The 18 Best Shoujo Manga
Generally, shoujo manga is aimed at young females, roping them in with romance and relatable characters. However, sometimes the storylines are too good to be missed, and they end up captivating the rest of us as well.
Here are the best shoujo manga to read:
1. Strobe Edge
This manga is so relatable for young readers. It follows first crushes, unrequited love and love triangles.
Ninako is a high school student who slowly manages to get closer to the high school sweetheart, Ren. Problem is that Ren is in another relationship, and there is another student at the school who likes Ninako. She isn’t quite sure what to do with her new predicament. It shows her messy journey through young love and all the different ups and downs it comes with.
2. Skip Beat
Kyouko Mogami is in love with her childhood friend, Shoutarou Shou Fuwa, but the love is one-sided. She follows him to Tokyo to support him with his dream to become a top model, but only finds out that he only sees her as a housemaid and has no romantic feelings towards her at all.
She swears revenge on him after having him break her heart so badly. She wants to enter the industry and beat him at his own game. She fails on her first try with a talent agency, but there is a second chance for her to become super successful.
3. Ao Haru Ride
This manga will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. It is full of all the emotions, which hit you hard. Yoshioka Futaba pushes the reset button on her life, she wants to start anew and leave her past behind her.
She bases her changes on who she used to be, and the boys she used to like. When she starts high school, her past comes back to confront her in the form of all the boys she once liked. She battles to stay true to her new self, but will her lost relationships work now that everyone is older?
4. ReLIFE
Kaizaki Arata has shut himself off from society. He experienced unfortunate circumstances at his old job that lead him down to a dark place in his life. His life though is completely about to change. He is approached by someone who works within ReLIFE, who offers him the opportunity to go back to who he was in high school, and the ability to re-enter society for a second time around.
5. Bokura ga Ita
For a complex and well-written shoujo manga, this is a good choice. Many people consider it a masterpiece with the way it shows all the complications and nuances of love, being so relatable to readers.
High school student, Nana Takahashi isn’t a fan of high school romance. She doesn’t put too much effort into finding a boyfriend and pays no attention to dating. Things change for her one day when she becomes classmates with Yano Motoharu, who is the most popular boy in school. All the other girls in the school throw themselves at him, but Nana is different. The pair becomes closer as time goes by, but she finds it harder to stick to her feelings and stand-offish behavior.
6. Ouran Koukou Host Club
Haruhi Fujioka is a poor student who can’t afford much. Her life completely changes when she is offered a full scholarship to attend Ouran High School. It is a high school only attended by the rich and powerful in society. The school has what is called the host club. It is made up of handsome young boys, who mistake her for a boy herself because of her short haircut. She becomes overwhelmed by this new club and accidentally falls over and breaks an expensive vase. She has to become a member of the group in order to pay off her debt. She is now on a crazy adventure with the hosts and all the new situations they face together as a group.
7. Lovely Complex
This is more of a light-hearted romance, being sweet and silly at the same time. The characters are charming and easy to love.
Being small in high school isn’t easy, as Ootani Atsushi discovers. Koizumi Risa is an incredibly tall girl at his school. As fate would have it, their crushes fall in love with each other and leave these two heartbroken. They become close friends, after finding themselves in the same predicament. As they become more than just friends, the two need to deal with the differences in their physical make-up, as well as everyone else thinking that a relationship between the shortest boy and the tallest girl in school is really funny.
8. Beauty Pop
This is a shorter manga, but it is full of fun and laughter.
Kiri Koshiba is a prodigy when it comes to hairstyling, but she has no interest in utilizing her talents to gain fame or fortune. At her school, there are three popular boys who make up the Scissors Project. They perform makeovers for girls at the school, turning them into real beauties. She tries her best to stay away from the group but finds her skills taking her towards them time and time again.
9. Dengeki Daisy
Try this manga if you are looking for a fresh and new story. It is a romance story like nothing else in the genre and really is a good read.
A cellphone is all that Kureyabayashi Teru has of her late brother. There is only one contact on the phone, Daisy. Her brother told her that she must phone Daisy whenever she feels like she needs someone to talk to and confide in. Teru has problems outside of this though; she is in major debt and has to work with janitor Kurosaki Tasuku, who is good-looking but also extremely rude.
Teru, Tasuku, and Daisy all find their lives intertwined with one another in a unique and enchanting way.
10. AAA
Ogata Aoi is the student council president at the best middle school in the country, AAA. At first, she only wanted to attend the school to meet her first love, but she learns that he is actually the gang leader of the neighbor school CCC. She becomes more inquisitive towards him and learns he even has the same name as her. She wants to learn as much as she can about this gang leader and takes steps to investigate him further.
11. Tonari no Kaibutsu-Kun
Life and love are both portrayed in this manga. It follows the different milestones in life, self-discovery, friendship and discovering new feelings.
Shizuku Mizutani is the type of person who doesn’t care about anyone or anything which doesn’t affect her, she only cares about school work and her grades. One day she is given the task of delivering notes to a classmate who is absent from school. The classmate, in particular, is Haru Yoshida, who has a very similar mindset to Shizuku. Once she has delivered his notes, he declares that they are friends. Their relationship only grows from there on out in a unique and special way.
12. The One
Cane Lele’s parents tragically passed away in a plane crash. They were both the top models in Taiwan, and this turns her off ever joining the fashion industry. When she turns 17, her aunt, her mother’s sister, convinces her to at least pose for her agency. She soon reconsiders joining the industry when she sees a photo of the popular American model, Angus Lanson. She starts her fashion career heading to the US, hoping to meet the model, and finds herself quickly falling in love.
13. Zettai Kareshi
This is one of the most popular shoujo manga, just from its ability to capture the attention of young girls, making them swoon and fall in love.
Riiko Izawa knows what it feels like to be rejected, she is no stranger to being dumped or thrown to the side. She really does want to find love, which leads her to try an online dating site for help. She signs up to a free trial for a nightly lover figure. Not thinking much of it, she goes to bed. To her shock, she wakes up the next morning with a handsome, naked man on her doorstep. To top it all off, he wants to be her boyfriend as well. She is really taken by surprise but soon starts wondering if there is a price for all of this.
14. Akatsuki no Yona
Akatsuki no Yona is a fantasy shoujo manga that really draws you in.
Yona, princess of Kouka, lives a lavish life with the king, her father, but she is very much in love with her cousin Su-won. Life is perfect for her, that is until the day that it isn’t. Out for a normal stroll in the gardens, she comes across Su-won murdering her father. This forces her to escape the castle ground only with her bodyguard, Son Hak. They live together in exile, but Yona is headstrong about winning back her kingdom. She meets a wandering priest who tells her of the legend of the four dragons, who might be the answer to help her save her kingdom and the people within.
15. Kimi ni Todoke
This is a realistic story that lets readers feel at home with the story, as it is so relatable and down to earth. It isn’t complicated; it is a simple and pure story that happens to be one of the best romance manga around.
Kuronuma Sawako is gloomy and shy. As a result of this, her classmates don’t understand her, even when she only has good intentions. One day a good-looking boy with a refreshing outlook in life makes contact with her. He might be the one to pull her out from her own darkness, but first, she needs to convince herself that she deserves to be loved and to feel love in return.
16. Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime
Shirayuki is the local herbalist, but she is prone to receiving a lot of attention due to her uniquely colored hair. One of the people intrigued by her is the prince of her country, and he wants her to become his concubine. She does not want this to happen, so she cuts her hair short and leaves the country.
On her journey, she meets Zen Wistalia, who is a prince in a neighboring country. He works to get her out of the situation with her own prince. Now the two travel together with his companions back to his country, where she becomes the royal herbalist. But fate has more in store for these the pair.
17. Horimiya
Hori and Miyamura seem like typical teenage students, but when school is out their double lives become apparent. After class, Hori becomes devoid of emotion and social interaction, being alone and having to take care of her brother at home. Miyamuri, on the other hand, is a nerd at school, but in actual fact, he is a wild social butterfly once school is done, not good with academics at all. The two discover each other’s secret lives, and this leads to a budding friendship that eventually deepens into love.
18. Kaichou wa Maid-sama
There is nothing quite as enjoyable as a cliché romance story that has all the heart-tingling sensations you could ask for. This manga is a guilty pleasure, perfect for the die-hard romantics
Misaki Ayuzawa is seen as harsh and stern in her role of student council president at the school. Outside of school, she works as a maid at a maid café. This is her biggest secret, and if it ever got out, it would tarnish her reputation as the demon president at the school.
Her secret is blown open when the most popular guy in school, Usui Takumi, sees her at the maid café. She begs him to keep her secret, but a new journey is about to begin with the pair, something neither of them ever expected to happen. Opposites attract, and without a new romance, Misaki’s secret might be thrown out for the whole school to know.
Satisfy the young girl inside of you by making your way down this list of the best shoujo manga to read.
