Ask John: Are There Any Anime Superheroines?

Question:
Aside from Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey, are there any other superheroines in anime?

Answer:

When Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey are introduced, the average otaku immediately thinks of magical girls. But strictly speaking, not all magical girls are champions of justice who defend peace, freedom, and happiness. Countless magical girls have much more grounded and simple desires and motivations revolving around helping themselves and their friends. While otaku may not immediately think of anime girls that seem obviously similar to female superheros like Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Storm, anime actually does have a tremendous number of legitimate female superheroes – of the magical girl variety and not.

In addition to the Sailor Senshi and Cutie Honey, the casts of magical girl anime including Madoka Magica, Pretty Cure, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Wedding Peach use their powers to defend society from the evil and harm of villainous organizations or threats. We may also forget that the girls of Sakura Taisen are also magic users that defend Japan from harm.

Girls like Mamono Hunter Yoko and the sisters of Karula Mau aren’t conventional magical girls, but they willingly fight to protect society from the supernatural harm of malicious demons. These heroic girls have different motivations from similar heroines like Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Ayaka Kisaragi of Yugen Kaisha, Maron Kusakabe of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and the girls of Ultimate Girls whose motivations are more self-serving than humanitarian. Tonde Buurin’s Karin Kokubu seems like one of anime’s most prominent conventional super-heroines, given her Supergirl-styled outfit and cape, but her heroic motivations are also bit more self-serving than entirely magnanimous. Galaxy Frauline Yuna aspires to be an intergalactic superheroine, although her success is debatable. Yuna varies a bit from female champions of justice like Birdy of Tetsuwan Birdy, Maris of Maris the Chojo, and R.O.D.’s Yomiko Readman because the later characters are professional law enforcement officers, so it’s their job to defeat evil rather than a chivalric choice.

Super powered and uniformed heroines like the sisters of Ryusei Sentai Musumet, Suzuki Nana of Shichinin no Nana, Mirai Ozora of Moldiver, Mew & Mica of Rakusho! Hyperdoll, and Blue Rose of Tiger & Bunny may be anime’s best representation of conventional American-style female superheroines.