Manga

The Shoujo Genre

Shoujo, Shounen, Josei, Seinen, etc.. For the most part I don't really care about the genre as long as the story is good.

Having said that I do avoid some genres because I am not interested in them.

But Shoujo tends to be my favorite.

Shoujo Isn't Tropes

Rivals are well-established tropes in shoujo. The same way that losing and leveling up is a well-established trope for most battle/fighting manga.

Some manga that I think don't have any asshole/bitchy characters:

  • High School Debut
  • Hirunaka no Ryuusei
    • The best shoujo artwork i've seen as well
  • Hanatsukihime
  • Hana Kimi
  • Dangan Honey
  • Karakuri Odette

Pretty oneshot collections by Andou Yuki.

Most of Shimotsuki Kayoko's works are different from the normal conventions. Stuffs made by the mangaka of Natsume Yuujinchou.

I think it's a matter of you finding the right ones to read. Demographics doesn't necessarily equate to content. But anyway, it's not like I'm arguing or anything. It's generally correct but not necessarily true for all. One of the fluffiest and cutest series I've read, even by shoujo manga standards. If you don't like it, too bad.

I have plenty of favorites and also reading at the moment, but Koukou Debut, Strobe Edge, and Akatsuki no Yona are definitely just a few of the best I have read.

Manga

Pick Up Some Shojo

Are you looking for something a little more, well, appealing to women? I know, most of the stuff that we get here in America is mostly targeted at a the boys. But there are still some nice Shojo that you can pickup.

Many discussions online are lacking in this context, since, while you will find plenty of diverse anime, manga still seems to be a boys range here.

Skip Beat!

The series is about a girl who decides to get revenge on a guy who used her to become a singer by entering show business herself and becoming more famous than him.

She starts her journey as an actress and the roles that she plays reveals more about her character and her identity as she goes through her career.

The character development is phenomenal, the romance is wonderfully slow and quite realistic, and the comedy is a like thick coating of sugar on an intense story.

Cat Street

This story focuses on a girl who's a shut-in, who stopped caring about herself and stopped interacting with the world.

She enters a weird school for weird people like her and makes some weird friends.

This is a story about how she deals with her apathy and finds worth in herself and gains the motivation to make something of herself.