Although best known for its lighthearted and thrilling adventures, shonen anime can sometimes take dark and twisted turns. The events that follow, more often than not, are used as a means to help the main characters grow by either forcing them to become stronger or becoming the motivation behind their adventures.
Other times, tragedies make audiences become endeared to a secondary or supporting cast member, as seeing someone suffer causes fans to empathize with their pain. As such, this concept is widely used to make female characters more interesting and beloved by viewers. Lamentably, this means that many women in shonen anime have gone through truly traumatic experiences, some of which can be considered unnecessarily brutal.
It's no secret that a majority of the Straw Hat Crew’s backstories are quite tragic. Among them, Nico Robin’s stands out for its brutality, as she was one of the only survivors of the destruction of Ohara. This Kingdom, famous across the world for being home to some of the biggest scholars in history, was targeted by the World Government for their studies into the Void Century.
Nico, who was only a girl at the time, was a firsthand witness of the Navy’s cruelty, forced to see as her friends and the libraries of this great nation burned to a crisp. The only reason why she was able to survive this massacre was Saul, who sacrificed himself to allow the child to escape. This event left a significant scar on Robin’s mind, festering her hatred for the World Government and pushing her to uncover the mysteries Ohara’s scholars could not.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Zenin Clan was not only infamous among sorcerers for their corruption and cruelty, but also because of their inhumane practices. The members of this powerful family considered women to be inherently inferior, only born to serve men. For Maki, life became much worse than for other female members of the clan, as she was also born with a Heavenly Restriction, preventing her from utilizing Cursed Energy.
From childhood, Maki was seen as a failure and a burden to her family, resulting in other members of the clan, particularly Naoya, torturing her not only mentally but physically. The girl grew up enduring torment that would have broken someone of weaker will. Instead of allowing this pain to control her destiny, Maki became the one to put an end to her family’s legacy of hatred, positioning herself as one of the strongest fighters in history.
After graduating from the Ninja Academy, Anko Mitarashi was assigned to a team under the supervision of Orochimaru, who at the time was a celebrated and beloved hero of Konoha. She became quite close to the man, who pretended to see a great deal of potential in her. The Sanin used the admiration Anko felt for him to manipulate her into becoming a test subject, effectively grooming her into worshiping him.
When he left the village, Orochimaru abandoned Anko to her own devices, leaving her behind even when aware of the reputation he would gain for being his student. The girl went from a promising kunoichi to the village’s shame, isolated from everyone else for reasons beyond her control. While she managed to overcome the adversity and succeed in her career, the pain and trauma of Orochimaru’s crimes never truly left her.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/worst-things-to-happen-to-female-shonen-anime-characters/
