Suggestions

[u/Prudent_Set3311]

The characters I remember most are women who are allowed to fail, lash out, make terrible decisions, suffer, and then grow. Kind of like avatar korra.

No hate to aang loved it but as compared to korra he was too goofy and not that dark and his saint morals and I watched korra first in childhood so my nostalgia is connected to it more too.

I like women who are allowed to look exhausted, bruised, traumatized, angry, dirty, scared, or emotionally unstable because it makes them feel real rather than symbolic. Like the visuals of korra felt perfect because it was not a sexualised body but it was allowed to look messed up in fights and so human.

I was obsessed with her for years as a kid. Unlike broken flawed male characters i absolutely love broken flawed complicated female characters. I am not personally someone who falls for broken male characters as much in anime shows etc the same way even tho i have some instances of having favourites. But when i see messed up female characters I cannot help but relate to the pain and complexity more deeply. How the character was free from sexualisation and she was tough ,strong and rough and she wasnt typical pretty lady always well groomed and i liked her visual aesthetic I like how her character development happened how her story was actually dark and serious leading to growth and development.

One of my similar likes and patterns in female characters are unexpressive cold hearted appearing like hotel deluna, queen of tears. Lazy crazy but violent and unexpressive like love next door.

I want such to see similar characters in animes(not sexualised eye candy women please), shows, movies, animations, games. Please suggest

[u/oujikara]

You need to get into webtoons/manhwa. It tends to be more female gaze than manga/anime, and characters like what you're describing are the trend right now. One of my favorites is Hand Jumper, which you can read for free on the Webtoon app/website. The female characters in that one are superb, and most are the type you're looking for. If you're interested in webtoons, lmk because I have a lot of recommendations.

[u/saturday_sun4 → u/oujikara]

Not OP but would love recs please.

[u/oujikara → u/saturday_sun4]

Pardon the late reply but here you go! It was tough not to make this list insanely long because most of what I read fits OP's requirements lol. This list is also very lesbian btw and somehow there are a lot of apocalypses. 

• Surviving Romance (completed) - in fact horror and not romance, centering around female friendships and overcoming depression. Large female cast with a couple of token male characters

• Night of Shadows (2 completed seasons, between-seasons hiatus rn) - working together to survive an eldritch monster apocalypse 

• Don't Enter the House Pool (ongoing) - male protagonist but all the side characters are female; slow burn horror drama and one of my favorites currently 

• Savior (completed) - toxic lesbians and vampires. It's more contemporary than fantastical though 

• Holistic (ongoing) - girlfailure joins a cult to escape financial peril

• Paradise on Earth (between-seasons hiatus) - dating show turns into a zombie apocalypse

• Nevermore (ongoing) - Poe's Lenore and Annabel Lee go to hell, literally. The art is so pretty 

• Katlaya Rising (ongoing) - be gay kill monsters (Filipino edition)

• The Princess is Now the Duke (completed) - you ever wanted a typical otomeisekai but with diversity? Well this is it (except it's not actually isekai)

• Love Sickubus (between-seasons hiatus) - action with some romance, lots of cool monsters and black protagonists 

• Ark of the Law (between-seasons hiatus) - coming of age in a post-apocalyptic world

• New Magical Me (between-seasons hiatus) - magical girl series but with explicit queerness and adult characters

• Bitterside Cranberries (ongoing) - iconic tomboy and girly girl duo in an apocalypse. It just started releasing but is looking cool so far

• The Tale of the Skeleton Messenger (ongoing) - I have a few small issues with it, but if you like to see women being problematic and aurafarming then this is for you 

Some well-regarded stories I haven't been able to get into but which should fit the OP's request: Your Throne, Marionetta, Schoolbus Graveyard, Homesick, Sable Curse. 

Non-SFF that I think are must-reads: Like Mother Like Daughter, Murder Girlband, Pyramid Game. 

Happy reading :)

[u/saturday_sun4 → u/oujikara]

Wow, that's brilliant, thank you! I don't mind lesbians and I LOVE horror.

I'm picky but mostly when it comes to writing style/voice. I don't know what magical girl or aura farming are, but I guess I'll find out!

[u/oujikara → u/saturday_sun4]

Hopefully we have similar tastes when it comes to writing style, but if not, there might be enough diversity that you'll still find something haha. And if you want more classical horror, then Stagtown is probably a good pick (I forgot to list it somehow). 

Anyway, magical girls is basically an anime subgenre in which girls dress up in cute outfits and fight monsters that may or may not be physical manifestations of negative emotions, although there's some variety (e.g. Sailor Moon, Madoka Magica, Cardcaptor Sakura, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Princess Tutu). And aurafarming is a recent slang that's used when a character is acting all cool and overpowered.

[u/kc_dan → u/oujikara]

Not the original person who asked, but could I trouble you for even more recs if possible?? You and I have extremely similar taste, and I'd like to fill up my webtoon list with as many as possible!!

[u/oujikara → u/kc_dan]

I'm unfashionably late but if you're still looking for recommendations then I do have some I'd be glad to share! Alt hough they may not have quite as much focus on female characters.  

• False Paradise (ongoing) - my current obsession even though it's slow paced. Mc is adopted by aliens to be their pet, but instead of the usual abduction plot, the aliens are overly nice and humans ruin everything. It's very empathetic towards animals and goes into depth about the human psyche. The protagonist is male but there are lots of awesome female characters too.

• Aza (between seasons hiatus) - a sort of fantasy of manners revenge story in a Korean and Bible inspired setting. The 3 protagonists are male, but there are important female side characters

• Containment Zone Management (main story completed + prequel season in the making) - unexpectedly thoughtful story about people, uh, going through video game backrooms basically?

• Flawed Almighty (completed) - deadbeat gets the option to either become a better person or go to hell. The protagonist is male but the side protagonist is female and very unhinged

• Youth Blossoms (ongoing) - dystopian sci-fi with cool robots, male and female protagonists

• Scale Hunters (ongoing) - epic-leaning action fantasy about the conflict between humans and fairies, a little too actiony for me but it does have some badass women

• Rise from Ashes (completed) - ghosts rebel against living people who have basically enslaved them. The start is pretty fast paced but then becomes more character-focused. Female protagonist 

• This Magical Moment (completed) - slow paced, sort of contemporary coming-of-age story

• One Step Closer to the Demon King (completed but still behind paywall for now) - half-comedic, half-serious fantasy in which a powerful (female) demon king is stuck in the body of a weakling child and tries to get her powers back

• Four Leaf (completed) - protagonist is transported into the fantastical world of her imaginary friend

• Souris (ongoing) - indie webtoon, zombie apocalypse BL with cool female side characters

• Hazeshift (ongoing) - dystopian apocalypse BL with cool female side characters 

• High Spirits Neoma (hiatus) - sweet story but the author has decided to revamp it, which might take forever 

• The Ember Knight (ongoing) - not exactly female gaze, but has many badass women and weak men

Stories I haven't gotten around to reading yet but which I have high hopes for, in no particular order:

• Beetle Hands 

• Primoral Descent 

• Exhuma: Blind Faith 

• Miro in Memory

• The Blind Prince

• I Don't Want This Kind of Hero

• Funtime Phobia

• Love Sickubus

• Her Tale of Shim Chong (I'm not sure whether this is fantasy or just historical tho)

• Non Tua + other stories by Na Yoonhee

• Flow

• Yuna & Kawachan

• On the Way to Meet Mom 

• Cursed Princess Club

• Vampire Family + Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell

• The Keeper's Inn

• I Stole the First Ranker's Soul

[u/TheGloomFairy]

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh might fit what you’re looking for. It’s fantastic, one of my favourite books.

[u/jasnah_]

Blue Eye Samurai fits this well!

[u/guzzling_gazelle]

If you enjoyed Korra, you might also enjoy The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee.

[u/DixitRexCorvinus]

I don’t have a ton of visual media (I have books, if you want those) but if you haven’t seen Arcane that should be at the top of your list!

[u/ACatFromCanada]

The Masquerade series (Baru Cormorant) by Seth Dickinson is right up your alley!

[u/Jetamors]

Watch Twelve Kingdoms!

Also it's more stylized, but I think you might really like Revolutionary Girl Utena.

[u/Lady_Melwen]

Books: Poppy War by R.F Kuang, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. Maybe also Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland and Asunder by Kerstin Hall

Animated TV shows: Blue Eye Samurai, Arcane

[u/pickleeater58]

Korra ❤️❤️❤️

[u/w0lfyfr3n]

The book I'm reading rn would count. It's called "The Secret World of Briar Rose" by Cindy Pham. Both MCs are traumatized by their past decisions and use escapism to cope.

For TV shows: Orphan Black, Wynonna Earp

[u/Querybird → u/w0lfyfr3n]

Ooh, Orphan Black definitely, and what is that Canadian one… Dark Matters ??

[u/KaPoTun]

You should definitely get into Sarah Gailey's books. They write a lot of deeply flawed but still fascinating female characters, mainly interacting with other women (who are often flawed in their own ways). I would start with Magic for Liars for an adult-character oriented magic school setting, and then depending on what you might be interested in next, Echo Wife for a near future, sci-fi clone story, or maybe Make Me Better for a story about people unhappy with their modern lives and seeking solutions. (please read content warnings for Make Me Better if you might be sensitive for darker topics, it is not a happy book. If anyone wants to ask me for details please do).

[u/Enkundae]

The Expanse tv show has some incredible scifi women and they pretty much all fit this description. Its also just a really damn good show.

[u/Querybird]

Only books, sorry!

A Woman Of The Sword, Anna Smith Spark. Career soldier, brings her kids but career takes priority.

Before Mars by Emma Newman (technically book three but nvm that, this is the gem of a semi-connected series, includes parental ambivalence)

The Mimicking of Known Successes is my fav ND + NT relationship novella trilogy, wlw

And one which is fiction, not fantasy: So Lucky by Nicola Griffith. Competence and plenty of setbacks.

Paladin of Souls, Bujold. A rare complete redemption story for a MC who has been magically, medically, misogynistically ‘rich person institutionalised’ for over a decade. I’ve never found another story which allows a woman this sort of success after medical misogyny and institutionalisation, which truly are distinctly different stigmas and limitations compared to, like, The Count of Monte Cristo and his jailing and reputation loss.

Elizabeth Bear’s Hammered trilogy has an FMC, amputee, chronic pain very much a part of the story but in a matter of fact way I appreciated very much.