What is your ideal heroine?

[phio_chan]

After reading some shoujo/josei series, what kind of characteristics define an ideal heroine? What kind of traits or actions or way of thinking do you think make someone a heroine?

This question is a bit hard for me to answer myself. I like to see a well-balanced heroine; someone who do great things but also have bad, dark sides of herself. That is natural because no one is perfect. On the other side I like a cold heroine; that makes her a total awesome as a heroine. Cold outside, but she actually cares inside. XD

What about you? :vbunny

[yukihime03]

Obviously? A heroine who is not stupid. Or dense. I have enough with those type of heroine.

[baboysai]

I loved Nodame from Nodame Cantabile as heroine. Because she was so cute and weird and had quirks and issues. Regarding love, she was steadfast about it and never gave up. In fact, it was love that really inspired her to achieve. But I especially love that she had her own pace and stayed true to her style.

I also loved Tohru from Fruits Basket because despite her clumsiness and somewhat dullness, she was a very caring person and loved everybody. Her naivete and trusting nature was exaggerated to the point of being her single redeeming factor. She was not pretty or sexy or good in athletics. That was it. She was just... kind.

In summary, I can see we have different tastes. I don't like the cold and uncaring type, nor the smart and kickass types. I like the warm and weird, moe characters that make you want to take care of them. ^^

[yukihime03]

I loved Nodame from Nodame Cantabile as heroine. Because she was so cute and weird and had quirks and issues. Regarding love, she was steadfast about it and never gave up. In fact, it was love that really inspired her to achieve. But I especially love that she had her own pace and stayed true to her style.

Nodame is totally my favorite too! :glomp

Oh, and Misaki from Kaichou wa Maid-sama is a model heroine too.. At first I don't like her bcoz she's so dense but lately she has changed for the better and I really love her style. :yay
There are a few others too...
-Chizuru from Hakuouki because she puts into practice that "love doesn't ask for anything in return". Well, she's a bit dense in realizing others' feelings for her but she's not that dense not to realize her own feelings. In fact, she knows from the beginning that she's fallen in love. She even does everything she can to help the person she loves though she knows that her love might be unrequited. That's the part that I admire about her. Fortunately, her love is requited but unfortunately, the one she loves dies. She is a tragic heroine in a way.
-Haruhi from Ouran HSHC. She's snarky. Or to quote tvtropes, she's a deadpan snarker. I love that. :XD However, she's still a bit dense.
-Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke. Do I even need to tell why?
In conclusion... well, I like those who knows what they are doing and being some dumb girls.

[Kaiten]

Haruhi is one of my favorites too! She was so sarcastic and apathetic, especially in the earlier, funnier chapters.

My favorites are Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke (http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=3058) and Risa from Lovely Complex (http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=230). Both are cute, a little ditsy, a little spacy but tougher than they appear.

[Zeltrax]

Nice thread!
My favourite heroines and ones that I really am a fan of are Kyouko from Skip Beat!
and also Risa from lovely complex.
Both are characters that makes me feel like they will really fight for their love and also fight for everything else..
and yes, they are not the dense and cutesy innocent type. I don't like those..much.
Nodame is awesome tho :pleased
and also just recently yukino from kare kano. She have qualities of kyoko and risa in her and another one of those
hard-workers.
I only read up to around the first half of kare kano so I'm not sure how she will turn out in the end.

I like the hard-working, determined, independent yet innocent and clueless type.
Might be going too far here.
I just don't like reading shoujo or any manga where the girl character is...useless.

Edited: Reading kaiten's post, ITA. I like those that are stronger inside/tougher than they appear.

[baboysai]

Glad to see you reading Karekano Zeltrax!

I'm not really into the tough girls though, those that can pack a punch. They can be funny and a good source for story, but the ones I really like are the cute girls.

I like tsundere but not as main protagonists, hehe.

Since Haruhi from Ouran seems to be quite popular, are there any other similar heroines like her? The smart, sarcastic, deadpan type?

[yukihime03]

Nice thread!
My favourite heroines and ones that I really am a fan of are Kyouko from Skip Beat!


Ah, I also like Kyouko! She's a great heroine though in my opinion she's too stubborn in terms of love but she surely is talented. Oh, and what I love most is she can be totally evil (with little demons coming out of her) though she looks innocent most of the time.

---------- Post added at 07:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 PM ----------



Since Haruhi from Ouran seems to be quite popular, are there any other similar heroines like her? The smart, sarcastic, deadpan type?

I don't know much about deadpan heroines since the deadpan type rarely makes it into a heroine, mostly as side characters. Oh, and mostly they are males. :P Maybe you can consult tvtropes if you're really curious.

[phio_chan]

Obviously? A heroine who is not stupid. Or dense. I have enough with those type of heroine.

Isn't Misaki quite dumb at the beginning? :XD


I loved Nodame from Nodame Cantabile as heroine. Because she was so cute and weird and had quirks and issues. Regarding love, she was steadfast about it and never gave up. In fact, it was love that really inspired her to achieve. But I especially love that she had her own pace and stayed true to her style.

In summary, I can see we have different tastes. I don't like the cold and uncaring type, nor the smart and kickass types. I like the warm and weird, moe characters that make you want to take care of them. ^^

Nodame, being a freak as she is, has a unique touch in her that makes her hard to forget. Being as clumsy as she is, at certain moments she hits the core of the problem with her actions. I like her simply because I think she views everything in her own strange yet beautiful way. And she fights hard for it. Even though she decided to study classical musics properly, she still has that Nodame touch that makes her special. <3

The type of heroine I like is not completely the uncaring type. Dense girls can make me bored easily. Perhaps most girls are dense in the beginning, but a dragged one is not a good thing. :P

When I said about a cold heroine, it's not she is uncaring. Take for example Kanae Kotonami from Skip Beat!. At the beginning of the series she acted so cold towards everyone, even Kyoko. Even sometimes now she still acts that way towards her and the people around. But deep inside she has another interesting sides, that she cares about various things but too shy to express it or she does it in another unusual way. I think by 'cold' I mean more towards expressions. ^^

At certain point I do like 'positive', warm, and lovely heroines like Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura or Haine from Shinshi Doumei Cross, but I tend to like the cold ones better. XD

Um, don't kill me, but what is deadpan? :oh

[yukihime03]

Isn't Misaki quite dumb at the beginning? :XD

Read what I said:


At first I don't like her bcoz she's so dense but lately she has changed for the better and I really love her style.

Have you read the latest chapter? You'll see why I love her now there.


Um, don't kill me, but what is deadpan? :oh

:fail

You know, you got to check tvtropes some time.

Deadpan is when a character says a witty/sarcastic/humorous comments with a poker/blank/emotionless face or monotonous/matter-of-fact/calm/grave tone of voice.
You remember our civics teacher, Mr. "Windy"? Well, you can say he's a deadpan person. The more emotionless the face, somehow, the funnier the things he says.

[phio_chan]

You know I don't read Kaichou. :fail But I checked the last chapter as you instructed, Ma'am. And first half of the chapter, Misaki is a complete sadistic. She is certainly awesome in the end, though. XD She denies things too much. Sometimes I dislike that part of herself. But it is natural, so okay. XD


You know, you got to check tvtropes some time.

Deadpan is when a character says a witty/sarcastic/humorous comments with a poker/blank/emotionless face or monotonous/matter-of-fact/calm/grave tone of voice.
You remember our civics teacher, Mr. "Windy"? Well, you can say he's a deadpan person. The more emotionless the face, somehow, the more funnier the things he says.

What is tvtropes? :oh LOL~ Okay, thanks for the explanation. Brilliant example, girl. :D

[yukihime03]

You know I don't read Kaichou. :fail But I checked the last chapter as you instructed, Ma'am. And first half of the chapter, Misaki is a complete sadistic. She is certainly awesome in the end, though. XD She denies things too much. Sometimes I dislike that part of herself. But it is natural, so okay. XD

sadist, you mean? sadistic is adjective. (which reminds me I did a grammar mistake in my earlier post. :fail)
Yeah, I think until now that's the best thing a heroine ever does in the history of anime/manga (that I've watched/read). An open challenge. *smirk* I bet Usui is really proud of her. :XD
Oh, and that's another plus point of Misaki, instead of staying stupid and dense (like most of the heroines), she learns from her mistakes and grow. That's one hell of a character development. If she's awesome from the start, things might get boring but when there's a character development, that's when the story gets better and fascinating.


What is tvtropes? :oh LOL~ Okay, thanks for the explanation. Brilliant example, girl. :D

TVtropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage)

Check it out. I warn you that you might get addicted though, but it's a lot of fun to read the things inside. Maybe you want to check the deadpan trope: Deadpan Snarker (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadpanSnarker).

[phio_chan]

Another point of an ideal heroine in my opinion is independence. Not like in complete independence and also not very dependent that makes you lazy, but sometimes being dependent towards your family or your boyfriend is also one sweet characteristics. Nodame has a sweet dependence on Chiaki from Nodame Cantabile, though certain points she could survive on her own. XD

[baboysai]

I was thinking about my favorite manga, and about their heroines and I realized my favorite manga didn't have great heroines I would really like :XD

For example, in NANA, I'm not too crazy about both main protagonists. One is obviously too clingy and stupid for her own good, and the other too conflicted to decide on what she wants. Both are far from my ideal (like I've mentioned above) but I love the series.

For sure, heroines play a very important role in any given manga, but then maybe not the main redeeming factor in a manga's quality huh. They are selling points but, the flaws and vulnerabilities of a heroine is what makes it work, I guess.

[phio_chan]

For sure, heroines play a very important role in any given manga, but then maybe not the main redeeming factor in a manga's quality huh. They are selling points but, the flaws and vulnerabilities of a heroine is what makes it work, I guess.

I agree with this. Sometimes it's not the characters' strong points which make you actually (more) interested in a series, but also the weaknesses and how the characters dealt with it. XD For example like in Shinshi Doumei Cross, Haine, the main protagonist, is shown to be a bright, happy, cheerful girl. But as I read more I know more of her dark side, and I began to love her character more ever since then. XD

After all, it's quite hard to find a calming, wise, perfect heroine in both real world and manga world. Right? :p

[yukihime03]

But somehow most of manga/anime has heroines that don't have any character growth from the beginning till the end. They have to depend on their guys. :fail

Anyhow, leaving my lamentation aside, until now I can only find one story where the heroine is the perfect type. Beautiful, charming, smart, and not dense at all. Her problem is that no guys want to be with her because well... she's too perfect for them. They are afraid of her.
I think mangaka/scriptwriter can put more light into this kind of problem rather than just keep using the typical dense heroines. Smart girls are not without problems, you know.

[baboysai]

Well, there is that, and I loved the manga (and dorama) too.

Kimi wa Petto or Tramps Like Us (http://mangahelpers.com/m/kimi-wa-pet) is the title.

Actually, that was the main plot. She was tall, smart, graduate of Tokyo U, career-driven, great at her job (columnist): in short, a power-woman. And guys were intimidated because she earned a lot too.

I'd recommend that to anybody. It's great josei, and it's a classic, I believe. It's one of my favorite josei. Are we perhaps thinking the same manga, yukihime?

[yukihime03]

Are we perhaps thinking the same manga, yukihime?

I don't think so. I kinda forget the title of the story. It's one-shot and I read it more than 5 years ago. ^^"