#shōjo manga

[vampireknightedits]

Zero Kiryuu and Ai Kuran from the manga "Vampire Knight- Memories" by Matsuri Hino

[imholdingoutforahero]

[delightful-mirth]

Oh, if only shōjo and magical girl anime (and manga) got even half the recognition that shōnen anime enjoy. There is such an undisputed hegemony of the latter over the former, to such a point point that even Tumblr shoved one of them down our throats with an invasive marketing campaign, with creepy clowns and all the rest.

There is no valid reason as to why Her Majesty Sailor Moon doesn't enjoy the same treatment as some huge shōnen franchises, which are basically everywhere. Or CardCaptor Sakura not getting the same credit that some popular franchise for boys about collecting magical cards gets.

When, and if, Sailor Moon Cosmos is finally released on Netflix, I'm quite sure we won't have specific sections or annoying elements on the dashboard, here on Tumblr.

For real, not even the universally acclaimed Madoka Magica is under a constant spotlight, even if it's an actual magical girl genre deconstruction and a seinen.

Last but not least, among shōjo anime and manga there are many criminally underrated gems. For example:

Magic Knight Rayearth

Hime-chan no Ribbon

Marmalade Boy

Miracle Girls

[ashitakaxsan]

   Yona of the Dawn is a fantasy epic story,taking place about 2000 years ago. It’s the tale of tales. We follow Yona, a sheltered princess who’s life is dramatically overturned when a coupe causes the murder of her  pacifistic father,the king of Kouka.Since this night she vows to become Strong to protect herself, her allies, and eventually her country during travel in secret. This manga takes this premise makes it nuanced, always interesting and always fascinating. 10/10

[gregor-samsung]

“ Yūichi ritornò, facendo dondolare le chiavi dell'auto. "Visto che poteva stare così poco, bastava pure una telefonata," disse, mentre si toglieva le scarpe all'ingresso. Io risposi "Hmm" senza alzarmi dal divano. "Mikage, sei stata colpita dalla mamma?" fece lui. "Beh, non ho mai visto una donna così bella," dissi francamente. "Però sai..." Yūichi entrò nella stanza e sedendosi per terra davanti a me, continuò sorridendo: "Ha fatto una plastica." "Ah." Cercai di nascondere l'imbarazzo. "In effetti avevo pensato che di viso non vi assomigliate per niente." "Ma hai capito?" disse con un'aria come se gli scappasse da ridere. "Lei è un uomo" . Questa volta non ce la feci a fingere. Restai a fissarlo ammutolita, con gli occhi spalancati. Aspettavo che da un momento all'altro dicesse ridendo: 'Scherzavo'. Un uomo lei? Con quelle dita affusolate, quei gesti, quel portamento? Ricordando quella creatura bellissima, aspettavo la smentita col fiato sospeso, ma lui si limitava a guardarmi con aria beata. Fui io a parlare: "Ma tu hai sempre detto 'mia madre... mia madre'..." "Beh, per forza. Tu una così la chiameresti 'papà'?" rispose calmo. Aveva ragione. Era una risposta quanto mai appropriata.

"E quel nome, Eriko?" "Non è il suo vero nome. In realtà si chiama Yūji." Per un momento mi si appannò la vista. Appena riuscii ad articolare le parole, chiesi: "Allora, chi è tua madre?" "Tanto tempo fa Eriko era un uomo," rispose lui. "Quand'era molto giovane. E un giorno si sposò. Sua moglie era la mia vera madre." "Che... che tipo era?" chiesi. Non riuscivo a figurarmela. "Non me la posso ricordare. Ero troppo piccolo quando è morta. Ho una foto però. Vuoi vederla?" Feci di sì con la testa. Senza alzarsi, allungò il braccio per prendere la sua borsa. Tirò fuori dal portafoglio una foto e me la porse. La donna della foto aveva capelli corti e lineamenti minuti. L'età era indefinibile. C'era in lei qualcosa di bizzarro. Dato che restavo in silenzio, disse: " É un tipo stranissimo, non pensi?" Risi, imbarazzata. "Eriko era ancora bambino, quando andò a vivere dalla famiglia di mia madre, quella della foto. In pratica fu adottato. Lui e mia madre crebbero assieme. Anche quand'era un uomo era bello e pare che avesse molto successo. Lei aveva questo faccino buffo. Chissà perché proprio lei..." Sorrise guardando la fotografia. "Voleva molto bene alla mamma e per lei entrò in contrasto con la famiglia. Fuggirono insieme, sai?" Assentii. "Quando la mamma morì, Eriko lasciò il lavoro. Solo e con un bambino piccolo, non sapeva proprio che fare. Allora decise di diventare donna. 'Tanto ormai non mi sarei più potuta innamorare,' dice lei. Pare che prima di diventare donna avesse un carattere molto chiuso. Siccome non è tipo da lasciar le cose a metà si fece fare anche l'operazione al viso e il resto. Coi soldi che le restavano ha aperto il locale e mi ha tirato su. Insomma, mi ha fatto anche da padre...", concluse ridendo. "Che vita incredibile è stata la sua!" dissi io. "Ehi, mica è morta, sai!" fece Yūichi. Potevo credergli o c'era ancora sotto qualcosa? Più ascoltavo, più quella storia mi sembrava incredibile. “

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen, traduzione dal Giapponese e postfazione di Giorgio Amitrano, Feltrinelli (collana Universale economica n°1243), 2007³⁴, pp. 17-18.

[1ª Edizione originale: キッチン, Fukutake Editore, 1988]

[bunnygirltitan]

Finished Basara last night and all I can really say is…wow. It’s now my favorite manga series of all time. Characters, story, writing, pacing, art - it’s all perfect.

[clodswithachanceofmeatballs]

Feeling very Shōjo in this house tonight

[voliol]

I feel a need to read up on how David Bowie influenced 70s shōjo manga. Like maybe it’s just Yumiko Ōshima who’s a big fan, but that still means he is part of the bishōnen DNA.

[whistle-whisper]

[snoooorkmaiden]

あっ。

- nagabe, mangaka of the girl from the other side: siúil a rún

[mikamanga]

[swallowerofdharma]

So, what is Berserk about after all?

Please be considerate to me, don’t repost this, don’t share it outside of tumblr, don’t copy parts of it, thank you.

I have read really funny critiques and reviews of Berserk. Often they would refer to Miura supposedly saying that he didn’t plan everything out and they would use this statement to support their argument that after the Golden Age arc the story just looked like it dragged on. One, don’t ever fully believe what artists and writers say about their work. Second, without a proper conclusion it is impossible to make that kind of judgement and the story is ongoing. Then, not having a plan or having just vague ideas and taking inspiration here and there isn’t how manga works or how it gets published. When asked in an interview why he started creating Haibane Renmei as a doujinshi, Yoshitoshi Abe replied: “With mainstream publishing, it would've been difficult to do it with that avenue because of this particular approach with everything being adlibbed. I don't know how the story will be developed, how it's going to end up, or what the ending's going to be. If you go to a mainstream publisher, by their general approach, they have to know what the characters are, who they are, what the story's going to be, and how the story's going to develop so they know if there's going to be a serial, continuing storyline. They need to know how it's going to go”. Even though plans can be renewed and renegotiated, Miura still needed to make solid advanced plans and decisions and respect deadlines and page quotas. Even without considering this, the world building of Berserk seems too intentional and coherent to me to think that he didn’t really know how the story would go. Granted he created a reality that could be changed and bent by the human imagination and psyche, from the inside. This happened to be a brilliant choice for a long project like the Berserk manga.

I once read a review that pointed out the weakness of the later arcs and episodes, making the hypothesis that Miura was influenced by the success of stories like One Piece and Pirates of the Caribbean. I can’t really say that I share this opinion, either. Reviews like these make me smile, because they reveal how people missed a very big clue that Miura never really hid. Berserk was inspired by the story of Peter Pan as told by J.M. Barrie and reinterpreted in several different ways, not only visually. He went as far as dedicating to it the Lost Children chapters, immediately after the Eclipse, when the tension of the story was higher than it ever had been. We should read the Lost Children as an homage to the story of Peter Pan and Wendy that plays into the already disquieting themes of the original in darker tones and with much more horrifying elements; but we should also pay great attention to the Lost Children chapters as an important recontextualization of the events of the Golden Age arc. While I want to dedicate proper analysis and attention to this, I am going to add here that in Peter Pan we already had the pirates, the islands with hidden caves and the mermaids. The journey to Skellig island and Elfhelm had to be long enough for Moonlight Boy to make an appearance at least twice before the big reveal of his full identity the third time, and since he can only appear on nights of a full moon, Miura had to make the readers feel that time had passed. But Guts had always belonged in Neverland.

In my rudimentary outline of various elements that contributed greatly in building the world and story of Berserk, I actually ran out of space. And I want to properly address the various points and develop them more. For the moment I just really wanted to show that Miura had a very strong grip over the story and that he was really attentive to nuances. I said to myself, if I want to criticize the writing in Berserk at least I have to make sure I understand it to a sufficient extent.

Also I really wanted to at least give an idea of how important a role Shōjo manga had to Berserk. I hope to be able to fully explore this element soon.

[readtilyoudie]

The Girl from the Other Side Vol 3

[arionrosemarinet]

"How did you know im a lesbian?"

You're a 70's shoujo manga enjoyer

[ashitakaxsan]

  Would you like magical girls, high fantasy, and mecha all in one,combined with drama, romance, and brutally dark twists?? It ought to  be Magic Knight Rayearth.

[frostfires-blog]

My Top 6 Favourite Shōjo & Josei Anime Series Released in 2023

It's fair to argue that we're in a shojo renaissance given the recent victories for the shoujosei community. To commemorate this I wanted to make a post highlighting my favourite shojosei series from this year's line-up—in the hopes of persuading others to watch them and cast their votes for them in the upcoming anime awards.

Keep in mind that some entries will date as far back as October 2022 because they officially qualify alongside this year's anime as a part of the roster for next year's anime awards.

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Honourable Mentions:

-> Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi

English Title: The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague

Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Workplace, Mythology

This anime follows Himuro, who involuntarily produces snow and ice phenomena—due to being a descendant of a Yuki-onna— when overwhelmed by his emotions, at his new office job. On his first day, he is saved from being late due to his affliction by the cool-headed Fuyutsuki—who turns out to be his new coworker. As they continue to work closely together, Fuyutsuki continues to provide pragmatic solutions to Himuro’s myriad of wintry quandaries—causing him to constantly want to repay her kindness. As Himuro’s feelings for her continue to grow, so does the frequency of his snowstorms—making them nearly impossible to hide. The fun, relaxing atmosphere of this anime gives a wholesome and homely feel—making it worth the watch if you don’t mind the somewhat slow, romantic development.

-> Romantic Killer

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Parody, Reverse Harem

This series is about Anzu Hoshino, a high school girl with no interest in romance and lives solely for video games, chocolates, and her cat. Anzu’s daily life is turned upside down when a wizard forcibly turns her life into a harem, dating game in order to force her to find love. Out of anger and sheer stubbornness, she vows to resist no matter what. While this is technically a shōnen anime, not a shōjo or josei—I wanted to include it anyway since it has a shōjo vibe to it especially because of the lack of fan service and unrealistic beauty standards. It has a similar vibe to other shoujo series like Watashi ga Motete Dousunda (Kiss Him Not Me) and Kaichou wa Maid-sama! While the storyline is seemingly basic, the show’s refreshing take on classic character archetypes and relatable humour make it worth a watch.

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Top 6:

6) Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru

English Title: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999

Genres: Romance, Comedy

Despite being dumped by her boyfriend, college student Akane Kinoshita continues to play the MMO they once played together and attends an offline game event in hopes of winning him back. There she meets Akito Yamada, an emotionless yet handsome high schooler, who belongs to the same guild as her. After running into her ex—who is accompanied by his new girlfriend—Akane is desperate for support causing her to rope Yamada into helping her and lending her a shoulder to cry on. As they spend more and more time together their feelings for one another continue to grow despite their innumerable differences. This anime gives off a similar atmosphere to Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashi (Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku) with its humour, casual slice-of-life atmosphere, common themes, and equally catchy opening theme song. The character dynamics, voice acting, and music make this show worth the watch.

5) Sugar Apple Fairy Tale

Genres: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure, Romance

Despite living in a kingdom where fairies are enslaved by humans, through the possession of one of their wings, Anne Halford longs to see the day when humans and fairies are treated equally. Despite this, she is forced to purchase a warrior fairy to protect her on the perilous journey to the Royal Candy Fair in order to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Silver Sugar Master. Anne hires the sharp-tongued obsidian fairy, Challe Fen Challe for this job. Despite Anne promising to return his wing after the journey, Challe remains distrustful and wants nothing to do with humans. However, as the pair travel together, they learn more about each other as well as more about the different dynamics between fairies and humans across the kingdom. While seemingly a typical fantasy-romance shōjo, this anime deals with some heavy themes such as sexism, misogyny, slavery, and historical politics. While these themes could certainly be interpreted as problematic, they aren’t just swept under the rug and are commented on but certainly could’ve been more developed upon. The show ultimately balances its light-hearted, slice-of-life scenes and heart-warming relationship-building moments well with its more dramatic subplots. The art and animation are beautifully done when compared to other releases in the genre, especially its use of colours, lighting, and fluidity. The female lead’s dedication to her craft as a silver sugar artisan is commendable and somewhat reminiscent of Shirayuki’s passion for herbalism in Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with the Red Hair). Another selling point of the show is the subtle tension and slowly fostered development between its two leads. Both characters have their own decently developed mentalities and motivations independent of each other which is always delightful to see given how rare it can be. Another selling point of this anime is that both season 1 and season 2 were released this year thus making the overall episode count 24 giving viewers ample time to grow attached to its lovable cast and charming atmosphere without feeling pressured for instant development.

4) Kanojo ga Koushaku-tei ni Itta Riyuu

English Title: Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Otome Isekai

After Rinko Hanasaki (originally Eunha Park in the original manhwa) is pushed off a building, she is reborn as Raeliana McMillan—the daughter of a nouveau-rich baron in a historical romance novel she once read who is fated to die tragically young. To prevent the fruition of this plotline Raeliana is determined to end her engagement with the man who orchestrated her untimely demise, Lord Francis Brooks. To do this, she is forced to use her knowledge of the plot to blackmail the novel’s male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight, into a contract engagement thus rendering her previous one null and void. Little does she know that she has captured Noah’s interest, in place of the female protagonist, with this move buying her a lot trouble than she originally bargained for… While only decently animated, the character dynamics, voice acting, pacing, and soundtrack make this anime stand out from other similar shows. The compelling chemistry between the two leads really elevates this anime from others with a similar premise. Overall while a decent adaptation from the manhwa, there is some room for improvement especially with the animation. Personally, I felt that this anime could’ve greatly benefitted from having 24 episodes (instead of the chosen 12 episodes) since parts covered by anime are mostly set up with the drama, action, and relationship development only taking place in later story arcs. Unfortunately, most of what makes this series praise-worthy and sets it apart from others with a similar premise wasn’t covered yet in the anime. Although reading the source material in advance had given me relatively high expectations that weren't quite met, I would like to clarify that I thoroughly enjoyed this anime.

3) Sasaki to Miyano Movie: Sotsugyou-hen

English title: Sasaki and Miyano Movie: Graduation Arc

Genres: Shounen Ai, BL, Slice of life, High School

Continuing from season 1, this film follows Shūmei Sasaki and Yoshikazu Miyano as they embark on the next important stage of their romantic relationship as it is tested by Sasaki’s impending graduation from high school. The movie is accompanied by an animated short featuring the side character Taiga Hirano and his growing relationship with his roommate Akira Kagiura. Despite being brief, the movie was filled with tons of important character-defining and relationship-building moments for both Miyano and Sasaki as well as their relationships with other characters and each other. The familiar soundtrack and art style were both nostalgic and comforting while the voice acting was top-notch, carefully conveying the immense depth of the characters’ multi-layered emotions throughout the various scenes. Throughout the movie, we saw just how much the main couple had grown since season 1… We see Sasaki becoming more confident in showing affection towards Miyano, as he holds himself back less and less. While Miyano became much more assured of himself and his feelings towards Sasaki. We see Sasaki’s backstory which provides much-needed context behind his insecurities in season 1. During this adaptation, fairly significant cuts were made from the original source material to accommodate the time constraints—which was naturally disappointing. The animated short that accompanied the movie was heart-warming and leaves watchers curious enough that there is room for a full adaptation of Hirano and Kagiura’s story…

2) Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon

English Title: My Happy Marriage

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Historical

My happy marriage is set in an alternative version of the Meiji Restoration era where spirits and supernatural magic exist but in regression. Our protagonist, Miyo Saimori is born giftless despite belonging to a supernaturally talented family because of this she suffers immense abuse and mistreatment at the hands of her stepmother and half-sister while her father gazes on with indifference. Her hopes of building a happy life for herself seem distant after she is ordered by her family to marry Kiyoka Kudo, a man who is rumoured to be so cold-hearted all his previous marriage candidates ran off. Upon arriving at the Kudo estate, Miyo fully resigns herself to either a life of mistreatment or abandonment but is pleasantly surprised when her husband-to-be is anything but the monster she expected. Both of them begin realizing that the other may be their greatest opportunity to find true happiness and love as they slowly begin to each other. open their hearts to each other. While many may write this anime off at face value thinking of it as just another Cinderella remake—they are sorely mistaken. While seemingly simple in its premise and title, the execution of the many technical elements and core themes that make this anime was nearly flawless. The beautifully detailed animation was a pleasant surprise. Historically speaking shōjo adaptations haven’t gotten the best budgets and heavily rely on having great storytelling and characterization to draw in its viewers. My Happy Marriage however not only has impeccably detailed character designs but also seamlessly fluid and well-paced animation sequences. Special attention was given to animating the opening and ending theme song sequences unlike with many other shows where the theme song animation is somewhat of an afterthought.  The soundtrack and voice acting are both exemplary and encapsulate the moods of each respective scene well. The side characters are all well-crafted to suit their roles in the story and aren’t at all redundant with no single archetype being overused. The two leading characters are well-developed and show slow consistent and most importantly realistic growth. The series delves into lasting trauma caused by abuse and the long journey to healing that trauma. Despite only being 12 episodes, the plot and character-building does not get lost amongst the world-building or fantastical elements. This anime delves into the intricacies of human emotions and relationships as well as the main couple’s personal struggles and motivations making us as the audience want to root for them. Ultimately all these elements blend seamlessly to produce a charming and heart-warming show capable of stirring up the emotions of its audience. 

1) Kōkyū no Karasu

English title: Raven of the Inner Palace

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Mythology, Supernatural

The Raven Consort, Ryuu Jusetsu (originally Liu Shouxue in the original source material) is both venerated and feared amongst those in the royal court. Despite being titled as a consort, she does not have any contact with the emperor, Ka Kōshun (originally Xia Gaojun), and lives isolated from everyone else. Her fabled mystical abilities make her the subject of many rumours as she is said to take on any request from recovering lost belongings to casting curses. One day her quiet solitude is disturbed when the newly crowned emperor barges into her palace with a request. Despite finding his subsequent frequent visits annoying, she cannot bring herself to turn him away. She soon finds herself forging several meaningful connections with others, despite the warnings of her predecessor, ultimately forcing her to confront a past that was best left concealed.  This show’s unique character designs and uncommon setting make it stand out visually despite its humble budget. While seemingly episode in nature, this show has an intricate overarching plot with fantastic character development. The show does a great job at depicting the main protagonist’s motivations, internal struggles, and development while still maintaining the mystery surrounding her—thus leaving plenty of room for further growth and development. Another thing I greatly appreciated in this anime was its subtly. Rather than just blatantly exposing complex motivations, moral stances, internal conflicts, and relationship dynamics of and between its characters through quotidian dialogue—the show instead chooses to shrewdly unveil this through the actions and expressions of its characters alongside the use of meaningful dialogue.  Despite not being presently romantically involved the budding relationship between its two leads is carefully developed and slowly built upon in such a way that doesn’t make the show feel like just another forced or contrived romance elevating the show beyond layperson’s expectations for shōjo and josei anime. Despite somewhat, complex historical injustices being brought up in the anime, it is more focused on its protagonist helping others find peace through self-forgiveness and remembrance than seeking retribution. This has led to criticisms that the pacing of the series is too slow and that the plot lacks satisfying action sequences. However, in my opinion, the show succeeds in its goal of telling tales about the complexity of human emotions and relationships that transcend life and death. Another aspect of this show that really stood out was the soundtrack, especially its ending theme song, which exhibits a uniquely haunting melancholic ambiance that makes me want to listen to it repeatedly. This series is undoubtedly deserving of the title of an underrated gem—given its unique artistic expression, intriguing emotional storytelling, and character development—and has an immense amount of the potential for a follow-up season.

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[P.S. I'm really going to miss watching My Happy Marriage and Sugar Apple Fairy Tale every week—but at least season 2 of the former has been confirmed😭]