Shojo With Good Plots

Angelic Layer is shounen, it just has a female protagonist. It has a Tournament Arc for christ's sake.

edited 22nd Dec '11 1:32:43 AM by NoirGrimoir

Seiyuu Ka. Definitely unique, seeing as it's about a girl who has to crossdress to achieve her dream of becoming a voice actor. One of the few shojos I actually like.

@Ever9: It's true that there are some instances of the whole "Get ON with it" thing, but I feel like the characters in Kimi Ni Todoke avoid a lot of the typical shojo bullshit by almost completely averting Poor Communication Kills. The fact that the cast is usually actually open with each other about their feelings has curtailed a lot of conflicts that could have lasted much longer and even prevented a few.

Oh, also Natsume Yuujinchou. I like cried in the second episode...

Hmmm, how about Cardcaptor, or Gauken Alice

I watched those shows when i was little so minus points for nostalgia filter.

edited 22nd Dec '11 7:18:14 PM by eternalNoob

If we're allowed to rec Josei, allow me to plug the shit out of Kuragehime. It's a typical shy-person-meets-an-extravert comedy, but it's good. The shy people are treated like people and the extravert is shown to be just as much of an insecure nut as the shy folk.

Oh yeah, I love Kuragehime. I think it got or is getting an anime.

Wow, you're behind the times. It got an anime last year.

edited 23rd Dec '11 9:03:49 PM by Sporkaganza

I thought it had, I just hadn't heard anyone talking about it, so I wasn't entirely sure.

Not sure how it stacks up to other Shojo series, as I haven't read many, but I've found Skip Beat to be fairly enjoyable. It has a tendency to zigzag or subvert some cliches that I've seen in shojo, while playing others very straight.

Does Basara count? It's done in a shoujo style, but really the plot is more like a retelling of several Shakespeare works combined (or more like they took characters from various Shakespeare plays and put them in a setting similar to Fist Of The North Star and let them have at it), so I'm not sure where to put it category wise.

Basara is shojo, yes.

Wow, a lot more recs since I last looked.

I'm currently making my way through Basara. I want to finish it before I start any other mangas though so I figured I'd make this thread to see what I'll read next after I finish.

Anyway, I tried watching the Magic Knight Rayearth anime once. I only watched iike the first three episodes so maybe it gets better but it just didn't capture my interest.

edited 24th Dec '11 12:46:33 AM by Nikkolas

No mention of Kaori Yuki yet? Her works are not typical shoujo (they're often quite gothic and disturbing) and definitely don't skimp on plot. Check out Count Cain (which happens to be my favourite manga series), Angel Sanctuary and Ludwig Revolution for starters.

Surprised no one mentioned Dengeki Daisy yet.

Some other shoujo/josei manga series I recommend: Devil And Her Love Song (the main heroine is nothing like your typical shoujo protagonist), Karneval, Immortal Rain (needs more love), Amatsuki (this one is sort of a mindfck), The Sleepy Residents Of Birdcage Manor, Strobe Edge, Coelacanth...

edited 27th Dec '11 9:55:42 AM by Bunny-kins

Another old thread I'm butting into. Not too old, I hope?

I found Kaichou wa Maid-sama! to be rather good. It's very similar to Special A, but less extreme, and better art.

Ghost Hunt (the anime) is apparently a shoujo anime. It's pretty enjoyable if you like supernatural/occult-oriented anime.

Also Magic Knight Rayearth. ^^

I agree with Sporkaganza about Lovely Complex. While the GET ON WITH IT thing wasn't as bad as Todoke, at least Todoke's characters were quite likable and had a bunch of cool friendship stuff. Lovely Complex had a bunch of annoying idiots and bad humor though a bunch of episodes were good at least.