Highlights

• Shonen anime with predominantly female casts offer diverse and action-packed stories, appealing to a wider audience, including female fans.
• Female-centric series like Galaxy Angel showcase the strength and friendship of exclusively female protagonists in comedic space adventures.
• Shows like Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh highlight the daily lives of high school girls, with male characters in supporting roles to add humor.

While shonen anime targets a male audience and features male protagonists, there are some that feature a predominantly female cast. And guess what? They're not always fanservice-fueled or part of the harem genre. Some of these series are as action-packed as their male-centric counterparts, while others are more laid-back entries in the 'pretty girls doing cute things' genre.

Having a shonen anime's cast be predominantly female allows for a more diverse representation of girls and women in a genre that has long been criticized for portraying them as mere side characters. These series also tend to attract female fans for obvious reasons, bringing the world of shonen to a wider audience.

7 Negima! Master Negi Magi

MyAnimeList Score: 6.94

Negima! Master Negi Magi follows a 10-year-old magician named Negi Springfield. Having just graduated from a magic academy, he becomes an English teacher at an all-girls school to obtain his full magic license. Throughout the series, Negi bonds with his students and helps them discover their own special abilities.

The large female cast is a given, as the series is set in an all-girls high school. Negi's class alone has 31 students, each with distinct personalities and skills, all playing important roles in the story.

6 Angel of the Galaxy

MyAnimeList Score: 7.12

• Release date: April 7, 2001
• Studio: Hospice
• The Creator: Broccoli
• Number of episodes: 126
• Genre(s): Comedy, Science Fiction, Mecha

Angel of the Galaxy follows an all-female galactic peacekeeping force called the Angel Brigade. Charged with various missions, from planetary exploration to combating threats to peace, their primary mission is to search for 'Lost Technology,' mysterious artifacts with unique powers scattered throughout the galaxy.

The series' main focus revolves around the comedic interactions and adventures of the Angel Brigade members. The franchise began as a more serious dating simulation/strategy video game with a male protagonist named Takuto Meyers, which was adapted from the anime.

5 Symphogear

MyAnimeList Score: 7.05

Magical girl anime always feature predominantly female casts, and Symphogear is no exception. It revolves around a group of girls who use advanced armor called 'Symphogear' to fight alien creatures known as 'Noise' using the power of music.

While there are supporting male characters in the series, the protagonists are all women, and there's a strong focus on their friendships. The anime showcases their strengths, struggles, and growth as they face formidable adversaries, all in a world that blends magical girl, idol, and mecha genres.

4 Gunslinger Girl

MyAnimeList Score: 7.40

• Release date: October 8, 2003
• Studio: Hospice
• The Creator:Yu Aida
• Number of episodes: 13
• Genre(s): Action, Drama, Science Fiction

Gunslinger Girl follows the exploits of an Italian organization called the Social Welfare Agency, which claims to rescue girls from trauma. In reality, it's just a front, and the agency brainwashes and cybernetically manipulates these girls into carrying out missions on the government's behalf.

The main cast of Gunslinger Girl They're all girls, and the men in the series primarily serve as their coaches and trainers. The anime explores the girls' relationships, experiences, and traumas, making it a show with a strong female presence.

3 Lucky star

MyAnimeList Score: 7.75

Lucky star is a classic anime that revolves around four high school girls—the geeky Konata Izumi, the studious Kagami Hiiragi, her sister Tsukasa, and the intelligent Miyuki Takara—and their interactions and conversations. The series doesn't have an overarching plot, but focuses on their daily lives, exploring otaku culture through their perspective.

There are a few male characters in the series; however, they mostly exist in supporting roles and don't receive as much screen time as the female characters. This is to be expected, as Lucky Star is a well-known entry in the 'cute girls doing cute things' genre.

2 Aria, the Animation

MyAnimeList Score: 7.69

• Release date: October 5, 2005
• Studio: Hal Film Maker
• The Creator: Kozue Amano
• Number of episodes: 13
• Genre(s): Slice of Life, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Set in the Venice-inspired city of Neo Venezia on the planet Aqua, Aria, the Animation tells the story of a young woman named Akari Mizunashi, who leaves Earth to become an 'Ondine' – a gondolier who guides tourists through the canals of Neo Venezia.

It might be easy to mistake Aria for a shojo series, given that all the main characters (including Akari and the Undines), their mentors, and other important figures are women, and the story has a calming and moving atmosphere. After being renamed, the manga was published in a shonen magazine called Comic Blade.

1 Azumanga Daioh

MyAnimeList Score: 8.03

Azumanga Daioh follows the surreal daily lives of six high school girls: child prodigy Chiyo, headstrong Osaka, introverted Sakaki, temperamental Yomi, energetic Tomo, and sporty Kagura. Like a series of slice-of-life scenes, Azumanga Daioh focuses on the absurdly humorous interactions of the six girls and their teachers, Yukari and Minamo.

The two teachers are the only male characters to play a significant role in the series. The female characters drive most of the plot and comedic elements, while the male characters serve as additional sources of humor.