I'm looking for a female protagonist whose character matures a LOT during the course of the manga, noticeably enough for her to seem almost like a different person at the end than she was at the beginning, or enough that her life-path or how she feels as a person is completely different than it was before. HOWEVER, this character growth must be NON-ROMANTIC, as in, it shouldn't have anything to do with falling in love or being in a relationship or anything like that.

I'm not saying that there can't be any romance in the manga, just that it shouldn't be the main contributing factor to her character growth. Her maturity should come about mostly as a result of something else, like work or sports or war or financial difficulty or political activism or the wise guidance of an older person or, heck, pretty much anything that isn't romance. Or related to romance.

I'm just tired of reading about female protagonists whose only character growth seems to come about because of luuuuuurve. Lol. I want a female protagonist who is shown maturing and growing up for other reasons.

Any takers?

Balsa from Guardian of the Sacred Spirit reminds me of this, as does the protagonist from The Twelve Kingdoms - her character growth is AMAZING, and it isn't really the result of any romance.

Any others?

Thanks in advance! Remember, NO hentai or ecchi, please. Anything else is ok.

Totally agree with you! I absolutely refuse to read romance manga with female protagonists solely due to this reason

So, anyway, recommendations...

Dance! Subaru and Moon should be just right. I haven't read them, but I'm sure they fit. The sequel might have romance, but it (most probably) isn't the source of her strength and character growth.

Trinity Blood (Novel) - Note that I mean the novels only, not the manga - and most definitely not the anime. Abel is the actual main character; but Esther, the secondary protagonist, gets just as much page time, and she suits your description really well.

I think Mononoke Hime is like this too. You should just watch the anime, since the manga hasn't been completely scanned. The anime adaptation follows the manga faithfully, so it's fine.

Crystal Dragon - I'm pretty sure...sounds that way, even though there's obviously going to be some romance somewhere along the line.

Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä is another good one, but I suppose you could argue that the Princess was strong from the very beginning? If so, this might not be what you're looking for.

Nononono...Okay, now this I am really not sure about. I've never read it, and some people complain that the female lead isn't all that. I dunno...guess it's worth a shot?


Last edited by calstine at 3:57 am, Aug 15 2010

Wow, I haven't read FOUR of those, calstine! Thank you so much!

I'd like to add Ashita no Ousama, which, while labeled as a romance manga, has pretty much all of the female protagonist's character growth happen as a result of OTHER causes - professional and creative ones. It's one of the reasons why I love that manga so much. <3

Eternal Sabbath
C-Blossom (it's more like friendship than romance)
River's Edge
Island (KOMI Naoshi)

This is a surprisingly hard request.

I don't have a favourable opinion of this manga, but Dear Friends meets the requirements perfectly.

not sure if these count but,
Oneichan to Issho
and Until Death Do Us Part ( but I recommend that for everything )

aqua - aria
amanchu
kekkaishi
black cat

I second ashita no ousama

mayb cat street - she didn't change coz of love but mostly because of her new friends.

Milk Closet

,,, hmm. I'm surprised to find that that's all I've got. Tentatively I'll put SaiKano out there, but it's a very strong war/romance mix. The war changes her and the romance changes her back, sort of.

Skip Beat - even though the reason that she joined the workforce was because of revenge due to a jilted lover, Kyoko excels and matures out of her own personal growth.

@goldenpearls, I'm all for surprisingly hard requests!

Thanks so much to everyone who's managing to recommend for this thread! Please keep doing so!