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Shoujo Manga Guide for Newbies

Due to getting gifts this time of year, many people become introduced to the genre of shoujo manga this way. This being the case, I often come across people looking for more manga like certain series they first read. For this purpose, I thought I’d make a guide list of sorts. An “if you like XX then try this” kind of thing. While shoujo is a pretty broad genre, it can be divvied up into dominant story types. Some titles don’t fit exclusively in one category so I tried to pick the dominant feature. (For instance Kamisama Kiss though a supernatural story is also a romantic comedy. ) I decided to stick with English published series only for this article.

If you like High School Dramas you might like:

High School Debut English version

  • High School Debut
  • Strobe Edge
  • We Were There
  • Kimi ni Todoke
  • Sand Chronicles
  • Orange
  • Mars
  • Love Com
  • Say I Love You
  • LDK
  • My Little Monster
  • Boys Over Flowers
  • The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross
  • A Devil and Her Love Song
  • Hot Gimmick
  • Missions of Love
  • A Silent Voice
  • La Corda d’Oro

If you like Historical Pieces or Fantasy you might like:

The Ancient Magus' Bride volume 1

  • Kaze Hikaru
  • Fushigi Yuugi
  • Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden
  • Basara
  • The Story of Saiunkoku
  • Angel of Elhamburg
  • Yukarism
  • Red River
  • NG Life
  • The Legend of Princess Sakura
  • The Ancient Magus’ Bride
  • Dawn of the Arcana
  • Requiem of the Rose King
  • Tail of the Moon
  • Emma
  • Stepping on Roses
  • St. Dragon Girl
  • Sailor Moon
  • Shugo Chara
  • Fairy Tail Blue Mistral
  • Alice in the Country of _______ (fill in the blank with all of the various renditions)

If you like Supernatural stories you might like:

He's My Only Vampire - December 16

  • Vampire Knight
  • Black Bird
  • Kamisama Kiss
  • Yurara
  • Rasetsu
  • Kiss of the Rose Princess
  • Midnight Secretary
  • Ceres Celestial Legend
  • He’s My Only Vampire
  • Honey Blood
  • Bloody Mary
  • Millennium Snow
  • QQ Sweeper
  • The Demon Prince of Momochi House
  • Spell of Desire
  • Angel Sanctuary
  • Idol Dreams
  • Full Moon wo Sagashite
  • Godchild
  • Fruits Basket*

If you are into Romantic Comedy try:Cover of Library Wars vol. 1

  • Library Wars
  • Oresama Teacher
  • Ouran High School Host Club
  • My Love Story!
  • Skip Beat!
  • So Cute It Hurts
  • Dengeki Daisy
  • Kiss Him, Not Me
  • Butterflies, Flowers
  • Happy Marriage
  • Otomen
  • Hana Kimi
  • Meteor Prince
  • Horimiya
  • The Wallflower
  • Maid-sama
  • Ai Ore
  • Special A

This is not a completely exhausted list by any means. It’s just a starting point for new readers. SO if I left off your favorite series – sorry about that! I tried to collect titles from different publishers to be fair. Hope this helps new readers out there, and maybe some of you looking for new series to try as well!

 

 

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4 Comments

  • Thank you for the list!! I’ve know about manga for a really long time but have only recently started reading it and I had no idea where to start! I think I’ve got enough written down to start with though just from your list!

  • Don’t forget Fruits Basket! With it’s re-release later this year by Yen Press, this is a great series to share with those who may not have had the chance to read it before.

  • Really great post! I’m going to share this on twitter! Maybe later in a diff post you could talk about josei? It’s a small collection but there is a new one being published and who knows? It might get more fans. It’s called Everybody’s Suddenly Getting Married!

    • There is not enough josei to do a list like that. I included josei titles in this list. I didn’t put titles that aren’t published yet. Since someone might try looking for it and can’t get it yet.

      But if you want to categorize Everbody’s Getting Married it would be an Office Drama – kind of like high school but with an office/adult setting. We don’t have many other josei like that.

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