It’s a common role for fictional protagonists to inspire and empower viewers with their noble deeds, incredible courage, hard work, and generous ways, including in the world of Japanese anime. While it’s always fun to watch a subversive antihero in action, fans usually prefer the most empowering characters whose actions and ideals can resonate with any viewer. Such characters can be found in shonen action anime, sports series, romance, slice-of-life, and more.
These characters inspire and empower viewers in a wide variety of ways, from being a reliable ace student to working hard to master their fighting style or sport, and some are even more unique in how they empower viewers. Depending on the character’s arc and the anime’s themes, an anime character may feel empowering if they overcome their own dark side or if they make an idealistic stand about an unfair society.
10 Mitsuri Kanroji Accepted Herself For Who She Is
Mitsuri Balances Her Strong and Beautiful Sides
While it’s already impressive to see Tanjiro Kamado push himself so hard to get stronger in Demon Slayer‘s story, Tanjiro’s quest as an action star feels rather conventional. If fans want a more memorable story arc of self-empowerment, then Mitsuri Kanroji the Love Hashira is a fine example. Her arc is one of self-acceptance and balancing herself.
Mitsuri was once insecure about her strength, hair color, and appetite, fearing that she couldn’t have a traditionally feminine image. Over time, Mitsuri came to accept herself for exactly who and what she was, and expressed that self-love as a powerful demon slayer who earned her way into the ranks of the Hashira. Now, Mitsuri knows she is beautiful, immensely strong, and popular, all in one confident package.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Release Date
- April 6, 2019
- Cast
- Natsuki Hanae , Zach Aguilar , Abby Trott , Akari Kitō , Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
- Seasons
- 5
9 Chinatsu Kano Throws Herself Into Her Favorite Sport
She is Skilled, Popular, and Easy to Root For
Chinatsu Kano is the co-lead of the new Blue Box anime series, based on the ongoing shonen manga of the same name. It’s fun watching Taiki Inomata push himself to get better at his chosen sport of badminton, but for now, it’s actually Chinatsu Kano who’s the more empowering one. She’s the one who shows up to practice before anyone else to get better at basketball.
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Chinatsu is empowering because she’s such a humble hard worker in her chosen sport, and she is also a kind and popular girl with a well-balanced life. She sets a fantastic example for anyone who wants to get better at sports or other hobbies, and she’s a great friend to everyone around her in the process, too. Chinatsu has her happy high school life figured out, and it’s uplifting to see.
Blue Box
- Creator(s)
- Kôji Miura
- Cast
- Reina Ueda , Akari Kitō , Shoya Chiba
- Seasons
- 1
8 Jinwoo Sung Shows the True Grit of an Underdog Hero
He Fights For His Mother and Younger Sister
The premise of Solo Leveling may be outlandish, but Jinwoo’s underdog protagonist’s arc is still surprisingly relatable and empowering to watch. Jinwoo Sung begins the story as a weak E-rank hunter who struggles against even the most basic fantasy monsters, but he doesn’t dare give up because his ailing mother and his little sister are both counting on him to support them.
Jinwoo’s struggles to fight and provide for his family are plenty empowering and sympathetic, with Jinwoo’s dungeon crawling being a fantasy stand-in for any variety of real-life jobs where those paychecks must be earned, no matter what. Then, when Jinwoo cheated death and started leveling up, he pushed himself even harder to get stronger and financially support his family, and never once did he fight for selfish reasons.
In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jin-Woo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.
- Release Date
- January 7, 2024
- Cast
- Aleks Le , Taito Ban
- Main Genre
- Action
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- A-1 Pictures
- Creator
- Chugong
- Writers
- Noboru Kimura
- Main Cast
7 Nobara Kugisaki Has Become a Feminist Icon in Anime
She Won’t Let Society Dictate Her Life
Nobara Kugisaki of Jujutsu Kaisen fame has already become one of shonen’s best girls on many levels. For one thing, Nobara rejects the sorcerer world’s imbalance between the sexs, refusing to let society or tradition-minded elders shape her life and her image. That set Nobara apart from Momo Nishimiya, who embraced those unfair norms to avoid trouble as a female sorcerer.
That alone is quite inspiring, and it may resonante with many viewers even if curses and sorcery aren’t real. On an even more personal note, Nobara is inspiring as a tough, hardworking sorcerer who has earned everything she’s ever gained, and she’s also a good friend for Yuji. No matter Nobara’s stress or woes, she finds time for fun, setting a fine example in the process.
Jujutsu Kaisen
A boy swallows a cursed talisman – the finger of a demon – and becomes cursed himself. He enters a shaman’s school to be able to locate the demon’s other body parts and thus exorcise himself.
- Release Date
- October 2, 2020
- Cast
- Junya Enoki , Yuma Uchida , Yuichi Nakamura , Adam McArthur , Asami Seto
- Seasons
- 3
- Studio
- MAPPA
- Creator
- Gege Akutami
- Main Characters
- Yuji Itadori, Satoru Gojo, Ryomen Sukuna
- Production Company
- Mappa, TOHO animation
- Number of Episodes
- 47 Episodes
6 Ruby Hoshino Chases Her Dreams With Great Enthusiasm
Subversive anime series like Oshi no Ko aren’t often empowering, since they deconstruct the narrative norms that create empowering protagonists. Despite that, some anime fans may cheer on Ruby Hoshino and feel inspired by her quest to make it big in the entertainment industry. She may have Hoshino-style eye stars symbolizing her lies, but her determination to succeed is no lie.
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Ruby is innocent to a fault, ready to dive right into the idol industry and become successful and popular like her new mother Ai. Ruby has no special skills or traits aside from her naturally good looks, instead using sheer grit and determination to make it this far as the main girl of the new B-Komachi. That may be why her brother Aqua, no matter his own woes, is determined to protect his sister’s happiness and success.
A doctor and his recently-deceased patient are reborn as twins to a famous Japanese musical idol and navigate the highs and lows of the Japanese entertainment industry as they grow up together through their lives.
- Release Date
- April 12, 2023
- Cast
- Manaka Iwami , Jeremy Gee , Jack Stansbury , Alyssa Marek , Savanna Menzel , Natalie Rial
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator
- Production Company
- Story By
- Aka Akasaka
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka
- Number of Episodes
- Directors
- Daisuke Hiramaki
5 Ochaco Uraraka Fights Hard to Be More Like Deku
She Also Has Pure Motives For Wanting to Be a Pro Hero
Class 1-A in My Hero Academia is populated with empowering characters who embody the shonen virtues of hard work and faith in oneself, all with supernatural Quirks thrown in. It’s wonderful to watch Deku go from a zero to hero like that, but he was given a unique gift while his classmate Ochaco Uraraka had to make do with what she already had.
By design, Ochaco’s arc is similar to Deku’s own, and it’s even more empowering since she lacks All Might’s tutelage and the power of One For All. Ochaco is a true underdog who must be creative and tough to get ahead, and to round things out, she fights for the best possible reasons. Ochaco wants to earn paychecks as a pro hero to support her impoverished parents, a realistic and sympathetic goal by any measure.
My Hero Academia (2016)
Izuku has dreamt of being a hero all his life—a lofty goal for anyone, but especially challenging for a kid with no superpowers. That’s right, in a world where eighty percent of the population has some kind of super-powered “quirk,” Izuku was unlucky enough to be born completely normal. But that’s not enough to stop him from enrolling in one of the world’s most prestigious hero academies.
- Release Date
- April 3, 2016
- Cast
- Aoi Yuki , Ayane Sakura , Christopher R. Sabat , Yûki Kaji , Nobuhiko Okamoto , Luci Christian , David Matranga , Justin Briner , Kenta Miyake , Clifford Chapin , Daiki Yamashita
- Rating
- Seasons
- 7
- Franchise
- My Hero Academia
- Characters By
- Kohei Horikoshi
- Distributor
- FUNimation Entertainment
- Main Characters
- Tsuyu Asui, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, All Might
- Production Company
- Bones
- Story By
- Kōhei Horikoshi, Yōsuke Kuroda
- Number of Episodes
- 113
4 Mash Burnedead Won’t Let Wizard Supremacy Keep Him Down
He Identifies Strongly With His Workout Routine
No matter the comedy and parody action in Mashle: Magic and Muscles, the himbo protagonist Mash Burnedead is genuinely empowering and inspiring to watch. He was born without magic in a world where magic means everything, but he didn’t let that bother him. Instead, Mash empowered himself with his legendary workout routine, granting him physical strength to match any magical spell.
Mash may be goofy and oafish at times, but there’s no denying his self-confidence despite society’s rejection of him. Even in a school full of arrogant wizards, Mash is determined to make something of himself in his own way, ready to prove that his way of life is just as valid as any wizard’s. That’s why he keeps inspiring people like Lemon Irvine and Lance Crown to befriend him and get a little empowerment for themselves.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles (2023)
- Release Date
- April 8, 2023
- Creator(s)
- Riichiro Inagaki
- Cast
- Chiaki Kobayashi , Reiji Kawashima , Kaito Ishikawa , Takuya Eguchi , Reina Ueda , Hiroaki Hirata , Yuuichirou Umehara , Hiroki Nanami , Yûki Kaji , Takehito Koyasu , Koki Uchiyama
- Seasons
- 1
- Writers
- Riichiro Inagaki
- Franchise(s)
- Eyeshield 21
- Directors
- Shin’ichi Watanabe , Masayoshi Nishida , Shin Katagai
- Character(s)
- Mash Burnedead , Finn Ames , Lance Crown , Dot Barrett , Lemon Irvine , Narration , Abel Walker , Abyss Razor , Rayne Ames , Margarette Macaron , Carpaccio Luo-Yang
3 Miyako Shikimori is an Ace Student and Great Friend
She’s Empowering in a Realistic and Surprisingly Humble Way
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie is a conventional yet charming romantic comedy featuring the gentle Izumi Yuu and the strong, popular Miyako Shikimori, the queen bee at her high school. Shikimori is the school’s best girl and she knows it, but Shikimori never let that get to her head. She’s a selfless, supportive person who always puts her friends and boyfriend first.
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It’s uplifting to see a mature, capable teenager like Shikimori navigate her life with such finesse and skill as she lives up to her reputation as the best girl at school. She always uses her strengths to help others and make them feel better, to the point she has to keep protecting Yuu from physical harm due to his bad luck.
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
Shikimori seems like the perfect girlfriend. But she has a cool dark side that comes out under the right circumstances. And her boyfriend Izumi loves to be around when that happens.
- Genre
- Anime
- Debut Date
- April 10, 2022
- Studio
- Crunchyroll
2 Kafka Hibino Pushed Himself to Pursue His Dream at Age 32
No Amount of Failure Would Keep Him out of the Game
The half-other trope is not always empowering, since these characters often stumble into supernatural powers that anime viewers can’t relate to. An exception is Kafka Hibino, the protagonist of Kaiju No. 8, who always dreamed of joining the Defense Force and protecting Tokyo from kaiju. However, he repeatedly failed the entrance exam, and by age 32, he was still trying to get in.
Kafka was undestandably distraught, but he didn’t let that hold him back. He stubbornly clung to that dream no matter how remote the odds felt, pushing himself to get stronger and smarter to get the same career that his childhood friend Mina Ashiro had. That was inspiring to watch, with or without Kafka’s new half-other kaiju powers thrown into the mix. Kafka proves tha no one is ever too old to pursue their dreams.
Kaiju No. 8
Kafka Hibino merges with a kaiju and gains powers, leading him to attempt his childhood dream in Kaiju No. 8.
- Release Date
- 2024-04-00
- Cast
- Fairouz Ai , Wataru Katou , Masaya Fukunishi
- Studio
- Production I.G.
- Main Cast
- Masaya Fukunishi, Fairouz Ai, Wataru Katou
1 Fern Became a Great Wizard Through Sheer Hard Work
Frieren Was Amazed By Fern’s Progress
While the elf protagonist Frieren is exciting to watch in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, she isn’t meant to be relatable as a nigh-immortal being who can’t understand the fleeing nature of human lives. That leaves Fern the wizard to be the sympathetic face in this anime, a violet-haired girl who was found and raised by Heiter the hero for a few years before becoming Frieren’s apprentice.
Fern’s character arc may be rather straightforward, but it’s still the most empowering part of this anime’s fantasy narrative. Fern put in the legwork to become a stronger spellcaster day after day, and even when Frieren acknowledged her rapid progress for her age, Fern still kept pushing. She didn’t leave home until she destroyed that boulder with a spell, then started learning yet more magic with Frieren to up her game once again.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
An elf and her friends defeat a demon king in a great war. But the war is over, and the elf must search for a new way of life.
- Release Date
- September 29, 2023
- Cast
- Atsumi Tanezaki , Kana Ichinose , Mallorie Rodak , Jill Harris
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator
- Tsukasa Abe, Kanehito Yamada
- Production Company
- Aniplex, Dentsu, Madhouse, Shogakukan, TOHO animation, Toho
