Strong girl who still becomes damsel-in-distress

[Soliloquy]

A little disappointed that Noein is mostly forgotten. The lead character Haruka is just a normal girl in a physical sense but mentally, she seems to be one of the stronger character in the series. She gets kidnapped to the another dimension and the lead male has to go rescue her.

Oh and in Ranma, I'm sure Akane gets kidnapped but in more lighthearted manner. From what I have seen, just a duel between Ranma and kidnapping guy proceeds.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

A little disappointed that Noein is mostly forgotten. The lead character Haruka is just a normal girl in a physical sense but mentally, she seems to be one of the stronger character in the series. She gets kidnapped to the another dimension and the lead male has to go rescue her.

Oh and in Ranma, I'm sure Akane gets kidnapped but in more lighthearted manner. From what I have seen, just a duel between Ranma and kidnapping guy proceeds.

Yes Akane gets kidnapped at least a few times in the manga and even more in the anime but... in spite of her being the heir of the Tendo style she practically never participates actively as a warrior in the various missions that Ranma and his friend/rivals undertake.
The only times when we see her fighting is when someone challenges her directly as far as I can remember.

Haruka's situation is kinda similar, she is practically a godlike being but she never fights. I guess you could say that power without the knowledge on how to use it is meaningless.

And I just remembered another anime that can fit the trope: Valkyria Chronicles.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Nobody mentioned Cagalli from Gundam SEED & Destiny? She’s a strong fighter that can shoot the enemies using RPG/Bazooka like it’s nothing and pilot a Gundam, but during certain circumstances, she needs to be protected by Kira, especially during the desert arc, when she was forced to marry, and when she broke down watching her nation’s army got obliterated due to a foolish leader.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by GDiddy

Every female character just about in Bleach.

Especially Rukia....which Kubo has seriously ruined for me.

I thought this was about people needing to be saved. Rukia has been a damsel in distress only once. The only other damsel in distress is Inoue who is actually pretty weak.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by amaterasu4

I thought this was about people needing to be saved. Rukia has been a damsel in distress only once. The only other damsel in distress is Inoue who is actually pretty weak.

Umm...isn’t the OP mentioned Asuna from Sword Art Online as a major example of a strong girl being damsel? There, Asuna also became damsel in distress only once in one arc, just like Rukia in Bleach. So I don’t think it’s contrary to what the OP wants.

[GDiddy]

Originally Posted by amaterasu4

I thought this was about people needing to be saved. Rukia has been a damsel in distress only once. The only other damsel in distress is Inoue who is actually pretty weak.

Inoue was never really strong though or a fighter. Rukia was shown in the beginning to be this bad ass little girl despite the raw deal she got from SS and actually held her own in fights.

Nowadays? Forget it.

[Seiryuu]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Umm...isn’t the OP mentioned Asuna from Sword Art Online as a major example of a strong girl being damsel? There, Asuna also became damsel in distress only once in one arc, just like Rukia in Bleach. So I don’t think it’s contrary to what the OP wants.

Indeed, it's completely fine for the girl to only be placed in a DID situation once or twice, since she's supposed to be strong. Also, I'm sure there are ways a girl can still be strong but powerless in a situation. For example, legal or political intrigue, or any number of fantasy/scifi scenarios, can place a girl in a situation where her individual power has absolutely no value, and while she's still strong and independent, her strengths in the current situation are about as useless as basketball skills in a chess tournament.
Also, I'm fairly sure there have been some stories where the girl's own power goes out of control. Under normal circumstances she's a super-strong character who can fight evenly with the best with ease. For one reason or another though, her power gets the better of her and she's no longer able to control herself. This may result in her standing in the center of a vortex of force that no one can stifle, or it may result in her becoming simultaneously the damsel and the villain, overcome by a power-driven insanity that turns her into a killing machine. In these cases as well, the girl would ultimately classify as a DID, but once saved she's again generally unstoppable. I'm pretty sure I've seen or heard of such stories, or even stories where it goes both ways and the guy also gets saved from a similar break, demonstrating that it's not some imaginary weakness of the female person that led to the inability to control such power.