I've found this to be an extreme rarity, not just in manga, but in fiction as a whole. Granted, having no romance is pretty unusual regardless of the sex/gender of the protagonist, but if there's ever a story without romance you can bet the MC's gonna be a guy and be right 95% of the time (in my experience).
- What I'm looking for is any story - short or long, manga, manhwa, manhua, novel, light novel or webcomic - where the protagonist is female and is not involved in a romantic pairing for the entirety of the story.
- I don't mind there being romance involving secondary characters, and those pairings even playing a big role in the plot. I'd just like to see a female MC who's not interested in romantic love, for whatever reason. Perhaps she's honouring the memory of a dead lover/spouse; maybe she doesn't care for the idea of being "tied down" ; maybe she's focused on her mission and thinks romance will get in the way, or maybe it just hasn't come up and she doesn't seem to have given it any thought. Whatever is fine.
- I don't want something where she was raped or abused and therefore has been scared off sex/romance for life.
- Please don't suggest "unlucky in love" type manga. The MC can't be one of those girls who wants desperately to marry and settle down but just can't seem to find Mr. Right. She has to be someone who isn't looking for Mr. Right in the first place.
That being said, please only suggest stories where the female character concerned is indubitably the protagonist, and not just an important side character.
As for sex -- I don't mind the story showing her having it, but if so it can't lead to any romantic feelings on her part, even if the other party seems to be looking for a relationship.
Any genre except hentai, shotacon, lolicon, harem, ecchi and smut is welcome. Also, I'm looking for professional works, so no doujinshi, please.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by calstine at 6:33 am, Jan 27 2015
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Female MC, no romance
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Lone Wanderer
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Demon Child
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The Tamír Triad by Lynn Flewelling
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Lol pakkun. All of your suggestions are good but also all have romantic subplots. I have to a say that this request is harder than one would think.
These are form my ongoing list only that fit: Azumi She falls in love but...,
Kakukaku Shikajika Kind off, Kami-sama, Ki-sama o Koroshitai. None as of now,
Flying Witch None as of now, Shirley and Yotsubato!.
Don´t match as the story goes on: Liar Game(If she is the lead but the ending is in a few days so let´s see if there is a romance) and RideBack(She and a fellow terrorist become a couple later on).
Hups you are reading half of them.
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These are form my ongoing list only that fit: Azumi She falls in love but...,
Kakukaku Shikajika Kind off, Kami-sama, Ki-sama o Koroshitai. None as of now,
Flying Witch None as of now, Shirley and Yotsubato!.
Don´t match as the story goes on: Liar Game(If she is the lead but the ending is in a few days so let´s see if there is a romance) and RideBack(She and a fellow terrorist become a couple later on).
Hups you are reading half of them.
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Murciélago The MC fools around a lot and even seems to have one semi-stable relationship, but it is very much sidelined and there doesn't seem to be a bit of actual romantic interest in the mix.
Jormungand There is a romantic undercurrent to the relationship between the MC and her shota(the series is not shota, the character is) hireling, but it does not really show up that much nor affect the cource of the series one bit. His purpose is to act as a kind of a moral anchor and support for her when she is going to realize her gran plan, but romance has little to do with it. ( I have no idea why this is actually tagged ecchi. I won't say there aren't any scenes like that, but the quantity is nowhere near the usual ecchi levels.)
Claymore Maybe 10 pages of mostly unrequited puppy-love. There might have been a single kiss between the MC and her tag-along. Nothing even resembing a romantic attachment from the MCs side. She is the big sister in that relationship.
Teppuu Delightfully unhinged female MC who has designs of beating up people, not making out with them.
Yeah, this is the best I could come up with. Teppuu is the only one that is 100% purely this.
Last edited by Baalzebup at 8:28 am, Jan 27 2015
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Jormungand There is a romantic undercurrent to the relationship between the MC and her shota(the series is not shota, the character is) hireling, but it does not really show up that much nor affect the cource of the series one bit. His purpose is to act as a kind of a moral anchor and support for her when she is going to realize her gran plan, but romance has little to do with it. ( I have no idea why this is actually tagged ecchi. I won't say there aren't any scenes like that, but the quantity is nowhere near the usual ecchi levels.)
Claymore Maybe 10 pages of mostly unrequited puppy-love. There might have been a single kiss between the MC and her tag-along. Nothing even resembing a romantic attachment from the MCs side. She is the big sister in that relationship.
Teppuu Delightfully unhinged female MC who has designs of beating up people, not making out with them.
Yeah, this is the best I could come up with. Teppuu is the only one that is 100% purely this.
Last edited by Baalzebup at 8:28 am, Jan 27 2015
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Tenkuu Shinpan none i can remember, focus is in escaping the world she finds herself in
17-sai. none, completed. Focus is in saving the sister.
Hope this helps, it is, indeed, a hard request
17-sai. none, completed. Focus is in saving the sister.
Hope this helps, it is, indeed, a hard request
jovialScribbler
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Seinen is RIGHT
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This is fun so i decided to quickly fly over Male Demographic with Female Lead.
I took the liberty to filler out some real trash (like you wanted) but 17-sai/Teppuu will win: Amanchu! As of now, Franken Fran Technicly no romance for her even if she is in love, Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor Hups forgot this one but lovestorys exist as background material, Golondrina I stopped early so i don´t know here, Forget-me-not She get´s one in the sequel which is arthouse porn, Helen ESP, Hito Hitori Futari,
Kill la Kill But it treats the leads like fanservice so there is that,
Kyonyuu Dragon The other stuff by the author also count,
Lucky Star (and all the other 4 komma "innocence porn" like K-ON... as they need to be untouched for the otaku masses), Subaru The sequel is a love story,
R.O.D - Read or Die Her lover is dead and watch the 2 anime after Vol.1 as the rest of the manga(s) are filler crap, Soil Hups forgot his one, Skyhigh,
Soul Eater The love stories (and the ending) go nowhere, Sprite,
Top o Narae 2! Watch the ova and the first ova has kind of a romance,
Uzumaki Was this a lovestory or not ? and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Kind off.
You may notice that 85%+ of posted manga by all still have some form of a romantic subplot and the same would happed on an international comics site too.
I think that is enough and someone else can hunt down other tags.
Edit: Bouken Erekitetou As of now. Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä The story does not address romance for the entire run on her side. Childrens publications and Mono no Aware fit the bill better then most. Or action manga with no big plot focus.
Last edited by residentgrigo at 1:01 am, Jan 28 2015
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I took the liberty to filler out some real trash (like you wanted) but 17-sai/Teppuu will win: Amanchu! As of now, Franken Fran Technicly no romance for her even if she is in love, Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor Hups forgot this one but lovestorys exist as background material, Golondrina I stopped early so i don´t know here, Forget-me-not She get´s one in the sequel which is arthouse porn, Helen ESP, Hito Hitori Futari,
Kill la Kill But it treats the leads like fanservice so there is that,
Kyonyuu Dragon The other stuff by the author also count,
Lucky Star (and all the other 4 komma "innocence porn" like K-ON... as they need to be untouched for the otaku masses), Subaru The sequel is a love story,
R.O.D - Read or Die Her lover is dead and watch the 2 anime after Vol.1 as the rest of the manga(s) are filler crap, Soil Hups forgot his one, Skyhigh,
Soul Eater The love stories (and the ending) go nowhere, Sprite,
Top o Narae 2! Watch the ova and the first ova has kind of a romance,
Uzumaki Was this a lovestory or not ? and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Kind off.
You may notice that 85%+ of posted manga by all still have some form of a romantic subplot and the same would happed on an international comics site too.
I think that is enough and someone else can hunt down other tags.
Edit: Bouken Erekitetou As of now. Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä The story does not address romance for the entire run on her side. Childrens publications and Mono no Aware fit the bill better then most. Or action manga with no big plot focus.
Last edited by residentgrigo at 1:01 am, Jan 28 2015
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The Crystal and Platina arcs in Pokémon Special qualify.
Remnant too, if I'm not wrong.
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Remnant too, if I'm not wrong.
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Arachnid?
Even though It kind of almost have a romance at first but the guy was kill by the heroine if I remember correctly.
(Normally, I prefer romance though so I am not sure.)
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Even though It kind of almost have a romance at first but the guy was kill by the heroine if I remember correctly.
(Normally, I prefer romance though so I am not sure.)
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Lone Wanderer
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@linnil : I tried Arachnid a while back but soon got tired of it. Thanks for the reply!
@residentgrigo : Thanks a lot for the all the recs! Some of them look very promising; I especially like the look of Hito Hitori Futari, Sprite, Golondrina, Kakukaku, Kami-sama, Subaru, and Flying Witch. You've suggested a lot of titles I already enjoy, so it seems like you've understood my tastes, too ^_^ Thanks again!
@Baalzebup : Murciélago sounds amusing but I'm a bit worried about the 'Broderline H' tag; guess I'll just wait on more scanlations to see if that category gets voted up or down ^_^ As for Jormungand... I don't like stories with even a hint of an adult fancying a child/teen (same reason I refuse to read Shi ga futari o wakatsu made and Gunslinger girl). It might be annoyingly prudish of me, but, well... Claymore and Teppuu sound good. Thank you!
@train93 : Not at all into Pokemon, really. Remnant looks interesting. Thank you!
@Oniluap : Tenkuu Shinpan sounds good. I've read 17-sai (loved the true crime story). Thanks for the rec!
@snowyearl` : I'm reading Ryushika, and Aria and Aqua are too moe for my tastes, but I'll give the other two a go (especially the Ashinano Hitoshi series) Thank you!
@jjmase03 : Aloysha shows promise, but I dropped Kaibutsu Oujo a while back. Killing Bites is ecchi, which I don't like. Thanks for the rec!
This one sounds interesting. I had no idea Nightrunners had a sister series. Thanks for the rec!
As far as I know, everything here except GiTS (and even that might not qualify; I watched it long ago and can't remember) have romance, just not strong enough to be put in the genre tags. Thanks for replying!
Last edited by lambchopsil at 8:30 am, Jan 28 2015
@residentgrigo : Thanks a lot for the all the recs! Some of them look very promising; I especially like the look of Hito Hitori Futari, Sprite, Golondrina, Kakukaku, Kami-sama, Subaru, and Flying Witch. You've suggested a lot of titles I already enjoy, so it seems like you've understood my tastes, too ^_^ Thanks again!
@Baalzebup : Murciélago sounds amusing but I'm a bit worried about the 'Broderline H' tag; guess I'll just wait on more scanlations to see if that category gets voted up or down ^_^ As for Jormungand... I don't like stories with even a hint of an adult fancying a child/teen (same reason I refuse to read Shi ga futari o wakatsu made and Gunslinger girl). It might be annoyingly prudish of me, but, well... Claymore and Teppuu sound good. Thank you!
@train93 : Not at all into Pokemon, really. Remnant looks interesting. Thank you!
@Oniluap : Tenkuu Shinpan sounds good. I've read 17-sai (loved the true crime story). Thanks for the rec!
@snowyearl` : I'm reading Ryushika, and Aria and Aqua are too moe for my tastes, but I'll give the other two a go (especially the Ashinano Hitoshi series) Thank you!
@jjmase03 : Aloysha shows promise, but I dropped Kaibutsu Oujo a while back. Killing Bites is ecchi, which I don't like. Thanks for the rec!
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This one sounds interesting. I had no idea Nightrunners had a sister series. Thanks for the rec!
Quote from pakkun
As far as I know, everything here except GiTS (and even that might not qualify; I watched it long ago and can't remember) have romance, just not strong enough to be put in the genre tags. Thanks for replying!
Last edited by lambchopsil at 8:30 am, Jan 28 2015
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Quote from calstine
As far as I know, everything here except GiTS (and even that might not qualify; I watched it long ago and can't remember) have romance, just not strong enough to be put in the genre tags. Thank you for trying, anyway.
GitS is a manga first and foremost. There's no real romance in the manga; it has one quite explicit scene of the Major having casual sex with friends, and one arc where she's briefly dating a boyfriend but he's not around before or after that chapter and is never particularly significant.
Lone Wanderer
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Quote from Bafflement
GitS is a manga first and foremost. There's no real romance in the manga; it has one quite explicit scene of the Major having casual sex with friends, and one arc where she's briefly dating a boyfriend but he's not around before or after that chapter and is never particularly significant.
Thanks for the info! Fitting with my request or not, I'm definitely going to rewatch the entire Ghost in the Shell saga at some point (if nothing else, I do remember that I loved it). I had no idea there was a manga, though.
Seinen is RIGHT
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Motoko is bisexual in the manga (because the athor does mostly porn and did not want to draw a man´s ass), is into threesomes and changes lovers every few weeks 
.
Appleseed (this time better then all anime versions) is the only one by him i liked but it has a romance.
She and Batou have a subtile romance in the movies.
Same for SaC but she has some form of love story in season 2 with the "bad guy".
She changes lovers in Arise too but it is well done and she and Batou have the usal thing again. Especially in the crazy good and in continuity Koukaku Kidoutai Arise - Nemuranai Me no Otoko Sleepless Eye. Stick to the clearly superior anime versions (Arise is getting a movie) and these were the 4(!) universes as of now.
Psycho-Pass 2 (by the Arise writer) has Akane as a clear lead (just read my review) and no love for her. I will dig up more as this is realy fun.
Claymore has a subtile but clear love Story. It is still a must read (i love the author) as it is shonen Berserk. Murciélago and similar female gore titels are borderline-H to the core by the sub-genre definition. The Mardock Scramble anime by the same guy does not have a clear love story and is one of the few japane storys about an (ex-)prostitute lead i can recommend. Very dark. Cyberpunk leads go solo a lot of times like in Genocyber or all the other 90s ova trash but i recommend to run in the opposite direction here.
Sci fi anime like Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis don´t have a that important love story and isn´t Queen Emeraldas solo.
Last edited by residentgrigo at 2:19 pm, Jan 31 2015
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.Appleseed (this time better then all anime versions) is the only one by him i liked but it has a romance.
She and Batou have a subtile romance in the movies.
Same for SaC but she has some form of love story in season 2 with the "bad guy".
She changes lovers in Arise too but it is well done and she and Batou have the usal thing again. Especially in the crazy good and in continuity Koukaku Kidoutai Arise - Nemuranai Me no Otoko Sleepless Eye. Stick to the clearly superior anime versions (Arise is getting a movie) and these were the 4(!) universes as of now.
Psycho-Pass 2 (by the Arise writer) has Akane as a clear lead (just read my review) and no love for her. I will dig up more as this is realy fun.
Claymore has a subtile but clear love Story. It is still a must read (i love the author) as it is shonen Berserk. Murciélago and similar female gore titels are borderline-H to the core by the sub-genre definition. The Mardock Scramble anime by the same guy does not have a clear love story and is one of the few japane storys about an (ex-)prostitute lead i can recommend. Very dark. Cyberpunk leads go solo a lot of times like in Genocyber or all the other 90s ova trash but i recommend to run in the opposite direction here.
Sci fi anime like Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis don´t have a that important love story and isn´t Queen Emeraldas solo.
Last edited by residentgrigo at 2:19 pm, Jan 31 2015
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