Uraraka Breaks the Shounen Female Lead Curse!?!

What can really be said about Boku no Hero Academia that hasn’t already been said? Well apparently so long as there are things to throw under the bus in order to elevate Boku no Hero as the savior of anime, there will be those who will extract aspects of the series and blow out of proportion how significant or how groundbreaking they are. Case in point, here is an article by CBR.com entitled “My Hero Academia: Uraraka Breaks the Shonen Female Lead Curse,” where the writer, Anthony Gramuglia, attempts to reason how, as opposed to most other female lead characters in shounen anime, Uraraka Ochaco is a character who manages to break stereotypes and make a name for herself in ways that are unique to the genre. Of course, there are red flags apparent to anyone who has watched more than five anime, but despite how this should be common knowledge that this claim is false, it is still something you will find pretty prominent in “the discourse”. Shounen series and anime in general always have this stereotype of neglecting female characters in favor of the males. Just on this website alone, we have another article about how Tamaki from Fire Force shows that shounen anime have a “long way to go,” but that article has moreso to do with the overuse of fanservice, something you can find addressed in Craftsdwarf’s video on the anime pervert. Shounen discourse in general is full of misinformation that needs to be addressed, but today I will be focusing solely on the content of this article to make this point:

Female shounen characters are heavily misunderstood and Uraraka is far from being the best of them.

While I acknowledge that this might be throwing Uraraka under the bus, understand that I do believe Boku no Hero Academia is a good series. I have two videos on the subject just to prove that with two or more on the way, but it is important to realize where exactly praise is unwarranted, and in the case of the content of this article as well as other points that I will be addressing, I hope that you will come to understand just how misunderstood these female characters are, and for the sake of streamlining this argument, I will be using the article as a framing device.

For starters, the article makes a couple things apparent as to the knowledge that the writer has on the topic that they are discussing, and that is that they make no distinction from anime and manga as well as generalizing all of the shows listed as “shounen,” rather than pointing out that specifically what they are referring to is in fact the “shounen action” genre, the specific demographic of shounen manga and anime that follows an action-oriented way of going about its story, a genre that includes such series as One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Nanatsu no Taizai, Hajime no Ippo, Black Clover, Fire Force, Soul Eater, Getter Robo, Dragonball–you get the idea. Punching, kicking, screaming and laser beams. However, the genre is far more diverse and widespread than most would believe and this is not even mentioning the entirety of shounen itself which spreads several different genres. Nisekoi and the romance genre, Death Note and the “””””psychological””””” genre, Koe no Katachi, Hunter X Hunter, JoJo, Promised Neverland, The World God Only Knows, Haikyuu!!, Aku no Hana, Komi-san, the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga, Your lie in April–the demographic is so far and widespread that the generalization of only shounen action to being shounen as a whole is very reflective of their understanding of the medium, but note again that they refer to the anime. This also highlights the understanding that the writer only has a lens into what the anime gives them, as the manga for most series go unnoticed by many fans of anime as a whole.

What you have to understand is that this article is not the result of one crazy person who believes this. They are simply mirroring the preconceptions that already exist within the community, especially, again, those who do not understand the two things mentioned before. This is an important thing to point out because when addressing this article, you will realize that many people, including some anime youtubers, have these preconceptions in their heads already as most of the discussion of shounen and especially Weekly Shounen Jump anime adaptations come solely from those adaptations. Without further ado, let’s get into the article itself:

The main points being addressed as to why Uraraka is considered better than her shounen female peers are as follows:

• She has an active role in her plot
• She contributes to the arcs
• She does not function solely as the love interest
• Her series in general respects women
• She’s as strong as the guys
• She has her own goals

For the sake of argument, I am going to be using the logic that the argument is using because you’ll find that not only is it contradictory, but it almost serves to make Uraraka appear worse as a character that she actually is. Let’s start with

She’s as strong as the guys.

The article seems to believe that Uraraka is on par with the male characters of the show, citing the fight against Bakugo as the crux of this argument. It goes on to say that “this happens to Videl and Android 18 in Dragon Ball Z, Sakura in Naruto and Nami in One Piece, to name just a few.” Now, the implication here is that the worth that a female character must have is largely in relation to how strong they are in comparison to the male characters, specifically the main character. So using this logic, how does Uraraka shape up against the cast of her own show. In her fight against Bakugo, it is stated by the announcer and by most of the crowd that they pitied her and that Bakugo was wiping the floor with her. He was effectively just throwing out explosions that heavily damage her until it’s revealed that her plan is a bait and switch and that she’s making Bakugo make debris for her to make float so she can make him float and push him off the platform. This is, however, swiftly foiled by Bakugo just blowing up all of the debris and knocking her out. Not only that, we are also shown that Bakugo can fly by using his explosions, so even her plan to make him weightless would not work. Essentially, she stood no chance to start with and the battle in question only is cited to her having enough skill and strategy to operate on her own, not that she is even as powerful as Bakugo. In fact, this same arc ends with every single female character being defeated by the much more powerful guys, to the point where, for the guys who do win, it’s incredibly swift and easy and for the overly powered Todoroki, it’s only our main character Deku who even gave him a challenge enough to push himself. Let’s see what the other results of 1 on 1 fights with Uraraka are:

She and Tsuyu both failed to capture Toga. She along with the rest of Class 1A got swiftly beaten by Mirio. She won against Thirteen, who was already cited to have been going easy on her. Of all of the fights that she’s involved in, only one is a 1 on 1, that 1 on 1 being one where she lost. Brutally. Considering Boku no Hero’s influence from Kishimoto’s Naruto, this same fight can be mirrored in Hinata VS Neji. This fight is meant to show how strong Hinata is, but is also used to motivate Naruto in his fight with Neji, as it is Hinata fighting as hard as she can to prove that she’s not worthless and that anyone can change with effort and determination. I’m most definitely oversimplifying that, but the point remains. The cast is incredibly impressed by Hinata’s growth and especially the fact that she is holding her own against the current strongest Genin and the prodigy of the Hyuuga, someone that even intimidated Rock Lee who handled Sasuke easily. No one pitied her and in fact gained respect for her, and the end result was proof that Hinata is powerful. 

This is also ignoring that certain characters are meant to fulfill certain roles and even within an action story, power is not the only worth a character can have. Nami is not a fighter. She is the navigator for the Straw Hats and without her, everyone would be lost. Not only that, she was also able to hold her own against several characters throughout the series despite her role being that not of a combatant. The aforementioned Videl and Android 18 are also characters not defined by combat. Android 18 only knew her want for destruction but chooses a married life because she wants to, same with Videl. In fact, this problem of female characters being surpassed by the main characters isn’t a female problem, because a majority of characters that aren’t the main character are bound to fall behind. Just look at the case of Dragonball, where the only characters who manage to get stronger are characters who choose to train. Unless you’re Gohan. In Nanatsu no Taizai, every character who isn’t Meliodas in the main cast is outpaced by Meliodas no matter who it is. If you want an example that proves this, Maka from Soul Eater becomes one of the strongest members of the cast, only to be matched equally by Death the Kid and Black Star, both characters who are part of the main cast, both characters who are only as strong as they are BECAUSE of their FEMALE weapons. Maka is a female main character. Medaka from Medaka Box is VASTLY more powerful than the entire cast, even going so far, by the series, to be given powers that everyone is afraid of. 

If you want a list of characters who are female and are as strong as the main characters if not stronger, we have:

Medaka, Erza, Elizabeth, Boa Hancock, Big Mom, Yoruichi, Rukia, Olivia Armstrong, Maka Albarn, Akame, Caulifla, Moka, Leona, Jolyne Kujo, the list goes on and on. But again, power is not the only measurement of worth. Let’s go to the next point:

She does not function solely as the love interest

The article seems to believe that Uraraka, while having a crush on Deku, is not solely defined by that love. She “has her own goals too.” So, they do not go further in on this point and it’s obvious why. In the context of Uraraka’s growth, she is cited many times to be getting stronger and wanting to get stronger because she admires Deku. She gets jealous of other girls around him and her crush on Deku is such a major factor that it distracts her against Toga and Thirteen and so on and so on. Her love for Deku is the only major development that has happened since the sports festival arc. But this again is not that good of a criticism because many characters who have the love interest aspect because it adds onto their growth as characters. Take Chitoge for example. The story of Nisekoi is that of the nature of true love, and Chitoge in her mind has this idea for most of the story that she hates Raku and he hates her back, but they slowly grow to love each other and realize that love until the moment she realizes that she might be the promised girl. That very aspect of love is central to the core of Nisekoi, and I have a video explaining that because I don’t wanna get too much into spoilers. If I’m gonna be using the examples from the article, they say that “Kaoru in Rurouni Kenshin is one of the strongest sword fighters in her city, but when compared to the absurd skill of Kenshin, Sanosuke, and all the antagonists to cross their paths, she’s basically useless. This relegates her to the role of love interest, and, while she is a multi-faceted character who leads a dojo, her arc is so tied to Kenshin that, after awhile, she almost fades into the background of the story.” Now, the point of Rurouni Kenshin is understanding people beyond their pasts and their sins that they’ve committed. Kaoru is the only character who enables Kenshin to be the person he wants to be rather than the Battousai who everyone else wants him to be and says that he truly is. She defines him by the person he is and wants to be and not the person he was and lets his actions speak for him rather than the ones he made before. This is also ignoring that she beat one of Shishio Makoto’s generals mostly by herself, but again, this article isn’t consistent in its logic. Speaking of which:

She has an active role in her plot

Let’s see how much, realistically, that Uraraka changes the story of Boku no Hero Academia by her presence and her actions since the article refuses to give me answers and examples. She loses to Bakugo, which I guess gets him to advance in the tournament. She lets Toga get away, so I guess that means she moved that plot point along. She uh…she uh…she…sh…uh… Yeah, there’s nothing really. She hasn’t had a single arc where she is the focus as the article seems to believe. She’s present and she helps sometimes, but she doesn’t change much in the arcs that she’s in as of now in the manga, but as far as her “contributing to the plot,” she doesn’t do much. Momo Yaoyorozu is an active force of moving the cast to go through with their actions to save Bakugo and she has the entire character moment with her and Todoroki. It’s not much, but it’s substantially more so far than Uraraka’s gotten by this logic. Jirou, in the school festival arc, is entirely responsible for Class 1A’s performance that pulls Eri out of her darkness and lets her smile, the same Eri who is the active focus of the Overhaul arc. Toga, in fact, has gotten a lot of focus in much of the story, especially recently with the Meta Liberation Army Arc. By the logic presented in this article, Uraraka is a terrible example of a female character.

By comparison, Nico Robin is arguably the main focus of Water 7 and Enies Lobby, as her supposed “betrayal” is done so for the sake of the protection of the Straw Hats and without her being there and without her actions, that whole arc would not exist. In Shokugeki no Souma, Nakiri Erina actively moves the plot of the story during the Central Arc and is not only not a “damsel in distress” but is an active force in fighting against her father and the forces of Central with Souma. 

If you want to push this further, imma spoil it for the anime-only’s real quick beep beep skip to this time. Uraraka is present during the Overhaul arc as she and Froppy are interning as well. However, upon the arc starting, she is nowhere to be found. I legitimately forgot she was there until writing this script because she does nothing during this entire arc until the story focuses on the male characters, something the article and anime fans who agree with said article say that Boku no Hero does not do. Let’s continue:

She has her own goals

Uraraka’s goal of being a hero to make money for her family is said once in the instant she says it. It’s never brought up again. However, you know what is brought up again and arguably replaces that goal? Her admiration for Deku and desire to become strong and capable just like Deku. In the same Bakugo fight that the article lynches its entire premise on, Uraraka refuses help from Deku because he is able to come up with strategies and she herself feels like she’s just following behind and chooses to follow his example. Of course, she loses brutally, but that same motivation of Deku inspiring her is brought up over and over again. That becomes her main motivation as presented to us by the material.

There are a WIDE WIDE WIDE number of female shounen characters with goals that are addressed over and over and over again and are central to their characters. Noelle from Black Clover’s entire motivation is that, despite being royalty, she cannot control her powers and is thus seen as worthless as a wizard. She joins the Black Bulls who not only don’t care that she’s royalty but are incredibly impressed with her power that she has and are willing to do anything they can to help her. Her very actions contribute to the royal family realizing that natural born talent and status isn’t everything because the royal Noelle Silva only became powerful when she joined the lowest squad. Winry Rockbell, despite being Ed’s love interest, has entire sections of the story dedicated to her making a name for herself in the male dominated automail industry, to the point that her skills get her recognized by so many people that they start to request her specifically to do their automail. She isn’t just sitting around when Ed’s gone, she’s revolutionizing the industry. 

In fact, if we are only looking at female characters within the very series Uraraka is in, we find that their goals are arguably better handled than hers. Yaoyorozu was accepted into UA through recommendation, one of only three in that year alongside Todoroki, but unlike Todoroki she did not evolve and only lost confidence in herself.  However, in the battle against Eraserhead, Todoroki recognizes her ability and it is only due to her intellect that they were able to win. Up until that point she had only really been following along with the plans of others and what Todoroki wanted her to do, but from that point on she does things of her own accord to be helpful in her own way. She has these expectations that she’s expected to meet, yet failed to meet them and lost confidence in herself and works to regain that confidence in her own ability, a motivation that continues to be essential to her character. Toga had this image that was presented by others as this perfect girl who could do no wrong, yet those same expectations were suppressing her true nature that society would not let her show to the world unless she became a villain. Her actions as part of the League of Villains are to create a world where she can be herself and get rid of this world that tells her she can’t and this part of her character is essential and relates to the actions of the villains of the series. By comparison of these two, Uraraka’s motivations of money for her family that are dropped and to become more like Deku that haven’t gotten much development in the past three years in the manga are not as large as this article seems to believe it is. 

However, if we are to fully address the major problem with this article, it’s this point that seems to be pushing:

Her series in general respects women

If we are to consider everything that I just said, does Boku no Hero Academia, to you, seem like a story that: gives focus to its female characters, makes the girls as powerful as the boys and have their own unique goals that move the plot? Well…

In the Sports Festival, none of the girls win and it’s only the guys. Of the Big 3, the three strongest third years in UA, Hado Nejire is given the least characterization and does the least in the Overhaul arc. The guys are almost always the focus of every single arc, and girls are only used as motivations for guys to get stronger and often fade into the background. If I am also to include the criticism of fanservice, Uraraka literally wears a skintight suit that focuses on the shape of her butt as does every female hero, Momo wears a skimpy outfit (though with legitimate reason), Midnight is a sex offender, Mt. Lady is introduced in almost every scene ass first and in the middle of the Sports Festival the girls all wear skimpy cheerleader outfits.

The very idea that Boku no Hero is unique in this aspect is a problem with shounen discourse in general. Black Clover has several extremely powerful women who hold equal importance to the men, same with One Piece, Soul Eater, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fire Force, Shokugeki no Souma, Bleach and so many others, but the misconceptions seem to arise simply due to fanservice and the idea that power translates to importance when characters have roles that they serve for the sake of the story, whether male or female. This idea that Boku no Hero is the one pushing this change ignores the existence of Dr. Stone, Promised Neverland, Black Clover again and Kimetsu no Yaiba which all have extremely prominent female characters, with Promised Neverland even having a girl as the main character. This is the issue of discourse within the anime community, especially those who discuss shounen. They lack the knowledge to understand that these misconceptions are formed from lack of understanding of the medium yet refuse to address this lack of knowledge. This article does not exist because one crazy person is spouting a hot take. This is a common idea amongst most anime fans, especially those who will buy into the hype that every new show breaks the mold in one way or another. 

Uraraka definitely breaks the Shounen Female Lead Curse: the curse that the genre is full of good ones and she pales in comparison to almost all of them.