I want anime with awesome female protagonists

[Lelouch Le Brittania]

I'm tired of watching anime where only the male protagonists are awesome (I still love you Lelouch) but I can't find equally awesome female protagonists. By awesome female I don't mean some testosterone high female dog (no profanity) or moe/fan service object, but awesome in the way Lelouch was awesome, where he was intelligent, kind at times, conflicted, complex, congenial, etc. It's that multifaceted nature of male protagonists that I don't see a lot of for their female counterparts, presumably because most anime directors and mangakas are disproportionately male or are catering to mostly male demographics. Nowadays when female characters are used in anime its for disgusting and obscene fan service or making them act completely unfemale, when in reality females have their own unique characteristics that shouldn't be conflated with male's, but at the same time no female can be reduced to some caricature (looking at you Kishimoto). I love Katara from Avatar, but she wasn't the protagonist of the show, yet to me she's the perfect example of a perfectly written female character.

My favorite female protagonist however is Fa Mulan, for being unique in not being a stereotypical damsel distress/subservient object while at the same time retaining her female persona even while literally having to dress up and act as a man. I know Mulan's not an anime, but it's the perfect example of a female character that I can relate to while finding epic and amazing.

Please no sailor moon. I saw it as a kid already and was my favorite show after W.I.T.C.H. (I loved that show to death, easily the most underrated show on TV I've ever watched)

 

[SumnNarutoRelated]

read my manga then! the main protag is a female.

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well.....she hasn't been introduced yet, but soon!!

 

[Reraru]

Akuma no riddle is somewhat like that.

 

[6thHokage]

Kill La Kill

 

[Brooks]

Akame from Akame Ga Kill and Revy(she has the nature of a psychopath at times) from Black Lagoon (I prefer my girl Roberta much more though).

 

[iNotorious]

Jormungand
Black Lagoon
Ergo Proxy
Claymore
Ghost in the Shell
Paprika
Kara no Kyoukai
Serial Experiments lain
A Certain Scientific Railgun
Canaan
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Kill la Kill

 

[Lelouch Le Brittania]

Kill La Kill

It's worth mentioning I have little to no tolerance for anime which shamelessly deluge fan service, hence why I've never watched Fairy Tail past the first 5 episodes. Kill la Kill overdoes it with the fan service, a bane that irks me to no end. Even Code Geass, my favorite anime, drove me nuts with the fan service in R2, and that's my favorite anime ever I'm talking about

 

[Venomous Cobra]

Ghost in the Shell

 

[Lariatoo]

Go watch Hellsing then.

Integra is alongside Konan (I honestly have no clue of Krona's gender so he/she/it doesn't count) my favorite female character in all anime and for a reason.
She is 23 year old girl who runs an anti Vampire organization, emanates autorithy and is respected by both her peers and enemies (those guys being Alucard and Vampire nazis, só that's no small feat)
All in all, Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing is a baddass whitout having to move a finger.

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[Made in Heaven]

It's worth mentioning I have little to no tolerance for anime which shamelessly deluge fan service, hence why I've never watched Fairy Tail past the first 5 episodes. Kill la Kill overdoes it with the fan service, a bane that irks me to no end. Even Code Geass, my favorite anime, drove me nuts with the fan service in R2, and that's my favorite anime ever I'm talking about

Damn, same here. I couldn't stand fairy tail past the first few episodes, and stopped watching Kill La Kill like 10 minutes into the first episode. The only reason I even bothered with KLK anyways was because the protag looked like Shadow

 

[Lariatoo]

And since you mentioned Fa Mulan, non anime examples of female characters that are great whitout being either of the extremes "useless fan service" or "feminist superwoman" are Coraline, pratically any female from Avatar (but specially Azula) and Tangled. All show nuanced humane characters, who have both qualities and flaws while still being likable and believable.

Edit: Holy crap! You're girl?
I just saw that.
Duuude... That's so weird...

 

[Lelouch Le Brittania]

Damn, same here. I couldn't stand fairy tail past the first few episodes, and stopped watching Kill La Kill like 10 minutes into the first episode. The only reason I even bothered with KLK anyways was because the protag looked like Shadow

Finally someone who shares the same revulsion and distaste for gratuitous fan service, I thought the day would never come. I can't tell you how fan service is the pitfall of anime, it has reached such colossal proportions that the UN thought of banning anime as child porn. SMH....

 

[Ańbu Juniør]

Watch Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

 

[-Punk-]

Akame Ga Kill
Beyond the boundary
Psycho Pass
Ergo Proxy
Coppelion
Black Lagoon( Roberta is best tho )

Enjoy

 

[Aoihime]

I really suggest you watch Akatsuki no Yona.

 

[DominiqueX]

Watch Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Yessss!
Also, Shinsekai Yori. They are both wonderful.

I'd also recommend "The Legend of Korra". It's not really an anime, but was animated by a korean studio, so for me it does count The first two seasons are not soo well done, but the 3rd and 4th are totally amazing.

 

[Jinrou]

Well you can't blame the mangakas. They are trying to save their country as the Japanese are slowly dying out.
As stated above, you could try Shinsekai Yori. Saki Watanabe (though no Lelouch) was still an awesome female lead.
And though Psychopathic, Gasai Yuno of Mirai Nikki also played her role as a female MC well.

 

[Excālibur1]

Not sure if this comes under your list but the main female character of this anime is powerful...

Shakugan no Shana

 

[Yatori]

I suggest noragami.

Iki hiyori is so kakkoi

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

If you want cliche masculine females then go with these shows.

If you want the best female realistic lead of all time then watch Soul Eater. Maka Albarn is beastly and fantastic, showing that you don't have to apply male traits to female characters to make them 'badass'.