Since Dandadan’s anime premiere there’s been a lot of talk about how the series’ female characters and core romance work so well because whatever it was that Yukinobu Tatsu sent in first his editor was absolute crap. The editor then instructed Tatsu to read 100 shoujo (girls) manga and come back after he’d figured out how to write women. Tatsu then returns from his studies and proceeds to write one of the most popular manga to come out of the 2020s so far.
Exactly how much of that is true and the titles of said manga are both unknown, but Youtuber Colleen's Manga Recs came up with a list and a challenge. 100 essential shoujo manga ranging across multiple genres to get into reading ~Books For Girls~
Watching the video I noticed a ton of titles on the ever expanding “To Read” list, a few things I read (or maybe half read) waaaaaaaay back in the day and have little to no memory of, and a bunch of stuff that just seems cool. And I’ve been thinking, you know what? This actually sounds like a fun way to cut through my reading list and find some new recs at the same time! I’ll give everything my best shot, but if a story just turns into an absolute slog for me I’ll drop it. I’m no media writer guy, I’m just trying out a fun way to broaden my reading horizons. Depending on any given manga’s availability and my mood I might watch the anime adaptation instead.
Here’s the masterlist. I’ll be reading in no particular order. Whenever I finish a series I’ll write a lil something reflecting on my experience with it and update the list with a link to the relevant post.
Wish me luck!
- Please Save My Earth
- Ceres
- Sailor Moon
- Shugo Chara
- Cardcaptors
- Magical Girl Dandelion
- Magic Knight Rayearth
- Kamisama Kiss
- Fruits Basket
- Nina the Starry Bride
- Glass Mask
- Rose of Versailles
- Sword of Paros
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- Princess Knight
- Heart of Thomas
- Claudine
- From Eroica With Love
- New York New York
- Requiem of the Rose King
- Banana Fish
- Bloody Mary
- Kaze Hikaru
- Basara
- Girl Got Game
- Ouran High School Host Club
- Hana Kimi
- In the Clear Moonlit Dusk
- Red River
- Fushigi Yugi
- From Far Away
- Shinobi Life
- Crimson Hero
- Chihayafuru
- Aim for Ace
- Swan
- Let’s Do It Already
- Furare Girl
- Lovesick Ellie
- High School Debut
- Lovely Complex
- My Love Story
- Kimi ni Todoke
- Honey Lemon Soda
- Natsume's Book of Friends
- Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons
- Gakuen Babysitters
- Yona of the Dawn
- Snow White with the Red Hair
- Dawn of the Arcana
- Gakuen Alice
- Kodocha
- Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
- Boys Over Flowers
- Vampire Knight
- Black Bird
- 7 Seeds
- X/1999
- Library Wars
- Nana
- Arisa
- Limit
- Sand Chronicles
- My Girlfriend’s Child
- Mars
- Dengeki Daisy
- Tamon’s B-Side
- Mechanical Marie
- Patalliro
- My Love Mixup
- Skip Beat
- Not Your Idol
- Kageki Shoujo
- Usotoki Rhetoric
- Tales of the Tendo Family
- Ooku
- Angel Sanctuary
- Prince Freya
- Descendants of Darkness
- Bride of Deimos
- D N Angel
- Last Game
- Maid Sama
- Kare Kano
- Cursed Prince’s Servant
- In the Name of the Mermaid Princess
- King’s Beast
- Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom
- Colette Decides to Die
- Madame Petit
- Children of the Whales
- Tomie
- I See Your Face Turned Away
- Fall In Love You False Angels
- A Condition Called Love
- Queen’s Quality
- Musashi #9
- Petshop of Horrors
- Tokimeki Tonight
- Sukeban Deka
[Image ID: Manga panel of a man holding a large stack of books saying "You should also read shoujo manga every once in a while and develop some emotions. End ID.]