Despite shoujo-meaning "young woman" in Japanese-isn't the first genre in mind when it comes to strong female protagonists, the genre's concept has been slowly changing over the years. From elementary school children to adults, there has been a slew of heroines who have managed to challenge the mary sue trope and become a beloved character.
This past decade, there have been multiple shows of great female protagonistsーbut on the other hand, there still managed to be protagonists who couldn't fit the bill. From Yui Kusanagi to Yui Komori, here are the bestーand worstーshoujo protagonists fans were introduced to this past decade.
10 Best: Yui Kusanagi (Kamigami No Asobi)
Yui, the daughter of a shrine priest, happens to be transported to the realm of the Gods after discovering a mythical sword.
Unlike most reverse harem heroine, Yui doesn't fall into the trap of a bland, boring protagonist who falls head-over-heels for the first boy she sets eyes upon, which is quite a featーespecially when every boy around her is a God.
9 Worst: Chizuru Yukimura (Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~)
Despite being a half-demon and the heroine of the otome game and anime Hakuoki~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~, Chizuru falls into the tropes of a mary sue. She rarely uses her powers to fight and has the boys surrounding her protect her.
Granted, they are samurai, and during this period, women were not accepted as readilyーbut that does not make up for the fact that Chizuru does not have much of a personality.
8 Best: Nanami Momozono (Kamisama Kiss)
Nanami is the human Land God of Mikage Shrine after she happens to save the God from being attacked by a dog. Bright, cheerful, and smart, Nanami works hard to be acknowledged as a God and bring it to its former glory.
She is also the first one to make her feelings known to Tomoe, her fox youkai familiar, and not give up despite being rejected twice. Nanami is a shoujo heroine to look up to this very day.
7 Worst: Yui Komori (Diabolik Lovers)
This is a shame because there are two different versions of Yuiーthe straightforward one from the otome game, Diabolik Lovers, and the meek one from the 2013 anime. However, since overseas fans did not receive the game, they never saw the former version and only the anime-only Yui.
Yui is used throughout the anime as a way to make the vampires around her shine, from showing them sucking her blood at any chance they get. To further things, Subaru, one of the vampires even gives her a silver dagger to kill themーto which she states she can't use it, making her appear dense.
6 Best: Shirayuki (Snow White With The Red Hair)
Shirayuki is the protagonist of an anime-inspired by the fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. However, unlike the mary sue heroine of the story, Shirayuki is in no way like the girl who inspired her character.
She denies the offer of becoming a concubine to a prince, escapes to another country, and even saves a neighboring prince, Zen, from dying of poison. This heroine is in no need of a savingーand she is very knowledgeable in medicine and herbs, as well.
5 Worst: Naho Takamiya (Orange)
Naho is a tough heroine to wholeheartedly like, and it's not hard to understand the reason why. While nothing is particularly wrong with her as a character, the reason lies in her role in the storyーshe wishes to save her friend, Kakeru Naruse, who died in an accident after receiving a letter from her future self.
It's not wrong to want to save your precious friend from dying. The only problem with this is how her future self already moved on with Hiroto and had a childーbut still regrets not saving him for her lingering feelings about him.
4 Best: Misaki Ayuzawa (Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama!)
Misaki from Kaichou wa Maid-sama is a tsundere, but one of the good ones. She lives in poverty with her little sister and works as a maid to pay off the debt, as well as the many bills.
On top of that, she's the first woman student council presidentーand she has a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to foolishness and her love interest, Takumi Usui. It's no wonder she has captured many hearts over the years.
3 Worst: Heroine (Amnesia)
Since the heroine of Amnesia does not have any memories, she doesn't even have a nameーwhich makes this character even worse than others.
Heroine lost her memories after an accident where a Spirit named Orion accidentally merged with her and now traverses through different worlds with different love interests. There is nothing about her, or explained about her, in the anime at all.
2 Best: Yona (Yona Of The Dawn)
Yona used to be an airheaded princess with no problems, but after her cousin and first love Su-Won kills her father and attempts to take over the country, she gets her act together.
Yona learns how to fight and use the bow in order to stop her cousin from taking what her father built, as well as journey across the lands to find the Legendary Dragon Warriors.
1 Worst: Erika Shinohara (Wolf Girl And Black Prince)
Erika is a heroine who wishes to be liked by her new friends, so she takes a picture of the most popular boy in school and says it's her boyfriend.
It turns out he is also an extreme sadist, so he treats her like garbageーbut she still ends up falling in love with him. The trope of a heroine falling in love with a jerk is overused and plainly uncomfortable to watch.