I third Gokusen" - a female teacher in a all-boys school with a bad reputation and still the author didn't turn it into ecchi. Plus: it's funny.


I'd say : she's smart, not portrayed as a sexual object, no fanservice.. but "badass" would be questionable.

Teppuu has already been recommended (it's on hiatus though). Similarly, All Rounder Meguru has Maki as a side character:

http://d1x31j41gwsem2.cloudfront.net/news/0001/19/65a2b728d7 1086ec455bf09ff73dd3aa775822d2.jpeg

Second : Tokyo Crazy Paradise---> She is T&%^%&^% awesome! She dont take crap from anybody.

Leone from Akame ga Kill!, she's strong, wild, a bit cunning, and top of that, she's quite pretty

I don't know. For a late 19th century maid she's kinda badass.

________________
Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

Bokura no Kiseki but it's a gender bender and he used to be a she so I said maybe?
Four Daughters of Armian this is such an amazing manhwa but it's not completed yet. Something similar (with a woman warrior as a main character) would be Crystal Dragon
Omake no Kobayashi kun book smart mostly but she's pretty badass and strong when it comes to protecting her classmates and friends

________________
Help! I'm looking for... manga with dangerous guys http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=39874&pa ge=1#post594033

Grand Sun perhaps...

________________
~4400 manga completed
~1700 ongoing...

A third recommendation already? Gokusen is a good example of a manga where a strong woman is played off as dumb. Exactly what the OP is not looking for.

________________
Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

Air Master If you can get past the atrocious art and lack of a translation it's actually quite a good story about a girl wanting to be the best street fighter around. Seriously, that art . If this place had a puking emoticon I would use it. But it's good regardless.
Cross Game Aoba...

Last edited by silent killer at 1:58 pm, Sep 26 2013

________________
Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

That one's just way out of place. Perhaps you meant to post it in a tsundere topic?

________________
Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

i know a lot of these have powerful women, but what i really want are SMART, and powerful women. there are quite a few good suggestions that i haven't read yet, which i really appreciated, but a lot of these that i checked out fit the "strong but dumb" woman trope that i'm trying to avoid.

for instance, though gokusen is one of my favorite manga and i love yamaguchi, i'm looking for someone with a bit more cunning and worldly know-how.

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

While none of my recommendations were about stupid women, so if you like women that are strong without being stupid, they all fit, but here's the ones I'd like to emphasise that have a strong and smart women.

009 no 1 - classic spy manga, lead is female cyborg spy (pretty old school but there's a pretty recent TV anime on it)

Appleseed - protagonist is strong and practical, not really cunning but smart nonetheless, practical is the keyword

Basara - strong both physically and mentally, fairly smart also

Black Lagoon - important side character, Balalaika is the boss of Russian ex-military group in Roanapur, strong, smart, cunning

Cat's Eye - thief group of three sisters, pretty old school—if you like this check out also Taihoushichauzo and Dirty Pair: all these are also comedy and the women have funny misadventures but they're smart and strong; Hot-Blooded Woman that was recommended is kind of similar although a different type of manga (manhwa)

Hana no Asukagumi! - as I said, the best sukeban manga and Asuka is both strong and smart, both of which are critical to the plot

Jormungand - arms dealer group who's leader Koko is similar to Balalaika in Black Lagoon, strong (mostly mentally) and smart, difference that she's one of the lead characters

Koukaku Kidoutai (aka Ghost in the Shell) is a near future manga focusing on Public Security (Japanese police) Section 9, a secret section, small special forces team, the team leader and the lead character is a female cyborg

Last edited by 狂気 at 9:55 am, Oct 16 2013

________________
Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

Choukakou ----->Its amazing!!!!!!! Its a must read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is the perfect package you are looking for!!!!!!!!! There are 5 volumes so far scanlated......

There's that side of her too. I still stand by that Reco.

________________
Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

Although it's not a manga, I recommend giving Kara no Kyoukai anime movies a watch. It's quite dark philosophical anime with awesome animation and plenty of action; complement by hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. The plot might seem confusing at first, but you'll start to get the hang of things as the movie progress.

Shiki is one of the most badass and coolest heroine I've ever seen, anime or otherwise. And she's pretty intelligent as well, especially when it comes to fighting. xD

Edit: Get ANE's encodes, as they are the best looking out of other groups' release. You can download them from xdcc bot on their IRC channel, #ANE at Rizon.

Last edited by SlyzertVoltrond at 5:03 am, Sep 29 2013