Would Lina Inverse (of Slayers) count? She's about 16 or so in the first series, and most of the specials (with Naga) happened before that.
"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
would these girls do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moTM...eature=related
The problem is usually the main character is a proxy for the reader. So usually boys like male protagonists and girls like female ones.
There are a few series that blur the lines but usually the character is not early teens, tween or younger.
I found Ouren High School Host Club to be riotously funny and I'm a guy. Yes they lampshade many shojo tropes but Haruhi, 15, is still a main character on equal footing with her male friends.
Stellvia of the Universe is an school in space series that would interest boys while having a female main character. I'm kind of fuzzy about Shipon's age since she's a prep school student whose class wears an entirely different uniform from the regular students. This seems to indicate she may be as young as 14.
The Vision of Escaflowne is another series with a 15 year old female main character in what seems like a shonen story but blurs the lines at time with all the action going on around her.
A don't know if people would consider Cardcaptor Sakura as a shonen series, probably not. But it's a lot of adventure, magic, action and it's aimed at a much younger audience. The main character is 10 if I remember right.
Azumanga Daioh is another high school all girl series but it's a comedy and the main character did skip several grades so she is much younger than the rest of the characters.
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$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
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I'm surprised no one's mentioned Nanoha (TvTropes general series page linked) yet? Like CCS, the main Character, for TOS & A's, is 10-ish. But, I think, she's a good example of the kind of characterization you're looking for.
Thank you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
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pretty sure that is seinen, but i guess... Lina always felt older. She's always seemed to be in the bracket of technically she's younger but acts and appears older to the point that even though she's 16ish she's more like she's 25ish|
Originally Posted by Rabid_M
Would Lina Inverse (of Slayers) count? She's about 16 or so in the first series, and most of the specials (with Naga) happened before that.
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Originally Posted by Psyguard
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Originally Posted by Father Xmas
The problem is usually the main character is a proxy for the reader. So usually boys like male protagonists and girls like female ones.
There are a few series that blur the lines but usually the character is not early teens, tween or younger. I found Ouren High School Host Club to be riotously funny and I'm a guy. Yes they lampshade many shojo tropes but Haruhi, 15, is still a main character on equal footing with her male friends. Stellvia of the Universe is an school in space series that would interest boys while having a female main character. I'm kind of fuzzy about Shipon's age since she's a prep school student whose class wears an entirely different uniform from the regular students. This seems to indicate she may be as young as 14. The Vision of Escaflowne is another series with a 15 year old female main character in what seems like a shonen story but blurs the lines at time with all the action going on around her. A don't know if people would consider Cardcaptor Sakura as a shonen series, probably not. But it's a lot of adventure, magic, action and it's aimed at a much younger audience. The main character is 10 if I remember right. Azumanga Daioh is another high school all girl series but it's a comedy and the main character did skip several grades so she is much younger than the rest of the characters. |
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Dragons. Giant robots. Giant robots that turn into dragons.
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Originally Posted by Durakken
I don't know anything about escaflowne
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Mai Hime is a shounen style show with a focus on the mostly female cast, the males are tag a longs or secondaries. It's pretty good too.
EDIT: Also, although she looks much older, the main character in Airmaster is incredible. That show is definitely shounen, gives many modern day "tournament" style shows a run for their money.
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Battle Chasers (Image/Wildstorm/Cliffhanger Comics)?
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Originally Posted by Durakken
So can you think of any others?
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
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I was having a good morning and you had to go and make me sad. |
Originally Posted by Aneko
Battle Chasers
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Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, particularly the epic manga.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji may have been the main, but Asuka and Rei were just as important, deep and messed-up as he.
One Piece: See above for Robin and the other main female characters
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Believe it or not, she's only 14.
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
Story Arcs I created:
Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!
Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!
Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!
Does Read or Die the TV's Anita King count?
"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.
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Because it didn't end? I just wanted to point out that just because the OP mentioned shounen, you don't have to only think of manga or anime examples.
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Originally Posted by Beastyle
I was having a good morning and you had to go and make me sad.
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
There seems to be 3 categories that are popping up...
#1. The Magical Girl Genre. Not what I'm looking for, but close
#2. The Adult female bad *** who is a female protagonist... The're adult so disqualifies them.
#3. The young female that acts like an adult. Like Tengen Toppa Gurran Lagann...she's 14, not the main protagonist and acts like an adult or Line Inverse who is the main protagonist and is young, but acts like an adult.
Those are the 3 types that are popping up from the titles i see and know or have looked at.
Aren't there any young female characters that actually act like young female characters but aren't in magical girl roles... think something more along the lines of where the kid gets control of a toy robot that becomes a mecha. He acts like a kid. Are there any stories where that kid is female rather than male and continues to act like a kid and is not a magical girl. I guess that girl would be a tom boy to some standards, but whatever ^.^
Read Power Pack. Or Runaways.
Did I miss it, or did no one mention Buffy yet?
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It's been a long time and maybe I don't remember the series that well, but I think I answered that. <.<
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Originally Posted by Durakken
Aren't there any young female characters that actually act like young female characters but aren't in magical girl roles... think something more along the lines of where the kid gets control of a toy robot that becomes a mecha. He acts like a kid. Are there any stories where that kid is female rather than male and continues to act like a kid and is not a magical girl. I guess that girl would be a tom boy to some standards, but whatever ^.^
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
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Unfortunately you're talking about a target demographic that's considered by most publishers and networks to be too small to recoup investment on, ergo not worth putting out material for.
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Originally Posted by Durakken
Aren't there any young female characters that actually act like young female characters but aren't in magical girl roles... think something more along the lines of where the kid gets control of a toy robot that becomes a mecha. He acts like a kid. Are there any stories where that kid is female rather than male and continues to act like a kid and is not a magical girl. I guess that girl would be a tom boy to some standards, but whatever ^.^
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I'll say Anita King again. She's got an (unconventional) superpower but it in no way makes her a magical girl, she's more a MA/SR scrapper with a Paper Mastery APP. She's damn good at what she does, but frequently a sulky brat and a bit of a tomboy who has some difficulty making friends due to moving around a lot and having a rough childhood so far. And while her show is something of a ensemble cast, she gets a lot of emphasis in the series overall, more than either of her sisters at least.|
Originally Posted by Durakken
Aren't there any young female characters that actually act like young female characters but aren't in magical girl roles... think something more along the lines of where the kid gets control of a toy robot that becomes a mecha. He acts like a kid. Are there any stories where that kid is female rather than male and continues to act like a kid and is not a magical girl. I guess that girl would be a tom boy to some standards, but whatever ^.^
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... paper mastery, best superpower. At least the way these guys use it.
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Originally Posted by Beastyle
Read Power Pack.
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"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.
And the new Avatar series is going to have a female lead.
Nanoha is less "Magical Girl" and more "Mobile Suit Gundam" in a little girl package (or possible even "Gurren Lagann in a little girl package").
"Striving for the impossible" doesn't mean "toiling in vain". It means growth. It means improvement in the direction of your ideals. Not futility.
Erfworld: the Battle for Gobwin Knob
Totally forgot about Nadia. And the anime club I use to crash at a nearby university even had cake after her birthday episode.
Hah, thought of another, Yawara!. Story about a girl who's been trained for her entire life to be a Judo master. Again age 15 or so.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade TPB
Ororo: Before The Storm TPB
Spirited Away
pressure/
grace
So I have this idea for a story and it went from more or less a sentai team of young adults to having a team made of different aged characters... the first being a young character, say 13ish...
And then I got to thinking that it'd be cool to break the trope of the young male hero to making it a young female character and then I got to thinking... are there any young female main characters that are in what is called shounen (young male) demographic media that are not the tag along or some secondary character? The only one I can even remotely come up with is Penny Gadget from inspector gadget where even though she is the main character she is still over shadowed by her uncle?
So can you think of any others?
Do you think young female main character would be a bad idea for a shounen-esque book?