I'm bored and I've been reading a lot of battle shonen recently so I figured I should throw this together
5. Sagiri from Hell's Paradise
The deuteragonist of Jigokuraku. Really great character. I think her stoic, somewhat awkward personality played off great with the other characters. Her storyline of trying to figure out her place in the world and needing to accept herself really resonated with me.
If I had to say one bad thing about her, I think it would be that the story didn't quite know what to do with her in the latter half so she was just kinda running around while the others were fighting the Tensen. Granted she popped off enough in the final fight to make up for it.
4. Nico Robin from One Piece
It's really hard not to love Robin. To this day I adore her storyline in Enies Lobby. She went through so much pain, yet she kept fighting and eventually found a place to call her own.
I know some people have complained about her not being given enough to do post timeskip. While I agree with that to an extent, it seems like we'll be getting some stuff with Robin in Elbaf, especially considering that Saul's still alive.
3. Cisqua from Elemental Gelade
Time to talk about a character that not many people know of.
The tritagonist of Elemental Gelade. You know how a lot of times in shonen there's that one character who doesn't participate in the power system at all, yet still manages to be one of the badass characters? That is Cisqua.
So basically, Elemental Gelade revolves around this race of magic people called Edel Raids that can turn into super powerful weapons if they react with a human (It's pretty much the weapon partner thing that Soul Eater does). Of the 5 main characters, you got two Edel Raids and two users. And then you've got Cisqua. No powers. Not partnered with an Edel Raid. So you know what she does instead? She simply carries around a fuckton of missiles and can throw hands at a moment's notice.
I cannot downplay how fucking cool this character is. She looks like a little girl (she's actually 16 iirc), is obsessed with money, is self-centered, will resort to violence at the drop of a hat, will lie to get her way, is bossy as hell, but she can and will beat the shit out of you if you get on the bad side of her or her friends. She is the coolest character in the series by a country mile. She talks a lot of shit, but she can actually back that up by fucking murdering you.
(Yes I did make this post as an excuse to hype up this character from a 20 year old shonen that no one talks about anymore how could you tell?)
2. Maka Albarn from Soul Eater
The main protagonist of Soul Eater. There's a lot to like about Maka. She's cool, heroic, and has great chemistry with the other MCs. Her dynamic with Soul in particular was great. But I think the aspect of her character that resonated the most with me was just how kindhearted she is, especially towards Crona. Maka's honestly the only good thing to ever happen to Crona. Crona was used as a lab rat by Medusa for their entire life who just desperately wanted affection. Maka, however, made an effort to understand Crona and connect with them. She was the first one to ever treat Crona like a person. Even when Crona was manipulated by Medusa into betraying DWMA, Maka still refused to give up on them.
Absolute goat. Everyone needs a friend like her in their lives.
Sure there's plenty of examples in shonen where the MC redeems one of the bad guys by showing them kindness, but Maka's and Crona's friendship was just so fucking sweet.
Honorable Mentions
Nami from One Piece
Yoruichi from Bleach
Medusa from Soul Eater
1. Kei Yonagi from Act Age
Man, you know when there's a piece of media you're really into that has great storytelling and character writing, but the author is a total piece of shit? That's me with Act Age.
Yonagi is an awesome character. Girl's a total autist (I'm on the spectrum so I can use this word deal with it) who has an uncanny talent for acting, yet struggles to connect with people around her. She was a really compelling three-dimensional character and an amazing lead for the series. But as you probably know, Act Age is obviously never getting continued after the author did what he did (I should clarify that the artist had nothing to do with him being a pedo. Also she's coming out with a new series in WSJ so make sure to check that out)
5. Sagiri from Hell's Paradise
The deuteragonist of Jigokuraku. Really great character. I think her stoic, somewhat awkward personality played off great with the other characters. Her storyline of trying to figure out her place in the world and needing to accept herself really resonated with me.
If I had to say one bad thing about her, I think it would be that the story didn't quite know what to do with her in the latter half so she was just kinda running around while the others were fighting the Tensen. Granted she popped off enough in the final fight to make up for it.
4. Nico Robin from One Piece
It's really hard not to love Robin. To this day I adore her storyline in Enies Lobby. She went through so much pain, yet she kept fighting and eventually found a place to call her own.
I know some people have complained about her not being given enough to do post timeskip. While I agree with that to an extent, it seems like we'll be getting some stuff with Robin in Elbaf, especially considering that Saul's still alive.
3. Cisqua from Elemental Gelade
Time to talk about a character that not many people know of.
The tritagonist of Elemental Gelade. You know how a lot of times in shonen there's that one character who doesn't participate in the power system at all, yet still manages to be one of the badass characters? That is Cisqua.
So basically, Elemental Gelade revolves around this race of magic people called Edel Raids that can turn into super powerful weapons if they react with a human (It's pretty much the weapon partner thing that Soul Eater does). Of the 5 main characters, you got two Edel Raids and two users. And then you've got Cisqua. No powers. Not partnered with an Edel Raid. So you know what she does instead? She simply carries around a fuckton of missiles and can throw hands at a moment's notice.
I cannot downplay how fucking cool this character is. She looks like a little girl (she's actually 16 iirc), is obsessed with money, is self-centered, will resort to violence at the drop of a hat, will lie to get her way, is bossy as hell, but she can and will beat the shit out of you if you get on the bad side of her or her friends. She is the coolest character in the series by a country mile. She talks a lot of shit, but she can actually back that up by fucking murdering you.
(Yes I did make this post as an excuse to hype up this character from a 20 year old shonen that no one talks about anymore how could you tell?)
2. Maka Albarn from Soul Eater
The main protagonist of Soul Eater. There's a lot to like about Maka. She's cool, heroic, and has great chemistry with the other MCs. Her dynamic with Soul in particular was great. But I think the aspect of her character that resonated the most with me was just how kindhearted she is, especially towards Crona. Maka's honestly the only good thing to ever happen to Crona. Crona was used as a lab rat by Medusa for their entire life who just desperately wanted affection. Maka, however, made an effort to understand Crona and connect with them. She was the first one to ever treat Crona like a person. Even when Crona was manipulated by Medusa into betraying DWMA, Maka still refused to give up on them.
Absolute goat. Everyone needs a friend like her in their lives.
Sure there's plenty of examples in shonen where the MC redeems one of the bad guys by showing them kindness, but Maka's and Crona's friendship was just so fucking sweet.
Honorable Mentions
Nami from One Piece
Yoruichi from Bleach
Medusa from Soul Eater
1. Kei Yonagi from Act Age
Man, you know when there's a piece of media you're really into that has great storytelling and character writing, but the author is a total piece of shit? That's me with Act Age.
Yonagi is an awesome character. Girl's a total autist (I'm on the spectrum so I can use this word deal with it) who has an uncanny talent for acting, yet struggles to connect with people around her. She was a really compelling three-dimensional character and an amazing lead for the series. But as you probably know, Act Age is obviously never getting continued after the author did what he did (I should clarify that the artist had nothing to do with him being a pedo. Also she's coming out with a new series in WSJ so make sure to check that out)
