After my post about finding a common thread among someone's favorite anime characters, a good friend brought up the suggestion that I should make a list of the female characters I admire as well, to get a more complete picture. In truth I hadn't even noticed there were no women featured in the list, but this also brings up an irritation I have with anime in general.
Too many shows I've watched just don't have a female character with a strong enough story to make them believable--at least, to me. My friend certainly has a point that many of them just aren't old enough to have such a history behind them, while male characters are generally a little older and/or have a deeper backstory. Looking back on my previous "favorites" list, I noticed only one of them was under 20...and Sasuke has enough backstory to practically drown in.
Women in anime, in my opinion, are too often shown as being largely reactive to their environment rather than acting from something within themselves. I get the feeling this has a lot to do with what I mentioned above: that they're just too young to have that kind of personal revelation. It might be due to the fact that the most popular animes seem to feature high school life that there aren't more women over 18.
Those characters that do act from an inner strength and personal resolve tend to be portrayed as masculine, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the reality that she's a woman--except for the shots we see of her only half-covered. (Stand Alone Complex's Motoko Kusanagi comes to mind immediately.)
When they do have an interesting history (Scrapped Princess' Raquel, anyone? .hack's BT?) it isn't always given as much time as it should to be explored. As a result, there aren't many female characters I can really call a "favorite" for the simple fact that they rarely live up to my expectations.
That said, after thinking back to the animes I can remember watching, three characters in particular stand out in my mind as having been able to stand apart from the others, finding something to fight for (instead of merely reacting to their environment). In no particular order:
1. Saya, Blood +
If you've watched the anime, it's impossible to forget her name...especially since that single word makes up 85% of Haji's vocabulary. Now, see, this is what I mean--she has a pretty fascinating backstory, but she's also over a century old. Anyone is bound to pick up some baggage along the way. While I had some issues with the violence level in Blood +, I admired the fact she wasn't afraid to cry just as much as she wasn't afraid to fight.
2. Tohru Honda, Fruits Basket
Yes, I know. Strange that I would choose a character from a comedy as a favorite, right? Truth is, Tohru is kind of special to me. Back when my mother was having heart surgery and my family wasn't sure if she would live, I started reading Fruits Basket as a distraction. The way Tohru was able to stay so focused on moving ahead with her life, even when her world literally crashed down on her, was nothing short of inspirational.
3. Sakura Haruno, Naruto
Yet another Naruto character. Although she's fairly young at the start of the series, she's far from a "reactionary" character. This may be due to the fact that the Naruto series is long enough to devote entire episodes to her development. By losing the person she loved most, she ended up finding her inner strength by choosing her own path to becoming a ninja.
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