Highlights
- Shojo manga’s origins in early 20th-century magazines and influential works like Princess Knight.
- Key series like Fushigi Yuugi, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nana impacting shojo manga’s themes and genres.
- Pioneering works like The Heart of Thomas and The Rose of Versailles influencing BL and historical fiction in shojo manga.
Shojo manga has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the early 20th century. The inception of young girls’ magazines like ‘Shojo no Tomo’ in 1908 paved the way for modern shojo artists, writing serialized stories predominantly focusing on romance and female protagonists.
The genre really came into the forefront during the post-war era in the 50s, when legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka created a series called Princess Knight aimed at a female audience featuring a gender-bending protagonist. Since then, tons of series have popped up and left their own mark on the world of shojo manga.
10 Fushigi Yuugi
Popularized Reverse Harems and Introduced the ‘Isekai’ Concept to the Shojo World
- Release Date: May 1992
- Creator: Yuu Watase
- No. of Volumes: 18
It’s hard to find an isekai series that doesn’t feature any harems these days, and this seems to be the case no matter the target audience. For the shojo demographic in particular, though, the ever-popular reverse harem can be traced back to one series in particular: Yuu Watase’s Fushigi Yuugi.
It follows a girl named Miaka Yuuki who discovers a mysterious book about Ancient China in her school’s library. She gets transported into the book’s world when she starts reading, and gets involved in a world of political intrigue, romantic entanglements, and magical battles.
9 Cardcaptor Sakura
Quintessential Magical Girl Series, With the Main Character Hugely Influencing ‘Moe’ Characters
- Release Date: May 1996
- Creator: CLAMP
- No. of Volumes: 12
One would be hard-pressed to find a Best Magical Girl Series list that doesn’t have Cardcaptor Sakura on it somewhere. The manga and anime alike have been praised for its cuteness and wholesomeness, as well as its LGBTQ+ representation. The main character, Sakura Kinomoto, in particular, is one of the most iconic and recognizable characters in anime and manga history.
It’s been suggested that Sakura may have been one of the first ‘moe’ characters, a character who elicits feelings of protectiveness from the audience. It’s no wonder that Cardcaptor Sakura has inspired several lines of merchandise as well.
8 Nana
Had a Big Impact on Shojo and Josei Manga with its Realistic Portrayal of Adult Relationships
- Release Date: May 2000
- Creator: Ai Yazawa
- No. of Volumes: 21 (on hiatus)
While Nana is often mistaken for a josei series, it actually ran in the shojo magazine Cookie. The series follows two twenty-year-old women who become fast friends and deal with their hopes, dreams, and romantic struggles together. The manga is known for its emphasis on music, fashion, and urban youth culture.
Nana has influenced shojo and josei manga with its incredibly realistic and mature portrayal of romantic and platonic relationships. The manga has also inspired a 47-episode anime, two live-action films, and several tribute albums.
7 Fruits Basket
Pushed the Boundaries of What Shojo Manga Could Be, Exploring Themes Like Abuse and Mental Illness
- Release Date: July 1998
- Creator: Natsuki Takaya
- No. of Volumes: 23
Fruits Basket is one of the most important manga and anime series of all time, period. One of the reasons it’s attracted such a large fanbase is its masterful blend of typical shojo tropes like love rivalries, along with darker and more complex themes such as abuse, trauma, and family dysfunction, which has had a huge influence beyond just shojo.
Its influence on supernatural shojo manga can be seen in series like Vampire Knight and Kamisama Kiss. Fruits Basket has proven to be so enduring that it was finally adapted into a faithful and complete anime adaptation in 2019.
6 Boys Over Flowers
Laid Out the Blueprint for Modern Shojo Romances, Especially Reverse Harem Series
- Release Date: October 1992
- Creator: Yoko Kamio
- No. of Volumes: 37
- Japanese Title: Hana Yori Dango
Boys Over Flowers is the best-selling shojo manga of all time and has inspired several live-action adaptations from Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and South Korea. It follows a plucky girl from a middle-class family named Tsukushi Makino, who enrolls at an elite school for the wealthy and powerful.
Along with directly influencing modern classics in shojo manga like Ouran High School Host Club, Boys Over Flowers has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon in East Asia, and even inspired the name of a Taiwanese boy band.
5 Banana Fish
Hugely Influential in the Development of the Boys’ Love (BL) Genre
- Release Date: May 1985
- Creator: Akimi Yoshida
- No. of Volumes: 19
Banana Fish was a groundbreaking shojo series, blending elements of crime, mystery, action, and psychological thriller in a time when most shojo manga focused solely on melodramatic romance. And that’s to say nothing of the impact the manga has had on the Boys’ Love (BL) genre.
While Ash and Eiji’s relationship isn’t explicitly romantic, the subtext is undeniable. The impact of the dark and mature themes of the manga shifted BL manga from shojo-esque high school stories to more gritty, realistic romances with adult protagonists.
4 Sailor Moon
Laid the Groundwork for the Modern Magical Girl Genre, in Japan and Abroad
- Release Date: December 1991
- Creator: Naoko Takeuchi
- No. of Volumes: 18
The ways in which Sailor Moon has shaped the Magical Girl genre are too numerous to list. For starters, it popularized the idea of a team of magical girls fighting against the forces of evil, something which continues to be seen in Magical Girl series both within Japan and outside.
Sailor Moon‘s transformation sequences, catchphrases, and girl power themes have been parodied and referenced endlessly. Along with being a gateway series to many anime and manga fans, the manga continues to be adapted into various media to this day.
3 The Heart of Thomas
Pioneered the Boys’ Love Genre, With Several Shojo and BL Manga Artists Citing it As an Influence
- Release Date: 1974
- Creator: Moto Hagio
- No. of Volumes: 3
- Japanese Title: Tōma no Shinzō
The Heart of Thomas is one of the earliest examples of the shonen-ai/boys’ love genre, following the story of a German boarding school student named Juli, who is forced to confront his feelings of guilt after receiving a love letter from a classmate who’s just committed suicide.
The Heart of Thomas pioneered many of the visual conventions commonly found in shojo and BL manga. It has often been compared to German Bildungsroman literature due to its rich storytelling and character depth, and has been studied intently by manga scholars and academics.
2 Princess Knight
One of the First Shojo Manga, Pioneered the Magical Girl and Gender-Bender Genres
- Release Date: January 1953
- Creator: Osamu Tezuka
- No. of Volumes: 3
- Japanese Title: Ribon no Kishi
Created by the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka, Princess Knight is arguably the first shojo manga, since it features a female protagonist and is aimed at a female audience. It’s also revolutionary in that it features a Twelfth Night-esque plot, with its gender-bending protagonist, Sapphire.
Princess Knight is considered to be a prototype for the Magical Girl genre, focusing on a female protagonist who fights crime while wearing a Zorro mask. The manga’s influence can be seen in series like The Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
1 The Rose of Versailles
Mature and Realistic Historical Fiction That Led to Paradigm Shifts in Shojo Manga
- Release Date: April 1972
- Creator: Riyoko Ikeda
- No. of Volumes: 10
- Japanese Title: Versailles no Bara
The Rose of Versailles is one of the most iconic and influential works in manga history and continues to be beloved to this very day, as evidenced by a new anime film adaptation of the series slated for release in 2025. It marked a demographic shift in shojo manga, transitioning from a children’s genre to one that teenagers and adults can also enjoy.
The character of Oscar François de Jarjayes in particular has been extremely influential, inspiring other cross-dressing heroines like Utena Tenjou from Revolutionary Girl Utena. The manga’s exploration of gender roles and sexuality is also notable, especially considering the time it was written.
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