Dear Readers,
I'm gonna come right out and say it...
shonen can be the worst when it comes to female characters. Because it is "for boys," many of the stories focus on male protagonists growing stronger through a series of adventures with their friends. I don't have a problem with this, but this often results in female characters who do nothing more than stand in the background looking pretty and shouting the hero's name when they get in trouble (I'm looking at you, Sakura from
Naruto and Orihime from
Bleach). While there are
shonen anime that have interesting and powerful female characters (Hello Erza from
Fairy Tail and Olivier Armstrong from
Fullmetal Alchemist), I have never seen a
shonen that presents such a diversity of powerful, badass ladies. I'm definitely gonna go a bit long here because I want to talk about a lot of them (finishing with perhaps the most badass female character ever created).
Sister Lily- the first badass lady we meet in the story is Sister Lily, the motherly nun who helps to raise Asta, Yuno, and the other orphans in their village. At first glance she might seem like an odd choice to include in this line-up. She is soft spoken, kind, nurturing, and generally fills a traditional "female" role. However, this is what makes her so interesting. Her femininity isn't a sign of weakness. During a mini-arc in the show in which Yuno returns to Hage village for a mission, it is revealed that her magic power is on par with a magic knight's; this is such an interesting position for a minor character. She has chosen her calling as a nun: to work with children at a rural orphanage, despite her immense magic potential. This is a different kind of bad-assery, and definitely deserves a shout out before we head into the list of lady warriors. It takes strength of a different kind to pursue a calling even when you have a great potential in other areas, and Sister Lily's presence at the orphanage has a strong impact on both Asta and Yuno's characters; her loving support and kind upbring enables them to grow into the strong men they become throughout the series.
Alright, on to the fighters. (Also, be aware, manga spoilers coming up... don't like, don't read).
Mimosa Vermillion: like Sister Lily, Mimosa's character takes a more traditionally "feminine" role. She is a magic knight, but her kind heart makes her magic trend toward healing and support. However, she does not close her horizons, and works hard to become well rounded and include some attack spells in her repetiore so as not to be a burden on those around her. Her recognition of her weakness and humility extends to open admiration for the people around her... instead of looking down on Noelle for her inability to control her magic (like so many of the other royals), she instead admires and emulates Noelle's hard work ethic and her perseverance in the face of difficulty. She does not think herself better than others (again, a very rare trait for those born into the royalty in Black Clover), and chooses to help people no matter their status, background, or position. She even extends healing help to enemies because she does not want to see anyone suffer. While this is again, a more traditionally feminine role, she never comes across as a "useless" damsel in distress. Her strengths may not lie in fighting, but she will use everything she has to support and help the people around her, and her kind nature and powerful healing magic make her a force to be reckoned with. I draw a comparison with Winry from
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood... she may not actively participate in the battle, but her supporting role is absolutely vital for victory.
Sol Marron: let's swing to the other side of the spectrum with brutal earth magic and heavily implied lesbianism... yay! Sol Marron is a magic knight in the Blue Rose squad, who uses earth magic to make golems rampaging mud golems. She is a very powerful mage, and very open about her affection for and defense of Blue Rose squad captain Charlotte Roselli (more on her later). Sol is brash, easily provoked, and often thoughtless, but she is also deeply loyal. While the story does not focus on the Blue Rose Knights very often, it is always a treat when it does, because Sol is such a cheerful, fierce fighter who wears her emotions openly; in many ways her character type is that of a "typical
shonen protagonist" (she reminds me of Luffy from
One Piece, Gon from
Hunter X Hunter, Natsu from
Fairy Tail, or Naruto), a little thoughtless, a little too enthusiastic at times, but someone who deeply cares about her friends and companions and who is willing fight and sacrifice to protect them. It is amazing to see a female version of this trope, and she isn't even a main character.
Charlotte Roselli: I love this lady's backstory so much. She is the daughter of a noble house who was cursed at a young age (a sort of Sleeping Beauty thing with her rose magic). Determined to save herself from the curse, she trains hard and becomes a magic knight. As she encounters man after man who is weaker than her, she trains harder and harder, because no man weaker than her can hope to defeat the curse, and if no man can handle it then she will have to defeat the curse herself. This process breeds a deep contempt for men within her, a contempt that is passed on to her subordinate Sol, as both view the opposite gender as pretty useless. Things take a twist, however, when her magic goes out of control due to the curse, and all the effort she made to get stronger just means the curse's effect is stronger too. She is unable to fight her way free of the entangling briars of her magic, but is saved by Yami, captain of the Black Bulls, who easily cuts his way through the curse. Of course, she falls for him, but a decades long habit of being dismissive toward men is hard to break, so she continues to act disdainful and superior whenever she is around him. What makes Charlotte so great is this duality; for so long she was disappointed by men that she became dismissive and cold, but now that she has found a man she can admire and respect (and even love), she doesn't know how to express her feelings for him. As someone from a family of daughters who were raised to be "strong, confident women," this conundrum rings true... most men tend to feel threatened by a powerful, competent woman, and so they tend to avoid such women. This, in turn, breeds a sense of distance from the opposite gender that makes actual communication difficult. Charlotte is trapped in a strong woman's dilemma; how to show affection for the opposite gender without being seen as weak, because if she acknowledges a man's strength it implies that she "needs" him. This is such an interesting twist on the "ice-princess" trope, and is so well executed despite the her being a more minor character.
Vanessa Enoteca: the Black Bull's resident alcoholic. Insert obligator "Cana from
Fairy Tail" joke here... the scantily clothed hard drinking slightly older woman with a surprise tragic backstory. But while Cana's story is about finding her family, Vanessa's is about choosing to reject hers. Vanessa's mother is the queen of the witches (a badass lady in her own right, if a bit of a twisted one). When she foresees that Vanessa will have the power to "control fate" one-day, she imprisons her own daughter in order to keep and control that power for herself. Vanessa (like Charlotte) is freed by Yami, and becomes a member of the Black Bulls. When Asta's arms are shattered by magic, she returns to the witches forest to get the witch queen to heal him. Her arc is so well executed and allows for exemplary character growth. When she first returns to the forest, she is convinced of her mother's absolute power. She volunteers to sacrifice herself and return willingly as her mother's prisoner if the Queen of the Witches will heal Asta's arms. Vanessa chooses to sacrifice the life she has built with her friends when she returns to the witch's forest. Asta refuses this agreement; unwilling to allow her to sacrifice herself, and looks for an alternative path to victory. As the friends struggle together, Vanessa gradually realizes that her family is the Black Bull's squad, not the mother who imprisoned and tried to use her. In the end, she is able to summon the power to "control fate" a power that only responds to those Vanessa considers family, in order to defeat queen. Vanessa's arc deals with such a wide array of complicated subjects; the question of fate versus free will runs throughout as the queen's foresight is countered with Vanessa's ability to manipulate fate and choose her own destiny, the theme overcoming childhood abuse and building bonds with an adoptive family (which is pretty universal in Black Clover), mixed into a beautiful coming of age story as Vanessa forges her own identity. This kind of complex character development is more reminiscent of a novel than a shonen, where character growth is not simply "growing physically stronger" but is about becoming an individual who knows herself and uses that self awareness to grow past her old shortcomings.
Alright, now to the big three... two of these are obvious to anyone who watches the anime, but number three might be a bit of a surprise.
#3 Charmy Pappitson
Yes, the lolli. Yes, the girl who is constantly eating. Yes, the girl who slept through half of underwater temple arc. That Charmy. We don't know a lot about her as a character. She hasn't had the same development that Noelle or Vanessa have, so we don't know her backstory, or why she joined the Black Bulls. But what little we do know about her makes her an easy choice for the top three ladies in the series. First, she is such an amazingly quirky character. I mentioned before that she is always eating. A female character. Who is always eating. Because she loves food. Who is drawn with pudgy cheeks and a bit of a double chin but is still amazingly confident in her own sexiness. And you do not want to stand between this girl and a buffet table because she will mess you up. Charmy is one of the most powerful magic users in the show, with an unusually wide variety of skills. Her magic affinity is "cotton creation magic" which allows her to produce cotton and living sheep familiars that carry out her bidding. This magic shines in a support role, as she is able to use her cotton to cushion landings, carry things, provide a certain amount of armor, and so forth. In a support context, Charmy's sheep cooks are actually brokenly over powered. We learn in the elf reincarnation arc of the manga that food cooked by Charmy's sheep cooks actually has manna regeneration properties; fighters that were drained after (or during battle) can eat her food and be back up to full strength super quickly. She is able to single handedly restore the manna for almost the entire Black Bulls squad as they are continuously battling, without becoming drained herself. This ability, to restore power during or immediately after a fight is basically a cheat code to allow the Black Bulls to continue fighting, but the incredible thing is that it doesn't affect Charmy's own capabilities; after keeping the whole squad in top fighting shape for dozens of chapters, she still has enough power to go all out in her own fights.
And if Charmy is brokenly powerful in a support context, she is even more badass on attack. Her sheep cooks can transform into a stupidly powerful familiar; in the attack on the capital arc she one shots a witch that was giving (magical genius) Yuno difficulties. We find out later in the story that her sheep is actually a wolf (I laughed for five minutes straight about the "wolf in sheep's clothing" joke), capable of consuming pretty much anything. Her fight against Rill (a magic knight captain with reincarnated elf powers) makes it clear how ridiculously powerful her magic is. Rill is capable of using paint creation magic: anything he paints becomes real. This power allowed him to become the youngest magic knights captain ever. He fights Yuno toe to toe in the Royal Knights tournament arc, and only loses because his own magic is so powerful it shatters the crystal he is supposed to be protecting. This is before he gains the additional manna and experience of his elf reincarnation. Charmy's wolf, however, easily devours everything he paints, consuming his magic before it even has chance to take affect. Powerful on both attack and in support, Charmy's magic would be more than enough to land her the number three spot on this list of badass ladies.
But more than that, Charmy's character is so interesting. Like I mentioned before, we don't know much about her backstory. It is only when we get the reveal of her wolf familiar during the elf reincarnation arc that we learn that she is, in fact, half dwarf, and that is why she is so stupidly powerful and can actually utilize two different types of magic. But despite the little that we know about her personally, there is a lot about her character that stands out. Charmy delights in eating good food, and in sharing that food with others. Her primary motivation throughout the story is always centered on food; she attacks the manna stealing witch in the attack on the capital arc because she thinks the witch is going to steal her food. She breaks out of a sleeping spell in the underwater temple arc at the promise of food, obliterating the powerful enemies in her path along the way. He fight with Rill starts because she offers him food and he rejects and destroys it... this lady is motivated when it comes to food. But it isn't a selfish motivation, she just delights in good food, and believes in its universality. When the Black Bulls form a temporary alliance with three magic users from the Eye of the Midnight sun, Charmy immediately invites them to eat with the group, establishing them as a community united by food. This simple motivation gives a stability to her character that many of the other Black Bulls lack; Charmy knows who she is... the girl who eats food and shares food with others, absolutely confident in herself and completely unafraid of what anyone else has to say about her.
One final note on Charmy before I move on; I love the relationship between her and Yuno. It's really hard to sum up in words what makes their interactions so adorable, so I won't say much. Charmy falls for Yuno after he saves her food (gotta love her consistency), and proceeds to shower him with affection and food throughout the rest of the series. For his part, Yuno is not put off by her forward affection and receives her constant gestures with an unusual level of polite gratitude (Yuno has no filter, so if he was displeased with her attentions he would certainly show it as he often does with the wind spirit, Bell). While it may be that Yuno is simply clueless, the fact that he is so kind in his interactions with Charmy gives me hope that if he does someday catch on the two of them will become the cutest, most self-confident, absolutely badass power couple in anime.
#2 Noelle Silva
From no character development to all the character development, it's time to talk about the female lead in the story, Noelle Silva. Noelle is the daughter of a noble house with ridiculously powerful magic that she has trouble controlling. Because of this, she is placed with the black sheep squad, the Black Bulls. Because of her noble upbringing, she is a classic
tsundere; she looks down on everyone around her, refuses to acknowledge her own emotions, and "hmphing" with her nose in the air down to an art. But underneath the classic stereotype there is a lot of interesting character motivations, backstory, and development.
Noelle's character is inherently tied to her background. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving her the youngest daughter in a noble family renowned for their magic. Her siblings blame her for their mother's death and ostracize her, a situation which is aggravated by her lack of control over her powerful magic. She is constantly put down, and eventually relegated to the Black Bulls because she is "a disappointment to the family." In the Black Bulls, she works hard to learn to control her magic and grow as a magic knight, and this is where her development gets really interesting.
There are three ways to become powerful as a magic user in Black Clover. First is to be born with a lot of magic power inherently. As a member of a royal family, Noelle was born with incredibly strong magic power, even if she could never control it. The second way is to train hard and gradually develop that inherent power. Most nobles do not need to do this, as they have large amounts of magic to begin with, but because Noelle had difficulty controlling her magic, she actually trains very hard. Even before coming to the Black Bulls, Noelle would practice to try to gain better control over her magic, and after joining the squad, she was inspired by the hard work of Asta and the other Black Bulls members to continue training and working hard to learn to control her magic. This work ethic becomes the foundation of her magic... she isn't just strong because she was born strong, but because she is willing to train ridiculously hard in order to get better. All of this would already make her a top tier anime leading lady, but this doesn't even scratch the surface of her character, because we haven't even talked about the third way to grow stronger.
In Black Clover, magic strength is tied, not only to natural talent and hard work, but also to the character's mental and emotional strength. The third way to grow stronger in magic is to experience intense circumstances that serve as an emotional and mental catalyst to open up new magical spells in the individual's grimoire. Noelle experiences this transformation not once, not twice, but three times over the current run of the manga. I'm going to break down each of these events because they all contribute to the incredible character development that has gone into Noelle Silva.
The first of these events occurs during her and Asta's first mission to the village of Sosshi with Magna. Upon finding the village under attack from mysterious forces, the three set out to defend the villagers. While Asta and Magna are both decisive in this endeavor, Noelle is bogged down by her own uncertainty. First, she lacks confidence in her ability to be helpful; she has no control over her attacks and her barrage fails to hit any of the attackers. Secondly, she is split between her desire to help and her noble upbringing. Why should she, a noble, be forced to risk her life for these commoners? Frozen in uncertainty, she is preparing to flee from the battle, when one of the village children asks her for protection. Inspired by how hard Asta and Magna are fighting, and determined to do her best to protect the children of the village, Noelle unlocks a new spell in her grimoire, Naga's Cradle, a defensive water dome that she can use to protect others. This first new spell is representative of a transformation in Noelle's character. For the first time, she isn't using magic to impress others or live up to her family's expectation, instead, she is selflessly using it to protect others. It is only when Noelle chooses to put her life on the line for the sake of others that she is able to gain some control over her magic and use it in an effective way during battle. Instead of thinking of herself as a noble, she thinks of herself as a magic knight, her role is to defend instead of lording it over others. This becomes a new foundation for her character; while she still acts conceited at times, she begins to treat the peasants around her with a new respect; instead of acting like a noble who constantly needs to be served by those around her, she instead begins to serve and protect others, her pride in her nobility is not a sense of superiority but rather of
noblesse oblige.
Her second transformation occurs during the underwater temple arc, and is the result both of training and mental growth. The arc begins with the Black Bulls needing to reach the underwater temple and wanting to use Noelle's Naga's Cradle to do so. Noelle is uncertain of her ability to control the massive spell over a long period. She meets a girl name Kahono who tells her that her ability to control her magic comes from her emotions and her positive memories. Noelle is forced to wrestle with the fact that she has no positive memories with her family. Her recognition of this fact strongly indicates that her lack of control is largely due to the emotional abuse she has received from her family. Noelle gains strength, however, from realizing that she now does have positive memories to draw on through her friendship and camaraderie with the Black Bulls, and is able to stabilize her magic. This is all purely defense magic, however. Later in the arc, Noelle is forced to confront Vetto. To this point, all of her attacks still miss her intended targets. With the rest of the Black Bulls unable to fight at the moment, she steps up to confront Vetto alone. Through Kahono's help, she realizes that it was her own reluctance to hurt anyone that was influencing her attacks to miss, but that, in this moment, the situation transcended that fear. Her new family was being attacked, and the only way she could help them was through attacking herself. A second spell was unleashed from her grimoire, and her massive water dragon smashes Vetto out of the temple, biting off one of his arms in the process. This moment is about Noelle growing past her own lack of confidence; while her family's constant abuse has been a shadow over her magic for her entire life, she is finally able to break free of them in order to protect the Black Bulls, the family that has absolute confidence in her abilities, the companions who trust her completely. Noelle's growth in this arc is phenomenal, perfectly balancing the leveling up of her magic with the emotional resolution to create a dramatic climax that hits perfectly. This is character writing at its finest, showing huge amounts of depth, heart, and impact.
But Noelle's journey doesn't end there. During the elf reincarnation arc, Noelle is partnered with her elder brother Nozel, as they defend the capital, along with her other siblings, Nebra and Solid. They face off against Kivn, the elf reincarnation who uses compass magic to seek out enemies and control particular spaces. When Kivn traps them using a magic that disrupts mana usage in a given space, Nebra and Solid are rendered unable to fight, but Noelle utilizes her new control over her magic to team up with Nozel. In this moment, Nozel acknowledges Noelle's growth, declaring that the two of them shall show Kivn the power of the house of Silva. This acknowledgement brings Noelle full circle; her lack of control alienated her from her siblings, and that distance created an emotional disturbance that affected her control even more negatively. By joining the Black Bulls and gaining friends and companions there, she was able to grow past the hurt from her family and assert herself as a powerful mage in her own right. Finally, having earned this recognition from her brother, she is able to resolutely move forward and defend the very family that treated her so poorly. By recognizing how much she has grown, realizing that she no longer needs affirmation from her siblings, and then receiving such praise from Nozel, Noelle unlocks Valkyrie dress, a magical enhancement armor that allows her to defend her siblings and defeat Kivn.
Noelle Silva, as I mentioned earlier, is character development done right. The gradual steps she takes throughout the show perfectly crystallize into beautiful moments of transformation, where her magical growth is an analog for the psychological growth in her character. Not only is Noelle an absolute magical badass, but she is also a deeply empathetic character who grows exponentially throughout the series in a unique and well thought out manner. She is a shining light in both the worlds of fantasy and
shonen, where female characters are often archetypes or empty vessels; Noelle Silva is an interesting, powerful woman with a compelling backstory and dynamic character growth.
#1 Mereoleona Vermillion
And taking the number one spot is a relative newcomer to the
Black Clover story, but damn does she make an impression. Mereoleona Vermillione easily blazed her way into the number one spot through sheer power, force of personality, and all around epic-ness. In fact, she has quickly risen to number one badass lady of all time in my books, effortlessly displacing long time leader Erza Scarlett of
Fairy Tail in terms of raw power and impact.
Mereoleona is a member of one of the three royal families; the Vermillions, who mainly utilize fire magic. It is impossible to talk about her without first talking about her younger brother Flugeleon, so some back story before we jump into the meat and potatoes. We meet Flugeleon early in the the story, during the attack on the royal capital arc. Within just a few episodes he is established as a strong leader, with a powerful, tightly controlled fire magic, and a stabilizing presence that builds up everyone around him. His sage advice leaves a deep impression on both Asta and Noelle, and his surprise defeat where he is left in a prolonged coma creates a huge void within the magic knights. This void is filled after the royal knights selection exam by his sister, Mereoleona.
If Flugeleon is analytic control and sage advice, Mereoleona is brutal instinct and charismatic chaos (with a hint of sage advice intermingled). Known as "The Lioness," we are first introduced to Mereoleona when she returns to be temporary captain of the Crimson Lions squad, and subsequently proceeds to kidnap Asta, Noelle, Yuno, two fellow magic knight captains (Yami and Charlotte), and force them and the entire Crimson Lions squad into a brutal training camp at a magic volcano. This "Hot springs training camp" shows both Mereoleona's power and her surprising insight. Again, it's hard to analyze without summarizing the story, so spoilers ahead.
Mereoleona's hot springs training camp forces the group of magic knights to climb a magic volcano. The environment is naturally harsh, and made worse by the mana currents the volcano produces. In order to climb, the knights have to cover themselves in a thin layer of their own magic to offset the oppressive climate, while still utilizing the rest of their magic normally to fight lava monsters and avoid other dangers on the climb up. For Noelle, who struggles with control over her magic, this challenge is hugely difficult, but her eventual triumph provides an even greater reward. After their grueling climb, as they rest at the hot springs, Mereoleona tells Noelle about her mother; giving her a glimpse of the woman Noelle never got to meet; a powerful woman with incredibly fine control over her magic who was known as the "Dancing Fairy" in battle. Mereoleona contrasts Noelle's lack of control with her mother's precise magic, but this contrast isn't dismissive or cutting, instead, she uses it to encourage Noelle to surpass her limits, to build herself up until no one can make such as unfavorable comparison. Her triumph will be all the greater for having come from such a low place. Mereoleona recognizes the two things that Noelle needs and gives them to her; she offers a family history rich with love (something Noelle hasn't experience because of her terrible siblings), and mentorship. To this point, Noelle's growth has been stimulated by her desire to keep up with her peers (Asta and Kahona). She has never had a teacher to encourage her to move higher. Mereoleona provides a strong, positive guidance that allows Noelle to move forward significantly.
Mereoleona also plays a similar (although less intimate) role for Asta. If climbing the volcano is difficult for those with magic, it is absolutely impossible for Asta, who has no magic at all. His physical strength might allow him to climb the mountain, but he has no way of fending off the oppressive mana currents, and his anti-magic doesn't seem like it can cope with the harsh environment. Pressed down, and unable to move forward, when Mereoleona comes to talk to him, she comes as the voices of everyone in the world; "Asta, you have done well to make it this far... your anti-magic is impressive, but as you are, you cannot go further. You cannot climb the mountain before you, there is no way someone like you can become the Wizard King." She gives voice to all the doubts and fears, until he shows his resolve. She doesn't tell him what he needs to do, instead she gives him enough hints that he can figure out on his own how to use his anti-magic to defend himself from the environment. It's a really powerful moment of growth (especially for such a short arc), and it enforces how deeply insightful Mereoleona really is; she provides a perfect training for everyone that addresses both their physical and psychological weaknesses, forcing them to surpass their limits and move on to a new level.
Mereoleona is much, much more than just a badass mentor. She is also ridiculously strong. To put this in context, many of the "boss fights" in the show are against the three leaders of the terrorist group, Eye of the Midnight Sun. In the first fight, multiple magic knight captains took on the three leaders and were fought to a draw. In the second fight, the entire Black Bulls squad took on a single leader, and barely emerged victorious (many of them sustaining near fatal damage in the process). In the third fight, it took the combined forces of several Black Bulls, plus a variety of mage and witch companions to bring down a the second leader. When the Royal Knights finally attack the Eye of the Midnight sun headquarters, Mereoleona goes one on one with the remaining leader, Rhya the Treacherous. His magic is imitation magic, where he can utilize the magic of anyone whose grimoire he has touched. This means he uses the magic of everyone in the the Eye of the Midnight sun, plus that of many of the magic knights. He can also change from spell to spell, utilizing combinations that would be impossible for a normal magic user. Every other battle so far with the Eye of the Midnight was a close call; Mereoleona's fight with Rhya wasn't. She obliterates him. Every spell he flings at her, every combination, every trick is burnt away instantly with a smirk and a derisive, "Again!" Her fire overpowers every element Rhya tries to utilize, and her ability to freely manipulate the mana in a given area allows her to outmatch him physically, evading and countering with unbelievable speed and precision. When she eventually goes on the attack, there is nothing he can do to stop her. She easily outclasses every other magic knight we have seen to this point in terms of power, control, speed, and all around total awesomeness. Later, when the elves are reincarnated with their full powers, she fights alone against five of them, and while she is unable to win a decisive victory, her prowess forces them to band together and combine the full force of their magic in order to eliminate her (I won't spoil the full turn of events here because everything about it is sheer perfection, please just read the manga it's amazing). Mereoleona Vermillion is a magical prodigy whose love for fighting expresses itself through her wild, unfettered power.
So yeah, in terms of badass ladies, she tops the charts. She has an amazing personality, drawing out the best in those around her through her insightful mentorship and strong example, and her power as a mage is mind blowing. To me she embodies what it is to be strong; she is certain in her own identity, she fights with joy and passion, she is observant and insightful, and she builds up those around her.
Conclusion
Alright, we have come to the end of the badass ladies of
Black Clover. There are a few others that I didn't mention here (particularly on the villains side), but I felt like this group deserved special consideration. What makes the women of Black Clover so exceptional is how they show so many different ways of being strong. Support and fighting, open or timid, confident or indecisive, each of these ladies is following her own path, fighting her own battles, and growing into her own, individual person, and they support and build each other up in the process. This is such a positive portrayal that I honestly can't say enough good things (even after 5000 words, I still want to rave about these ladies). I look forward to watching them all continue to grow throughout the rest of the series as a positive example to shonen and fantasy.
A bit of an update... the next post should come a bit faster than this one... look forward to part 3 of this series where I'll talk about friendship in the series... this post is much shorter, and at this point, it's mostly written, so it will probably be up before next Tuesday. As always, I love comments and responses, and please share this with anyone you think might be interested.
Well, back to reality.
