are you a fan of any shojo/josei works?
Wish I were! Josei stories in particular seem to run the gamut of mature stories in interesting locations that don’t really fit to any one mold or trope, but I read manga on an irregular basis and rarely read something I haven’t already seen others talking about. There’s doubtless some really good stuff out there…but the few that I have tried (Fruits Basket, Ao Haru Ride) don’t fit my preference for either loud, dumb, and action-packed. In general I’m not a fan of m/f romances and the tropes associated with them in female-targeted manga (the overbearing/controlling older guy, the clumsy everygirl, the female friends who function mostly as cheerleaders) which makes it hard to get into some stuff.
Shoujo/josei that I have enjoyed are
BANANA FISH, a violent thriller/action subtextual BL that reads as a bizarre fusion of The Wire and That One Darkfic You Read At Age 15, a tight series with allowances for 80s + bl tropes that should absolutely be read with a list of CWs.
Shimanami Tasogare/Our Dreams At Dusk, a sort of pan-demographic slice of life with some melodramatic moments, you’ve doubtless heard of it but it is as good as they say. A quick and impactful read, I want to read the mangaka’s other works but I really need to emotionally prepare myself first lol.
GSNK, it’s funny!
Hakuouki. Purely a matter of timing. I watched it as my third anime ever and became obsessed with the way the side characters were built up in drama CDs and bonus content, many of which only exist as translated on the tokio-fujita LJ by a person who is now unfortunately deceased(?) but back in the day successfully pulled a minor scam or two within the fandom. Pretty mid, has all the same fatal flaws as any VN adaptation, interesting cast and ideas HAMSTRUNG by having to stick to the main m/f romance, women robbed of all relevance and agency, somehow the male protag’s love interest in the prequel is far better written than the female protag. This series is indivisible from my love of all animanga so I can’t tell how good or bad it is. I can only say that I spent a very very long time thinking about it. Classic shinsengumi story, Japan is torn by a civil war between traditionalist and modernizing factions, but also there are magically enhanced vampiresoldiers and a line of bloodsucking demons seeking to continue their race through eugenic matchups. It’s Anime as anything.
There are a few others that fall into josei/shoujo-adjacent but that aren’t officially in the category I think? After Hours (mature and sedate slice of life romance), No. 6 (slow biological sci fi), Shadows House (ontological mystery thriller) are all series I’ve enjoyed but never quite got to ‘fan’ except for Shadows House, which I really need to catch up on
Bonus rec: Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East is as far as I can tell just a cringe, tropey bl-inflected adventure with godawful pacing that I somehow watched in grade 10? Absolutely would not recommend for a quality watch but it’s obscure enough that it has a certain novelty.
I’ve rb’d a few josei/shoujo recs for future references as I keep searching for something to vibe with so all recommendations are welcome! Next one I am considering a read of is XXXHolic, haven’t yet started because while the pros are that it is CLAMP, the cons are that it is also CLAMP and my list of works to consume is too long to spend time trying to figure out whose legs are whose.
If you’re looking for manga to read, I have to recommend Screentone Club podcast! They do first-volume reviews of mostly new manga without anime adaptations that hit the sweet spot of brief, literate, and indicative without being spoilery. Doesn’t work well for series that get good in the 8th volume, but it’s my go-to for broadening my awareness of the current scene.
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