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Fall 12-15-2023
From Doormats to Three-Dimensions: The Evolution of Female From Doormats to Three-Dimensions: The Evolution of Female
Characters in Anime’s Action Genre Characters in Anime’s Action Genre
Sajina Shrestha
Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism
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From Doormats to Three-Dimensions: The Evolution of Female Characters in Anime’s
Action Genre
By Sajina Shrestha
Dec. 20
When I watched the fight scene between Uraraka and Bakugo in the second season of “My Hero
Academia,”(2018) I was on the edge of my seat. This scene takes place in a school where
students with powers are trained to be superheroes. Season 2 revolves around a sports
tournament where students battle each other and show their strengths to potential recruiters.
Uraraka and Bakugo are paired in the third round of the tournament. It is a sight to see because
Uraraka is fighting with all her might and she isn’t being infantilized, sexualized, or degraded.
What’s even more interesting is, when spectators boo Bakugo for using “too much force” on an
innocent girl, her teacher, Eraserhead, takes to the mic and commentates on the underlying
sexism of the spectators.
“Bakugo’s fierceness is an acknowledgment of his opponent’s strengths. He knows she has
deserved to have made it this far,” says Eraserhead. “So he’s making sure he does whatever he
can to keep her at bay.”
This scene, at the time of its release in 2017, felt fresh and new to me because the action genre in
anime has long been plagued with one-dimensional characters who existed only for either fan
service or the romance plot. Although this genre in anime has always had notable female
characters, like those in “Sailor Moon,”(1994) “Cardcaptor Sakura”(1998), and “FullMetal
Alchemist,”(2009) those examples have been outliers, exceptions to the rule. No matter how
distinct and intricate the world-building in an anime was, from the ninja-filled leaf village of
“Naruto” to the dim noir streets of Tokyo in “Death Note,” one could always count on the female
characters to be distracting or purposeless.
Sakura from the widely acclaimed 2005 anime, “Naruto,” was hated for her “uselessness.” There
have been countless forums on Reddit, MyAnimeList, and even Quora that always ask the same
question, “Why is Sakura so annoying?” Her mischaracterization distracts from the show
because while her peers are given multiple arcs that focus on their development toward
becoming the Hokage or getting over their family trauma. Hers is mostly tied to her love for
Sasuke and her healing powers. Throughout, both “Naruto” and “Naruto: Shippuden,” Sakura
undergoes multiple trainings, but we never really see her progress or grow as a person. The best
she has to offer is her support. “I came here and I thought I was ready. But I can't do anything... I
can't say anything.” declares Sakura during a fight scene in Naruto: Shippuden. “The only thing
that remains for me...is to believe in them!”
Speaking of female characters that exist solely for support, Misa Amane from 2006’s “Death
Note” was the epitome of the TV trope, “extreme doormat.” When Misa is introduced, she is
intriguing and interesting. She figures out Light’s identity as the serial killer, Kira, before
world-renowned detective L ever does. She possesses the same powers and connections to the
Death Gods as our main character, Light. However, as the series progresses, Misa undergoes
Flanderization as her only defining characteristic becomes her unrequited love for Light. She is a
model and a pop star who somehow always has the time to come to Light’s aid. When the
detectives start suspecting her association with Kira, she asks her Demon God to retract her
powers so that she can lose her memories of conspiring with Light. Here, months of character
development are thrown down the drain in service of Light escaping the detectives. For Misa,
there is no career, life, or friends, there is only Light. (Fantastic)
As a fan of the genre, the lack of fleshed-out female characters in the action genre has always felt
alienating to me. Watching a new show with bated breath every time a female character was on
screen, praying that she was not going to be sexualized with a panty shot or an up-close shot of
her breasts, got tiring. One can only stand being pulled out of the intricate world-building of a
show because there is a cutaway gag of the female character being “useless” or a “sexy lamp” for
so long. However, as the years have passed by, newer writers have been bringing stronger female
characters to the forefront like Nobara from “Jujutsu Kaisen,”(2020) and Power from “Chainsaw
Man.” (2022) These creators have put forth fleshed-out female characters who further the plot
and exist outside of the male characters’ story arcs. For me, this has meant that I can watch
without constantly agonizing over how the female character is being depicted, and actually enjoy
the show.
Like Sakura from “Naruto,” Nobara is part of a main trio in her 2020 series, “Jujutsu Kaisen.”
However, unlike Sakura, Nobara actually grows and has agency over her life. Influenced by the
way her village shunned her friend, she vows to move to a larger city and live an independent
life. On her journey to become a dark magic sorcerer, she is constantly evolving. Her brushes
with death open her up, serving to push her growth from a loner into someone who makes space
in her life for friends. During a battle scene with another sorceress who brings up the many roles
men and women should fulfill, Nobara refuses to be boxed in. “I don't give a damn about your
Men Are This, and Women Have To Be That. You can keep all that shit to yourself,” retorts
Nobara. “I love myself when I'm all pretty and all dressed up. And I love myself when I'm
kicking ass. I am Nobara Kugisaki” Nobara is given the grace of being her own person without
being shackled to just supporting her male counterparts.
Another character that has agency over her own life is Power from the 2022 “Chainsaw Man”
anime. As a demon who grew up in the forest, far from human interaction, it would have been
easy for Power to become another version of the “Born Sexy Yesterday” trope. This trope is, “a
science fiction convention where the mind of what’s essentially a naive, yet highly skilled, girl is
written into the body of a mature sexualized woman.” Because the girl has never interacted with
or been around other men, the first man she sees, usually the male protagonist, becomes an
all-knowing hero to her. He is the most intelligent and charming man because he is the only man
she knows. In “Chainsaw Man,” Power subverts this trope by being bratty, egotistical, and
pompous. Logically, because she has never been around other people, she has no filter and acts
in her own way without regard for others. She doesn’t flush the toilet, she doesn’t do the dishes,
and she crashes her co-workers’ very expensive car. All these actions are taken independently,
she is not tied to the main character, Denji, or her caretaker, Aki.
In the end, fleshed-out female characters always make for a better show because it immerses you
in the world of the show. It creates a better viewing experience because the female characters are
treated like real people, not props or foils for the male character’s development. One can only
hope that this recent trend of three-dimensional female characters in the action anime genre is a
pleasant evolution and not an outlier in the history of the genre.
