five.
Just wanted to point out that female artists and authors can get female characters wrong as well. Tsubasa, which was used as an example in this video, was written and illustrated by Clamp, an all female mangaka group. Their work can be very hit or miss with female characters, especially if the protagonist of the series is male.
I feel like the female characters are getting better in the new gen like chainsaw man and jjk
Facts
TRUE
Maki from Jujutsu Kaisen is simply a top tier character. I was surprised to find how well written her character when I first read the manga.
I want to add to the tips given:
1. Storytelling concepts still apply. Have these female characters express their opinions through words and more impactfully, action. And have them be LISTENED to, i.e. the story world reacts and provide consequences relevant to the story. Having female characters do something that ends up not mattering in the end diminishes their influence and power.
2. Show these female characters acting on their own, out of their own interests rather than solely in service of the protagonist (if they're not the protagonist). This shows that they do have their own identity. Sometimes have these characters disagree with the main character.
3. Character flaws should be real, and should have effect on the story's other characters/the world in the story. Having a flaw that doesn't affect anything would make the flaw seem less real/doesn't count and people will perceive it more as an annoyance.
4. I think not all female characters have to be 'proactive', some can be timid, struggling with anxiety, etc. But do have a variety of personalities in your female characters, rather than all the same.
5. Similar to no.2-4
6. Be creative when defining 'Strength', not all female characters need to be kicking ass to be good female characters. Have them demonstrate strength where it matters in the story.
7. Agree with this! Female characters in shonen don't have to resort to female rivalry all the time!!! Personally hate it when female characters resort to insulting each other's boob size when they meet. More female solidarity!
8. To go further - design some important female characters that are NOT conventionally attractive! Women come in all shapes and sizes!
Thank you for taking the time to add to the discussion! You make some great points!
Amen to point four. (And six) Not all female characters have to abide by the tough-girl knock-your-teeth-out trend. There's still plenty of women (I'm sure men too) that struggle with confidence, anxiety, or are just introverts or quiet. Having a spectrum of personalities (and abilities) also allows more readers to connect with one or more characters.
(Eg. It's easier for me to connect with shy, quiet girls like Yuna from Final Fantasy X over more tough girls like Erza from Fairy Tail or Izumi from Full Metal Alchemist.)
How do you do point 8 if you’re doing anime?
I’m trying to study how to write characters, females especially because I’m writing shounen manga, so I enjoyed reading your points
How to do point no 8 in generic manga artstyle?
The most badass female characters I've seen so far were in Jujutsu Kaisen
Great example! Thank you for taking the time to share!
@Jablink we did not ask
@Jablink it’s ok
if you like badass female characters (who are also really well written and humanized) I highly recommend checking out Black Lagoon, I finished it this weekend and it's damn good ^^
Durarara>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
One of my favorite female shone characters is jolyene from jojo since she’s badass and really helps show all the different things you can do with stands
Black Clover's Noelle has been one of my favorites recent female characters.
She starts off not really powerful but mid season she picks up and starts fighting main antagonist and currently popping off against her own villain.
I don’t think they know anything about Black Clover since it is a underrated series😭
I believe Noelle Silva is the best example of great female writing because she represents character growth. Since childhood she was bullied by her siblings, couldn’t controlled her own magic power, grew up without a mother and denied her feelings for Asta. As the story progress she gain better character development on her self and controlling her magic power. She is able to stand up against her trashy sibling and later free her mother soul by defeating the villains who murdered her. Noelle held no grudge for her family and only wanted to protect them. Also she had accepted her feelings for Asta and the only thing left for her now is to confess to him. This is just my opinion by the way.
I don't think Lucy from Fairy Tail is a poorly written female character nor characters from Fairy Tail.
They can have fan service and still be actual characters Lucy is shown to be very clever in the series especially given her power level compared to the rest of the cast.
No she was poorly written. Natsu is her main lover and is a battle maniac. Half the time her magic doesn't work for and the other half is for plot reason. Her team spends most the time fighting each other when doing mission. Sadly she was give the wrong kind of magic to help her grow as a character. The rest of the cast has muscle for brains and are idiots. You are comparing Lucy to Fairy Tail S-class Battle Maniac.
The root of the issue is that male authors are for obvious reasons write male-centric stories as women are not as easy for them to relate to. Girls who enjoy male-targeted works then often follow a similar pattern. Just arbitrarily switching a character's gender is a flawed solution that relies on the same inability to write female characters, and in many cases just wouldn't work.
I think the best piece of advice here is to just consider it. If you want to write an important and compelling female character, just keep that in mind and make sure to flesh out their character as well as possible. With enough attention, you could even have them conform to certain stereotypes, be damsels in disress, love interests etc. and still be interesting characters regardless of all that.
Very GREAT Advice! I agree 100% Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to share your insight and providing this advice! i really appreciate it!
This.
My motto has always been "Anything is a good character if you write it properly"
You can have the damisel in distress if you don't just make it her only trait. A good example is pepper Potts, she is not a super hero nor can she do much when kidnapped, but the moment she can do SOMETHING she will. Her relationship with Tony is also that of a love interest, but at the same time she's his voice of reason and proved herself to be able to run a company just as good as tony could, which is the reason why she landed that job in the first place. She can be defined in simple words: a lot of stereotypes, and more.
FINALLY!!! Legend is back with a special guest
Yessir! Thank you for waiting patiently!
If you want good female characters look at the Re Zero cast. For example Emilia, she gets so much development in S2!
Rem?
@@spencervance8484 they said as an example, so other characters get character development. That includes Rem too.
[anime/manga spoilers]
Great points were made in this video, but I personally don’t think Mikasa is poorly written. Considering the brutality of the AOT world, I actually think it’s MORE realistic to cling onto the people you love in that kind of setting. In terms of Mikasa’s specific backstory, it’s not unrealistic to admire Eren the way she does, as HE was the person to SAVE her during childhood trauma and accept her into his family. While her character mostly revolved around Eren in the beginning, it developed in subtle ways and she learned to prioritize her duties as a soldier (she wasn’t always by Eren’s side, even during life threatening situations) and the wellbeing of others (she prioritized saving Krista over Eren in the cave, and mourned for Sasha). CONTEXTS is important when trying to understand a character. Although it’s easy to write off Mikasa as an Eren simp, she has many moments where she goes through her own personal conflicts (questioning her identity as an Ackerman). She even goes as far as to detach herself from Eren (leaving her scarf behind) and finally let him go (killing him for a greater purpose). She is a far cry from being poorly written.
Orohime, on another hand, is different when considering contexts. Her initial strongest bond was with Tatsuki, but eventually that bond didn’t seem as prevalent and she was diminished into a damsel in distress for Ichigo- only for them to become lovers (who would’ve thought 🤔)
I’m glad someone else talked about Orihime. She is honestly my least favorite character in Bleach for this. Her whole role in the Hueco Mundo arc was just to sit there and whine about Ichigo to save her. Even when she was literally beaten by two characters, she didn’t do anything and a man came to save her. Like come on, girl, do something. Why give her powers in the first place? I love Bleach, but every time she’s on the screen, I want to punch her.
@@catmom8410 both of you people are terribly wrong and have HORRIBLE opinions on Orihime. Please re-experience bleach
The thing with Mikasa is that she is more of a plot device not a character becuase she doesnt really have a character arc that effects other characters in any meaninful way which i think is weird becuase Isayama gives a lot of hints that he is going to give Mikasa her moment for example revaling that Levi is also an Ackerman and then the thing with the Hizuru and Mikasa being a descendent of the Royal family. But isayama never really gives Mikasa her moment
@@catmom8410 her powers arent for fighting
Agree. Actually studio make her like that. Manga Mikasa >>>>
I do have to say that Uraraka has gained back that strong female lead in the more recent chapters of My Hero, she's taken the spotlight and they've talked about her dreams and what drives her
Yeah...not really? 5 seconds doesn't count as taking it back. Besides she wasn't strong since her fight with Bakugou. Real MVP of bnha female cast is without a doubt Momo.
@@berilsevvalbekret772 no, its jiro
@@berilsevvalbekret772 Uh, no.
@@berilsevvalbekret772funny, reading this a year later.
“Talk to girls”
Yeah sorry I’m not cut out ti make manga
Same bro
LOL
*me who is glad they are female so they don't have to go talk to people
I love this so much!! I honestly think the better representation of females we have, the better we will be treated in real life! Thank you both for making this video!
I have one inclusion I think is really important! Please don't follow the trope of a girl losing all of her spark and personality after getting together with her love interest ( unless that's a part of the plot)! Sometimes you'll see these amazing characters with an empowering message who are "fixed" or "tamed" by a man and it's so disheartening! People can change in relationships but when this trope happens it makes it feel like she was wrong for not being traditionally feminine in the first place and makes me and my fellow female nerds feel pretty crappy!
Also older females without being mothers, grandmas or old hags would be incredible to see!
Anyways thank you for your time reading this!
Good luck with your stories! God bless!
Thank you so much for the nice comment! And thank you for taking the time to share some of your own insight! You are absolutely correct!!
Idea sparked from your comment
@@MonitorComics Thank you for responding! :) btw love how you like and respond to comments! super cool!
@@cyandeoidre2375 So cool!!! Please let me know if you have any socials i can follow you on! I'd love to see what you do with it! :)))
Hmm, how fun that a Uraraka centered chapter came out recently that made her look better.
Unfortunately, it came out later late in the series, so Ochaco's reputation is still rather stained for anime/manga fans.
I’m very glad that you made this video, even when I was younger I remember really hating a lot of the female characters that my siblings would always assign me. I remember specifically hating that I was always Daphne from Scooby doo or princess peach whenever we played games. I really appreciate your channel and I’m glad that your channel has been growing!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share that I really appreciate it! I'm happy you enjoyed this video! I'm sorry about the characters you were assigned, especially Princess Peach LOL
I get Princess Peach, but what’s wrong with Daphne? The newer Daphnes anyway, maybe not the old portrayals
Write your characters as living breathing human beings who screw up, fall down, need help, get stronger, and either succeed or fail. Don't be afraid to have your character freak out, not know what to do, get scared, or need help just because she's a female. They also don't need to be a fighter. Just make them a character who has agency and a mind of their own. Winry doesn't get enough love. I have no problem with the mom staying at home. Each one doesn't have to stay at home of course, because at one point in time, everyone had to move as a unit. People were nomadic. Take from that. Hit up some history books. I don't need my female characters to be the main character, as strong or stronger than the guys, or always get their way. I get annoyed with people thinking strong female means tsundere/jerk who knows all does all and gets her way just because of her physical anatomy and all men are all of a sudden stupid jerks who don't know anything. If you have to dumb everyone else down and align the cosmos for your female character for them to be written, just erase them. I'd rather do without. I just want people to be human and competent in what they're doing. I'm extremely sick of all the MARY SUES popping up or females who're called "strong" but they're actually just annoying, obnoxious, and toxic people each time. I get there are toxic people but all females aren't toxic just like all men aren't toxic. And make them WORK for what they want (I feel the same way about gotten and trunks). I nearly punted my computer when they handed the DBS female saiyans the super Saiyan mode like that... So much so I replayed the the time she was Kamehameha'd in the face multiple times.
One Piece is a big three Shonen and honestly has amazing female characters like Nami and Robin.
Robin doesn't get enough action and most females are reduced to fodder control or just aren't given the same shine as the men.
@@byronsenior6499Oda actually said sorry to his female readers for that and is trying to give his female character more impact on fight scenes
*MINOR MANGA SPOILERS*
Robin and Nami actually had fights against main villains in the manga. And another female characters are having more action sequences.
@@ericregis3912 Not caught up so I'm not gonna read the rest. But if that's true I'm glad. It shows growth on his part. I mean he can write however he wants. But it would be nice if he tried to vary his females more, give them more impact etc.
@@byronsenior6499 nah they've had moments.
@@fupoflapo2386 I would argue not enough.
I have a female character who I have very fleshed out backstorys and all.
Though after watching this I feel like it would be a turn off in that at first in my story she's entirely support, though later on she does become the most powerful of the main characters for awhile and isn't just the support.
It would take too long to explain what I mean by this in depth, though I will say she isn't WEAK at all even at the start of my story, just due to backstory reasons she would rather use her efforts to keep her colleagues in top shape during fights, and in one case I have planned she literally tanks a barrage of very powerful attacks for a important reason.
(Ima end this here before this becomes an essay in it's own right)
Thank you for taking the to share! It all comes down to execution! It seems like you have good intentions and are being mindful about this, so I feel like you'll be fine! Best of luck with your story!
Explain it more here it sounds extremely interesting
For me when it comes to manga and anime, Gintama has the best female charecters!They have their own driving factors, their own personalities, and their own objectives.
Great choice! Many people have mentioned Gintama! I am not fully caught up but this is motivating me to go do it! Thank you for sharing!
I was afraid of treating the female characters like dudes, but glad to hear that it's actually a good base to write a character. Also glad to hear that beginning with personality and expending from there is also good and I'll try to do that more often.
P.S I hate how the did Iraka dirty. I like a well rounded female character than fan service, despite being a guy
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti it can be fun on occasion, but when the cat chick from Fire force literally disrupts the fight when the star dude was literally trying to kill people is where I draw the line on it. I like a good fight scene, but when they do that during a fight is where I really get annoyed.
@@monke4163 I will watch it, but it was the fact that they turned a serious situation and put in a cloths gag for no real reason and didn't contribute to much, being the real issue with her. For her serious scene at the end of S1 was instantly snatched for a gag, basically the creators saying we don't plan to do anything with her and don't expect character development. She got a moment of growth at the end of S2 where she got growth, but now it's kind of late to give me hope on it. My frustration comes from just wanting a little better treatment for her since she is mainly with Shinra and story frontrunner.
@@monke4163 Got it, I'll see where I can read it after I'm done with college
I like to think of gender as secondary and character first. I'm a guy and I know nothing about girls I don't even know anything about boys. I just do my best.
Kind of part of why I hated when people asked which MHA girl I thought was best. The only one with half a reason for me to care about them was Uraka, because of her whole family situation and personal drive. Le Brava is one of my current favorite female characters in the setting, and it's because I have no reason to care about them.
In one piece, I like Robin more than Nami because they don't overdo the whole "wooow she so sexy haha" thing with her and even though her backstory was derivative of Nami's, she still feels like a separate person.
Just let me get attached to the character first please.
So basically write your character as a person, it doesn't matter what they are as long as your write your character as a person first, traits second you will have a believable and non-insulting character. We are all persons no matter what we are, so our characters should be persons as well.
castlevania sypha is a good example of a good female charakter
Great example!
Thank you so much for creating this video my manga has female characters in it and I didn't want them to be like the other cliche female characters in shonen /shoujo manga
One of my favorite manga titles of a strong female character is takiko from fushigi yuugi genbu kaiden series and sango from inuyasha
Great choices! Thank YOU for checking this video out and taking the time to share! I really appreciate it! Best of luck with your manga!
@@MonitorComics thank you so much 😆
This is pretty insightful. And also speaking in Fire Force defense it's still has Maki and Hibana. Maki being the strong and badass woman she is with Hibana also serving a purpose in resolving the mystery surrounding the story.
Very true! Thank you for taking the time to check out the video and sharing your thoughts!
Ameri from Iruma Demon School is, while I won’t say perfect as I’m sure other people might look at her with a more critical eye then I will ever be able to, is a great female character. A strong willed character at the start who wants to make demons be proud of themselves and protect her school, and even when she does fall for the main character, she still does her duty as student council president. I haven’t read the manga, so maybe she changes later on, and this is just from my point of view, but she’s still a damn good character, and I bet she still is on later on in the story. Also while I agree with your argument of Highschool DxD, I still like the show and will watch it.
In terms of current shonen I feel Noelle is underrated as a great female portrayal..
I think shortening Orihime from Bleach's issue to her being kidnapped missed the point. Her being kidnapped is not the problem. The Arrancar arc was doing her a lot of solids. The Vizards hyped her up (surprised by her being able to find Ichigo), Aizen hyped her up, the Arrancars hyped her up, and Grimmjow threw out some amazing forshadowing to her state of mind. Her obsession or love for the main character even worked. All of it worked because it was leading to this big payoff. Ichigo dies in front of her. That was supposed to be the inciting incident for her character growth. The kidnapping, the rescue, this unbeatable opponent. Everything the writing worked towards was thrown away so that the main character could steal the spotlight.
The big takeaway for this entire scenario is to not give someone's resolution to another character. Symptoms of that can be damsel in distress or main character attraction.
I think my favorite main female character in a shounen is Fuuko from Flame of Recca. Pound for pound I think they went above and beyond in making her strong with balanced fanservice, calculating and never downplaying her accomplishments.
Thank you for the clarrication! I dropped bleach in the middle of the Arrancar arc, at volume 31 I believe, so I never saw the entire arc all of the way through. I have heard bits and pieces about what happens, but I was mostly speaking on what I knew from what I had experienced. Thank you for clearing that up though and providing your insight into what went wrong! I really appreciate it!
Showing Orihime and Rukia is a real disservice to their characters.
Orihime _willingly_ went with to Hueco Mundo because she thought it would protect her loved ones.
It feels like you're just looking at her at a surface level.
Bleach actually has a lot of great female characters.
I think Orihime is mistreated by the fandom solely because of how she's portrayed in the anime. There are quite a few scenes in the manga where Orihime either spurs Ichigo on when he's indecisive or grounds him when he spirals due to overthinking whatever battle he just lost. The most prominent example is when Orihime encourages Ichigo to go save Rukia in the SS arc. The anime tends to replace Orihime with other characters which really reduces her to a one-dimensional character. She isn't physically strong and is very much aware of this which results in her losing whatever self-esteem she had and Aizen takes advantage of this. She isn't kidnapped, she willingly goes with the Espada because she thinks it's the only way she can contribute.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's not without her flaws as a character and there are some scenes in the last manga arc which are kind of questionable (though that isn't limited to Orihime, Yoruichi and others get the same treatment) but she isn't just a damsel-in-distress love interest either.
Orihime gets shit on so bad by people who haven't even touched the manga and it's so fuckin annoying. The anime did a bad job adapting her character and she was already pretty complex, but just not as likeable. Another Bleach character no one gives enough credit for is Unagiya Ikumi. She's just an average (maybe slightly above) human being with no spirit powers whatsoever, and got barely any screen time but she's already better written than the entire female cast of JJK and DS
@@et.anthem Ikumi is such a cool character, despite her small present in the story.
Thank you for this video, Monitor! I want to make sure that I write solid female leads that can impact my readers!
Of course! I'm glad the video could help!
What I found what works for me is just focusing on them as an actual character first and foremost. I list down all of the personality traits, redeeming qualities and flaws before even coming up with a gender for the character. If I think a female would fit the list more, then that character is a female and vice versa. But thats just me.
My order of doing things goes like this
- Narrative Purpose
- Strengths & Weaknesses
- Interesting Quirks
- Character Releationships
- Appearance
- Sexuality
Good tips! Thank you for sharing your process!
Wow this video was great! It was insightful and provided a constructive perspective for the conversation (rather than just list poorly written characters and condemn anime/ shonen in general). It also gave me a heap of series to read.
I also agree with the comments by Krimanga on Ochako. I liked her when I first started but have felt she has gradually lost her own motive (which was established and could have carried her throughout the series) and she has become a love interest, which is sad because she was pretty cool. It also sadly has not yet been rectified and I doubt it will.
(SPOILER FOR MHA MANGA)
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Okay, Ochako has improved slightly in the latest few chapters, having taken on a key role but it is still intrinsically connected to Deku, even if not romantically at the moment. I think I just find her more frustrating than other Shonen girls because I liked her to begin with and I wasn't used to the treatment of women in manga yet. She's still better than many of her predecessors in that she fights and does have a motive other than love and she has a reason to like Deku. Sakura just likes Sasuke because he's the most attractive guy around, the two hadn't even really talked before they were put in the same team (if someone knows more about Naruto and I am incorrect please correct me, I have read the whole manga but I haven't studied it like I have other series).
Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that! I really appreciate it! Like you have already noticed, Kri is an anime-only for MHA. That's the main reason I didn't interject with my thoughts about the latest manga chapters
I think what happened to Ochako was worth mentioning though because it wasn't until RECENTLY that Kohei started caring about including her again. I thought she really peaked during the sports festival arc and was on her way to being one of the better written shonen female characters
Thank you again for checking out the video and sharing your thoughts!
@@forgettableotaku Nah you are correct. On MANY occasions Sasuke has insulted Sakura, flat out ignored her, and tried to kill her LOL. Her unwavering love made zero sense for me too because like you said, it was one sided UNTIL THE VERY END
I agree with your points about the recent MHA development. It makes me mad that it took the author THIS long to give her a more important role, but tbh he forgets about and sidelines ALL of his characters
Todoroki had SO much potential and ALWAYS gets sidelined for the Deku and Bakugou show. Hopefully in later chapters he can improve this bad habit haha
Yes we need more Todoroki!!!
@@MonitorComics Do any of you like to read fanfiction? I know fanfiction has a bad reputation for crappy storytelling, among other factors, and I admit that's the case for a majority of fans fics, however, when you really dig deep through all the garbage, you eventually find several gems worth reading. One of them is a My Hero Academia fan fiction titled "Green Tea Rescue."
While the story is a retelling of the canon story, there are several tweaks and changes that are made that make the story differ greatly from canon, as a good number of AU (Alternate Universe) fan fics do. But with that said, I do believe the author of this story managed to make these tweaks and changes work very well to the story's benefit. Romance is one of the main plot points of this story, and the main pairing is Izuku and Ochako like in canon. However, I think their friendship and chemistry is written way better than in said Canon, and that makes the budding romance between the two feel more natural instead of forced.
Speaking of Ochako, the author manages to not only maintain the traits and qualities of what made her likeable in the beginning of the canon story, but he also adds more to those traits, while adding a bit more depth too. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that Green Tea Rescue Ochako is everything that Canon Ochako could've been and should've throughout the canon story. Even side characters are given much more love, depth, development, and more moments to shine. I also think the worldbuidling is also given a bit more focus as well.
There are overall many aspects of Green Tea Rescue that I think are done and executed a lot better than canon so far, but that is only my personal, subjective opinion. The only take away is that there a few grammar errors that can be spotted throughout the story, even in current chapters, but aside from that, Green Tea Rescue is a very well written story, probably the best MHA fan fic that I've read so far, and I highly recommend that you read it as well. It's still ongoing, but each chapter is pretty lengthy so it'll take some time to catch up to the current chapter. Here is a link if any of you are interested.
Link:
archiveofourown.org/works/18469372/chapters/43759279
I like most of the girls in Hiro Mashima’s works (Rave, Fairy Tail and Edens Zero), sure there’s a lot of fan service but with the exception of one girl, most of the rest have personalities that don’t always focus on the guy characters.
Agreed, female cast in hiro mashima series IMO are awesome. OMG have you seen the hype everytime erza fight, a good example would be when she fight the 100 monster in grand magic game. The latest series, Edens Zero had tons of female character that not only beautiful but also awesome.
As a female reader, at first i kinda turn off with the excessive fanservice but Mashima really can write an awesome character that just happen to be female. If you read the 2 series the female character here is not an cannon fodder or side character rather have an active role to the plot and series.
Agree. Lucy and Rebbeca are the Main female characters but they're goal isn't a man. They have their tragic backstoties their ambitions, development etc. Sadly People forget about them because they have fanservice
people also forget that Hiro Mashima sexualizes both genders, not just girls. I mean, have you seen how almost all the fairy tail male characters have minimal cover showing abs and muscles, and often times shirtless (Guess who)? Seriously, Mashima, tone it down, please... the action is awesome though.
This is great actually, I’m writing a Shonen battle story with a badass female main character! These tips will definitely help 👍🏻😊
Super happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing! best of luck!!
Omg same here. Im creating a space shonen manga with a female protagonist(who is also nigerian)
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti Oh, she'd be from Africa.
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti Black african
@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti I think that's correct
I feel like Ochako is one of the most underappreciated female characters honestly. Especially after these recent chapters
Yea I don't aggre with the claim that she suddenly stopped being a good character just because her feelings for izuku got more notice it was more of her being underutilized which was on purpose since it was addressed in the overhaul arc and slowly built up afterwards which now has its pay off .
@@thatoneblackdude3333 Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! We didnt mean to imply she stopped being a good character JUST because of her feelings for deku, we were more annoyed she got sidelined after popping off in the sports festival
The deku love interest was a minor complaint but the cherry on top. TBH Kohei forgets about a LOT of his characters, not just her, so the problem is more than just his treatment of her
I agree in recent chapters she is having her moment. Kri is an anime-only with MHA though so i didn't want to get too into it with her
@@MonitorComics that's completely fair she did fall off after season 2 but so did a lot of characters juggling characters is not easy clearly but I don't think her character was bad post season 2 she didn't get any major role sure but she remained still involved in the story and still progressed little by little.
@@thatoneblackdude3333 True!
@@thatoneblackdude3333 I agree, Ochako is still a good character.
The entire female cast in Black Lagoon are amazing, more awesome than the Male cast.
Revy is elite. Balalaika is elite, Roberta is elite, Fabiola etc. All of these women serve a huge purpose to push the plot forward without generic tropes.
TRUE. It's been a while since I heard someone mention Black Lagoon, but you're absolutely right! Revy especially is one of my favorite characters from any anime!
I believe that you should focus on making a good character instead of focusing on making a "good male character" or a "good female character" you should strive for all of your cast to be well written at least that's what I think
That is a good point! However you can't just ignore that women are misrepresented in the media just as they are mistreated in real life! While YES good character writing should be the main goal, SOME people are prone to writing stereotypical, demeaning, etc portrayals of women because that is all they know!
I write my characters first. Personality, fears, dreams, everything. Then I flip a coin to decide the gender, what ever it takes on that's what it is
@@MonitorComics I don't think they're misrepresented in media and, I don't really get how they're handled in media correlates how they're treated in real life. As for the writers portrayal of them I don't believe it's all they know I think it matters on the genre and who they're trying to appease for example shoujo has pretty weird portrayals of guys too
@@monke4163 Bro women are literally paid WAY less than men in MANY jobs. Women are often the target of sexual harassment. Women are often denied opportunities SOLELY because they are women. These issues are why feminism exists lol
Women are sexualized in real life all of the time. A common example is girls who are catcalled all of the time on the street. Girls can be fully covered wearing jogging pants and a sweatshirt and still get catcalled
@@DrGJaggyZ Bro i dont know how you're able to say women arent misrepresented in media lmao. The BECHDEL TEST EXISTS BECAUSE women are misrepresented in the media. This is why feminism exists, because the women in tv and movies and anime are often delusional representations created by sexist men.
How they are handled in media correlates to how they are treated in real life because both are demeaning and a result of patriarchy lol. "Who they're trying to please" isn't an excuse to objectify, sexually harass, etc women characters lol
You do have a argument with shoujo manga's portrayal of guys, but that's a different/unrelated topic
I was so mad when Asuna went from passable strong girl to straight up damsel in distress.
ok. heres why i understand urarakas sudden uncoolness. lets compare it to iida. at first we see him as one of our main characters. the trio. once his serious arc is done he becomes irrelevant, still there but barely being noticed in the main plot. this is similar to uraraka who has now after her short arc has only become relevant to be the love interest. I'm not saying its right I'm just saying its happening to a lot of characters in the show
Yeah, the author has a bad habit of forgetting about his entire cast LOL. It just sucks because he was creating Uraraka to be one of the better written female characters in recent shonen manga, and then just... stopped
It feels like he’s having trouble juggling his large cast. Once he splits them up, he gets much better with his writing.
The way I see it, female characters should just be written the same as male characters. It's not like female characters are some rare, special creature. In fact, I say ignore gender when writing a character altogether.
TRUE
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, while I agree to some extent I have to add a bit. The advice "write your women characters the same as your men characters" is a bit misleading and I should have clarified when kri said that. That statement pretty much assumes that men are the standard and women should be written like THEM. When in reality, gender is fluid so they can be written any way you want like you are saying.
I've seen some concerning comments from people saying things like "never make muscular women or tomboys those are just men in disguise." I don't want people to think there is ONE way to do something, especially when writing characters
Representation and positive portrayals are important so as long as you are mindful and your intentions are right you should be fine! I think it's a little too easy to say "ignore gender" when writing a character because there is SO MUCH gender inequality in the world. While your story doesn't have to get political, you have to remember most things are the way they are because men have made it that way
@@MonitorComics personally I think gender norms should be ignored for male characters as well. I think it would be best to write any character as "genderless" unless their gender is part of their character for whatever reason. I find the "men in disguise" thing to be pretty dumb, as it's saying "men have to be this way" and "women can't be this way", reinforcing gender roles even more. If you can write a character of any gender, change their gender, and the character still works just as well as they did before, then that's a character I'll probably like. "write your women the same as your male characters" assumes that your male characters are also written well, and it could easily be swapped for "write your men the same as your female characters", assuming your female characters are also written well.
@@nerotoxin0661 You make some very good points! I especially like your insight about ignoring gender norms. You have swayed my thoughts on this subject! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and explain!
Personally while I feel that the idea of "Ignore gender" can and has worked I think its simply unrealistic writing if done too much. Like if every 1 in 10 manga/anime were like that I probably wouldnt even question it but realisticly at least from my experiences most females are feminine and most males are masculine, obviously people are more than just masculine or feminine but its a good basis for realisic character writing imo. But of course take everything I say with the fact that im sure I have a very biased view point that just comes down to my own taste in characterization.
Short answer is: write them just how you would write a male character.
I don't think "write your female characters like you would guys" is good advice. It leads to sexism on its own. There's a rather sexist trend lately (in American/Western media, not manga) where, in order to write a "strong" female character, the writer/creator will just shove as many masculine traits as they can into said female character. If you criticize this, you're often called sexist by the series' defenders, who perceive these characters as "feminist" in nature. More often than not you'll be falsely labeled as right wing, regardless of if you're very left wing or not.
One huge consequence of this is the idea that women can only be strong characters if they're PHYSICALLY strong. I see a lot of people these days claiming that if a female character doesn't win every battle she enters with a man, whether that be a battle of swords or a battle of wits, that's sexist. And, I really think that mentality is itself what's sexist.
Instead of advising people to write women the same way they would a man, I would advise people not to focus on the feminine traits too hard. It's okay for a female character to have feminine traits, and for a female character to have masculine traits. But these traits should never be the focus of the character. It's the same for a male character whose sole personality is masculine traits - it's just bad writing.
If your male characters characters are based solely on male stereotypes, then yes, this advice would also backfire.
In my opinion, male or female characters who only kick ass and are emotionless is not a “masculine trait” it’s just a poorly written character that makes them feel less human
And I agree! Your characters can be masculine or feminine in their own respect, just don’t have their gender DEFINE their personality. Male and female characters both have the ability to be complex, whether they are physically strong or not.
Just make them human, relatable, and have characters that young readers of any gender can look up to.
Just facts. All of this is facts. I hate that trend too! Like Haruhi said in Ouran being a boy or girl shouldn't really matter: who they are as a person is more important. (Paraphrased. It's been a while since I've seen that episode.)
I always thought people said ‘write female characters like male characters’ to mean write them like actual people.
This
The way Western media portray stereotypically "strong" females is sexist in itself, as it inadvertently places the blame on _women_ for not being as strong as men, instead of the systemic societal structure built to oppress and crack down on women and those with feminine traits. LGBTQIA+ individuals and girly girls, for instance, face prejudice constantly for having traits or characteristics that are considered "feminine", i.e., being attracted to men (if you're not a straight cis woman), having transfem identities, liking shopping, clothing, feminine products, etc., expressing and being in touch with your emotions, and more.
Back in the day before people started to have sympathy for gay men, they would insult them by claiming they're un-masculine for being attracted to men or not living up to the hypermasculine image society had for men, so once again, erasure of femininity ties to misogyny against women. Same with why people used to say that men should not cry, because it's something women do. Sorry if this sounds too political or left leaning, but I feel that it's something that needs to be addressed.
they never really have consistency with their female character although nezuko and another female character in demon slayer are actually pretty well developed tbh
Counter argument: What is the purpose of the character? Most would understandably think its to drive the plot. The best characters will help in this regard. In my opinion the main purpose of any character is to hold the interest of the reader. This can be accomplished by the elements they introduce. Conflict, fear, loss, intrigue, humor and yes sexual tension are all valid reasons for the make up of a character. Each character outside of main characters are is like a side quest in a game. The last thing you want is for that character to be the equivalent of a fetch quest. If it doesn't help the main story or is at the very least incredibly interesting then its a waste. A good character keeps you engaged.
Knowing you're audience is also very important when it comes to holding there interest. What are they interested in? What have you as the author promised the reader? Is the character doing its job? Keep in mind everything I've said is applicable to all characters. The issue I'm seeing is confusing gender with value. I would say if a depiction of a female character irks you ask yourself would you have that same issue if the genders were reversed? Is the dead love interest any more lackluster than the dead bestfriend?
What's most telling of all is how rarely the worse female character depiction in media brought up, the strong female character. One note, flawless, and utterly devoid of interesting qualities these "characters" skate by on the fact that they're female. These trojan horses of mediocrity are both terrible and yet praised. That is what makes it the worse. A character that would be unremarkable by any other standard falsely attributed merit due to gender, race or sexuality is still a bad character. Don't take my word on that, listen to the actresses that say they hate the trope.
I saw a comment that said
"Conclusion:
Don't create FEMALE characters
Create female CHARACTERS"
To that I'd say create Good characters
Great stuff as always you guys!!!🔥🔥🔥
Thank you Chris! I really appreciate it!
I remember reading a story that actually twists the entire “female revealed = guys underestimate her/want her to stop fighting for shitty reasons” on its head. It was really interesting because the moment the guy started his bullshit the women took a gun and shot him in the mouth, then took over an entire military group, later entire empire. She turned out to be the main antagonist and it was epic. I don’t remember what book that was, but I legit felt fear and intimidation reading about her.
Hello! I've just started watching your videos today and learned from what you've said. It's given me a lot to think about and I plan on watching the rest I haven't watched at yet. Keep up the good work and I hope to see more!
Well I can clearly see a trend in shonen manga. Most female characters are very one-dimensional and exist solely for the male protagonist. When I discovered shonen shows like blue exorcist, noragami, d. gray-man, magi, FMA etc. with amazing female characters I was so happy until I realise that all of them are written by female authors.
Are men just incapable of writing women? Are women the only ones to see women as actual people with personalities? It's very disappointing to find this trend in something that I enjoy so much. But it might have to do with the gender stereotype that still exist in Japan, and in a lot of the world. Where, at the end of the day, women still needs to rely on men even if the character was initially designed as independent and empowering.
Yes, Japan is a very conservative country, so outdated gender views are still the norm there. It goes a long way to explaining why latent sexism is prevalent in their media.
Well, to a female character it would give a personality regardless of its gender, of course, it would not ignore its feminine touch, it would also give it some relevant development, great powers, internal conflicts, weaknesses and in terms of design, I rely more on Western animated series than on anime (obviously)
Black clover is a really good example of having strong female characters
I will just say I completely respect the pause where you clarify your position on sex work, respect
Thank you!
Orihime being side lined is to fit the actual story because that arc was meant to have symbolism and parallels to the Kaguya Princess story.
Orihime in TYBW arc didn't have much of an important role but she was better.
Thank you for sharing those clarifications!
true. orihime finally stood side by side with ichigo in the final arc. before, she was always left behind or made to watch as the main character gets bodied. in the final arc, we were shown how literally overpowered her abilities are. but if you look at Bleach as a whole, there would be literally a lot of dead characters if it weren't for Orihime. so her being a support role played significantly in the story.
This is something American Comic/ Storyteller's have seldom achieved in the past decades.
Which is another reason why manga and anime dominate the pop-culture industry over comics nowadays.
8:33 she's a protective older sister I don't really see as much of a problem with her a common admirable trope is a protective older brother of his little sister this is basically just the role reversal of that, 10:17 ochako is still just as good in my opinion because yes more recently she's been doing that a lot but you can't do too many plot lines at a time so the romance between her and Deku had to get sidelined so that they could make her an actual character so that she wasn't an example of what you said earlier only thinking about the male protagonist and in season 4 and 5 and 3 she still has badass rememberable moments and goals and a personality and she was especially a badass in her dedicated internship episode
Good points! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Say what you wanna say, but Akutami-sensei is goated in this aspect of character writing in Jujutsu Kaisen, especially in the recent manga chapters.
This is a bit late but I feel like out of recent anime and manga, Jujutsu Kaisen does an amazing job with Nobara as a female character that has flaws and grows.
That is true! I have heard amazing things about the female characters in JJK. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to check it out yet or else I would have definitely mentioned it!
Here is how you write a female character: you don't.
Don't come with the mindset of writting a woman, you are here to write a character who happens to be a woman, the same way that you write a character who happens to be blonde or have brown eyes.
Unless your character's identity has an important part in the story the don'r base their entire personality in that identity. Just write a character, then you give them their physical features, one of which is their gender.
Great points! Making this video felt dumb at first because I'd like to think EVERYONE thinks like you when writing, but after reading the comments I can tell stuff like this still needs to be said lol
It's true that Ochako loses protagonisum on the middle seasons, but I don't know you you already read the manga, where Uraraka is taking a really important role
I meant the anime haha! I heard in the manga that she has an important role, sorry for not mentioning that!
You would be correct! I am currently up to date with the manga but kri is an anime-only for MHA so I didn't want to get into the recent stuff. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts though!
@@krimanga No problem, you did specify which parts of the show you were talking about instead of just saying she's disappointing in general.
@@collecter343 sorry for the late answer but even in season 4 and 5 I don't think she's bad, she's still as badass in my eyes but now she is more driven by love which I don't consider to ne a weakness. Especially in season 5, I find her very well written and talented in a more realistic way. That's my view on the subject though!
Something i dont enjoy on how people trying to write strong female characters is that their womanhood is extremely shallow.
In all metrics they posess the same temperament and personality as your average male character but with stereotypically shallow femenine interests like shopping, flowers and cute animals added on top, add some romantic tension with some of the male cast and you have the laziest way to write a female character in fiction.
I think we can all agree its way more interesting when we write our characters as actual honest to god people. Especially women when we write them like actual women, women have their own set unique problems, insecurities, motivations and worries that dont work the same way men's do and that is completely normal, and i think its way more interesting when male writers treat these pieces of the female experience with maturity and make a genuine effort to understand them. Which mostly happens if said writer is married and/or raising a daughter, most male writers try to make an effort but not with the same care as a father trying to understand what his daughter is going through and writing based off of his experiences. We're all better off trying to understand each other in general.
As a writer, one of the most powerful sayings is write what you know, but i'd add to that if you want to write more, learn more.
Even as a man aspiring to write a story about characters and their own mental struggles learning to understand and love each other. i more than anyone understand that women do not necesarily behave and act the same way us men do, and have different insecurities, fears, interests, motivations and struggles that work different than mens, so i believe trying to learn from women and their experiences will make my story much more interesting, personal and real. Doing otherwise would limit my character writing skills and i would miss out on great potential for interesting characters.
Besides trying to understand the people around you as well as the world itself is always a great exercise in general for writers and non-writers alike and one of the main skills for any aspiring artists to learn so their work is more coherent.
Regardless of that any aspiring writer and artists should know that your art will be a projection of your soul, every character will have a piece of everyone you've ever met and talked to, every thought you've had, everything you wished you said to someone, the way you want people to percieve you, the way you feel other people percieve you, the way you percieve others, every interest and every insecurity, every desire, every fantasy, etc. All of your ideas dont exist in a vaccum, embrace the fact that even though its fiction, its something that is the most personal, so always draw from your experience and the expreiences of others to make your story feel more real and genuine. But i digress.
Those are some REALLY GOOD points! Thank you for taking the time to write all of that! I'm sure your response will be very useful to writers looking for more information in the comment section!!
14:00 For those who need it and don’t have time and want to go straight to the point.
I watched the entire thing and it’s interesting as a novice writer to go into detail of what I should do when writing a story. It includes examples too.
My favorite female character in mha is toga idk she just seems like a really cool character with the depth she has with the villains and he goals could be different but other then that she becomes very story in Greg manga that’s why I love her character so much with good development 🤝
I honestly don't like the way newer movies/games write Female characters, they are all tomboyish, have short hair, wear non-sexualized clothes in the slightest, have the exact same personality as well, i honestly don't see a reason to make them female at this point.
I personally think people complicate writing women, women are fundamentally different from men in a lot of ways, an average woman is physically weaker thsn an average man and has a smaller body, women are more inclined to be driven by emotion than men, etc..., but keep in mind women are also people, different women have different personality, so using the same personality for all women in your show, no matter how good or bad that personality is, is bad writing. Have a tomboyish woman, but also have a love crazy woman, have an arrogant woman who cares about her looks, have a crazy one, a calm one, a manipulative one, a gullible one, women can have different goals and motivations too, from revenge to love to fame to power to wealth to peace to even world domination.
TL:DR; theres no formula for good female character, just have variety as you do with males and give them the same thought process as males.
Very good points! it sucks that this video even had to be created, but if you take a second to look at some of the comments, you can see WHY it was needed haha. Your advice is good advice though!
You give the best comments, very valid answers. You understand the difference between Male and female unlike the other comments
@@lan5482 I am humbled my good sir! I agree a lot of people misunderstand the difference between men and women, hopefully eventually we will see better writing for women in media
women are actually not more driven by emotion than men but yeah just understand we have personalities like men and it will be alright... and tomboy are still girl but i think guys are havin dificulties writing strong feminine women that's why strong women are usually kind of boyish
@@stopprocrastinating4181honestly, from personal experience, the probability of emotionally driven women happens more often than not, like women I know get pissed off more quickly than men I know, or get jealous of other women more often, and of course on the good side, they are more merciful and have tendency to love kids and pets, etc..
but as I said, people are different, just because a lot of women are like this doesn\t mean all women are. There are all kinds of men and women, what I was saying is the probability of men or women being this way happens more often than not.
As for tomboyish girls, I know they exist, but writers sometimes get them wrong, thinking tomboy translate automatically to a 100% manly man in a woman's body, they must act like a stereotypical man, which is not the case. Tomboyish girls are simply girls who are not interested in girl stereotypes snd have more male-ish interests, tomboys in media are more like feminists trying too hard to prove women are exactly like men like that's their only purpose of life, that is just my personal opinion, I rarely ever met girls like this so I could be wrong.
JJK's Maki Zenin is one of the best female characters in anime, especially if you have read the manga. she is a strong character with her own moving background that grounds her in the show. she is an amazing character, who just happens to be a female. she isnt sexualized or a Mary Sue, which is a honestly a serious issue for male and female characters to be honest. her strength, abilities, and characters all make sense within the verse. she is pretty awesome
Yeah she one of goats. (Greatest of all time).
You need to watch more shoujo then lol
There others before jjk lol I swear yeah only watch the newer the popular shows
To me a strong female character is someone who has confidence in their skills and isn't afraid to show that they're scared when things get serious, strong does not equal having daddy issues tho and that is seriously an overplayed troupe that just needs to die off for the time being because that's what most hack writers think a strong woman is. If you want examples of real strong female characters try looking Ace and Leila from Doctor Who or the Core Era Lara Croft, they don't mess around and they always get the job done.
THE WAYS SOME PEOPLE MAKE FEMALE CHARACTERS MAKE ME UNCOMFORTABLE
FOR REAL. SOME OF THE COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO ARE A LITTLE CONCERNING TOO HAHA. It sucks this video even had to be made, but it only scratched the surface. I definitely want to make more videos revolving around this topic and gender representation in general!
This is why when I first saw Jujutsu Kaisen, Akutami and Maki are the best. WE NEED MORE STRONG WOMEN!
GREAT CHOICES
While I agree that Mikasa was not written very well, I disagree with the accusations in this video. Firstly her character's purpose actually is to have an unhealthy obsession with Eren that she should overcome, which is even a central part of the story (though I don't like how central it became), so it's not like that part can be done away with. Eventually she starts breaking away from Eren due to circumstances as well as her own morals and strays away from her previously Eren-induced violence-centric worldview. Ultimately she and her relationship with other characters was not fleshed out enough in comparison to how important to the plot she turned out to be, but that makes her poorly written as a character in general, not as a female one
Good points! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
I don't believe Bleach should be in here primarily the examples of Orihime and Rukia come to mind but there are also many other female characters that have their own lives; and or push the story not only for the pleasure of the men in the story. Rukia from chapter 1 to the end of the manga has progressed so much; I won't spoil anything for those still reading but she is not a damsel in distress. However, she is a character that is trying to find her way and help Ichigo protect his loved ones. All the other examples I can live with though great content as always!
Thank you for support I really appreciate it! I can see your point about Rukia, but I still have to disagree with Orihime. She was BUILT UP, the arrancars, Aizen, The Vizards, and Grimmjow ALL HYPED HER UP SO MUCH and then Ichigo stole the show...
Love how images of fairy tail girls were shown and nothing was said. cause it has some of the best written female characters in anime honestly
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I am personally just not a fan of the series as a whole, I've heard good things about the female characters, but I couldn't bring myself to get past the 10th episode if i rmemeber correctly
Very good video. I think this is only scratching the surface of it - it's a very broad topic and the Bechdel Test alone deserves a serious discussion.
I generally agree with these points, although I would shy away from "create your female characters as male characters and givd them female traits later". To me, this reinforces the idea that the male is the norm and the female is the "thing". One comment here mentioned, that goals and dreams should be nongendered and I agree with that. So writing a female character, is just writing a character. No difference between the genders.
It's kind of sad that we even need this video - it shows we still have a long way to go with writing women, apparently, but at the same time, these discussions are healthy and can help many writers writing good characters - female, male, everything in between. ☺
Very true Grimm! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! I really appreciate it! It does suck that this video had to be made, and I plan to dive more into detail with topics like the Bechdel Test in the future!
I also want to talk about gender because like you said it's not just black and white "masculine vs feminine." I've seen a concerning amount of comments in this video about people just adding "girly traits" or "feminine features." I even had someone say something like "avoid tomboys or muscular girls those are just men in disguise" LIKE BRO I DON'T WANT TO GET POLITICAL BUT YALL ABOUT TO MAKE MY FEMINIST SIDE COME OUT LOL
Maybe WE can collaborate on the Part 2 to this video...
I JUST SAW SOMEONE COMMENT "THAT'S WHY SHOJO EXISTS GIRLS CAN GO READ THAT" LIKE BROOO LOL
@@MonitorComics that's a topic for another video hahah so much wrong with that imo
4:39 For everyone who's looking for a manga with great female characters I highly do recommend checking out MochiJun's works, the author for The Case Study of Vanitas, like Pandora Hearts or Crimson Shell. They are some of the best manga you can find. Also why does everyone pronounce the series like this? It's not VaNEEtas, it's VAnitAs. (long A, short i, short a, emphasis on the As) xD
I've yet to see and episode of Case Study of Vantas, but from the clips I've seen, it's really good.
Another thing I notice, is that sometimes they force the characters to be useless by giving them a power that contradict their personality
For example: Orihime, “so, we have two support abilities, so let’s give her an insta-kill ability! Wait, she’s a pacifist, she wouldn’t use an insta-kill murder weapon, let’s even it out with an ability that lets her negate space and time! Oh, well now she’s too overpowered, so off to the sidelines you go”
Jojo part 6 for me is a perfect approach, they have their feminine qualities but present as bad ass. The women all have more going on in their goals than liking a guy with that role being placed on an actual male character. Jolynes struggle to uncover the plans and stop pucci for me was outstanding as many authors may of used her female side solely as a way to seduce men instead she stands along side the jojo's in her own strong determined way.
This video resumed more of the things I wanted to explain from Kodomo no Jikan female characters, but I didn't know how to. Yeah, is not a Shonen manga, but makes relatable characters both children and adults: they're incomplete, they're broken, and they function regardless of their gender (the Genderbend Time extras and special illusts are a fine example).
+Someone who is an orphan, and thus lacks the parental limitations.
+Someone who began to being attracted to people of the same gender.
+Someone who has to deal with an early puberty, and doesn't know what to do.
+And finally someone who has troubles in drawing the line between duty and desire.
Plus, has a female author that loves to poke fun of the most common "loli tropes" in H-themed mangas. Always had me burst in laughs.
Nice video, both of you. It will help me to improve my female chars writting.
Great points! I haven't thought of Kodomo No Jikan in a WHILE LOL. You make some good points though! Thank you for taking the time to share!
Nobara and Mai Zennin - nobody’s lovesick for boys
Mereoleona Vermillion, Noelle Silva - strong, never inferior to boys
Akame and Esdeath - boys are an option
Bleach women are good, but Kubo just doesnt want to explore them more.
Yoruichi, Unohana, Rukia, Inoue are are not weak characters,
I’m a caught up manga reader, Ochako Uraraka will rebound in Season 6 so keep watching. Her growth is slow and gradual but good and building to something great and amazing. Ochako is an amazingly well written female character that it’s hard to tell in the middle of Seasons. Her get more major focus again in Season 5 forward so I recommend rewatching it for the build up of her amazing climax coming in Season 6 next spring. Hope you enjoy MHA next year in Season 6 as it will be the best season ever. Enjoy, it’s gonna be amazing. The manga right now has been incredible every week and chapter 324 of My Hero Academia was one of the greatest manga chapters ever made.
How to write a female character
Step 1: Write a good character.
Already done.
TRUE
People always put gender first, then character, dunno why, has a good chance to fuck up the character
the no 1 female characters for me in all of the anime are from Gintama, in terms of characters, their role everything is so good, I really want people to appreciate the female characters in Gintama which have continued to exist from 2006 and be such inspiration and iconic charecters
Very true! I've seen a ton of comments mentioning Gintama! I'm personally not caught up fully, so I will definitely finish it!
I think I’m Mikasa’s case, they put such an emphasis on her liking Eren so that there could be that part in season 4 where Eren calls her a slave really just to add emotion to that scene.
A good female character I know is Emily from the series Amulet she is the main character and is really well written one.
I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT AMULET IN SOOO LONG LOL. BUT YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!
I never knew about the Bechdel Test- learn something every day! As always, great video. Love having a guest on to add their own opinions too!
Thank you so much for the constant support Peach! I'm happy you enjoyed the video! And yes please do look into the Bechdel Test, it's CRAZY how many current Films and Television shows still fail it!
@@MonitorComics running it on girlfriend, girlfriend right now 😬
It'd a flawed parody test
Never meant to be taken serious on
It's a flawed test
More done as a parody than to be taken seriously
Might be because the Bechdel test is kind of a meme which doesn't really help you measure anything of value.
The test itself gets criticised rather often for this exact reason.
Mini rant incoming:
Most of Tolkiens works fail the Bechdel-test, which should mean that Tolkien wrote bad female character's right? Wrong, just look at Galadriel for example... not the Amazon version, she is a well written character with a very important role in the events around the Lord of the rings for one.
Amazon's "Rings of power" passes the test with flying colours btw, so does season 8 of "game of thrones".
Don't get me wrong, writing good female characters is just as important as writing good male ones, I just find it more important to actively think about the characters you're creating, while you're creating them instead of relying on surface lvl tests to check if what you just created is a good piece of media.
Tl;Dr: the Bechdel-test is a meme and Tolkien rules!
Rant over, I hope y'all have a great day!
-food for the algorithm
I'm someone who writes a lot of female characters but i write them like character first. I mean i can make them like "girly" stuff too but i always does my best to make them other things too. One of my favorite is named Nemesis Royariti. She is at first a high schooler who values money over all things. She is really upbeat and a little bit selfish and started out has the weakest member of the team because she was not a fighter at all, she was hanging out with a team of teenager that all were fighting geniuses and she was never in a fight in her life. Has the story progress she gains a role has the "indic" of the team but also gains a teacher for sword mastering. she begins too be more serious and more helpful to other and now helps her team even in a fighting role beating even one of the strongest foe the team ever gotten (not by sheer strength but by strategy). She also learns a lot about the MC and the two develops a sibling-like relationship and goes to be ride or die (even if the MC has a girlfriend). She also learns the true value of what "Money" is to her when her mother dies. She is also paired up and a rival to a girl who rejects "feminine" and "immature" values and Nemesis shows her that even if you like feminine stuff or that you are little bit of a kid it's not bad it's just part of who you are. most of Nemesis arc revolves around personality and not the fact that she is a girl. She has some girlish features (loves nail painting, do multiple diet) but it's just part of who she is
Other people: *h o r n y*
Me an intellectual: Ah yes a good character that happens to be female
Found your content a couple days ago and I've been loving it. I was in a manga class but it sadly ended yesterday. On another note I don't think its bad if a female character is a damsel in distress or love interest. Its when they stay that way for a long time with no growth. A character like emilia from re zero was a little helpless at first but eventually grew more independent and less reliant on others.
Good points! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! I really appreciate it! Sorry to hear about your class ending, I hope it was fun, it sounds cool! And thank you for your recent support I really appreciate it!
The way I like to think about creating things is by first thinking of the base. Like for characters it could be “the love interest” or “the chosen one” then add more as you go. Gender should almost always be one of the things you add the only case where the character should have gender in their base should be when the story is about gender or something like that. To me this kinda forces people to brainstorm and get more creative with more and more ideas that doesn’t have to result in one character. You can basically look at anything in a story and break it down like this.
That's a good way to go about it! Thank you for taking the time to check out this video and sharing your process!