name some anime that you watch with female as lead characters?

[EmiliaTheSage]

no ecchi please.

Chrono Crusade
Vampire Knight
K-on!
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Claymore
Kaicho wa Maid-sama!
Ouran High Host Club

anything else you can recommend?

[HurricaneHige]

Ouran High School Host Club -->Awesome Comedy btw
Maid-sama
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanaha
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanaha A's
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanaha Strikers
Mahou Shoujo Madoka
Skip Beat!--> Another awesome comedy
Mai Hime
Mai Otome
Maria-sama
Maria Holic
Special A
Minami-Ke


For a guy I watch quite a bit of Shoujo...lol

I'm sure I have more..but I'm too tired to remember

[Gamer_2k4]

Azumanga Daioh
Angel Beats
Elfen Lied

[Chiibi]

Shoujo
Full Moon Wo Sagashite
Fruits Basket
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
Kaitou Saint Tail
Card Captor Sakura
Princess Tutu
Kareshi Kanojo No Jijou
Kaleido Star

Shounen
Soul Eater
Inuyasha
Full Metal Panic
Noir
Venus Verses Virus

[Ichuki]

Precure
Tokyo Mew Mew
Galaxy Angel
Lucky Star
Rozen Maiden

[Hasumi]

*ahem* i believe i've watched too many to remember them all now

but i will try

ghost hunt
hell girl
angel beats!
elfen lied
air
kanon
puella magi madoka magica
clannad
kaicho wa maid sama
seitokai yakuindomo
full metal panic
the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya
azumanga daioh
K-ON!
hellsing
infinite stratos
kore wa zombie desu ka
saikano
tokyo magnitude 8.0
toradora!
moshidora
higurashi no naku koro ni
umineko no naku koro ni
mirmo de pon
aniyoko
fairy tale

etc. etc. :heh:

EDIT: okay revised due to complaints :heh:

this list could be longer, then again i'm not sure what the question really is so i'll hold off for now

[Konakaga]

Da_Box a number of those don't have the females as being the "lead" character[as generally it should be by the story from their view or focusing on them or they drive the story, ie Haruhi Suzumiya, to be this]; anyways mine:

A Channel
Astarotte no Omocha!
Black★Rock Shooter
Blood+
Canaan
Fruits Basket
Inuyasha
Hanasaku Iroha
Juuni Kokuki
Kannazuki no Miko
Katanagatari
Kobato
Koe de Oshigoto!
K-On
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
Lucky Star
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanaha Series
Mahou Shoujo Madoka
Mai-HiME
Sasameki Koto
Seirei no Moribito
Shakugan no Shana Series
Sora no Woto
Spirited Away
Strawberry Panic
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

[Lord of Fire]

Aside form the ones you mentioned:

Past series:

Lucky Star
Clannad
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Card Captor Sakura
Ojamajo Doremi
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Azumanga Daioh
Pani Poni Dash
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
Kobato.
Angel Beats!
Bottle Fairy
Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku
Gakuen Alice
Hidamari Sketch
Ichigo Mashimaro
Seitokai no Ichizon
Seitokai Yakuindomo (assuming sex jokes isn't what you consider to be 'ecchi')
Shakugan no Shana
Sora no Woto
Maria†Holic
Shinryaku! Ika Musume
Saki
Toradora
Hayate no Gotoku!
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Shugo Chara!
Working!!
Moshidora
Bakemonogatari
Shukufuku no Campanella
Elfen Lied

Currently running series:

A Channel
Hanasaku Iroha
Nichijou
Maria†Holic; Alive
Hidan no Aria
Dog Days
Gosick

Do note that I'm listing anime that aren't just all-female, though.

[Meizzner]

Murder Princess
Ouran Host Club
Gunslinger Girl
Seikirei
The Sacred Blacksmith
Fruits Basket
Elfen Lied

[SeijiSensei]

Angelic Layer
Nijuu Mensou no Musume (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1208.html)
Shion no Ou (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1115.html)
Mahou Shoujotai Arusu (aka "Tweeny Witches")
Windy Tales (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/482.html)
Dennou Coil (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1020.html)
Kemono no Sou-ja Erin
Noein
Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1259.html)

I've left out shows like Nodame Cantabile (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/947.html), Planetes, Toshokan Sensou (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1228.html), and REC (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/747.html), since the stories concern both halves of the couples, though the female is often the lead.

[Kleo Scanti]

El Cazador de la Bruja
Aria
Hataraki Man
Read or Die

...aside from those already mentioned.

[Haak]

I recommend Kara no Kyoukai. It's a series of seven films, each about murders that are taking place through supernatural means. The protagonist is Ryougi Shiki, a girl that has been raised in a family of demon hunters and has the ability to see the death of everything through her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. She also has an almost insatable urge to kill.

[Kafriel]

Hmm, Black Lagoon maybe? Also
Fate/Stay-Night
Excel Saga
Haibane Renmei
Jigoku Shoujo
Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin
Kurokami
Yumekui Merry

[Niji]

One of the best IMO Saiunkoku Monogatari - Shuurei stands up for her dream in a pseudo-historical old age of something resembling China. Very beautifully made, on all levels.
Tsukikage Ran - female samurai and her female companion (not yuri)
Planetes - SciFi, important lead is female, though not the only lead
When we are talking Ghibli, we can mention some others. Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's delivery service, Laputa, and prolly more.
Binbou Shimai Monogatari - 2 sisters who live on their own - heartwarming :)
Michiko to Hatchin - road movie with female leads. Very entertaining and well made.
Simoun - usually named as yuri show, but really, yuri there is actually like 1 scene where they tell of something that has happened. Probably most beautifully made air-battles, ever. Protagonists are officially gender-less, but it seems hard to not take them as female IMO. Some decide to go male later, so be it.
Ergo Proxi - well, you asked for female leads :) Very philosophical, very goth, IMO very well done.

hm, wonder whether the following count. The females are co-staring the lead roles. Both well worth seeing if one likes the topics:
Spice and Wolf - deity meets mortal, their travels, really charming IMO
Zero no Tsukaima - you gotta seriously like 1) tsundere - like REALLY like it and 2) magic. If you meet those 2 requirements, go watch it.

[Akashin]

Not sure if Zero no Tsukaima counts since a) Saito is still very much the main character despite arguably doing little to drive the plot and b) as far as I recall it's quite ecchi, which the OP specifically requested against. Still a good show despite that, though.

Other than that I'll second Kara no Kyokai and Hell Girl; the former for countless reasons, and the latter just because I'm a massive Ai fanboy. :heh:

[libba]

I haven't read all comments so there might be repeats, consider them as me seconding the rec. ^__^ Shakugan no Shana, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Full Metal Panic (though it's more like two main characters, a boy and a girl), Ga-Rei Zero, Mai-Otome, Noir, Otome Youkai Zakuro, Black Lagoon (again like FMP, two leads), Blood+.

[kitten320]

Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox (not fanservice show even if it might look like it at first glance)
Shugo Chara
Aria the Animation
Bakuretsu Tenshi
Bamboo Blade
Black★Rock Shooter
Canaan
El Cazador de la Bruja
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
First Squad: The Moment of Truth
Ga-Rei: Zero
Ghost Hunt
Hakuouki
Howl's Moving Castle
Kara no Kyoukai
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
Mai HiME
Mai Otome
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Maria†Holic
Rio: Rainbow Gate!
Romeo x Juliet
Rozen Maiden
Senjou no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles
Soul Eater
Spirited Away
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

Since you didn't specify the genre, I just mentioned the ones I've watched myself.

[Dragonar Fan]

Patlabor
Assemble Insert
Tetsuwan Birdy
Nadia:Secret of the Blue Water
to name a few