From socially awkward young women to bodacious femme fatales to villains you hate to love and even downright criminals, I think it’s obvious we need to discuss adult women in anime, how they are written, and why fans love them.
Anime doesn’t tend to have the best track record when it comes to depicting adults. Don’t get me wrong, morally grey grown-ups of anime are some of the most beloved. But when you consider that most of the well-known adult characters are degenerate, broke, con men, dead beat baby daddies, or some version of those traits. It’s no surprise that depictions of adult women are often just as questionable.
And since most popular anime is often Shonen, which has struggled to depict girls in their stories for decades, it’s also not surprising that the same can be said for adult women. But the complexities of depicting adult women and their stories range across demographics. And though there are plenty of questionable versions of them, there is also a diverse array of women that represent realistic and interesting depictions of femininity, adulthood, and pure bad-assery.
From shy young women to bodacious femme fatales to villains you hate to love and even downright perverts, I think it’s obvious we need to talk about adult women in anime.
Femme Fatales
The first and arguably the most popular and widely known, is the femme fatale.
There is something about a dangerous woman that just makes an impression in anime spaces. I think Spike Spiegel speaks for many a down bad anime fan when he said: “I love a woman who can kick my ass ;)”
On top of that, make them stacked, have them curse like a sailor and give them an iron liver that can process an ocean of alcohol and you have the ideal adult anime woman (to thirst after at least). Just make sure not to give her too much depth and make her one weakness the most trash man in the universe. When you think of the perfect poster figure for mature anime women they are usually characters like. Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) a scantily clad gambling addict that was created from a series of unfortunate events like waking up from cryogenic slumber decades into the future and being hustled by the worst conman in the universe. Revy from Black Lagoon, a crude smoking pirate who is quick to shoot when things don’t go her way. Assassin mommy Yor Forger (Spy x Family) who kills people for a living, sucks at ‘wifely duties’ and has to be drunk in order to be confident in herself despite the fact that her job is literally killing people! She should be super confident!
Can’t forget Mitchiko Malandro (Mitchiko to Hatchin) the violent, rude, insanely attractive fugitive that is hopelessly in love with the worst man to ever exist. This also fits literally any of the adult women in FMA or Brotherhood except give them realistic motivations for the morally grey decisions they end up making, I’m looking at you Olivier Armstrong (Full Metal Alchemist).
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Look it sounds like I’m griping over the options of popular anime women because I am but to be honest I love each of these characters. Some are written better than others but for the most part they are fun to watch, and that’s why they tend to be so appealing to audiences. You don’t have to think too deeply about them outside of their bombastic personality and ‘assets.’ I’m a fan of women committing wrongs while wearing stylish sultry outfits and giving the men around them hell, because who doesn’t have a fantasy of living life uncontained while also looking fine as hell? I just wish we got something more from these characters; like a villain origin story for example….oh wait we do have those!
Villainesses
Though technically also a femme fatale because they tend to be attractive and violent, villainesses (not to confuse them with the isekai trope though they also fit here) are in a league of their own. Whether its the literal personification of fornication like Full Metal Alchemist‘s Lust. The embodiment of control, manipulation and abuse who manipulates the young vulnerable protagonist to her do her bidding, Makima from Chainsaw Man. The traumatized and abused Akito from Fruits Basket who goes on to abuse and manipulate every single person in their family. Amother figure who secretly feeds her children to demons like Isabelle from The Promised Neverland. Or the severely underappreciated, mind-bending destruction of Ai Magase from Babylon. Even recently the heart wrenching reason Dandadan’s Acrobatic Silky became the demon she is. There is something unsettling, devious and often incredible about these villains that can sometimes provide more depth than femme fatale’s.Don’t get me wrong, some of these characters can be one dimensional in ways that validate misogyny. **Cough. Cough** Malty from The Rising of the Shield Hero who’s only evil attribute is being a bitch. Did she do something deplorable. Yes! But also we get it! Men love to shit on women who wronged them, over and over and over again. Freaks…
But I think there are a certain set of characteristics that make villainesses special, such as:
Flipping the stereotypes that woman are unsuspecting and demure on it’s head by revealing that they are literal terrors. Giving them powers or status that actually pose a threat not only to the main character but to their world. Giving them a personal vendetta or mission that drives every major action they take, sometimes having to do with their status in the world as a woman and how absolutely soul crushing that can be at times. But unfortunately there is a certain set of adult women characters that surpass the villain arc and go straight into committing crimes that make even villains look tame in comparison.
Perverts
The only thing worse than a villain, is a pervert (in my opinion), and often times villainesses can be both. I don’t know what it is with anime and perverted older women, but it’s a problem. Especially when men who are depicted as perverts tend to look like (the guy from Perfect Blue). But when a grown woman is emotionally manipulating or sexually harassing the fragile egos of young boys, they usually look like this (Himeno from Chainsaw Man), or this (Hina from Domestic Girlfriend)
There are cases where woman are using young men solely for their own personal gain and not because they are necessarily attracted to them, but that doesn’t make how they treat the younger characters in their lives any less f*cked up. Just like every other subset of women we’ve discussed so far, these women are made for escapism. I get that the way they look and they wild things they do are all to appeal to a certain fantasy. Still, it’s freaking weird to me I’m not gonna lie. Treating women giving young boys special attention as anything but harassment or possible sexual assault leads to a whole lot of issues for young men that are overlooked because people romanticize the dynamic. Just look at the wrecked emotional states of characters like Denji from Chainsaw Man, Shinji from Neon Gensis Evangelion and Punpun from Goodnight Punpun, all of which (to varying degrees of success) and the characters of manga series Blood on The Tracks, tackle the topic of this abusive dynamic. I kind of want to put the women of Dandadan in their own separate perverted space which sounds terrible but let me explain!!! Turbo Granny literally ate Okarun’s dong, that is a major plot point in the story! And Seiko has chased Okarun around asking him to see his privates. BUT the entirety of Dandadan is built around d*ck jokes so its not surprising that the older woman of the series also participate in this. its arguable if these women are written to be straight up perverts or that it would be way weirder if they never made a d*ck joke because that’s the bread and butter of Dandadan’s comedy. Still weird but not to the extent as the other characters I’ve mentioned. Turbo Granny and Seiko also fit in the next subset of adult women: annoyingly wise old women who don’t always look their age.
Wise & Sexy Grannies
These women are a staple in Shonen series, and they are often the only notable adult women in the demographic. They are hard-ass but loving in their own way like mentors Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho, or Izumi from Full Metal Alchemist. They tend to be women who are mentors to the main characters and tend not to be sexualized but still are in many cases like Seiko from Dandadan or Tsunade from Naruto who is more of MILF. Or just sometimes look younger like Bisky from Hunter x Hunter. And no we are not diving into Loli’s in this video because I literally cannot-
Just know that the next time you see a loveable anime granny she could turn out to be an overpowered bombshell at any moment. Thanks anime.
When exploring the array of these women there is a clear formula that delineates them. See, to make them interesting to certain members of the XY Chromosome, women like the ones I mentioned are often exaggerated in more ways than one. Doesn’t mean that all versions of these women are inherently bad or only sexualized, (though plenty of them are). But they are also loved across genders in the audiences that watch or read them, including by me. This mixed bag of women you love to hate or hate to love are well known because they are in series that are popular. But what about the women you don’t know, but you should?
Because the ones I’ve mentioned so far are by no means the only women to exist in the wide spectrum of woman in anime and manga. There is a subset of women that often goes overlooked because they tend to be written by women for women (or by people who actually like, respect or know women). And we all know that these characters tend to fly under the radar because of that.
If you’re looking for women who are not just side characters, boobs on legs, or great villains. If you are looking for women with more realistic and multi-dimensional depictions. Look no further than the women of Seinen and Josei. Now don’t get me wrong, you can just as easily find flawed depictions of women in these demographics also. But you are much more likely to find interesting and well written adult women in these series than not, especially if they are the main characters of their stories.
Young Adult Women
An age group that explores the trials and tribulations of early adulthood with sincerity is through the lens of college-aged protagonists. Nestled between awkward teenage girls who struggle through high school and the alcoholic smart ass older women who have been through it all. Is the naive college girls of anime and manga. What sets them apart from highschool shoujo girls is the learning curve of responsibilities into adulthood. Some of these characters attend college and work part time jobs. Like in the Seinen manga A Side Character’s Love Story, where part timer Nobuko sees herself as just a side character but with the help of her enigmatic coworker, she finds herself taking up a starring role in her own romance with fellow part timer Irie. Or in Princess Jellyfish, which follows the the plight of Tsukimi, a jellyfish obsessed artist who feels stuck in place until she meets an enigmatic cross dressing boy who turns her and her roommates’s lives upside down. Technically a Shoujo but fits this theme to a t, is A Sign of Affection and it’s popularity partly due to it’s focus on young adult, college aged characters. Similar Shoujo series with young adult characters include everyone’s favorite, Nana. And the web series turned anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun.
Or some women may not go to college but are still young adults in historical fiction series like:
My Happy Marriage, where a young Miyo used and abused by her family since the death of her mother gets married off to a cold hearted general only to find herself in a safe environment and relationship where she feels she can finally thrive. And use her badass abilities. There’s also Emma, a series similar in style to Jane Austen and Emily Dickens novels, a 19th century period drama about a maid who falls for a gentry where their worlds, divided by class, collide. And Ooku ,which is an anthology series that explores the lives of women in power in a parallel world where woman rule in Japanese history due to a disease that kills most of the male population.
But where are the girl bosses at? the ones who work and play hard but still struggle with navigating adulthood Give me Sex in the City but make it anime, okay I got you 😉
Working Women
It’s not a secret, I adore workplace series. Even though I no longer work in a traditional office setting, there is something about seeing adults struggling through the complexities of paying their bills on time, maintaining their jobs & interest and trying to navigate romantic, familial, or platonic relationships that just gets to me!
Sometimes these series are just rehashed versions of high school romances but with grown-ups, which I’m also sucker for I can’t lie. Like The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague or My Senpai is Annoying. Where the love is innocent and wholesome despite them being able to do whatever they want because they’re grown. Or follow the trope of cute girls doing cute things but just aged up to work a full time job and be able to legally drink alcohol. Like Shirobako, which explores the struggle and joys of a group of girls who vowed in high school to work in the animation industry only to discover it’s much more difficult and draining than they thought. And Takunomi, which depicts various college girls who live in a dorm together and explore their histories with alcohol. But other times, workplace series explore aspects of womanhood that break open common stereotypes and themes.
Take Tokyo Tarareba Girls, a manga created by Princess Jellyfish mangaka, Akiko Higashimura. Though it explores the love lives of three hard-working friends in their early to mid 30s, it is anything but a romance. The friends drink at a local izakaya while lamenting over their past mistakes and how society treats women while desperately trying to find love and feel appreciated at their jobs. The situations the women get into for the sake of love and loneliness often lead them into toxic relationships, and makes their mental health spiral. Though mostly a comedy, Tokyo Tarareba Girls is also a harsh look at the reality of chasing after romance as an adult.
Coupled with the societal pressures to get married, have children, and a career by a certain age and how it can drive women to desperation. In a lighter series, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku follows main characters Narumi and Hanako as they struggle balancing their professional and romantic lives with being closeted otaku in contrasting ways. For Narumi, her obsession with anime and manga, particularly BL (boy’s love), has prevented her from having successful relationships and she keeps this side of her hidden at work. While for Hanako, who loves to cosplay male characters in particular, though she is able to seamlessly blend into the workplace with her cool and mature persona; she struggles to feel truly loved and appreciated by her partner Taro because he’s obsessed with cute moe girls, the opposite of Hanako’s looks and personality.
In another series that explores a woman being an adult nerd, Complex Age, a 26 year old Nagisa struggles to battle her everyday adult life with the idea that she is getting too old to cosplay, feeling that younger cosplayers are better at portraying her favorite characters than she is.
Family Women
Outside of the traditional workplace and romance, there are series exploring the struggles of socially awkward women balancing their work with their responsibilities. In Ikoku Nikki, a series that will be getting an anime adaptation in 2025, 35 year old Makio is a novelist who ends up taking in her recently orphaned niece Asa after the death of her parents, Makio’s sister. Makio struggles to communicate with Asa who comes to love her strange almost “otherworldly” aunt and the two find ways of caring for each other. What you get is a beautiful series that intentionally explores familial relationships between women from different generations and how they deal with grief and acceptance.
Though this is a smaller part of the story, a similar relationship is explored in Skip and Loafer between Mitsumi and her Aunt, Nao who she lives with in Tokyo to attend school with the added context of Nao being a trans woman is also explored in an honest and loving way, especially in the manga. Cute comedy, slice-of-life the The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today, shows the life workaholic Saku who struggles to take care of herself but gets pampered by her overgrown cat that becomes her caretaker.
Adult women coming into their own and making new discoveries about themselves even several years or decades into adulthood expresses the often overlooked stories of women in these same places in life. Recontextualizing the idea that adults, particularly women, are set in their ways and unable to grow or change the older they get.
Scary Good Women
But before you think well crafted women are only found in romance or slice of life series I want to introduce you to some incredible thrillers lead by adult women. Though more of magical realism than horror, the mysterious Yuuko from xxxHolic is a captivating women who runs a magic shop where she provides goods and services across the CLAMP multiverse while also giving some much needed advice to her teenage employee, Watanuki as he navigates life and school.
Of course I have to mention the infamous Perfect Blue headed by Mima as her mental health spirals due to the threat of a stalker and how the industry as a whole exacerbates her inability to differentiate reality from her work.
And the manga thriller Burn the House Down, a 25 year old Anzu becomes a housekeeper to get revenge on the woman who ruined her family’s life leading to a bitter psychological battle of revenge and retribution.
Conclusion
As an adult woman who has grown up watching anime and reading manga and who still does these things despite whatever companies keep saying about women outgrowing animation and comics (clearly I missed the memo). Womanhood in media is often the after thought in the grand discussions of anime that exist online but with so many animators, mangaka, editors, and directors being women. And with women online talking about these series, it should be impossible to not address the importance of these characters when it comes to their influence and existence in the media. Which is why I really wanted to draw attention to the plethora of series that depict women’s’ stories with respect, realism and fun alongside ones that are entertaining but also questionably portray them. And hopefully to introduce you to more series centered on adult women that don’t put them in the same boxes that we are used to seeing them in. I didn’t mean to turn “We Need to Talk About Girls/Women” into a series but it’s fun to break down various women in anime and manga and how they are portrayed. It’s one of my favorite videos to make, so if you want to see more in the future please let me know! If you have any topics related to women in anime you want me to breakdown let me know in the comments!
Thank you so much for watching. Check out this video next to hear me breakdown more women in anime and manga. And I’ll see you next time. Peace!
