This Mother’s Day could be celebrated by honouring some of the greatest anime moms in the last few years who have made us cry or made us laugh.
Today is Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 9, 2022) and while spending time with your real-life mom can be great, it can be great to reflect on the other great moms that I have influenced us. What better way to see great moms than in some of the latest, popular anime shows? There had been so many to choose from in the past decade, and it was hard to narrow the choices.
I thought the past decade really showed how the mom character depictions in anime had changed or stories had given them dynamic impacts on the protagonists. And no, this is not a list of fan-service moms who are there to fill the heads of little boys’ fantasies. This is a list of the most wholesome anime mothers who have shown joy in their child(ren)’s lives or had to make the life-saving, ultimate sacrifice.
5. Kie Kamado (Demon Slayer—Kimetsu no Yaiba)
As a widowed mother of six children, Kie Kamado had shown her hard work and care in taking care of her kids and protecting them from demons in their small mountain home. Her sacrifice and bravery to confront the demon, Muzan Kibutsuji, really set her apart as someone who really cared for her children despite four of them dying. While not much is known about her, Tanjiro and Nezuko’s actions reflect the kindness and toughness she raised her kids to have.
4. Carla Jaeger (Attack on Titan)
This was another example of how a mother made a valiant effort to protect her kids (Mikasa was not even her kid) from the terrifying titans and paid with her life. This quote said it all, “My son doesn’t have to be better than anyone. After all, just look at him…He’s so cute. I think Eren’s special enough already. Because he was…born into this world.” She had undying, unconditional love for Eren and that is why she made this Mother’s Day list, despite Eren’s questionable actions in the latest season.
3. Shuuko Komi (Komi Can’t Communicate)
Shuuko made this list as she provided a great contrasting character to her daughter, Shouko. She was more outgoing and had the cool, forever-17-years-old mom vibes. While Shuuko was known as the talker in the family, she respected her other family members who suffered from their anxiety and communication disorders. Many scenes have shown her cheering on her daughter when interacting with others and was proud to see her making more friends as the school year progressed. A lot of the issues in this show really tackle the concepts of anxiety and would be a great family watch for Mother’s Day.
2. Yor Forger/Briar/Thorn Princess (Spy x Family)
This series has been one of the most anticipated spring animes on Crunchyroll and has not failed to impress. Yor was a great addition to the Forger family to help sell the elegant picture-perfect family image so Loid (special agent Twilight) could accomplish his spy mission. Yor had shown how her assassination skills could translate into being a great mom to her step/fake daughter, Anya. Also, having the alias “Thorn Princess” is so badass—it was like John Wick being called the Baba Yaga.
1. Sheena/Hilling (Ranking of Kings)
Without delving too far into spoiler territory, Sheena was a great example of sacrificing her life for her son, Boji, when the kingdom was attacked. Even more emotionally moving, was watching Boji’s stepmother, Hilling, taking care of Boji and how much she cared for him, despite having her own biological son, Daida.
She subverted all expectations that caged the stepmother’s role as being evil and mean. Hilling showed how she could be a tough mother, but also showed her emotions when her sons needed her most. While Sheena paid with her life, and Hilling continued to take care of the boys, I enjoyed watching both moms and hope you all can really watch this for Mother’s Day.
MORE Notable Mother’s Day Anime Moms
While these mothers did not make this Mother’s Day list for best moms, they stood out to me for emotionally connecting with their kids, and it can be implied how they inspired them both as their children as nurturing them into great protagonists. Marie Yaguchi has not made too many appearances in this season of Netflix’s Blue Period, but her reluctant choices pushed Yatora to follow his passion to go to art school.
Inko Midoriya (My Hero Academia) was another example, like Marie Yaguchi, where she had to endure watching her son, Izuku/Deku, sustain multiple injuries and facing life-threatening battles. It has become tough to watch Deku’s pummeling and the scene with her tearing up through the TV or tearing up when telling All-Might to take care of her son was gut-wrenching.
Speaking of gut-wrenching moments, Masaki Kurosaki from Bleach came to mind. Now, this anime is really old, but with the upcoming release of the final arc, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Arc, this will be the arc that will bring Ichigo’s story full-circle. Without spoilers, this climatic arc will really tie Ichigo’s roots to his mom, while the story and focus is expected to shift to the Quincy society.
While these moms are great, we would love to hear which anime moms really tugged on your heartstrings. I hope everyone can catch these amazing shows on Crunchyroll, Netflix or Funimation (before it fully consolidates) and I wish all mothers around the world a Happy Mother’s Day! Love you, Mom!
