Although the majority of well-known anime and manga creators are men, several recent hit series have been written or drawn (or both) by female artists. The importance of female creators to the mediums of anime and manga is nothing new. For decades, women have been creating popular anime and manga series. In fact, several of the most iconic and important anime and manga have come from the creative minds of female artists.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the five essential anime and manga series created by female artists:
Sailor Moon — Naoko Takeuchi
When people — especially in North America — hear the word "anime", odds are pretty good that the image that comes to mind is either an electric rat, a martial artist with weird hair, a magic princess in a schoolgirl uniform. It's undeniable that Sailor Moon, first introduced in 1991 by Naoko Takeuchi, has gone down as one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable anime characters ever.
In addition to being one of the most influential manga series of all time by introducing the archetypal Magical Girl character, Sailor Moon was also one of the first series to be introduced to English-speaking audiences thanks to the anime adaptation that aired in the 1990s. The original English dub of Sailor Moon was heavily rewritten, both censoring content that was deemed inappropriate and attempting to Americanize many of the characters' names — like a lot of English anime dubs released at the time, including the original run of Yu-Gi-Oh. Even in that heavily rewritten form, the first English dub of Sailor Moon was a formative experience for a lot of millennial anime fans, alongside Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z, becoming hugely popular in North America and introducing a generation of fans to the anime medium.
Sailor Moon Crystal is streaming on Netflix.
Delicious in Dungeon — Ryoko Kui
The quick pitch for Delicious in Dungeon is something along the lines of "Dungeons & Dragons meets a cooking show." As the main characters (from left to right in the thumbnail of the clip above) Chilchuck, Marcille, Laios and Senshi make their way deeper into the dungeon referenced in the title, they end up literally meals of the monsters they defeat, cooking impromptu meals that are depicted and described with a surprising amount of thought and detail.
From that premise (and the clip included above), it's clear that the series's writer and illustrator Ryoko Kui has a good sense of humor and a unique approach to the Fantasy genre. Still, as funny as the story of Delicious in Dungeon is overall, it's nevertheless kicked off by the main characters' desperate race to resurrect their companion after she's swallowed by a dragon. Some of the monsters are genuinely frightening and the encounters with them created moments of high stakes and tension.
Kui has written a story with quirky, memorable characters, a lighthearted tone balanced out by genuine moments of pathos, and a Fantasy setting that's simultaneously familiar and comfortable for fans for the genre while also setting itself apart from a more generic world. Most importantly, she's created a Fantasy world that actually makes sense in how it's supposed to function.
Delicious in Dungeon is streaming on Netflix.
Fullmetal Alchemist — Hiromu Arakawa
A common pick with anime and manga fans for best series of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist has been consistently popular for almost 20 years. Hiromu Arakawa's original manga series ran for nine years, inspired two anime series, two feature-length animated movies, three live-action movies, novel and audio adaptations and countless pieces of tie-in merchandise. In particular, the second anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is held up as the high point of the franchise and often regarded as the single best anime ever.
It's set in a world governed by its own detailed rules of magic and yet very reminiscent of our Earth in the early 20th century. In particular, the social issues in Arakawa's world are heavily inspired by the persecution faced by the Ainu people of northern Japan. Overall, the tone is not that far removed from Delicious in Dungeon: there's plenty of humor contrasting some genuinely, exceptionally heavy moments — several of the most tragic scenes in Fullmetal Alchemist have gone down as some of the most infamous scenes in all anime and manga.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
My Dress-Up Darling — Shinichi Fukuda
One of the breakout hits of recent anime seasons, My Dress-Up Darling adapts the original manga series by Shinichi Fukuda. The manga is put out by the publishing division of Square Enix, likely best-known as the video game company behind the Final Fantasy series. The My Dress-Up Darling manga wrapped up its publication run in March 2025, though the anime is still going strong, with a second season confirmed and slated for July 2025.
Although the basic premise of My Dress-Up Darling is a fairly standard "boring, socially inept guy meets quirky, energetic girl" storyline, the series' depiction of the cosplay hobby is almost a bigger draw than the romance arc. Fukuda clearly has both a lot of respect for and knowledge of cosplay. Most of the costumes Marin wears in the series are ornate and meticulously detailed, and the effort Gojo puts into those costumes — finding the right materials in the right color, the sewing techniques, the extensive use of reference photos — along with how Marin does her hair and makeup is depicted in great detail to really help the audience fully understand and appreciate how much effort professional cosplayers put into their costumes.
My Dress-Up Darling is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Basically everything written by Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi is possibly the single most prolific and important female mangaka in history. She's been active in the industry since the late '70s and has been working pretty much continuously since her debut. Takahashi has made her name as the writer of romance manga, though many of her series put some kind of novel spin on the romance premise. In particular, her most popular works involve some of supernatural or magical aspect. Although Takahashi has created nearly a dozen different series over the course of her career, her three best-known works are likely Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha, so let's take a quick look at those three iconic series:
• Urusei Yatsura follows the misadventures of lazy high school student Ataru after he prevents an alien invasion by accidentally ending up engaged to the alien princess Lum, who takes to becoming Ataru's fiancee surprisingly well and spends the majority of the series trying to get Ataru to reciprocate her feelings while keeping him away from other girls. The spin-off anime movies from the '80s and '90s are streaming on RetroCrush. The 2022 remake is streaming on HIDIVE.
• The title character of Ranma 1/2 (that's "Ranma One-Half") is an aspiring martial artist who falls into a cursed spring that causes him to transform into a girl whenever he makes contact with water. Like Urusei Yatsura, the plot of Ranma 1/2 is driven by the betrothal of the two lead characters: Ranma and Akane are the children of master martial artists who've agreed to a marriage between their children. A lot of the humor in the series comes from the fact that Ranma and Akane don't get along, or even particularly like each other. This is complicated by the fact that Ranma spends about half his time transformed into a girl trying to keep his true identity secret, and supplemented by numerous martial arts fights contended under absolutely ridiculous premises. The original Ranma 1/2 anime is streaming on Tubi. The 2024 remake is streaming on Netflix.
• Inuyasha is the least comedic of Takahashi's three major series. The story follows Kagome, a girl from present-day Japan who is transported back in time to the 16th century. She encounters the half-demon Inuyasha and sets off on a journey to recover the shards of the wish-granting Shikon Jewel. Despite having a more epic, mythological scope than her other works, like most of the Takahashi's other series Inuyasha is still very much a romance at its core. The original Inuyasha anime series and the Final Act sequel series that closes out the adaptation of the original manga's storyline are streaming on Netflix.