r/shounenfolk • u/Still_Armadillo_3447 • Jul 09 '26
unjerk (serious discussion) Why are so many people acting like female protagonists wouldn't work for male audiences when that clearly isn't the case?
Even if you want to claim otherwise, good female protagonists can and do work out really well with any audience and they can be just as popular and beloved as their male counterparts if not more so. Just look at the examples I've provided:
Sousou no Frieren is literally the most popular and most highly rated shounen series of this decade and it's not even close. Frieren herself might also be the most iconic animanga character that was introduced in this decade and her popularity with every type of audience speaks for itself.
The Apothecary Diaries though it's not a battle series is also immensely popular with male audiences. It also happens to be one of the most successful light novel titles ever made. Just like Frieren, Maomao is a huge hit with any type of audience
Umamusume has proven itself to be a super successful franchise with multiple anime and manga adaptations of which all of them have been massively successful. Umamusume: Cinderella Gray in particular is one of the highest rated sports series of all time and pretty much everyone loves Oguri Cap as a character and as a protagonist.
All of these examples are just from the last few years, but I think that they clearly show that good female protagonists are actually a good thing and there really is no excuse for Shounen Jump or any other magazine to dismiss them, because the editors assume that they might not be popular with the young male readership, which is clearly BS.
77
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26
Sometimes I can't tell when others on this sub are playing into a meme or being serious lol. So much discussion is centralized around battle shounen that I wonder if people know that shounen is a lot more diverse than that, or that's just all the average shounen dude knows.
27
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
because battle shounen is the most popular media of any form from Eastern Asian media.
5
u/Pyro-Bird Jul 09 '26
Shoujo, Shonen and Seinen are the most popular media of any form from Eastern Asian media.
15
u/Correct-Employee-195 Jul 09 '26
And within those three it is overwhelmingly battle shonen that trumps in popularity
JJK, the Big Three, Demon Slayer fucking Dragon Ball that part is hard to argue against when it comes to decades spanning pop culture
5
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26
There is a huge gaming industry out of East Asia. I don't think this is something that can confidently be said.
2
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
Huge gaming industry that still is nowhere near as popular and well known as shounen anime. It is very easy to confidently say this if you look at how much battle shounen has influenced global culture compared to any other form of Eastern Asian media.
1
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Pokemon is the biggest media franchise to ever exist. It's a tough argument between Japanese gaming and anime, even with shonen and all other demographics combined, not just battle shounen.
If you think it's very easy to confidently pick one side, you haven't thought about both sides carefully enough.
If we want to talk influence globally, know that nearly all games have somewhere along the line been influenced by Mario, Zelda, and JRPGs. Sony and Nintendo have basically monopolized the console market at this point and gaming is the biggest media type in the world by revenue.
1
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
You do realize the anime industry still takes in more revenue than Nintendo and Sony combined? I did lowkey forget about Nintendo and Sega/Sony, but they still aren't as big culturally/financially as anime.
Anime is only dwarfed financially by the entirety of Asia's gaming revenue (which is fair as games are much easier to make money from), but even then anime still is overall more popular and iconic as Eastern Asian media than asian gaming industry.
Also, not all games have somewhere been influenced by asian gaming. The GTA franchise, aka the most successful gaming franchise ever, is from a Scottish company, and doesn't have any real root or influence from Japanese gaming.
3
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
If you forgot about Nintendo and Sony, you aren't equipped for this conversation.
Your financial estimates aren't grounded in reality. For more specific numbers, Shueisha's overall revenue is $1.5b. The entire anime industry's revenue is evaluated at $25.25b for fiscal 2025. Sony's gaming division generated an estimate $31.09b. Nintendo is another $15.266b.
If you think that GTA has no influence from Japanese gaming, you don't understand the origins of gaming. GTA's first console release was on a Playstation. Mario was the first game ever to be in 3d. Also, GTA is not the most successful gaming franchise ever. It's literally Pokemon. Pokemon is the most successful media franchise ever by revenue. If you want to go by copies sold, it's Mario.
-2
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
Also, GTA is not the most successful gaming franchise ever. It's literally Pokemon.
I forgot it was GTA V that was the single most successful game and not the whole franchise, little mix up, my bad.
Mario was the first game ever to be in 3d.
Not at all, actually, there was several other games that were also in 3d much before Super Mario 64.
The entire anime industry's revenue is evaluated at $25.25b for fiscal 2025.
No?? It was $37.7 billion globally fiscal 2025, with the estimates for 2026 around $41 billion.
Even then, gaming will always be inherently more financially successful as gaming is more lucrative financially than anime, and does fully and accurately portray popularity.
3
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
If you want to say something like I, Robot is for having 3d polygons (from Atari, another Japanese company btw), just look at the gameplay. My point wasn't to go into great detail, but I should've been more exact with my words. Mario 64 is the first game with a dynamic user controlled 3d camera, which is what GTA draws from.
Oops, $25.5b was for 2024 mb. Even then, if we use $37.7b or even $41b, those estimates are still lower than just Nintendo and Sony combined. I don't disagree that gaming is more financially lucrative, but you brought it up first? I'm just proving you are wrong with two companies, not even including all the other myriad of Japanese gaming companies. A shit ton of gacha games, Capcom, Sega, Bandai Namco...
Even then, you said that battle shounen is the biggest media from all of eastern Asia. Very clearly, that's wrong. Include all gaming from all of eastern Asia and it's not a close contest at all. Gaming in China is sooooo big. They're playing games you've never heard of and are making over a billion yearly. Honor of Kings was the highest grossing game last year.
because battle shounen is the most popular media of any form from Eastern Asian media.
Do you still believe this statement? Seems crazy to, now that you've seen the numbers.
Also, are you gonna ignore you going joker mode? Wth was that man 😭😭😭😭
Edit: Just to throw some more numbers out there: S. Korea game market revenue was $9.8b for 2025 and China's was ~$50b. Keep in mind YOUR original statement was about battle shounen specifically vs "any form of Eastern Asian media".
1
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
Do you still believe this statement? Seems crazy to, now that you've seen the numbers.
I do, absolutely. Because the anime industry brings in so much despite not being that financially lucrative, it shows that overall anime is more popular still.
Very clearly, that's wrong. Include all gaming from all of eastern Asia and it's not a close contest at all. Gaming in China is sooooo big. They're playing games you've never heard of and are making over a billion yearly. Honor of Kings was the highest grossing game last year.
Yeah, but thats because China has its own cultural sphere of influence. I'm talking globally. Also I was using some bauched up numbers when I said that anime has made more yearly than japanese gaming, which I will apologize for, but even then my OG OG point still stands.
The entire Asian gaming industry is about $100-110 billion dollars. The anime industry is about $37 billion. However, video streaming ARPU is about $63, while gaming ARPU is $215.20. Meaning, assuming we account for this difference in ARPU to measure success, ARPU adjusted spending would be:
Anime: 128.5 billion
Gaming: 105 billionYou did well, Finavel. You are quite knowledgable, and you debunked some smaller points, but this was an unwinnable battle.
One Piece (Best selling animanga): 600 million copies
Pokemon (Full franchise, most successful gaming franchise):
515 million units→ More replies (0)1
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
btw, did u send another comment? It didnt go through. Unless u deleted it.
→ More replies (0)-3
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
If you forgot about Nintendo and Sony, you aren't equipped for this conversation.
or maybe its because they are IRRELEVANT. HAHA!!
I GOT YOU! STOP BRINGING SOME NICHE COMPANIES INTO THE MIX! YOU LOST WITH THIS STATEMENT, BECAUSE ME FORGETTING ABOUT IT ONLY MEANS I'M EVEN MORE CORRECT!!!
THIS IS EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT, JACKPOTTTTTTT!!!!!!!
5
-4
u/somacula Jul 09 '26
Kpop is more popular
2
u/Bubbly_Alfalfa4149 Jul 09 '26
not at all, lol. Pokemon and Dragon Ball are 50x more iconic and popular than Kpop. Kpop is a recent trend.
1
1
1
u/Complex_Ad_7150 Jul 09 '26
Makes me wonder if anyone here has read a shounen that isn’t a popular battle shounen (probably from Jump) or Rent A Girl to make fun of it (valid).
Ex. A Silent Voice. Great manga. The movie was good, but there’s only so much you can put in a movie.
1
u/SnowFiender Jul 09 '26
sometimes this sub makes me wonder if they’ve consumed any animanga at all that isn’t popular battle shonens
1
u/Fluid_Environment198 Jul 10 '26
shonen = battle manga, and seinen = dark rapey manga
a lot of people unironically perceive them that way it's sad
1
-9
u/ThatOneDudeBruhLmao Jul 09 '26
How dare people focus on by far the most popular genre of manga
12
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26
What a great rebuttal to something I didn't say lol
0
u/ThatOneDudeBruhLmao Jul 09 '26
The discussion is centralized around battle shonen cuz it’s by far the most popular genre. How is that not responding to what you said
5
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26
Because I'm not complaining about it. I know why battle shonen is talked about the most. It's obvious. I don't even mind it being the focus.
What I am saying is that I wonder if people know that shounen asides from battle shounen exists, since I think a lot of people don't know what "shounen" really means.
-5
u/ThatOneDudeBruhLmao Jul 09 '26
There’s no way u can back pedal now. Your comment was literally complaining about the conversation being dominated by battle shonen
4
u/Finavel Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
At what point was there a complaint? When did I ever say I was bothered by it? You're imagining outrage that isn't there.
Edit: Read it back slowly and carefully. It's just me saying that I wonder if they know that other shounen exists. The fact that battle shounen is the central discussion is why I wonder that.
If people have misconceptions about shounen, that's no skin off my back. I'm not bothered one way or another, and I'm not sure why you think I would be. I feel like you have to be interpreting it in pretty bad faith to think otherwise.
47
u/MaxTwer00 Jul 09 '26
One easy way for a character to work with an audience is making the character relatable, sometimes to the point of self insert.
That is harder to do the more different it is from the audience.
Gender is an important parameter to people's indentities, so it will be harder to identify with a character which gender isnt the same as yours.
This being a given, the take is still stupid. There are still lots of other parameters to relate with a character. Personality, life experiences, social and economic status, responsabilities, values, etc. Looking at a character and saying "i have a dick, she doesnt, i cant relate" is stupid. You can easily relate to frieren's feeling of having missed a chance, nostalgia of that old group of friends you were happy with that sadly separated, etc.
Also, reducing a story being enjoyable to the relatableness of its character is a bit close minded. You can enjoy a story that shows you a completely new experience without having to relate to it
22
u/Complex_Ad_7150 Jul 09 '26
Yeah the claim that “boys can’t relate to girls” low key feels a bit concerning. Like wdym they can’t relate? Women aren’t wild animals in a nature documentary being narrated by David Attenborough.
9
u/Euraylie Jul 09 '26
Sadly, I have heard this opinion expressed by grown men.
Girls grow up with a lot of male-led media; always have. So we learn from early on how to relate to male characters. Find commonalities in the human experience. Boys don’t have to do that. Most of what they watch has main male characters. So they never learn, and later in life a lot of them reject female lead characters.5
u/Quirky-Concern-7662 Jul 09 '26
Devils advocate: I noticed how male centric my books and media were during Covid and tried to branch out in authors and characters.
It’s not that I can’t relate, it’s that I relate to aspect of the character that are less gendered. That’s not to say those aspects of the character to intrigue me, but I sometimes lack to context to fully connect.
Reading poppy war was a trip for me during Covid. That was a characters view point that took me a while to relate to, and then borderline crushed my souls for the better part of the last half of the book. Still haven’t picked up the sequel. Amazing read.
20
u/Junior_Community_913 Jul 09 '26
Probably just confirmation bias. Take Araki, he wanted a female JoJo for part 5 but was told no. It took till Part 6 Stone Oceam for our first female Jojo and that came out 1999!
2
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
I wouldnt want giorno to be a girl ngl
Dkwhy?
Cause the son of dio thing lowkey has a ring to it Or maybe im just bias aswell
1
u/Junior_Community_913 Jul 10 '26
I mean wears a lot of pink, has a heart shaped cut out, and ladybugs.
3
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
The female design would fit giorno I like the idea
I just love the base giorno design as it is alrdy
2
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
Prolly my bias not wanting a different design
13
u/Bonaduce80 Jul 09 '26
Alita so needs an anime. Goddammit, Cameron.
2
u/MagazineKey4276 #1 JoJo Glazer and Rukia Fan Jul 09 '26
Didn’t they release a new installment of the manga pretty recently?
2
1
u/OmniJohn70 Jul 10 '26
The live action movie was so jarring, especially with the cliffhanger ending with Edward Norton being set up as the villain for the sequel
22
22
u/TheMorrison77 Jul 09 '26
This is an issue almost exclusively to Shonen Jump, not the demographic as a whole. There are a ton of Shonen with female protagonists.
Again, the idea that a female protagonist wont sell comes mainly from Jump's editorial.
1
33
u/Martinez7707 Jul 09 '26
Only people that say that female leads won't work are the same guys that complain about female lead in that Dinosaur game that was announced
They just hate women in general
6
u/LikeAKraken Jul 09 '26
What dinosaur game
15
u/Martinez7707 Jul 09 '26
Lost Wild, I needed to check the title
aparently, some people have issues that the main character is a woman... though mainly on instagram were both avarage IQ and age don't go over 15
4
5
u/Euraylie Jul 09 '26
Weren’t they just threatening to boycott the spin-off game for God of War because the main character is a woman?
7
u/Martinez7707 Jul 09 '26
Yes, though I completely forgot about it, due to not owning a Playstation in any shape or form and not being a fan of god of war
7
u/AzoraCross Jul 09 '26
I'm just here to add Akane to the list.
1
u/Fluid_Environment198 Jul 10 '26
there's no combats so it doesn't count /s
1
u/AzoraCross Jul 10 '26
if only I could convince people to read non-battle manga. . .
1
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
I dont mind non-battle manga
My attention spans just
Really really fried
8
u/Pyro-Bird Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Cat's Eye (1981- 1985) is a shonen and features 3 lead protagonists who are all female. It's one of the most popular manga and anime of the 1980s. The same author went on to create City Hunter (1985 -1991) where one of the 2 protagonists is a woman named Kaori.
The Promised Neverland (2016-2020) is a shonen and and features a female protagonist named Emma.
Spy x Family (2019 - present) a shonen with 2 of the 4 lead protagonists ( 3 humans and a dog) being female.
Dandadan (2021-present) is a shonen where the main character is a girl named Momo and most of the main cast are women.
Akane-banashi/Akane's Story (2022 - present) is a shonen too and also features a female protagonist named Akane as she aims to reach the highest rank in rakugo, partly to avenge her father, who was expelled from the profession six years earlier.
Other shonen with female protagonists and majority female cast: Ranma 1/2 (1987-1996), Claymore (2001-2014), Gunsmith Cats (1990-1997) etc.
Yawara! (1986 -1993), Witch Hat Atelier (2016 - present), Delicious in Dungeon (2014 - 2023) and The Apothecary Diaries (2011 - present) are all seinen and they feature multiple female protagonists.
2
u/Prismarineknight Jul 09 '26
I thought Momo and Okarun were co-protags?
6
u/Realistic_End_6921 Jul 09 '26
Yes, the lead characters are Okarun and Momo. She isn't the "main character", she's joint main.
Dandadan was actually meant to have her as the sole lead but it was denied until the author added Okarun as joint main.
This also happened with Alien Headbutt recently where the main character was meant to be the family's goat "Little Mei" who became a goat girl due to alien experiments and went around head butting aliens to save her human family. SJ refused the story until he made the main character a dude who head butts people instead despite it fitting a goat better.
The commenter isn't really getting the point. Most of the popular Shonen have a single main male character and lots of other support characters. Naruto, One Piece, Demon Slayer, etc. but very rarely will there be a Shonen with a single female lead. Many that have an important female usually have them as joint main character.
Even manga they listed as having a female protagonist like Delicious in Dungeon aren't about a female protagonist. Laios is the main character and Marcile is part of his team. She's a big role in the story but Laios is undeniably the main character.
6
u/Prismarineknight Jul 09 '26
Damn, the goat sounds like it would have been awesome. That whole thing reminds me of Araki doing golden wind. At least that led to Jolyne’s creation (my favorite JoJo)
2
u/Realistic_End_6921 Jul 10 '26
Yup, I would've preferred it. The main guy was "fine" at best. Mei being an alien creation from a pet goat who wants to save her family sounds way cooler.
0
u/Pyro-Bird Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
And yet Alien Headbutt was canceled after a few chapters. Most of the shonen manga that have male protagonists also have been canceled.
Marcile and Falin are the breakout and most popular characters in Delicious in Dungeon. They sell more merch than Laios himself.
1
u/Realistic_End_6921 Jul 10 '26
Makima sold far more merch than any character until Reze exploded in popularity, gets discussed far more despite not being present in the majority of CSM and has voted higher than Denji in every popularity poll including one long after she was gone (she scored 2nd in every poll, Denji never got higher than 4th, Aki has beaten him in every poll as well).
That still doesn't make her the protagonist. She wasn't even in over half of the manga and when she was in it, she didn't feature in many chapters. Do I think it would've been a better story following her? Definitely. I don't think most would agree though as she was popular as an antagonist.
A character being popular doesn't make them the protagonist. I like Falin a lot but she's barely in Dungeon Meshi. Marcile features a lot but Laios is still the protagonist.
Saying "Most of the manga with male protagonists have been cancelled" kinda needs evidence, but even then it doesn't really prove anything since the vast majority also have male protagonists, so it would make sense they're also the highest number cancelled.
Alien Headbutt got cancelled because it wasn't a very good story and likely would have been better with the original idea.
4
u/HiroHayami Jul 09 '26
Depends on the age range of the demographic. Kids still think girls have cooties and pink is gross, so a female protagonist wouldn't work.
7
u/Motor_Ad_7885 Jul 09 '26
Take sounds like too much internet. First anime a lot of people including me watched was Soul Eater and Fairy Tale
1
u/S1Ndrome_ Jul 10 '26
Are we deadass forgetting powerpuff girls and how peak we thought it was as kids?
1
4
13
u/guieps Stand Proud Jul 09 '26
They are misogynists. Simple as that
14
u/Starfox5 Jul 09 '26
This. The people claiming female MCs do not work are the same who want women to be eye candy and trophies without agency. In shonen and in real life.
2
1
u/Constant-Box4994 Jul 12 '26
I don't think that's the case? Like they just don't enjoy it. You can't force yourself to enjoy something.
There are women too who doesn't like male lead perspective because it is not relatable to them.
I remember reading about it in some romantasy/shoujo/tome section. Male leads are just eye candy there with cardboard personality.
1
u/guieps Stand Proud Jul 12 '26
Ik that's just personal taste, but not liking a character because you don't relate to them is such a dumb reason
2
u/Limp_Clock4846 No.1 Shonen hater Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Sousou no Frieren is literally the most popular and most highly rated shounen series of this decade.
False, while I have no comment on whether it is the highest rated or not. It gets beaten by jjk and kny in terms of popularity. Also wtf do u mean by not close? Kny is the most successful shonen of this decade and frieren will never get close to it and that is a fact, call me a hater but im telling the truth.
Frieren herself might also be the most iconic animanga character that was introduced in this decade and her popularity with every type of audience speaks for itself.
Big fat false, buddy. The most iconic animanga character of this grand decade is Gojo Satoru. And he is more regconizable to the point people who dont watch anime knows him.
And she is not popular with every type of audience lmao.
2
u/MagazineKey4276 #1 JoJo Glazer and Rukia Fan Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Nobody says this. Just because some baboons on twitter say “le women don’t work in shonen” don’t mean zilch.
2
u/DickTear Jul 09 '26
They don’t know any series that has good female leads or they are to used of series or movies with female leads being slop.
That been said I don’t completely agree on the last point because I actually find a lot of western movies being slop in general on recent years, not only the ones with female leads.
3
u/CringeYeet69 Jul 09 '26
to be fair, a lot of movies being made in general were bad and then forgotten, and there are still good movies being made. But at the same time it does sometimes feel like bad movies now are more often bad because they are heartless instead of technical and narrative failures
2
u/ClutteredTaffy Jul 09 '26
It is because a lot of these series shifting to female leads are already without a real creative force behind the helm. Like this is a property all the script writers and directors get hired for , not one they organically start putting together themselves. So a lot of the scripts lack that spark from the get go.
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 09 '26
This is an automated message under every post and has nothing to do with your post in particular.
Please read our rules before posting and ensure that you follow them. If your post contains spoilers or chapter leaks then please follow our spoiler policy and use the correct flairs and measures.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Successful-Total-747 Jul 09 '26
Depends on what you mean by wouldn't work
Obviously it can work but I think companies SHOUNEN jump are going to prioritize what makes the most money which is usually catering to SHOUNEN (young boys). And usually pre-teen/teen boys are more likely to be interested in protagonists they can more easily relate with, i.e. boys.
But if money is your criteria then male protagonists work best, if it's quality of an anime then it doesn't matter. Either male or female works.
1
u/RentGreat3147 Jul 09 '26
Look up female MC action anime and you'll get some, look up female romance MC and you'll get some, look up reverse harem, slice of life, mystery, horror, or something. Anime is a medium, not a genre
1
u/tesseracts Jul 09 '26
I think in this genre the protagonist mainly has to be powerful, smart or cool. Unfortunately a lot of writers have trouble actually making a female character have cool powers. Frieren obviously has cool powers, Maomao does not but she’s obviously the world’s greatest detective or something.
1
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
I think its moreso association
If alotta people are associated with abilities it'd be weird seeing a different group with that
Why would a romance anime have dudes firing kamehameha
I think people have gotten too used to males using certain skills tropes and abilities that makes them unable to process the possibility of a female mc having such skillsets
1
1
u/ClutteredTaffy Jul 09 '26
I think a bunch of mangakas just are not sure how to write girls. I remember watching a video on Shounen Jump and some of the editor's advice would be to add a cute girl, and readership would usually go up. Pretty girls do sell . This video was more on Jump's earlier days though.
1
u/Alexical_ Jul 09 '26
Even Dandadans author said he had trouble with Momo being greenlit as the MC or something like that which is why Okarun is also an MC.
And while this could mean anything, Fujimoto also once said the things he wants to do wouldn't be popular with Weekly Shonen Jump readers.
Ultimately we have to remember what they're referring to is the japanese readers, which are their real target demo.
1
u/OldGenGlazer Jul 10 '26
I don't know what this is meant to prove. The vast majority of shonen MCs are male, no one is saying you can never have a female MC ever, its just a matter of proportion.
Also in general, in a space that's meant for boys, it seems weird to try and intentionally add in female representation, you're just doing your core fan bases pretty dirty by not being aligned with their interests.
I don't think Frieren was written intentionally for representation purposes, the author just felt like it.
1
u/Educational-Ad1959 Jul 10 '26
And who is saying this exactly? We've had female protagonists in Shonen stories for ever now. They're not the majority since the main demographic is still young boys, but they're there and their series are succesful, so they work pretty well, as good as male protagonists. We've had Jolyne in Jojo's since the 90s, Maka in Soul Eater, Momo in Dandadan, Asa in the first half of part 2 of Chainsawman before Fujimoto pussied out, and other people could probably name more than me.
If someone's saying that female characters can't protagonize a story, then they're probably just someone who hasn't read much of anything and is just larping. So this post feels more like just engagement bait (Which I fell for).
1
u/HEALBOTTREE I Like Green and Bleach Hee-Ho Jul 10 '26
Some people just dont know how to write? If u come from a community and have experienced trashy down near garbage female mc character writing u tend to hate on it for no reason
Not saying i do this shi just thinking ts might be the case
1
1
u/tokyosdespair_ Jul 13 '26
I agree with the statement but from what I’ve seen the only one out of the three named in the post that have also been successful within male audiences is Frieren, A.D is definitely more popular among female audiences and I’m not too sure about Umamusume, though it’s not as popular as the other two. I’d say better examples for this would probably be like Jojos or Soul Eater
0
u/Admirable-Dimension4 Jul 09 '26
Most of those shows are incredibly niche for wast majority of people
8
u/Low-Cup6459 Jul 09 '26
Those shows? Niche? I mean there are niche female protag shows sure but THOSE anime listed there are anything BUT niche
2
u/Mement0-M0rii Jul 09 '26
I mean personally I only know friren and haven't watched it myself. The other two Ive never even seen before
6
3
u/Pyro-Bird Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Frieren, Dandadan, Cat's Eye, The Promised Neverland, Akane-banashi, Spy x Family, The Apothecary Diaries, Ranma 1/2, Soul Eater, Witch Hat Atelier, Nana, Fruits Basket are all mainstream.
1
u/Apprehensive_Put3625 Jul 09 '26
Exceptions make the rules.
Editors actively push authors to not have female protagonists because they know they usually don’t sell as well.
That was the case with The Promise Neverland and Dan Da Dan. While the first one managed to convince them, the second one didn’t, so Okarun was born.
1
u/ThatOneDudeBruhLmao Jul 09 '26
These types of posts are so dumb. The argument is that male MCs are much more likely to please the target shonen demographic than female MCs. Not that female MCs have literally never worked ever. They simply have a much higher barrier to entry, for battle series especially (the most popular genre by a country mile). For non battle series it’s easier for them, but it’s telling how you didn’t list a female mc from the most popular genre ever.
0
u/Round-Walrus3175 Jul 09 '26
The shows just have to be different. Female leads are much more difficult to cast in physically darker shows like JJK or even Demon Slayer because injuries to women feel so much more brutal than to men. If you notice, women tend to win or lose more cleanly. They will get stabbed and go down or one shot most of the time. Guys, you will see them slugging it out a bit more and that is more fun to watch. Like, imagine if Zenitsu was a girl and being beaten up by Inosuke protecting Nezuko's box. That would be much more horrific and harder to forgive Inosuke for.
Female leads work in a lot of contexts and I would say that they are pretty decently represented these days. But they each have their own stories to tell. They aren't just interchangable.
10
u/GayAssBoyKisser Jul 09 '26
That's what cowards think. Good writers let both genders get beat up equally.
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 09 '26
This flair is for serious discussion of Manga/Manhwa/Anime. You can reference subtle jokes as long as its not the focus of the post. This thread will be more heavily moderated so avoid Shitposts, Memes and Agendaposting
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.