Summary

• Female characters in shonen often lack development and are sexualized, but Maka Albarn from Soul Eater breaks the mold beautifully.
• While some recent shonen series are exploring female roles, many still exhibit poor treatment and underrepresentation of women.
• Maka Albarn exemplifies a strong, well-rounded female protagonist in the shonen genre, paving the way for future iconic characters.

More often than not, female characters in shonen manga and anime have been a little controversial. The one character that managed to escape all those bad traits is Maka Albarn, Soul Eater’s protagonist. She demonstrated that a young woman can perform a lead role in a battle shonen and nothing feels out of place at any moment.

Female characters in shonen series are usually poorly developed, underpowered, reduced to a love interest, or extremely sexualized, sometimes all things at once. It’s also common to see a disproportionate ratio of female to male characters in most of the popular series.

The general panorama has slowly improved with time, but not nearly enough to call it fair. The Soul Eater manga ended 11 years ago, and since then, no other shonen series has come close to creating such an iconic female lead.

The Current State of Women in Shonen: Unconvincing

Female Characters Still Fall Victim of Overused Narratives

Most of the female characters in the shonen anime and manga of the late 90s and early 2000s are affected by at least one of the negative traits aforementioned, except the ones in FullMetal Alchemist. Though in most recent years there has been more exploration of the roles women can take in the standard battle shonen story, there hasn’t been a lot of improvement. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen are some of the current most popular series, but also ones with the poorest treatment of female characters in their respective stories.

The women in Jujutsu Kaisen aren’t weak, but they lack depth. The ones in Demon Slayer are underrepresented, and the girls and women in My Hero Academia are often sexualized and poorly developed. Even Lemon, from Mashle: Magic and Muscles is treated as little more than a background character, when she's supposed to be part of the main cast. Luckily, Ochaco could escape the trope of becoming the love interest, but she still didn’t get nearly the same amount of development as Deku, Bakugo, or Todoroki.

It’s not all bad, though. Some recent Weekly Shonen Jump series feature well-constructed female characters, most notably the women in Chainsaw Man. Even though they still end up being moderately sexualized, they are powerful and relevant. Burn the Witch, The Promised Neverland, and Witch Watch have tried the formula of a female lead, with mild success, which is worthy of praise, but still none come close to the icon that Maka Albarn became.

Maka Albarn Remains Shonen’s Ultimate Female Lead

Maka Checks All the Boxes of a Good Shonen Protagonist

A good protagonist should have a distinct personality and a strong drive, but still show flaws that mark the way for their development. They have to be both relatable to the audience, and with enough positive traits that they’re also a role model. Soul Eater’s protagonist, Maka Albarn, checks all the boxes, and she’s also a girl. Maka is book-smart, likes to follow the rules, but also knows when to be reckless and questions what’s before her. She does have a special ability, but it doesn’t make her absurdly overpowered.

What is truly worth noting is that Maka dodged all of the unflattering tropes that are usually assigned to women in shonen. She’s not sexualized (even though most of the other female characters in Soul Eater are), and, although her and Soul are a popular pairing, it’s never explicitly said that their relationship is romantic, so romance is never a pillar of Maka’s persona. The fact that she’s a woman is never awkwardly pointed out, it’s never either made an impediment or a feature of her character. It’s treated normally, as it should be.

Why Is the Shonen Genre Lacking Female Protagonists?

The easy answer would justify the lack of women by saying that shonen is a demographic directed at a young male audience, and therefore a lead character that’s most similar to them would be the sensible choice. However, it is 2024, and to disregard the large proportion of girls and women who also watch those series is a mistake. On top of that, many popular shojo series have male protagonists, or even a mostly male cast, such as Banana Fish, School Babysitters, and My Love Story!!. In the end, it’s more about the themes in the story, and less about what gender the main character has.

A handful of shonen manga do have female protagonists, though, the problem is that these series rarely become popular. A recent, rare exception is Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It’s not serialized by Shonen Jump, but it has gained popularity and respect thanks to its anime adaptation, but also because Frieren herself is an incredible main character. The concept of strength doesn’t have to be tied to Dragon Ball-styled fistfights that are conventionally more fitting to a male cast. Female characters, like Maka, can also partake in physical brawls, and if not, have other kinds of intimidating methods like Frieren.

Soul Eater was a huge success, with the re-edition of the manga currently publishing, and the 20th Anniversary Expo coming later this month, it’s living proof that having a female protagonist is no obstacle to becoming an acknowledged series. With all the major shonen manga ending soon, it’s not delirious to hope that the next generation will feature a strong, well-developed and relevant female cast. Maka Albarn has been the crown jewel of female protagonists for long enough, and it’s time for a successor.