but who aren't repeatedly sexualized for the sake of fanservice. i just need this, like Mikasa from Attack on Titan or Lena/Ley from Saver. i've seen a lot of physically strong women played off as dumb and i've seen a lot of smart women written off as weak, so i want to find an intelligent and strong woman, again who isn't just sexed up for fanservice. so preferably nothing ecchi.

i would also prefer if she was a well rounded and well developed character. it can even be a progressive manga where she starts out weak, but ends up strong, i'd be fine with that as well. i just really need her to be smart or at the very least possess good common sense.

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Perdition Prison- where there are no guards, no rules and no escape. Only the strong survive: http://perditionrp.freeforums.net/

gokusen - she is not the brightest bulb, but definitely not onizuka

black lagoon - revi is a bitch

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nikkaido in dorohedoro is def badass and clever, no ecchi.

As for females who start out weak and grows along the series I would say Rin from blade of the immortal. In the start of the manga she is quite helpless and childish, but she has probably the biggest character growth I´ve seen in anyone in a manga (even if she isnt the main character). Rin becomes self sufficient and strong during the series. Fair warning thogh, Blade of the immortal is quite grotesque at times and there are some episodes of rape, but not in any sort of ecchi hentai way (the girl in that episode is by the way very kickass cool)

Both series contain awsome and beautiful art that wont remind you of any other mangaka (probably)

The most badass woman I can think of is Ichi from Ichi

The Twelve Kingdomsseriously good. Although it takes a while for Youko to develop into a strong character. google Eugene Woodbury's translations or go watch the anime. It's a little different but mostly stays true to the novels.
Slayers (Novel)
Appleseed some fanservice here and there, but it's Shirow Masamune so what are you going to do. It's probably the least fanservice he's done in one of his series. He makes some of the best female characters, and Deunan is at the top.
Battle Angel Alita the first series is almost perfect.
Beck Maho is mostly a side character, but she is realistically badass and comes off as a favorite for many. She didn't take shit from anyone.
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind what's a list of badass women without this on the list. It's got Nausicaa and Princess Kushana. Both of them are quite badass, yet at very different ends of the spectrum.
Pumpkin Scissors someone seriously needs to pick this series back up. It was finally getting to the best part of the story arc, and people stopped translating it.

Definitely read Blade of the Immortal

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Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

I second Gokusen and maybe Mrs Angel would be good. Dear, Only You Don't Know also has women that are like what you are looking for.

Last edited by ListeningDaisy at 6:51 pm, Sep 24 2013

20th Century Boys. Kanna is seriously awesome.
Battle Royale has a antagonistic one and FMA has some supporting ones

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit ---> The anime is awesome!!!
Basara

About Black Lagoon, it's good, but there is a looot of fanservice. That said, pretty much all the scary (awesome) characters are female. So yeah.

Anyway,
Joou no Hana Not much is translated as of yet, but it's seriously good stuff. Lots of character growth too.
Akatsuki no Yona Yona is naive and weak at the beginning, but she gets seriously badass awesome. While she's not the strongest physically, she makes up for it with dedication and charisma.
Siesta Dia seems weak at first, but she's definitely not. She's top of her class, and she's very likeable too.
Magi - Labyrinth of Magic Morgiana. She's the tritagonist, but she gets plenty of action. And there's plenty of strong supporting characters too.
Superior She's a demon queen. Yup.
Ciel She's beautiful, smart and strong.

I am disappointed by the lack of Teppu.

Also, Ririchiyo from Inu x Boku SS, Ayaka from Witchcraft Works, Kaguya from Gekka Bijin, Yuno from Mirai Nikki, Twin Spica, Carat!, xxxHolic and not a main character but a significant one is Urumi from GTO.

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Elitism? If I am not elite, then who is?

the girls (and boys) in 7 seeds. granted, this is a josei so the lack of fanservice is a given. all the characters undergo character development the farther you go.

Angel Densetsu badass girls, but the story is focused on a terrifying looking boy.

The Change! a gender bender

GS Mikami Gokuraku Daisakusen!! mikami wears short skirts but the style of drawing does not feel fan -servicy at all.

Franken Fran a bit guro, but still very funny.

Alyosha! about a girl assassin

Cat's Eye very old school, but still pretty well done.

Last edited by whitespade at 7:46 pm, Sep 24 2013

Try the Fantasy category







Hope you have humour sense. Have you read Claymore? It's really good, it has gotten a bit too Shonen (In the sense of friends against monsters and the like) as of late but it has a pretty good run in the first hundreds of chapters, and Yagi-sensei is an excellent author, he also made Angel Densetsu (suggested by Whitespade), that happens to be one of my all time Favourite manga. Not even a hint of Fanservise.

009 no 1 (female cyborg spy)
Appleseed (a classic cyberpunk manga, strong female lead)
Basara (post-apocalypse, strong female lead)
Black Lagoon (mercenary group on Thailand coast)
Cat's Eye (female thieves)
Claymore (high fantasy, swordplay)
Dirty Pair no Daibouken (future crime solving)
GUNNM (cyberpunk, protagonist is female cyborg)
Hana no Asukagumi! (the best sukeban manga, and Asuka strong and smart, which is unusual for female delinquents in manga)
Ichi (young female version of Zatoichi)
Jormungand (mercenary group who's leader is smart and strong girl, also other strong female characters)
Juuni Kokki (historical fantasy, though the lead is not that strong at first)
Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners (pretty dark supernatural manga)
Koukaku Kidoutai (and it's sequels, famous cyberpunk, lead is female cyborg)
Seirei no Moribito (historical fantasy, strong female bodyguard)
Shakugan no Shana (supernatural manga)
Shuto Heru (13th century mongol stuff, although the strong female is only physically female for most of the part)
Superior (fantasy manga, demon queen)
Taihoushichauzo (female cops)
Tokyo Crazy Paradise (near future yakuza stuff)

Last edited by 狂気 at 1:30 pm, Sep 25 2013

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Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

Lots of great recs already! Let's see what else I could add...

Kubera - see Asha Rahiro. And in Season 2, Teo Rakan! So smart and badass, and a magnificent human being.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Mikoto is incredibly smart when it comes to using her abilities, and she kicks ass with them.
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha - "Kono Watashi no Mono Tonare, Yuusha yo" "Kotowaru!" - Well, the Maou isn't physically strong, actually, but she has a helluva brain.
Tower of God - the Zahard Princesses are pretty much all badass. They're beautiful too, but they're not used as fanservice. On the contrary: no touching.
Arachnid - Assassination.
Freaks' Squeele - Because Xiong Mao. Martial Arts expert, and master blacksmith as a hobby, you don't see That everyday.

What else...

Hmm... Tokyo Crazy Paradise?
Skip Beat! - Most of the times when she is in her acting character.
Akuma to Love Song - Her personality. But it was mistaken though.
Six Half and Lover Discovery - their past and they had amnesia. Really cool~
Reimei no Arcana?
Tiara - a little.
Emma - While, not badass but smart.
Hot-Blooded Woman - Quite

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"A Lady Needs Time To Prepare. Even If It Takes A Year, A Gentlemen Must Wait." ~ Wilhelm Mölders(Emma)