Shonen Anime and Feminism. Oh yeah, I went there.

Oh shonen anime, what are we going to do with you? I really don't watch much of it anymore, because frankly, it's garbage. Even so, I can still gripe about negative messages seen within it, specifically the portrayal of female characters in the genre. Most female characters in shonen anime exist solely for the purpose of fanservice, and/or to provide the main character with a love interest. Perhaps the most heinous offender in this area is Naruto. Sakura, the only character that doesn't exist completely for the purpose of fanservice, is only interested in one thing: Sasuke. Of course her entire goal in life is to find a big strong man to take care of her. -_- Not only that, she's also by far the weakest member of the team and is basically useless in a fight, until Shippuden when she becomes slightly less useless. Here's Typical scene from Naruto. Kakashi: Naruto, Sasuke, get that bad dood. While I take on the other bad dood. Sakura: What do I Do? Kakashi: Sit here and yell from the sidelines with nameless captive/hostage dood. Sakura: Lame Sasuke: Shut up and make me a sammich! Sakura: Oh Sasuke, whatever you say u r so hawt! Sasuke: Das right, now get me that sammich! You get the idea. Most other popular shonen anime follow this trend, most notably Bleach. (I love Deathnote, but wow is Misa useless). There are exceptions. Code Geass is relatively progressive, with at least one strong female character. By shonen standards, Soul Eater is practically a feminist manifesto, and this is where I really start to whine. At first it seems very progressive for shonen. Maka is really our main character, despite Soul Eater being the titular character. She's strong, independent and is not the victim of fanservice. Of course Blair is also in the first episode, and she is blatantly there to pander, but hey Shonen is Shonen. Two of the main villians, Arachnae and Medusa are strong female characters. The professors are also great female role models (Marie has a few "moe points" but overall still a relatively strong character). At first I thought I might take issue with Tsubaki and The Twins, they sort of bring the "women as objects" argument to a whole new level. (especially since their souls are naked when in weapon form. 0_O). However, Soul is also an object in a sense (as is Maka's dad) and they appear naked as well, so it works out. I was content with the politics of gender in Soul Eater, it felt empowering and right...until episode 33. In this episode it is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Maka is the weakest of the three meisters. Of course a GIRL couldn't be an effective meister, pshhh! I suppose this could be nitpicking, but since she's the only major female meister (and arguably the main character) it seems like a poor move. I'm hoping Soul Eater redeems itself, but even if it doesn't it's still much better than any other Shonen Anime I've seen in this respect. ...maybe I'm reading too much into it.