Anime has a long history of poorly-written female characters, dating as far back as female anime characters from the ’80s. Although the ’80s produced female-centric anime, such as Dirty Pair, it also produced some terrible female characters who fell into the same pitfalls as their modern descendants. They don’t have as much depth or screen time as the male characters.
Women anime characters from the ’80s are either oversexualized, infantilized, or both. They’re ditzy and hyperactive, bad-tempered and overbearing, and extremely jealous of other women, even if their “man” clearly has no interest in them. They have no motivations besides being obsessed with the male lead or gaining confidence, and the latter storyline rarely provides a good payoff.
10 Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball)
Chi-Chi is the most infamous female anime character from the ’80s. Although she was more likable in the original Dragon Ball series, she wasn’t a regular character until the final arc. Even then, she was only Goku’s love interest and didn’t have any motivations beyond that.
Chi-Chi’s character was completely butchered after she and Goku got married. In Dragon Ball, she was at least a strong fighter. In Dragon Ball Z, she devolved into a shrewish wife who’s constantly yelling. She doesn’t seem to realize that life was never going to be normal with Goku as a husband. Her frustration is understandable, but her dysfunctional marriage is not something to emulate.
9 Sanae Ozora (Captain Tsubasa)
As much as fans love Captain Tsubasa, Tsubasa’s love interest, Sanae Ozora, doesn’t draw as much love and affection as the other characters. There’s already a lack of women characters in the show, and Sanae doesn’t have the most depth. Sanae’s entire arc is centered around her love for Tsubasa. Her only goal is to be in his life.
Sanae joined the cheerleading team and became manager of the football club to support him, and saved all her money just to visit him in Brazil. It’s natural to be attracted to someone for their passion and talent. However, Sanae doesn’t have any dreams of her own, and no reason is given for why she has such a strong need to live her life for someone else.
8 Lin (Fist Of The North Star)
As amazing as Fist of the North Star is, it doesn’t have the best female characters. Lin feels the most egregious because she’s the most prominent and interesting woman in the anime. She grows into a fighter, but she’s reduced to a damsel in distress and never has a chance to rescue others. Furthermore, her love life makes no sense.
Kenshiro is an older man mourning the loss of his fiancé, while Bat grew up with her and fought alongside her. Yet, Lin’s thought of as a possible love interest for Ken. Naturally, her having a platonic, familial relationship with both men is out of the question. Worse, she’s brainwashed into loving the first person she sees; instead of curing her, the men decide whom she sees first, effectively robbing her of any agency.
7 Athena/Saori (Saint Seiya)
Saori Kido is the reincarnation of the goddess Athena in Saint Seiya. However, while she had an intriguing arc in the manga, her anime adaptation in the ’80s wasn’t handled particularly well. She starts her story as a spoiled child who’s haughty and arrogant and mistreats other people.
The manga handles her development well, as Saori’s arc is about her shedding her nasty ways and becoming a true leader and protector of the earth. In the anime, however, her redemption and relationships with the Saints are too rushed to feel authentic. Additionally, she gets kidnapped way more often in the anime than in the manga.
6 Rosamia Badam (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
Rosamia Badam from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a character who fell flat. In the story, she’s brainwashed by the bad guys and infiltrates the heroes’ base. They become attached to her, but she can’t escape her master’s control, and the heroes are eventually forced to kill her.
Despite her tragic story, Rosamia fails to elicit sympathy from the viewer due to her grating personality and lack of meaningful depth. Also, the infiltration plan doesn’t make sense. Nobody questions her when she claims to be the main character’s long-lost sister or when things go wrong. Instead, she automatically becomes the baby of the family until she turns on them.
5 C-KO (Project A-KO)
Project A-KO could ironically be considered more progressive than some of its contemporaries. There’s fan service to be sure. However, A-KO and her rival B-KO are both powerful women. Furthermore, they’re involved in a lesbian love triangle. The problem is that C-KO, the object of their affection, is not the most interesting character.
C-KO’s sweet but doesn’t do anything except get kidnapped by aliens. She’s also childish and a little annoying sometimes. It could be interpreted as a parody of anime where extraordinary women fall in love with an average Joe. Nonetheless, C-KO just doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would invoke the desire of a genius like B-KO.
4 Mrs. Moroboshi (Urusei Yatsura)
Most of the characters in Urusei Yastsura have virtuous and toxic personality traits. Ataru is a bum, but he’s also brave and cunning. Lum is violent when angered, but shows love and care toward her loved ones. Mrs. Moroboshi, however, barely has any redeeming traits. She’s selfish, ill-tempered, and doesn’t seem to like her family at all.
Mrs. Moroboshi’s more worried about her reputation than about Ataru’s well-being. She bemoans giving birth to him while he’s within earshot and daydreams about running off with another man. Playing the dysfunctional family for laughs hasn’t aged well and neither has Mrs. Moroboshi’s attitude.
3 Minmei (Robotech)
Just as Robotech is the American counterpart to Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Minmei is the American counterpart to Lynn Minmay. Although Minmay has drawn some criticism, she’s a unique protagonist in the sci-fi space genre. She uses her songs to invoke empathy in the alien invaders and plays a major role in stopping the war.
Minmei is similar in that regard. However, where the original Minmay was sweet and compassionate, Minmei was selfish and entitled. Some viewers chalk it up to her being a teenage girl, but Minmei doesn’t grow out of her immaturity. She’s a stereotype of American teen celebrities who never gets any real depth to her character.
2 Makie (Wicked City)
When the beautiful demon Makie arrives at the scene in Wicked City, she immediately establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with. She makes quick work of the assailing demons and is paired up with her human counterpart to protect an important political figure.
Despite her first impression, however, Makie portrayal is problematic. She’s frequently subjected to sexual assault and harassment and is a damsel in distress far more often than her partner. This is without mentioning the anime’s twist ending, which is an entire essay in and of itself. Makie’s potential as a character simply isn’t as fulfilled as it could’ve been.
1 Kaori (706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira)
Kaori, Tetsuo’s girlfriend, functions as a symbol of love and innocence in both the manga and the anime. Her simple loyalty toward Tetsuo invokes the last bit of love and kindness still left in him. However, her anime version was less compelling
In the manga, Kaori’s murdered by Tetsuo’s enemies for trying to help him. Her death rocks him to his core, and he tries to bring her back. In the anime, she simply chases Tetsuo around the city until he kills her by accident. Although he’s horrified by what he’s done, it doesn’t have the same effect. She wasn’t the most colorful character to begin with, and she’s even less so in the anime.
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