women/girls in manga

[latara]

I've only read a few manga (rurouni kenshin, black cat, bleach, full metal alchemist and currently Samurai Deeper Kyo) but the main female characters, especially the romantic ones are always seeming to have to be rescued. They're quite... pathetic sometimes.
In Black Cat, Eve is strong, but she still often has to be rescued. In Bleach, you've got Rukia and Inoue, and the whole of the bleach arcs, so far, have been about rescuing either of them. Inoue's only great moment is when she slaps ulqiorra. All the other times she just looks sad and waits for Ichigo to arrive and pwn everyone (or, coz he's still weak, get pwned). In RK Kaoru is ALWAYS getting rescued by Kenshin. Or at least a lot of the time. She can hardly hold her own against anybody, even though she owns a dojo.
And in SDK (which I still love) Yuya is always being rescued by Kyo. She's wimpy. She just stands at the side while he fights and yells out his name - which I've always thought would be really distracting when you fight. Rukia does that in Bleach too. Everytime anyone makes a statement which could have a simple silent answer, she whispers (or moans) their name.
Are all manga like this? It seems like the only way for there to be a romantic manga is for the woman to constantly be needing the man's protection. Doesn't it irritate anybody else?
And I don't mean in a feminist way - but in a "why are all women so damn weak" way.

[db]

To show that the male characters are heroic? What did you really expect? The female to kick the villian's ass before the hero even arrive? :P

[Tyekanik]

This is just one of those things to look past, more guys are used for strength slots and saving a member of the opposite sex is a nifty thing to do when you want a someone to have a reason for some good old fashioned rampaging.

I imagine it would be exceedingly hard to create an interesting story void of stereotypes.

[db]

This is just one of those things to look past, more guys are used for strength slots and saving a member of the opposite sex is a nifty thing to do when you want a someone to have a reason for some good old fashioned rampaging.

I imagine it would be exceedingly hard to create an interesting story void of stereotypes.

Check out Juuni kokuki. From rags to a powerful and influential queen. Its not all about physical strength; well that depends on the anime/manga genre anyway.

[Tyekanik]

hehe, will do. I wasn't speaking in absolutes, was more focused on the male lead/combat oriented shows. am's are bad for clarity :p

[latara]

you don't have to create a story completely devoid of stereotypes... but i'm getting sick of seeing such weak female leads everywhere. It seems to me that if they're the lead, they should at least have some strength - at least, many start off seeming to be strong, with weapons and such, but just end up really weak. It's just a rant, I guess, but I'm beginning now to understand why so many people want Tatsuki to take a bigger part in Bleach.

[Gettles]

Lets see, off the top of head. Shows where the main female doesn't need to get her ass saved every damn day:
Slayers (Lina the strongest character in the show)
Ghost in the Shell
Fate Stay Night
And some other that I can't remember because its too early in the morning and I need sleep.

But as for why Karou from Kenshin always needs to be saved despite owning a dojo, well thats simple. She's and idiot who brings a stick to a sword fight against much more experienced fighters than her.

[skyoon]

Take Black Lagoon for a spin ^^

[Mikado]

It is irritating allot.. Since saving someone doesn't sound like a proper plot to me.

[Nood]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/1181386837646-1.jpg

This is what women is all about, in shonen mangas atleast.

[smach]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/1181386837646-1.jpg

This is what women is all about, in shonen mangas atleast.:Haha :Haha :Haha

[Mikado]

That, is sooo awesome! xD

[Lust]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/1181386837646-1.jpg
This is what women is all about, in shonen mangas atleast.
rofl its obvius some re-edit it still yea XD

[kenicchi]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/1181386837646-1.jpg
This is what women is all about, in shonen mangas atleast.

pretty much the gist of it :Haha

Sakura from Cardcaptors usually saved Syaoran, and i know theres more mangas/anime out there where the girl saves the day, jus gotta look harder, besides you named Shounen manga/anime, what did you expect?

[Mikado]

Withouth girls it won't be fun.

[Ares]

To show that the male characters are heroic? What did you really expect? The female to kick the villian's ass before the hero even arrive? :P

Now THAT would be worth watching.

I know it makes the male seem heroic, especially the main character, but it gets tiresome and annoying...basically when a new arc starts I sit there and wonder "Hmm I wonder how she gets kidnapped this time" or "I bet she's gonna get attacked by some dude...again.."

But really, I'd expect the captured person to kick the villains ass in a comedy anime...

[_Ink]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/1181386837646-1.jpg
This is what women is all about, in shonen mangas atleast.

Misogyny...
yeah, I know, it is all like that.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/3215/1182608969597vh1.png (http://imageshack.us)

[Setsuna Ai]

That's why I like Noir and Claymore.

[M_Ghey]

Take Black Lagoon for a spin ^^
oh, that is great advice.

The lead girl in BL kicks major ass.

[Setsuna Ai]

^agreed

but sometimes it's fun seeing the girl rescued. For example in gantz, on the mission they were supposed to kill Tae...that was intense xD and sad D:.

[Hinagiku]

Although the unfortunate stereotype of the girls (especially the lead one) being useless if overused, that lead, in the manga I've read, will often show their ability to fight well at some point, too.
First off, we have Sakura, from Naruto.
The time she really shines is her fight with Sasori. Even though Chiyo is helping her, it's obvious she has grown. This battle really gives a good display of her new abilities, and the way she handles herself in a fight.And, because people don't want to be spoiled, we also have the example of her fight with Ino, although that's not as big.

Next, Rukia, from Bleach.
Now, until about chapter...180-something, she wasn't able to fight because of the whole gigai dealie, and her imprisonment, and all that. But once she can fight, she kicks ass. That brief bout with D. Roy clearly shows it, along with her fight with
Kaien / Aaroniero. The latter of which being the bigger of the two.Lastly, Lenalee/Rinali/Linali, from D.Gray-man.
She's been fighting since the start, although Road capturing her is an exception. So, she isn't even one of those normal "Oh noes, I need my hero to save me" types anyway. Her moment of shine is during her fight with that Akuma, at sea (whose name I do not know/remember). Fighting to protect the ship, she gave her all, including
her anti-Akuma weapon; the Dark Boots. Even if, afterwards, she's kind of helpless, that's reasonable, considering the sacrifice.

Now, there you have three shounen manga heroines who, despite moments of weakness, have been able to prove their worth. P:

[Nood]

Sakura and Rukia: There were no men near, they were waiting for their 5 times cooler fights. I don't think Sakura needing grannies forbidden jutsu use could be called shining, neither Rukia who should be dead.
Sometimes useless women are not annoying, and in fact give us the best scenes:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sin_gfx/heroic.jpg

But for that ofcourse you need to compensate with real badassary and art.
Both in which stuff like Naruto and such lacks. :)

[legionnaire]

I think a lot of us guys just have the instincts that make us want to rescue somebody. Besides, guys are physically built to fight so I guess it makes sense that we do the saving. Girls that read this please don't kill me and go all kamifeminist on me , just a point of view.

[Hitsugaya Tōshirō]

I've only read a few manga (rurouni kenshin, black cat, bleach, full metal alchemist and currently Samurai Deeper Kyo) but the main female characters, especially the romantic ones are always seeming to have to be rescued. They're quite... pathetic sometimes.
In Black Cat, Eve is strong, but she still often has to be rescued. In Bleach, you've got Rukia and Inoue, and the whole of the bleach arcs, so far, have been about rescuing either of them. Inoue's only great moment is when she slaps ulqiorra. All the other times she just looks sad and waits for Ichigo to arrive and pwn everyone (or, coz he's still weak, get pwned). In RK Kaoru is ALWAYS getting rescued by Kenshin. Or at least a lot of the time. She can hardly hold her own against anybody, even though she owns a dojo.
And in SDK (which I still love) Yuya is always being rescued by Kyo. She's wimpy. She just stands at the side while he fights and yells out his name - which I've always thought would be really distracting when you fight. Rukia does that in Bleach too. Everytime anyone makes a statement which could have a simple silent answer, she whispers (or moans) their name.
Are all manga like this? It seems like the only way for there to be a romantic manga is for the woman to constantly be needing the man's protection. Doesn't it irritate anybody else?
And I don't mean in a feminist way - but in a "why are all women so damn weak" way.

I think it can be a little sexist at times >_> I mean I'm pretty sure alot of these artists don't mean to be (I hope they don't mean to be), but it's kinda a cliched given that the girl is like going to most of the time be the damsel in distress, simply because of their constitution and usually weaker powers. It seems a little dumb but you kinda overlook this sort of thing when you're reading manga.

I don't think the women are that real weak, I think the enemies of these types of manga's know how to get to these "women." For example:

Orihime is only convinced on going because her friends are threatened. Her life isn't and because she's more of an emotional person than some of the others, she was an easy target to play with, manipulate and con into getting her to go along with Uliquiorra. She's not really "weak" in certain aspects, it's just she got caught in a bad place at a bad time. I'm sure if Chad had abilities like that, he'd have probably been the one taken instead of Orihime.

[Sushi]

The whole shonen "damsel in distress" thing is very overused and get's annoying. Inuyasha for example: Kagome is taken every other episode and inuyasha has to rescue her. The entire battle all you hear is them screaming each other's names. It is the most annoying thing ever, and it has been used so much it's no longer romantic.

Kubo should switch things up a bit. Get someone like Ishida, Chad, or KEigo kidnapped and rescued by a female character. That would be something.

[Nood]

The whole shonen "damsel in distress" thing is very overused and get's annoying. Inuyasha for example: Kagome is taken every other episode and inuyasha has to rescue her. The entire battle all you hear is them screaming each other's names. It is the most annoying thing ever, and it has been used so much it's no longer romantic.
Kubo should switch things up a bit. Get someone like Ishida, Chad, or KEigo kidnapped and rescued by a female character. That would be something.

No, that would be just as lame.

When used right its good.
On tzhe other hand it cant be used right in a shonen...so just give up on shonen.

[latara]

Yah, that would be lame. I've changed my mind about this, after reading more shounen. I'd much rather have a hot guy rescuing me as a damsel in distress than be a chunky, muscled up chick with hairy eyebrows and a deep voice rescuing some computer programmer (though nerds are cute! :D).

I suppose it's just that too often the balance is swung too far in making girls super weak than just cute weak in shounen manga, to show of the guy's super strongness, and make it more romantic. And sometimes it's good, like in Air Gear/Tenjou tenge, where the girls can kick arse, without being too tomboyish, but still have a stronger male protagonist.