Highlights
- Shojo anime doesn’t always focus on romance – some series explore platonic relationships, magical themes, and slice-of-life stories.
- Non-romantic shojo anime like
Children of the Whales
and
Laughing Under the Cloud
s prioritize survival, mystery, and family dynamics. - Even in shojo series with romantic subtexts like
Little Witch Academia
, creators prefer to focus on friendship and personal growth over romance.
One of the standout features of shojo anime is its focus on romance over action, unlike shonen. So much so that one would be surprised to find out there are quite a few shojo series out there that have no romance at all, or at the very least, feature it sparsely. The only requirement for an anime to be considered shojo is that it must be targeted at a young female audience; therefore, a romantic story is not a necessity.
Just like their shonen counterparts, many non-romance shojo anime choose to explore platonic relationships instead of romantic ones. A lot of magical girl series fall under this category, as do many feel-good, slice-of-life stories.
6 Children Of The Whales
MyAnimeList Score: 7.17
- Release Date: October 8, 2017
- Studio: J.C.Staff
- Japanese Title: Kujira no Kora wa Sajo ni Utau
- Creator: Abi Umeda
- No. of Episodes: 12
- Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Children of the Whales follows a small community called the Marked living on a floating island known as the Mud Whale. The Marked have incredible powers but are cursed with short lifespans. One day, an archivist named Chakuro discovers a mysterious girl named Lykos, and they embark on a journey to discover the Mud Whale’s secrets and the Marked.
Chakuro and Lykos’ relationship is more platonic than romantic, and they go their separate ways in the manga. Children of the Whales has broader themes of survival and mystery, with romance never being the main focus.
5 Sabagebu! – Survival Game Club!
MyAnimeList Score: 7.35
- Release Date: July 6, 2014
- Studio: Pierrot+
- Creator: Hidekichi Matsumoto
- No. of Episodes: 12
- Genre(s): Action, Comedy, School
The ‘Cute Girls Doing Cute Things’ genre is usually associated with the seinen demographic, but Sabagebu! – Survival Game Club! is unique in that it ran in a shojo magazine. It follows a girl named Momoka, who is unwittingly recruited into her school’s Survival Game Club, which turns out to just be mock battles with airsoft guns.
As is the norm for a CGDCT anime, the cast is majority female, and there is no romance to speak of. The focus is squarely on the hilarious antics of the Survival Game Club and their over-the-top airsoft battles, making this series more of an action comedy than anything else.
4 Laughing Under The Clouds
MyAnimeList Score: 7.48
- Release Date: October 3, 2014
- Studio: Doga Kobo
- Japanese Title: Donten ni Warau
- Creator: Karakara-Kemuri
- No. of Episodes: 12
- Genre(s): Drama, Historical, Supernatural
Laughing Under the Clouds is about three samurai brothers – Tenka, Soramaru, and Chuutarou Kumou – who are tasked with ferrying criminals to a secluded prison in the middle of a lake.
Set in the Meiji era, the series follows the Kumou brothers’ fight against a demon snake named Orochi, who reincarnates every 300 years, bringing chaos and destruction. There is great emphasis placed on family and the weight of duty, and romantic elements are extremely sparse.
3 School Babysitters
MyAnimeList Score: 7.90
School Babysitters follows a teenager named Ryuuichi Kashima, who loses both of his parents in a plane crash. Left alone with his little brother, the strict chairwoman of an elite academy agrees to take them in under one condition: Ryuuichi must help with the school’s daycare center.
This slice-of-life series is not totally devoid of romance, with many female students developing crushes on Ryuuichi and even being caught in a love triangle between two of them. Still, the primary focus is always on Ryuuichi and the toddlers he has to take care of, and the girls’ feelings have yet to be reciprocated.
2 Little Witch Academia
MyAnimeList Score: 7.81
Despite how popular fan shipping is among Little Witch Academia vieweres, the creators have come out and said none of it will be canon, preferring to focus on other themes like friendship, personal growth, and the wonder of magic. Even the plans for making Akko and Andrew a couple were scrapped.
While the show isn’t officially a romance, there’s definitely a lot of playful subtexts between characters like Akko, Andrew, and Diana, even if it doesn’t bloom into a full-fledged romance subplot. The creators have stuck to their word for now, while still keeping an open door for romance down the road.
1 Natsume’s Book Of Friends
MyAnimeList Score: 8.31
Natsume’s Book of Friends tells the story of Takashi Natsume, a boy who can see youkai, an ability he inherited from his grandmother, Reiko. Upon discovering Reiko’s Book of Friends, which contained the names of all the youkai she had bound to her servitude, Natsume decides to set them free from their contracts.
Creator Yuki Midorikawa has said that the series was born out of a desire to write a supernatural story without any romance. While there are subtle romantic moments between minor characters, they take a backseat to the anime’s themes of self-acceptance and the relationship between humans and youkai.
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