This will probably be short but I am thankful that there are mangaka’s out there who are finally drawing diverse and strong female characters. Although, I should say I am only recently branching out of my bubble so there are probably more authors who I don’t know about who have drawn diverse female characters.

I am thinking of Horikoshi Kohei, he actually has drawn female characters that are not only strong but have diverse body types. And unlike Dragon Ball Z they don’t lose their teeth when they get older or when they get married. Although Android 18 never loses her edge.

It’s just to have characters like Miruko and Mt Lady… it fills me with joy. They’re strong, got muscles or are juicy and are just as essential to a fight if not the most essential.

In My Hero Academia it really doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman but if you can utilise your power in a way that can defeat the bad guys and save people.

Also the young characters are allowed to be young and different. There are different kinds of young women shown. They’re not just different in body types but in personality too. Also the girls are allowed to be friends without the whole toxic catty energy we’re always portrayed as having. Sure, there are girls who are catty but we’re not all like that. We can be friends!

He’s not the only author to do this but he’s the only one out of the mangas I have read that has done it.

I mean in Bleach there were curvy women and skinny women but no dench women. Also they weren’t as powerful as the male characters or as important bar like three, Rangiku, Rukia and of course Unohana.

In Naruto… don’t even get me started on the writing of the women. I had so much hope and hype for Hinata. I thought she was going to be as cool as Neji but nope! Where did her training go?! Or Tenten weapons expert… you’re telling me she was never useful to the plot?! Temari stayed strong, thanks girl, you held it down. And Sakura was strong but she got super whiney and she never reached her potential fighting wise. She could have been so much more formidable.

One Piece I thought was better until I realised most of the strong female characters are either Marines or the enemy and we only meet them for a short period of time, they’re not permanent. Robin and Nami are not one of the strongest and it looks like they’re just going to keep on adding more men. Can we have badass female fighters? No?

I mean even Tashigi, girl never reaches her potential even though she’s supposed to be one of the best.

I mean Robin could be it, she’s got the experience and the skill. Although, I do get that she doesn’t enjoy fighting and would rather study history but she also would do anything to protect her friends so she should fight more in those instances.

Fairy Tale I haven’t finished so I can’t speak on it and Shaman King is not that bad but again I haven’t finished it but potentially I can add it to my good representation list.

One Punch Man… doesn’t really have any prominent female characters now that I think about it but again I need to catch up.

Oh, another manga that has promise is Demon Slayer. The women have the typical design but they’re formidable and I love that. I love how sinister Shinobu is with a smile on her face and I am very intrigued by Kanao. although for Demon Slayer I’ve only watched the anime so… yeah.

Those are all the shonen I have read/watched so far. I am going to watch more, I don’t know if Yu Yu Hakusho is a shonen but I’m going to watch it and Hunter x Hunter too (and yes I will finish what I haven’t finished).

Anyway back to the main point. In all of those mangas/anime there is rarely a muscley woman or one who is curvy in a way that is realistic. In MHA Miruko is just everything. She has muscles, she is strong and brazen and one of the top five heroes. She’s formidable! I love her!

And Nana Shimura was the same. As she had to carry One for All she was strong and well built.

It’s just nice to see women drawn with muscles and for it not to be seen as gross but empowering. I also like that Horikoshi lets fans send in hero suggestions and then includes them in his story. That’s so cool.

All in all, I think he can write female characters well. He’s able to write about different kinds of people and he’s able to handle a large ensemble of characters, letting them each shine when needed. He’s not perfect but I like what he is doing when it comes to the women.

I was hard on Mineta last week so I decided to do a positive post this week.

Who is your favourite female character in My Hero Academia?