I love Berserk, is my inspiration. The plot is so raw & cruel, and the drawings keep it dramatic and brutal, I love it.
My favorite isn't exactly a shonen but more of a seinen called Dogs Bullets and Carnage. It really inspired me to continue my dream of making comics back in high school. The author Shirow Miwa has also done character designs for video games like 7th Dragon, vocaloids and most recently did character designs for the anime Kiznaiver.
Blue Exorcist (the manga I feel has a better plot, but everything else in the anime is amazing!) One Punch Man, Berserk, Outlaw Star, Attack on Titan, and...there's more but I don't wanna list too many ;')
I thought women would be put off anime like Attack on Titan and Berserk due to the gore and such or even anime such as SAO due to the mainly male fan service..
You'd be surprised how many women love all the blood and violence. Personally, I like it if it's there for a reason either to help the character overcome obstacles (like in Berserk) or to incite a ambiance of terror (like in Attack on Titan). But I don't care for mindless "gore porn" that looks eerily similar to snuff films like The Devils Rejects or movies kinda like that.
