tomboys in anime

[SSJup81]

I was a tomboy. No real reason, I just liked playing with boys and rough housing than playing dress up and dolls as a kid. Dunno why. I just liked that type of stuff. Wasn't "gay" either. I just found hanging around boys more fun.

As for tomboys in anime/manga series, only four come to mind. Aino Minako from Codename wa Sailor V/Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Takenouchi Sora from Digimon Adventure (in Adventure 02, the tomboyish side of her was easing up), Makino Ruki from Digimon Tamers, and Yamaguchi Kumiko from Gokusen.

Minako played a lot of sports, and her tomboyish nature shows more in the Sailor V manga than the SM manga or anime. Minako would climb, physically fight, was outspoken, etc. No idea why she was like that, although, I'd say it was just a part of her personality. She is a Libra after all, and it is said that the Libra is a male sign, or something like that. That could be why she portrayed Minako as a tomboy, even though she still had her girly ways (crushing on guys and all that).

As for Sora's character, she played sports as well. She played soccer, and, ironically, her character participated in her elementary school's all-boy soccer team. She seemed to act like she needed no help from anyone at times. It's like she was trying to prove to others that she's strong so as not to underestimate her. I was also under the impression that she disliked dresses or anything remotely "girly" so as not to be seen as weak, and I think she was like this because of her very traditional feminine mother (she ran a florist, did flower arranging, etc.) In other words, Sora's tomboyish nature can probably be attributed to rebellion towards her mother who seemed to want her to be more feminine. As she grew older, though, she became a bit more feminine, started wearing skirts/dresses more too outside of her school uniform, ditched the boyish sport of soccer and took up tennis.

As for Ruki's character, I feel she was the way that she was because of her model who seemed to value looks. She's a formal model (a young, single mother too). I felt she went out of her way to avoid being seen as "girly" or "weak". She seemed to go out of her way to avoid showing emotion too. So, in her case, it probably was a rebellious nature.

Kumiko's tough personality and tomboyish nature (she doesn't mind fighting) is definitely due to the fact that she was raised by her grandfather, who is part of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). She's also next in line to run the Yakuza group that her grandfather is head of. No need to continue explaining this one. It's obvious why she's "tomboyish". lol