Shoujo manga discussion thread

I remember that, although it really didn't bother me.

I was much more annoyed by

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.

What bothered me the most was that I could instantly tell when the anime inserted things that wasn't from the original story, and I had only read about three volumes of the manga by that point. If I can spot filler without having read the whole thing, then there's a problem.

I just want to throw in another mention of Kodocha, because it's one of my favourite manga series full stop.

I have a short list of recommendations!
Try:

Hana Yori Dango - Poor girl in a rich high school. If you can get past the dopey bit in the beginning, this manga is a real treat as you read it. The art evolves and so do the characters. My favorite shoujo manga.
Immortal Rain - Girl takes over her grandfather's job as a bounty hunter and goes after the one target he could never catch. Honestly feels a little like a shounen manga, but it's cool.
Hana Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) - Girl admires a track star so much she cross dresses to be near him at high school. Nice art and story.
Paradise Kiss - A gorgeous manga about fashion students and drama. Has an anime too. The end theme is by Franz Ferdinand, cementing its awesomeness.

I enjoyed all the other characters too. Their stories were really interesting and heartbreaking. It would have been my favourite if not for Tohru. She's well liked but I don't like her so it creates a weird dissonance. I'll finish it one of these days.

Full Moon is far more popular though! I think it was translated in the early days of manga boom in the US. At some point, reading KKJ will just make me cry, a lot. Time Stranger Kyoko is quite cute, though it was dropped early so ending feels rushed. I read Shinshi Doumei Cross, follow it religiously when it was coming out but now I can't recall most of the plot.

Weird as heck is how BF likes it! Remember pidgeons?

The Jeanne D'Arc thing is more like a gimmick than anything else, she turns into Jeanne D'Arc instead a normal typical magical girl. (Though I get it if you are annoyed that Jeanne D'Arc is used as a gimmick). The anime treats it as as a mahou shoujo series. For the manga, it lasted about 2 volumes. I got into her stuff in like 97, so I cut it a lot of slack. (I got into the anime, I read the manga like 5 years later)

I LOVE YOUUUU <3

I have a recommendation! Only one and decidedly not shoujo maybe but let's say it is and I believe it's not yet mentioned anywhere in this thread. :'D

But, anyway, read Chihayafuru! It's about a traditional-but-super-hardcore card game, childhood friends, and aspirations to go to the top. Not exactly the best description, but it's really good! :D

Also seconding the recommendation for Oresama Teacher, Mafuyu is definitely one of the best shoujo leads around <3

My favorite series to date is Basara (which I guess is obscure, or else I'm weird for liking it so much). It's more adventure/drama than cute hijinks (nothing against cute shojo hijinks, tho!)

Currently I'm reading Story of Saiunkoku, but not sure how I feel about it yet (I love the art though).

I'd like to suggest Otomen. Is funny - even if a bit cheesy - and more about men doing girly things, but I find it quite enjoyable.

And stuff like this happens.

You will love SaiMono. It's pro-feminist and just all around beautiful and dark when necessary.

Ha, I will be totally honest in that the reason I picked it up in the first place was that I was a total Hotohori fangirl back during my Fushigi Yuugi days and this looked like a story where the emperor won't get snubbed by a diphead of a main character. I like how this gal isn't a total twit, let me tell you!

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT HOW BRILLIANT SHUUREI IS. STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST? YES. NONE OF THAT REAL WOMEN DON'T WEAR DRESSES KIND OF FEMINISM EITHER. IT'S REFRESHING AND I LOVE HER TO BITS.

And she's stingy about money. It's kind of fantastic!

But yeah, Shuurei has her head screwed tight on her neck and is very aware of things and she grows and learns as a person as well. She has faults, she has strengths, she has goals that don't involve getting married because what she wants is unrelated and she's willing to work hard to get to it.

And I've been meaning to read Fushigi Yuugi. Started reading the prequel, but I keep getting the impression she's going to retcon a LOT of things and I'm like "No.".

I just have to warn you, if you like strong female characters, you're going to hate Miaka. She is the epitome of TSTL, and yet she has the ability to literally turn gay men straight out of lurv for her. =/ You read FY in spite of Miaka, basically. Which is a shame since the setting was pretty cool, I thought.

I haven't read the prequel, but it's about a totally different set of characters and she made it years after FY so maybe she improved her female archetype since then?

... Turn gay men straight...

Look, I know there's the whole If It's You, It's Okay trope but that's just. Iiiiii'm going to reconsider.

And eh, the prequel's alright? I'm honestly not all too fond of that mangaka's works. Outside of Absolute Boyfriend which is frickin' hilarious (but I like the drama better).

I feel the need to note that it is not just Shuurei, either. There are not a lot of female characters in comparison to the density of long-haired prettyboys, but every single woman there is in that series gets shit done.

Even the tiny adorable fourteen-year-old handmaiden.

It's like. "MY GOD, WHERE HAS THIS SERIES BEEN ALL MY LIFE?"

So of course none of the light novels have been translated, which is beyond a great shame.

I have been spoiled enough for the later events of the series that I am actually strangely okay with this.

I read the whole TV Tropes page on the series and went

I just... cannot deal with

Agreed. I was just... Baffled. But then again,

The thing for me is

There is a reason though, albeit perhaps not one you would think justifies it.

Oh gawd, the urge to click spoiler tags... uuurgh. *resists*

Unless you can understand Japanese or the light novels are being translated anytime soon, it's fine to click the spoilers. Although if you don't, I am impressed and amazed and I admire your ability not to click the spoilers! I can't say I have that strength of character.

I do remember that, but it's not really what I meant.

So many good points in this and I agree with you.

Angel Sanctuary and Fushigi Yuugi drags, and Clamp tend to abandon their story midway. Basara is as good as 90s shoujo epic fantasy gets (though the setting is technically post-apocalyptic Japan).

Folks, if you like Story of Saiunkoku, you'll also love Basara.

It's not as fun for me if I know what happens. ;)
The english manga is almost halfway through (vol 9 comes out in April). I just have to hold out until all 18 are released before I can look at spoilers!

Do the novels continue past where the manga ends?

I have no clue, I only found scanlations up to volume five.

There are 22 novels, though: 18 for the main story, and four side stories. I'm pretty sure the manga follows the plot of the main story, though, so quite possibly it's one volume per volume that it's doing. Although I could be wrong, I have no sources to help confirm this theory.

The frustrating thing is that

Please write a fic about this so I can cry to it to my heart's content.

But yes, you're right. That makes way more sense.

I have just finished reading Mamotte Lollipop then I read Clamp School Detectives.

Question: Can Meitantei Loki Ragnarok count as shoujo? 'Cause it has a fond place in my heart. Even though only half of the second manga series was brought over and they decided not to translate the first series because of the anime.

It seems to be a shounen series. Then again, there have been several other manga series mentioned that aren't shoujo, so I don't think anyone's likely to get hung up over it.

OH MY GOD IT'S NOT A SHOUJO SHAME ON YOU FOR MENTIONING IT

Seriously though, I've been meaning to get into that series, but now I'm irritated because they didn't translate the full thing. That's just stupid.

It isn't?! My world. It has been flipped upside down like a massive chocolate chip pancake. :'(

In my defense the portag's shoujo qualities and the many many pretty people in the series confuses things a bit.

Randissimo, that's why the anime's so wonderful. It is pretty much a faithful adaptation of the first manga series. The second picks up nearly right when the anime ends.

If that's the case, I'm suddenly half-willing to forgive the company who translated this.

I've been waiting for this thread! I'd love new good shoujo recs with which to occupy the rest of my weekend.

• Fruits Basket and Kimi ni Todoke are two of the first that come to mind, though I know they've been mentioned already in this thread.
• I'm not sure it would count as a shoujo manga, but I also really love Dazzle.
• I used to really like Skip Beat, but frankly it's dragging on a bit long for me nowadays.
• Honey and Clover (again, not sure this is strictly within the shoujo genre)

I also really like Setona Mizushiro's works, though my favorite of hers is actually about the relationship between two men and therefore not applicable here.

Rot's Recommendations Part 1
The number of hearts by it represent my completely subjective love for the series. (I love them all but I guess the hearts represent how excited I would be to see it made into an anime. I was ecstatic when Natsume Yuujinchou became an anime and clapped my hands like an idiot when it got more than one season.)

1. Anything by Yuki Midorikawa
Midorikawa has a breathy style of drawing that some may not like but I most certainly do. Her works seem to revolve around relationships (of all types.)

A. Natsume Yuujinchou <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
No romance in this one (as of yet but I don't expect to see any). It's about a boy that can see spirits and has a troubled past. He inherits a strange little booklet from his grandmother that gets him into a whole lot of trouble. Well, at least some of the trouble can be blamed on that book. Natsume is perfectly able to get into trouble on his own. The story has lots of themes dealing with friendship, loneliness, trust, honesty (or the lack of it), and identity.
B. Notable mention
a. Akaku Saku Koe

2. Anything by Tomo Matsumoto
Her art style seems to be somewhere between Midorikawa's and Clamps. Her mangas are a bit...strange. They are quirky and interesting with more emphasis on romantic relationships compared to Midorikawa.

A. Beauty is the Beast <3 <3
Eimi's family is moving to another area but instead of leaving with them she decides to become part of the group of students that board. She makes friends with the odd group of girls and eventually meets someone she dubs as "Wanichin", a male boarder who most people are reluctant to approach. (She gives everyone bizzare nicknames.) This story regularly shines the spotlight on other characters and it's normally quite amusing.

3. Oresama Teacher <3 <3 <3 <3
Fucking Hilarious. I have cried and felt physical pain from how much this manga made me laugh. I can honestly say that I like all the characters and while there seems to be a romantic subplot somewhere around here, I like everyone enough that I do not care who Mafuyu (awesome BAMF main character) ends up with. I don't feel the need to put a description here because if you don't like it within the first five or so pages then you are a lost cause and are dead to me.

4. Horimiya <3 <3 <3 <3
Sooooooo cute. Hori is an adorable tsundere (lite) and Miyamura is...I don't know. Whatever he is it is also adorable (and weird.) Hori and Miyamura are in the same class, and one day Miyamura brings her little brother back home after a minor incident. Hori did not realize it was Miyamura until further discussion. It turns out both Hori and Miyamura have a side to them that Hori doesn't want others to see and that might cause Miyamura trouble with the school. It's very sweet and humorous and seems to be taking a romantic turn in recent chapters.
The art is very clean looking compared to the first two recommendations.

I've got more but this is long enough as it is.

Definitely not Shoujo, but one manga that I enjoyed recently was Onani Master Kurosawa. It's... uh... strange. It's themes are bullying, depression, and the dark side of being a teenager and school social norms. Also, by the ending, redemption and growing up.

I really, really recommend it. It's one of those manga that goes out of it's way to make you uncomfortable to reinforce it's theme, but it's well worth a read imo.

OH GOD THAT MANGA

I need to finish it.