Debunking the Myth About Shoujo
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- There was so much love on my second video 'The Decline of Shoujo Anime' but also a lot of people saying "shoujo lacks variety". So let's discuss. Are all shoujo the same? Is there just no variety in shoujo? (hint: there is)
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Here's a list of all the Shoujo/Josei manga mentioned/highlighted in the video (Sorry I didn't get to divide it by magazine I was confused lol):
Skip Beat!
Yona of the Dawn
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
I won't Fall for him just because of his Face
Colette Decides to Die
Furare Girl
Kamisama Gokkou no Ochikobore
Koi ni Mudagachi
Tsuiraku JK to Haijin
Natsume's Book of Friends
Snow White and the Red Hair
Vampire Knight Memories
Prince Freya
Love and Heart
Mint Chocolate
Together Forever
Tendou-ke Monogatari
Shio no Machi
Ryuuou no Kagehime
Mimizuku and the King of Night
Gakuen Babysitters
Happy Candy Virus
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers
Idol Dreams
Kageki Shoujo
Himitsu: Top Secret
Yakumo Tatsu
Rhythm Nation
Apothecary Diaries
Library War
Tokyo Crazy Paradise
7 Seeds
Cat Street
Umi ga Hashiru Endroll
Called Game
Seirou Opera
Rainbow Days
Koi wo Shiranai Bokutachi wa
No Longer Heroine
You are Special
Tsubaki-cho Lonely Planet
Cheeky Brat
Lovesick Ellie
Honey Lemon Soda
Mystery to Iunakare
Hayaku Shitai Futari
Brutal: Satsujin Kansatsukan no Kokuhaku
Hatsu x Kon
Hajimete Koi o Shita hi ni Yomu Hanashi
Futari de Koi wo Suru Riyuu
Sakura, Saku
Mizutama Honey Boy
Meitantei Kouko wa Yuutsu
Henkyou No Drops
Aishi Girl
Studio Cabana
Adekan
Hakoniwa no Soleil
Nengara Nenbyaku Ansatsu Renka
Hot Road
Namidaame to Serenade
Miniamaru Kareshi
Thank you Colleen for the -year's worth- -lifetime's worth- abundant recommendations I can't wait to check them all out
Thank you for writing this all out!!
Thank you for creating my "to read" list for me. Just gonna write this down real quick...
tysm for compiling this!
I thought Apothecary Diaries is shonen/seinen......
Imagine saying that shoujo has no variety when we get like 9 isekais every season that are the same one way or another
I was literally about to comment that! I can think of at least two isekai anime with the VERY specific premise of "boy ends up in another world with a functioning smartphone and uses said smartphone to 'cheat' and gets a harem". insane that that's apparently alright and shounen is still good yet shoujo needs to be more diverse
@@crowk5287 don't forget the incest and pedophilia in them that they pass as legal in that country 💀
@@BurningRubber454 it's an emphasis, not literally, also there are more than 9 isekai mangas readily available each season. Don't believe then check it out yourself
@@BurningRubber454 Why do you keep replying to every comment 😭 Bro it's not that serious
@@BurningRubber454 my guy did you spend the entire day in my comments section or was my video just that good?
Even as a young adult man, the decline in shoujo series was VERY noticeable. You know what we call this double standard…”misogyny” 😔.
@@BurningRubber454 there are fuck ton of shojo that would never be animated and it sold millions because companies don't invest into those projects anymore, they don't believe into the female/fem demographic, the fact noragani which is josei senin and did good didn't get another season and mha did is because of marketing, the people above decide what sells and what doesn't, the people who publish are mostly males and they cater to their categories more. It's because shoujo is just unlucky because of misogyny.
@@joshs7160 do you not see the hate shoujo gets? A lot of things that young girls or women tend to enjoy are ridiculed. Even I was embarrassed at one point to be reading solely shoujo manga because most men (yes I know not all) don't take it seriously at all. It's not even just shoujo, a lot of things girls like get hated on by the masses (including other women) Internalized misogyny is a real problem that I also suffered from during middle school when it was cool to be a tomboy and looked down upon to be overly "girly"
@@bonitoflakes4825
Oh, I thought it was the time how some guys get bullied out of shojou communities. Yeah that happens, a lot of female fans hate guys getting into it. It’s weird.
I just read the korean shoujo webtoons. Very romance specific and formulaic, but it's a vibe.
@@bhavya5692 i know this reply very late but noragami is shounen and also what does josei seinen even mean.
There was recently a Twitter debate about Cartoon Network cancelling shows with majority female audiences. I’m wondering if the same thought process (catering to the male audience by making the assumption that girls will watch “shows for boys,” but boys won’t watch “shows for girls,” or that apparently “girls grow out of animation”) is applying to English publishers of manga/anime dubs. Would love to start a petition to show the English publishers that there’s a demand for more shoujo and josei! Please keep the videos coming!!!
i think its that.. they don't think the demand for Shojo content is high. If the fans can prove them otherwise then they will publish them more in english. But shojo fans need to voice their demands like shonen fans do.
This is exactly right because men will never watch “shows for girls” (even though that’s not fully true) but girls will watch shows for boys. At the end of most things usually is that pesky patriarchy 🙃
Ghostboy4544 dang well if you say I had best to believe you random UA-cam commenter over my 4 year university degree 😂
Ghostboy4544 let’s hear about your scholarly achievements before you think you can degrade an entire degree like did you do 4 years of gender studies? How do you know it’s useless 😂 did a random neck beard on UA-cam tell you to think that? Y I K E S. I hate to be the one to tell you… but opinions formed in the abyss of internet scholars have even least merit than anything 😂😂😂 go outside and just smack some rocks together and be happy
Ghostboy4544 so as someone who knows more about computers / coding ask yourself am I an expert on every single subject? No you’re really not. So how about you stay in your damn lane instead of making grandiose statements about things you clearly know nothing about. It’s really ok to say hey I’m really out of my depth here. The only reason you don’t think the patriarchy exists is because it’s a scary word that someone told you is a scheme that feminists use to degrade men. Let me tell you that it’s not it at all lol. And also the patriarchy hurts men just as much as it hurts women (since you clearly only care about the men side of things funny why that is). For example the idea that men have to be strong and any sign of weakness is an inherent flaw leads to a lot of men bottling up emotions which leads to higher suicide rates for men. Men are also considered to be completely disposable soldiers when the government deems them necessary and then are even indoctrinated to think it’s an honour to die for their country. Men are literally dying because of the patriarchy. But it’s much easier to ignorantly argue regurgitating arguments from your favourite UA-cam neckbeard scholars than try to understand anything outside of your narrow world view… I get it. Because you didn’t choose to be born a man and therefore the way the world is isn’t your fault. And even more so the problems that you personally don’t experience must not exist at all. Maybe try and have a smidgen of empathy and understanding 🚶♀️
I think I actually brought this up on twitter at some point, but it wasn't until I started occasionally buying digital copies of Hane to Yume a few years ago that I realized the complete discrepancy between demographics when it comes to what gets officially translated and published (digitally or physically). I could walk over to Kinokuniya, purchase and open a random copy of Shonen Jump in JPN (doesn't even have to be completely current) and recognize 80% of the titles. Including plenty I've never read. Couldn't say the same for most major shoujo magazines. Even now, though I am a lot more familiar with shoujo titles in general than I was years ago, it's never going to be the same level just based on availability and exposure alone.
I can't even really blame a lot of anime fans especially for not knowing how diverse the demographic is. But usually when *I'm* not SUPER familiar with a topic/hobby/etc... I at least don't go around "well actually-ing" others assuming my preconceived notions are facts. But hey maybe that's just me haha
No exactly this!! I purchase Margaret and Betsucomi magazines every now and then since they're always at Kinokuniya and I don't recognize MOST of the titles. I will even recognize artstyles sometimes and be like "oh it's x mangaka, didn't know they had a new series out". It's really just so sad how little we see of shoujo.
I bought some Flowers magazines back in 2017/18 in order to follow Fushigi Yugi Byakko Senki and except for kaze hikaru and 7 Seeds, I didn't recognize anything else.
@@BurningRubber454 ?? Interestingly u only bring up female demographics 🤡👏
Can u pls take a closer look at male demographics my dude?
@@BurningRubber454 I could use this argument for shounen jump females but I am smart and not going to generalize. Thanks
@@BurningRubber454 oh alright I’ll bite buddy. What shoujo male character hurt you like this, who was so unforgivably offensive that you consigned the entire demographic to your eternal scorn. Give me some titles, I wanna have a look
Your channel is a breath of fresh air. Finally, the shoujo connoisseur we deserve
exactly! It's nice to see someone so openly like shojo. bc even when I had friends who liked anime/manga, they mostly liked shonen even if they were girls.
Facts 💯
Needed!
"There's no variety in shoujo"
Meanwhile, the generic-shonen-isekai anime release schedule:
I think part of the problem with the perception of Shojo mangas in the west is the tendency to "mislabel" Shojo titles as seinen. I don't know if it is as prevalent in the US but in France it happens all the time with series like Requiem of the rose king, Banana Fish, and Children of the whales all being in a "seinen" collection.
Thank you for the video!
There are some seinen titles here that get confused as a shoujo like Skip and Loafer or Apothecary Diaries but less often the other way around.
It also happens in Italy. When they started a collection about Moto Hagio's manga,they labeled them under the seinen target as if she isn't one of the most important shojo mangaka ever
Huh, now that you mention it. I did pick Requiem of a Rose king in a Shonen section of the store.
I just saw pretty art and blood and thought, nice! The usual shojo titles were in a different self.
Although mislabeling is very common in Spain, it doesn’t just happen with shojo.
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Shoujo Anime Adaptation Line Up Report!
- Tokyo Mew Mew New~❤ (July 2022)
- Bibliophile Princess (October 2022)
- I'm the Vililianess So I'm Taming the Last Boss! (October 2022)
- Kokyuu no Kurasu (October 2022)
- Play It Cool, Guys! (October 2022)
- Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (2023)
- Collar x Malice (TVA)
- My Happy Marriage (TBA)
- The Story of a Girl Who Failed to Become a Mage (TBA)
- Sugar Apple Fairy Tale (TBA)
I would sell my organs for it to be Yona’s turn in the future 😩
But excited for my childhood show Tokyo mew mew(also known as mew mew power) to be rebooted.
OMG SUGAR APPLE FAIRYTALE IS GETTING AN ANIME!! I was so happy the reboot manga version was available in the west since it's the only whiff of the series we got, but now I find out there's an anime coming! This news just made my day! Thank you!
I’d like to add that The Saint’s Magic Power os Omnipotent will get a 2nd season!
I think another avenue that doesn’t get talked about when it comes to this topic is that Manwha’s and webcomics on sites like Webtoons and Tapas are FLOODED with series reminiscent of many Shojo series. And these are VERY popular on the site with some even getting animated adaptations (Lore Olympus) and live drama series (Cheese in the Trap)
Yet for some reason companies like Viz seem to believe that series targeted at the Shojo and Josei demographic aren’t worth putting on their read-on-demand platforms. When there is a clear example of profit and popularity from these other sites.
Great video as always! Colleen made me realize so many new things about Shojo manga and anime adaptations!
Thank you for making this point. I had been thinking about Manhwas, Webcomics and K-Dramas for a long time and wondered how they fit into this. You or Colleen should make a video about it! So many kdramas are adapted from manhwas that extremely familiar to any shoujo reader (Business Proposal as just one example).
Yes this is what I was saying my comment as well! Also love your content too queen!🫶🏾
Here to remind people to diversify their shoujo reading. If you like a mangaka's work enough to buy physicals in another language and are able to support them financially, then please do buy their manga. We salute you for your work, Chihayafuru Colleen. 🙌😌
no thank YOU, Wotakoi Laura!
Exactly 💯
Just gonna say I’m so happy I found your channel, having someone talk about shoujo, it’s history and respects the demographic and shows passion for it. I’m so happy as a shoujo fan myself that there is someone making content for fans like us that doesn’t talk down to us. There is so much diversity in the demographic and I’m so sad people just ignore that and downplay it to push their agenda or mysogonistic dude bro takes.
THIS! I eat this channel up!❤️
I’m glad we finally have someone representing the ladies and calling out the industry. I’m so tired of the shonen and isekai mill that endlessly churns out identical material, only for them to get mad when we ask for a few more shoujo.
Babe wake up Colleen’s Manga Recs posted
🤣🤣🤣
So I don't know if there is a connection but I find it interesting that in the midst of this shoujo drought 1) Webtoons are becoming insanely popular and have a huge female demographic and 2) more and more otome games are getting localized and released in the west. These two trends make me feel a bit hopeful that publishers will realize there is a huge untapped market of people who would love to read shoujo works and are willing to pay for them. Viz needs to wake up!
Here before the angry shounen stans who comment before even watching the video
Maybe not shounen fans in general, but people who hate it when media is aimed at women/girls or believe that ,,girly'' things are inferior.
It's rare to find a youtuber as well informed as you when it comes to the anime/manga industry especially shoujo and shoujo manga. I hope you'll be here for a long time, because i'm definitely here to support you!
Also most of people think that shoujo is a genre and not a demographic which is what creates the misunderstanding that only highschool romance can be categorized as shoujo. I even had to fight with somebody thinking Chihayafuru is a shoujo because highschool romance when it's actually a josei... It's tiring to try to explain.
Thank you!! I promise I'm not THAT well informed though I just enjoy doing research on topics. I want to keep learning about this industry as I go 🙌
Tbvh as an active Shojo reader I always thought of it is a genre which has it all and used to have a lot of variety, psychological, horror, fantasy, slice of life, action etc- the full package. It'd be great if more non High School shojos would get Animes or released so ppl realise that anything can be Shojo
"Has to resort to other means" I admit I was waiting with bated breath for a Captain Jack Sparrow impression or a One Piece reference. 🤣 For shoujo fans, the world has truly entered a great pirate era 🏴☠️
I like to be vague 🤭
I mean shoujo fans are highly skilled pirates at this point lol 😂.
Queen Colleen telling it how it is!! Long may she reign!! When will US publishers learn that there's a real desire to buy and display shoujo manga? It's not even just women and girls, as I was introduced to most titles by guys who want to buy more too!
I didn't know English speaking manga readers have such bad access to shojo media. I am very lucky to be able to read german and support authors that way, but boy oh boy shojo fans devinitly don't have it easy
Yes I've seen Germany and France having physical releases for all my faves! I'm happy for yall but I'm just watching like 🥲
@@ColleensMangaRecs it's weird because US also have shojo that are not available in France like The Water Dragon's bride, Poe no Ichizoku or From far away (though it's not printed anymore) XD
This!! If it wouldn`t murder my bank account I would probably go crazy on the shoujo releases we get here in germany (like collette etc.) but I have to reign myself in
It's harder for the English speaking population outside America too. Like I'm Indian and we do have a considerate amount of population that will be interested in buying mangas but we don't have a store like B&N in India. I almost purchase all of my mangas from Amazon and it mostly only has seinen and shonen. Shoujo is sprinkled here and there but josei is straight up ignored. :(
@@pandax9949 the water dragons bride is also avalaible in germany
We definitely need all these in English, I was also disappointed in the Viz announcements was only interested in three of them, the new shoujo, the juni Ito collection, and boys abyss.
I think I mostly was just happy for the Haikyu art book lol
Oh and the Insomniacs After School because I've heard it's very good
@@ColleensMangaRecs - i read a few chapters of it a while ago, yeah it's pretty chill so i can see the hype
Honestly, before watching your videos, I didn't noticed how little shoujo I have been consuming these past few years. I think the last grand series that left an impression on me was "Kamisama Hajimemashita", and I just started reading the manga because of the anime. I have read some shoujo here and there, but that's it.
Recently, because of a online test called "What shoujo you should read next", I came across a manga called "From Far Away" or "Kanata Kara", and legit, 1 chapter has my body and soul completely. I didn't noticed how much I missed reading a shoujo story, and the story is good 😭 (says while just finishing the 1rst volume)
Seeing this video reminds me that I probably should stop being lazy and take japanese classes to: 1) Play Otome Games and 2) Read Shoujo, because wait for official (or other means) translation is though 🥲
But honestly, what I hate the most in this video is the condescending tone these people leave at your videos. I don't go around claiming knowing everything about sports, but some guys do love their unsolicited "professional shoujo" opinion while actively hating the demography 🙄🙄🙄
My friend made that quiz actually and it's so accurate!! I ended up getting Kids on the Slope which I've only seen the anime for an absolutely love. I'm checking out the Embalmer next because of it though.
Oh my god I LOVE Kanata Kara, I reread it almost every year. Hardly anyone talks about it so I'm glad it's got one more fan! Izark and Noriko are the best.
Hello, do you guys have a link to that quizz? I would love to try it out.
You're in for a treat, I personally absolutely love Kanata Kara
The pain and agony I felt through this video, especially at the end when I could tell how much you were getting torn up, was so much 😭 Everything you said is exactly what I've felt, especially in these past 5-7 years.
I've been collecting shoujo (and manga in general) since i was 10 years old. That was 15 years ago! But the older I get, the less series coming out in English that interest me. When I was a teen, some of my fav shoujo series were:
1. about a girl with throat cancer who's dream of becoming a singer to reach her loved one is helped by the gods of death who will take her soul in 1 year
2. An alternate future japan where libraries created a militarized task force to fight against government censorship after nearly 50 people died during a library censorship raid
3. An action horror-romance about a girl whos the only hope of someone possessed by a demon bent on revenge who used his body to kill all blood descendants of a priestess from centuries ago
4. An epic adventure quest about a girl who takes her brother's place as the Child of Destiny, who will take down the ruling kings and save Japan, after her brother is killed by the Red King. She starts a revolution fostered by her sense of revenge against him
(If you know all of these, hi!! Let's chat on another platform sometime haha)
I've also been a massive Yumi Tamura (7 Seeds, Mystery to Iunakare for those who dont recognize her name) for over a decade. It hurts so much seeing the English manga industry practically SHUN her amazing, well-selling, award-winning works! And all we have for 7 Seeds is a GOD AWFUL Netflix anime adaptation!!
There are some shoujo series I love coming out now, like Yona and Skip Beat, but these series are past vol 30, so they've been coming out for YEARS. I'm Still collecting them, but I want more variety in brand new titles, as well! It's just very disheartening to see because the shoujosei community is so passionate about what they love. We all want to see these demographics flourish, but it feels as if we never have a single chance anymore even now that the manga industry has exploded english! :( it's doing better than it ever has beforer! But we get even Less shoujosei it feels like....
Anyway, beautiful and wonderful video! Thank you so much for making these 💓💓 your passion rings true.
What's the title corresponding to number 3 ?
@@pandax9949 Night of the Beasts!
@@MangaMuse Thanks ! I'll check it out
The first one's full moon isn't it lol
@@SamantaP yep! Read it at 12 and was obsessed lol
It was about time we got a shojo anituber :)
Thank you for giving many of our frustrations a voice! Being what I consider a decently avid shoujo reader for the last 7 years, I'm still surprised by how many titles I just haven't heard of despite keeping up with titles that go under the localization radar. I appreciate your efforts to compile these works and bringing our attention to them (though lowkey sad because we'll likely stare longingly as the majority continue to go without any English translations). At times like these, I'm also quite thankful to all the groups that provide us with "other means" to read these manga.
Slightly unrelated but have you considered creating a discord community for your channel and other shoujo lovers? I would join in a heartbeat.
I do have a discord! It's linked in my beacons!
@@ColleensMangaRecs Oh my gosh, I definitely missed that link during my search. Thank you, I’ve joined! 😊
@@ColleensMangaRecs black shojo lover here!!! The only reason most other anime fans don't get shojo is because they say how predictable bland and cliche it is. Boy girl love isn't liked anymore in today's society don't understand or know why. I think because everyone thinks they're owned a piece of the pie for whatever reason.
what I don't understand with that Statement is, even if there wasn't so much variety in shoujo, it is not like shounen characters and there plot is super divers we often have our classical harem dude in a slice of life comedy anime, our standart underdog who fights his way to the top with a not very thoughtout female companion and the brooding bestfriend and not to forget all the isekai protagonists. I mean at best you get every 5-10 years an shounen with a more original charakters and plot. but that doesn't mean I don't like to watch a good fight and enjoy a shounen.
And as a side note, everytime you drop the name of a shoujo I am here and scribbling the name down✍️
I often find that they see a shoujo and only call them romance despite the main genre being something else. While for shonen they often take the romance out of the equation even if it's a romance series. I know many Komi fans refuse to call it a romcom and will just say it's a comedy or SoL series.
@@ColleensMangaRecs Yes, you are right! that never occurred to me that they really put the romance out of the romcom. 🤨
That Smosh "SHUT UP" sound effect seriously brought back some memories. That's such a dead giveaway of someone being from the same generation! lol
Glad to see another person out there venting the frustrations I've felt for YEARS. I love reading manga and going to cons, but it's so hard being a fan when you like female targeted media. It gets zero love and is constantly looked down on.
Even though shoujo has been loosing the love recently at least the gaming industry has been recognizing otome games more. It's still very niche and half the time the translations are bad, and they have to release patches to update it, but at least more and more games are coming out and fans can have hope to see popular recently released titles. And if Even if Tempest does well we might see more simultaneous English/Japanese releases. So there's some hope for some fans out there.
YES! Thank you for mentioning Otome games. I've been enjoying them so much since last year and the amount of fall releases we are getting is CRAZY. I'm going feral waiting for Piofiore 1926 😭
@@LovelyLunarian Right?! So many games coming out recently. The market is still super niche but there are so many more games compared to when I first started getting into them back in the 2010s. They're even starting to release some joseimuke games in the west.
I heard many good things about Piofiore but I'm still on the fence for buying it . The art is beautiful and I really want it for that, but the LI's are really not my type. I prefer a softboy to a dom.
@@LovelyLunarian SAME I FEEL U
Great work as always! I completely felt your frustration in the end- it sucks that shoujo gets slighted so often. We gotta hang in there and keep pushing back- you’re making waves with these videos in the Shoujosei world! 🫶
Thank you so much!!
I swear during the 2000s manga bubble so much shojo was being translated and were very popular. Furuba, Ouran, and Vampire Knight even topped the best sellers lists. What happened?
The level of knowledge and love you have for shojo is so refreshing! I've only recently gotten into to genre but the fact that something like rose of versailles only recently got translated and is such an influential manga baffles me. Here's to more shojo hopefully getting released in English!
Josei being briefly mentioned here makes me curious if you'll cover that demographic one day, since it may get even less attention and respect than Shoujo does, at least in the West
Zoo Wee Mama what a good video!
Dude bros are my least favorite thing about manga communities, as someone whos read more Shonen than Shojousei I've been trying hard to diversify myself because I'll be damned if I'm associated with people who will just straight up ignore works of art just because of the /demographic/ they're targeted at. Again, great vid as always!
Thank you so much!! Anyone who gives things a shot and respect others tastes is okay in my book 🥰
Since I don't generally read digital, I didn't even realize there wasn't an app for Shoujo Beat. How is that even remotely fair?? I can't see it costing them that much more to mix shoujo titles into the app alongside Shounen at the very least. It could even bring more attention to the series? Man, it's wild how huge a difference there is between how many Shounen series get English releases vs Shoujo and Josei. And even when we do get them, way too many are stuck in the "digital only" pile, like you mentioned. I 100% feel your frustration. The unfortunate thing about it all is that... even if everyone complained, it still wouldn't do us much good. People have asked for certain digital series to get print releases and are constantly ignored-- though given your hard work trying to get Chihayafuru a print release you're well aware of that =( If they can't do even that much, I don't imagine they'll willingly look into new titles being asked for.
Just recently there was an ad for a series called "Ice Guy and the Cool Female Colleague" and I thought "oh, neat. That looks like a cute, fluffy, wholesome adult romcom (because c'mon, who doesn't like one of those every so often?). Looked up reviews that said that was, indeed, the series in a nut shell and that there was recently an official English release. All too optimistic me checked into it and-- digital only. Another one to throw into the pile of broken dreams.
I am actually super excited that Rainbow Days is finally getting an English release because I watched the anime with my friends and we enjoyed it. Even Snow White with the Red Hair took forever to get a release after the anime even though it was so popular.
Ah-- so many series that sound interesting and they're not even being given a chance just because of the demographic. Honestly, it even feels like there's more ah-- smut-focused series being released now compared to Shoujo and non-smut Josei.
Thank you so much for pushing for the shoujo-reading community!! Truthfully, your last video is what got me back into manga and I'm SO happy to be back.
Her videos are what got me back into reading shoujo manga and QQ Sweeper has been an amazing read. Excited to read Queen’s Quality. I hope she recommends more that is like that manga.
It was nice to see the manga Brutal on the list as I actually have an interest in reading that too, so I have favorited it on bookwalker. It’s a josei manga and I want to find more josei too besides shoujo.
Read the first chapter of Brutal and while it's incredibly interesting, I had to put it down because I am very squeamish when it comes to excessive gore. Might try it again when it's not nighttime though lmao
@@ColleensMangaRecs I’m the same way as well, but the summary of the story sounds so interesting though so I’m never tempted into reading it.
YES! Say it louder for the naysayers in the back! Honestly it's so tiring how even in places that should be a safe space to talk about and enjoy shoujo (like this channel and communities on socials, like Reddit), we still have to defend our favorite demographic and genres (it's especially insane how much hate romance gets in every medium). And even if we shove so much proof in their faces, they'll still deny what we say.
I'm 100% with you on how upsetting and disheartening it is to have so many interesting shoujosei series that we have zero access to in English, even if they're dominating in Japan. Luckily we do have fan translators helping us out, but they can only offer so much.
This was a fantastic video, and I hope you get even more love and subs. 💜💜💜
Imagining the Josei version of this video that is even more dire
I’ve loved shoujo manga and anime for a long time! Yona is my favorite manga and I’ve been ranting about how it’s amazing to anyone who listens. I appreciate you’re videos because I feel like you’re talking about all the things I’ve been feeling for years. Shoujo doesn’t get the respect it deserves, so I’m very grateful for your videos.
YES! I AM A YONA SUPREMACIST! The amount of character growth for Yona in this series as well as story development is insane. I've even convinced my friend to read it and she loves it too. I really hope it gets a second season one day so more people will get interested and it has too much great material to not have a continuation 😭
Thank you for being a voice for the shoujo community. This topic is so relatable. The amount of times I have explained to my peers and friends that shoujo isn't just high school fluffy romance is too many to count. I have grown up reading shoujo manga and although shounen mangas and animes were more accessible, shounen just couldn't keep my attention compared to shoujo. Nowadays when people ask if I watch anime, I tell them that I rarely watch anime and mostly read manga cause of the lack of shoujo anime series. I recently had a whole discussion with a friend about the variety of shoujo mangas. Some of my favorites are Honey Lemon Soda, Red River, Keishichou Tokuhanka 007, Something's Wrong With Us (a josei but still amazing), My Blissful Marriage, and Phantom Thief Jeanne. All shoujos but all very different.
Viz's treatment of shoujo/josei infuriates me. One of my favourite series, Kaze Hikaru gets 1 volume translated a year. I started reading it back in middle school and 8 years/volumes later we're still 18 YEARS away from completing the series 🙃 They've taken so long I literally learned Japanese and I don't even need the translation anymore, but it's the blatant disrespect that gets me. /RANT
I am not the target demographic for Shoujo, but I remember watching Yona of the Dawn from back in the day and thinking it was fire. Gonna check out most of the stuff you recommended. Appreciate you taking the time to spread more awareness for these stories!
Yona is wonderful and the manga continues to be with each volume. I'm also really impressed by qq sweeper and it's sequel,queens quality right now.
Honestly, thank you for speaking up for Shoujo! The only way we can possibly change things and get more titles is to speak up about it and make more people aware of it. People have been talking about this for years, it’s not a new topic or even a new issue. Why people would have an issue with you doing that as a fan that loves and cares about something is beyond me. You never bashed men or any other manga demographic in defense of Shoujo which proves that its all purely projection from those people. All people have to do is be honest and say they don’t care or they aren’t interested. That’s fine. I would respect that more than people creating false narratives and saying things that aren’t true. How are you going to try to counter someone’s argument and you don’t even bother to listen to their argument lol. It proves that they are uniformed and they don’t care about the issue. That’s fine if you don’t care but don’t try to speak over us and shut us down as fans when you’re clearly not a fan of Shoujo.
I’ve enjoyed your videos so much and you’ve brought my attention to so many series out there that I wasn’t even aware of. You made a great point about accessibility. I have the Shonen Jump app and its very accessible as well as affordable. I wish we had something like that for Shoujo. I want more series like Something’s Wrong With Us. I love darker, psychological thrillers as well as fantasy adventures like Yona.
Keep doing what you’re doing, we got your back 😤. Shoujo fans will NOT be silenced! Let us fans who actually care and support speak!
I just wanted to thank you. You managed to spark my love for manga after a decade I let them go because of lack of series. My first language is Italian and the number of published manga (not only shoujo) is really limited. Now that I know English I can at least purchase the stuff you guys translate. I'm currently learning French and I've noticed that quite some manga are translated, I hope I'll find some of the title you have talked about.
I hate that the industries all around the world just ignore the work of women made for other women (this happen also for books, film etc.). We are treated like second class audience.
It makes no sense on an economic ground. If something sells why you should give up on profits? I'll never understand it
Omg. Library wars.... Haven't heard that name in YEARS! I used to be such a big Shoujo fan when I was a teen, and I now have moved on to a lot of Josei works but... I'm gonna need to reread that! I love the Shoujo mini-revival you've shoved me into. I really love your discussion and knowledge of the genre and the discussions of the industry in addition to the stories themselves!
I just checked out the first volumes of it from my local library a few months ago... a bit weird that it doesn't get talked about more, seems like the kind of series more manga fans would like!
I don't read manga (I like colored pages😞 so I mainly read webtoons) but I am a fan of past shoujosei animes. I love your channel and how you are speaking straight facts about shoujosei! Us women/girls don't even get the bare minimum
THIS IS UNREALTED : many MANGATUBERS here on youtube mostly cover ONE PIECE and that annoys me because although OP is popular and all.. sometimes i prefer other series which are fantastic but hardly anyone in mangatube coves it
In similar sense i can understand to some extent how Shojo fans feel but its worse for them as they cannot even read most of the series in english. I think they should atleast give shojo an online platform where english translated shojo mangas are available.
Recommending yona to everyone i meet is my life long mission
SAME
One of my fav shoujo mangas is Ludwig Kakumei, it's a fantasy horror romance comedy, the main character Ludwig is a selfish egotistical prince trying to find a bride (preferably voluptuous) and encountering many twisted fairytales along the way. It's so much fun to read, though forewarning it's a very very dark comedy, especially the first chapter with Snow White.
So shoujo has a lot more to it than just high school romance. Kind of sad that it's so hard for me to finish a lot of them just cause I can't find them fully translated anywhere.
This right here, I keep asking for this to be published in English. This was the first Kaori Yuki series I read which got me into her work. I adore it and we have plenty of the managakas work but why not this one? -.-
I'm so glad that I found a channel that talks about shoujo manga I wish we can get more books published in english when I went to the bookstore the other day there was almost no shojo titles only a few like fruitsbasket, the king's beast,idol dreams and the rest was all Shonen and Seinen
“Shojo doesn’t have variety” when most the popular shonen manga/anime boils down to battle series.
Its genuinely enjoyable to read Ooku as a man and I am glad its getting the recognition it deserves , great video :)
I actually screamed when I saw Himitsu: Top Secret mentioned haha. It’s one of my favorite mangas of all time and I wish that it would get the credit that it deserves from where I’m from. The story is so compelling and deals with topics I don’t see too often in other works. I’m glad you’re putting shoujo in such a good light and recommending mangas that many people don’t know about ❤️
Im about to start reading Himitsu but I noticed it has an anime -- any opinion on the anime, or should I just read the manga?
@@lemon299 Go for the manga imo, the art is superb
@@kaixiaxia yeah the anime really tones down the beauty of the manga's art, so i was definitely leaning towards reading the manga. Thanks!
I’m never much to watch anime or manga UA-camrs in this way but I realized that I get thrilled everytime you upload…. much like missing shoujo we’ve been missing shoujo focused creators 😥
It’s lovely to hear from you and hear about all the shoujo I’ve been missing out on.
Proud to be a houjo! 😤🙌🏼
Completely agree. Most anime and manga UA-camrs are garbage.
This is only the 2nd manga/anime channel I ever followed.
IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME YALL READ QUALITY SHOUJO FR FR!!!!!!!
also i dont know if this will reach you but i'm really curious about your stand in fan translation stuffs. personally they are my gateway to found new shoujo and getting easier access to the industry and i know i'm not the only one. and tbh it kinda stems from the pent up frustration of no content that the official release supported (which shouldn't have been the case UGH).
hopefully we will get more content and easier access to FEED US
I'm a person of "other means" because how else can I read ANYTHING shoujosei related. If a series is in physicals I pick it up when I can but even then reprints are so few and far between for older shoujo series that you basically have to use other means or wait for years just for one volume.
I support when I can but publishers don't make it that easy 🤷♀️
The longer this video went on the stronger my need to weep with you grew. We're being robbed, so many stories just out of our reach. Its like Shoujo fans are LIVING the premise of Library Wars.
I would pay money in a heartbeat for an app that gathered all these for me; as an older fan with a family to look after, I don't have the time/energy anymore to go searching for translations. I been buying manga back when Tokyopop still had the ChixMix labels and never gave up but...have definitely had to slow down because of the usual pesky adult things like bills and grocery budgets.
The money might not be in shoujo initially, but its because the western companies have been so dumb about marketing - they're years behind the lessons that the Western romance genre and Young Adult book markets have discovered - you give women what we want, we will spend ob$cene amounts to satisfy our thirst. This also applies to the spicier content, that market is ever growing in the book/digital industry. So along with titles like Fire in His Fingertips, I certainly hope Seven Seas Ghost Ship imprint will eventually bring over some of Yuki Yoshihara and Tomu Ohmi spicer stuff.
On a happier note, I am living for all the classic titles posing up in the comments, its just such a joyful things to see so many people who also love and recognize great stories like Kanata Kara, Basara, CAT STREET, omg. There's loads of older obscure titles from long dead english imprints that deserve a second life in digital format!
Seven Seas actually IS bringing over the spicy series for women under a new imprint called Steam Ship!! They just licensed Ladies On Top and Game: Between the Suits which are both great spice. It sucks because I'm not happy with 7S right now due to them not approving the workers union but they do have those to look out for.
Yes, all shoujo manga are the same. In fact, Tomie, Cowboy Bebop, Children of the Whales, and Revolutionary Girl Utena are ALL iterations of the same story... and honestly if you squint hard enough to the point where you shut your eyes, they look exactly the same! All jokes aside, I won't deny that a big portion of shoujo manga has romance in one way shape or form, but this doesn't make them inherently bad or exactly the same from one another. If I had to guess, the idea behind "all shoujo is the same" is because here in the west there's this 'misconception' (to put it nicely) that girly/feminine = BAD/not fun or entertaining. To prove a point, I just went down this rabbit hole trying to verify MAL's information on Cowboy Bebop being published in a shoujo magazine and oh boy... every single comment on every single forum cannot fathom the idea that their action-packed space-western was published in a shoujo magazine 🥴Regardless of whether Cowboy Bebop was intended as a shoujo or not, the disdain people show towards it being a possibility is just gross.
Disclaimer: The information I got about the titles I mentioned being shoujo come from MAL, so if I'm wrong feel free to correct me.
Disclaimer 2: The forums I found on the debate of CB being published in a shoujo magazine are very old and may not fully represent the ideology of society today, but many of those sentiments against shoujo still exist (proven by the comments Colleen posted at the beginning of the video)
PS. Thanks for another great and informative video Colleen! As always, I really love the little skits and memes you've been adding! Meme Queen Colleen! 💅
This is another great video from you! Thank you and keep making more!
I was always more of a Shounen girl than a Shoujo girl since I’ve been exposed to more Shounen animanga when I was younger, so I was kind of pushed to enjoy Shounen, hence, resulting to me consuming more of it and loving it. My first Shoujo was the anime of Sailor Moon, Princess Jellyfish, and OG Fruits Basket, which I grew to love! I was even more surprised when I had male friends who loved these same shows since I was a close-minded kid who thought boys think romance and sparkly magic and female-centered stories are disgusting lol. It’s honestly quite refreshing to know that a lot of men are anticipating more Shoujos and a lot of Shoujo creators are men as well.
It’s funny to me how Shounen fans also complain about the lack of good female representation and characer writing in Shounen, yet refuse to check out Shoujosei (that offers many good male and female casts) because “it’s too girly” and “it’s just about romance” and “it feeds to the female fantasy” and “it’s written by women, of course it has good female characters” like... what more suggestions do you want us to give? Lucky them for having popular series like FMA:B, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen for having great female rep, yet they still complain about how there’s not enough fanservice in these Shounen lol.
Come to think of it, Shoujo-esque series that are not Shoujo, if labeled as Shoujo, such as Inuyasha, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Magi, and Toilet Bound Hanako-kun, would actually push Shoujo’s popularity and help others recognize how anti-monolith it actually is. This is how I view it personally.
In addition, I don’t think it’s a matter of diversity, I think most of these people just don’t want to accept that they don’t want young girls to have their own spaces in the animanga industry or they simply don’t want to consume Shoujo even if it’s good and that’s okay! It’s okay to not like Shoujo. Whether it’s out of preference, double standard, misogyny, favoritism, or elitism, you do you. But I hope they do a bit more exploring like Colleen does instead of going around with skewed arguments about Shoujo’s decline. We can all agree to disagree, it just aches me to be a Shoujo fan with limited access to Shoujo. It hurts seeing Shoujo creators and their works not given right and equal treatment compared to other target demographics, yet certain people will resort to “it’s not diverse enough” “the industry doesn’t care about little girls, you don’t matter” “Shoujo is lame” when in reality, a lot of us are craving. We just aren’t as loud and demanding since we understand why it is the way it is now.
I hope the industry recognizes this fault and grow. I hope that when it does, Shoujo and maybe Josei will be at their peaks, even if not as high up as Shounen and Seinen. I mean, Shoujosei manhwas and webtoons are big in the international scene. We get successful Kdramas after Kdramas based on these stories. Shoujo animanga can do it, too!
thank you! i’m so happy to see a creator talk about shoujosei like this :’) keep it up!
I totally feel you on all the stuff you said in this video. I also find it really silly and frustrating how little shojo we see getting English releases when very "shojo- like" Korean manhwa and webtoons are just getting more and more popular. Obviously it isn't a one-to-one comparison, but to say that there isn't a market or enough variety in stories targeted at young women in comic/graphic novel/ visual storytelling mediums for there to be incentive to more often bring shojo manga to the English speaking market is just BS in my opinion. We're here. We want it. And maybe if it was just a little bit more accessible, all these judgmental dude bros might see just how amazing these stories can be.
(Eh, who am I kidding. Judgmental gatekeepers will probably just find some new misconception to nitpick on regardless, but at least then I'd have copy of Collette Decides to Die sitting on my bookshelf)
The thing is: It probably won't matter what kind of shoujo/josei you give them. They will see that it's the story of a girl/woman with agency who wants to be more than just waifu material and that she has her own goals and dreams and that is the kind of thing a lot of male anime fans ultimately hate. Also, male characters who only exist because they are boyfriend/husband material (which is of course often given in shoujo/josei stuff) are of course also hated by this guys, the reason is obvious of course. So yeah, a lot of guys who just hate it when media is aimed at women and girls or other women who view ,,girly'' things and narratives as inferior.
i'm only a little over 8 minutes through the video and i'm so glad you brought up the idea of having a shoujo beat app! sadly viz will never go for it :/ if viz ever decided to just make the shonen jump app have all of their series and bump up the price to like $5 a month i bet that they'd get some good money from that! they just won't do it for some reason
the viz upcoming releases announcement was pretty disappointing with the only one shoujo title that didn't sound interesting to me. apparently shoujo beat has some new stuff coming according to their twitter but i'm not on twitter so i wouldn't know
I grew up reading shojo so it’s nice to see someone else give it the love and attention it deserves. I never even fully realized how much we’re missing out on and it makes me so sad because shojo has some of the most beautiful, amazing stories I’ve seen from ANY medium. We deserve better and shojo mangas deserve better
It is so sad how few shoujo have been translated & printed in the last decade. Thank you for the honest shoujo commentary! You’re putting out amazing content - don’t change for the buttheads on the internet❤️
The fact that people don't realise shounen could be romance and bl is hilarious and shows how surface level their understanding of these genres are.
After all shojos and shounens aren't genres.
I just have to say, I recently found your channel and your passion for the Shoujo genre has brought me back to my younger years when I used to read SO much Shoujo manga. I love your thoughtful commentaries and knowledge about various series and It's really making me want to re-visit some the series that I used to love and also read more newer works (if they're available in english that is...). Shoujo as a genre is really close to my heart because those stories and characters were with me during some really lonely teenage years. I wish more people could recognize how much incredible work there is within the genre. Thank you for your content!!
I'm so sorry for your lack of shoujo manga in english, I didn't know it was that bad. As some already wrote, in germany we have a lot of shoujo manga. So many, I can actually pick and choose the best ones. (Also I'm glad we're finally getting Colette, took them long enough) I love shoujo manga, my favorites are mostly of the fantasy genre but I have that one modern slice of life romance series "guilty" pleasure which I read to unwind. (Recently Lovesick Ellie and Takane to Hana finished, now I need a new one) We have an issue with long running series though, since most publishers shy away from them. It took YEARS for us to finally get Yona and that very reluctantly - and now it's I think the best selling currently running shoujo in germany. I think the US was on vol 10 when we finally got the announcement and many already started collecting in english. Josei is a whole other story though. The most popular shoujo series, apart from Yona, are usually highschool romances. We have all of them (of course i'm exaggerating...but we have a LOT) Josei on the other hand doesn't seem to be as popular. There are very few we're getting. We have please love me, wotakoi, next life as a villainess, bokura no kiseki (which was on the verge of being cancelled because of poor sales and is only continued because the publisher is passionate about it) and now I'm starting to run out of ideas. Of course there are a few more, but there are really only a few. Which is a pity. No Chihayafuru for us either.
So what was I trying to say? Shoujo needs more love. Thank you for spreading it more.
Oh, and also we don't have Queen's Quality. We probably never will because QQ Sweeper didn't go off and the publisher said no. Meh.
Honestly I feel like the biggest difference between shoujo and shonen (for me) is that shoujo characters feel real? The character archetypes in shonen are really rigid so it's hard to feel connected with certain protagonists, but I always find something to love about a shoujo protagonist. I really hope we get more official content, thanks so much for making such great videos about this! It's nice to see all my fellow shoujo fans in one place 😍
I am going to be honest I am very very glad that you are bad at letting things go
I love your videos about shoujo as a demographic
In the future could you do a video focusing on shoujo that people would not believe are shoujo and maybe analyse what makes said anime/manga good for a young female demographic/what makes them a shoujo
Ans maybe also do some shounen that people mistake or might mistake for shoujo and analyse them
Gahhh!! Just when I’m now realizing (in my early 40’s ) that I love shojo, I have to then now live with this disappointment. I too was wondering about an app like Shonen jump has. Why can’t we have that?! Why? I would read all of the titles you have mentioned here. I started collecting Tsubasa because of you. If only we had more English releases 😪
I love these videos, you're so good with your research. There's a huge community that loves shoujo in America and your content could help bring us together on YoutTube. I've already picked up two new series since first finding your channel with the "Decline of Shoujo" video. Please keep making videos.
Ooh I gotta know which series you went for! 😌
@@ColleensMangaRecs Gladly! I just blew through A Condition Called Love's manga (I wish they had physicals and I now see why you buy some mangas in Japanese just because you love them so muc) and now I'm finally given Snow White with the Red Hair a try and loving it. I've been in a state of bliss for the past 2-3 weeks with these recommendations. Thank you so much
I LOST MY SIDES WHEN I SAW THE NAZARÉ TEDESCO (confused math lady meme) IN YA VIDEO LOOOOOOOOL
Colette is one of the best shoujo mangas I've read in a while and deserves so much more!
I feel like I need to take notes every video, there are so many mangas you mention to be on the lookout!
Edit: Tokyo Crazy Paradise was amazing! A bit over the top but I loved every single chapter that I found. You should do a video of old shoujos, Basara comes to mind immediately
SO glad youre putting Colette Decides to Die in the spotlight!! amazing series ❤️
Amazing video, so well articulated. It's sad tho that you have to do more videos defending this demographic just bc people can't stand criticism and it's even worse if it has something to do with their misogynistic biases. I just hope you can continue to do your videos and recs and spread the word of amazing shoujo series.
I wish we had more magical girl manga/ anime- I can see some of the older titles like Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon but there are some newer titles I've been interested in that aren't available.
I wish we also got re-prints/re-releases of magical girl manga saint tail and mermaid melody have been out of print for years and used copies are terribly expensive
There's a new shojo anime coming out in October called "I'm the Villainess so I'm taming the final boss" so keep you're eye on that one
Me and my friends enjoyed "my next life as a villanesse" a lot, so I picked up this one's manga after I saw the trailer.
Pretty good manga, with a very good story execution, my only problem is that I wish we got to know some of the side characters better, since they all seemed so interesting in their introduction.
I read the manga and I loved it! Totally recommend it
Don't listen to those comments, I started reading, "A condition called Love" it is awesome as you described in your video. looking forward for more videos. Thank you for the recommendation.
Thanks to your channel, I rekindled my passion for shoujo manga (for the past 2-3 years, I've been mainly reading isekai/fantasy/aristocracy shojosei manhwas) and I wholeheartly agree there must be a diversification for shojo and josei series
In my country, for example, we still don't have Yona, Natsume or newer shojosei series and one publisher announced Living no Matsunaga-san last week (tho they're announcing more series tomorrow). I adore Banana Fish and CCS to pieces but there needs to be more than just popular or "safe" stuff to translate
Oh and I'm praying jump+ brings shoujo series cause damn their catalog is really only shounen or seinen works (no shame to the creators but it's worth pointing it out)
I felt your frustration on this one too, I'm someone who reads more shoujosei than shounen for since I started reading manga, it is a constant problem what you pointed out, it's even more rare with recent shoujosei.
It's like you said, the list of shoujosei there is in japan in comparison to what gets licensed, the gap is too big, I could go on and on and on with the list of shoujosei mangas that I would like to be licensed, some of those I follow is recent and others 2016-2017.
I could go with few examples like:
- Koudaike No Hitobito;
- Readymade Heroine;
- Goodbye, Love Me Tender (Rabu Mii Tendaa ni Sayounara / Love Me Tender ni Sayounara);
- This Love is Strawberry Sweet (Sono Koi wa Ichigo no Youni);
- Matsurika Kanriden;
- Wagashi No An;
-etc.
a recent favourite, the isekai and reincarnation/tensei ones are quite endless like:
- Heroine Fuzai no Akuyaku Reijou wa Konyakuhaki Shite Wanko-Kei Juusha to Toubou Suru;
-Zense Akuyaku datta Reijou ga, Hikikomori no Choukyou wo Makasaremashita;
- Seijo no Hazu ga, Douyara Nottoraremashita;
- Seijo ja nakatta no de, Oukyuu de nonbiri Gohan wo Tsukuru koto ni shimashita;
- Seiken ga Ningen ni Tensei Shitemitara Yuusha ni Henai Sarete Komatteimasu;
- etc.
oops, it gotten long...
You're already one of my favorite anitubers! Love your videos.
I am overjoyed to see someone breathing new life into the UA-cam &/or Shojosei space. Thank you! ❤️ You come off as someone who is thoughtful and cares about learning and researching, so I'm really looking forward to any content you put out in the future.
OMG girl, your YT is giving me life. There are so many mystery/thrillers/supernatural stories you mentioned that I want to check out! Edit: We needs 7/Seeds, *I* need 7/Seeds
Honestly spitting facts. Spent the whole video going "Will they mention Honey Lemon Soda?!" then you did and I got rlly happy lol. I wish ppl gave shoujo more love. Also another good recommendation thats ongoing and being printed: A Sign of Affection. It's so good!!! Also almost cried with the ending note
14:16 sorry just gotta say it's nice to see someone mention Idol Dreams! I got the 7th volume last summer and I'm glad they're still publishing it.
I haven't read it yet but I was a big Arina Tanemura fan as a kid so I need to check it out soon!
I want them to reprint full moon o sagashite. I only have the first two volumes. I did manage to finish collecting kamikaze kaitou Jeanne however. Arina Tanemura is definitely a favorite of mine.
I'm finding idol dreams one of the most disappointing by Arina, so much so that I haven't bothered to pick it up though I own all her other work in English. It's a pity because she's one of my favourite managakas.
you previously recommended furare girl and I thank you for that!!! it's a very heartwarming series yet still tackle some social issues 😊
Thank you for your effort and patience on making this video! Since I was little I've been reading manga in ... Other sources (-.-) just because, as you mentioned, there was no other way of getting it. At a certain point I wanted to support the creators so I started volunteering in a translation scan, but at the end it was kinda the same. I keep buying originals as much as I can, but as you said, damn its super hard and we've been struggling for years! Hopefully they'll hear us soon and stop dismissing our opinions ("there's no variety"). Let's keep pushing through! Love you!
Honestly, I think your channel is great and your video's are well researched. Maybe now you may feel like just 1 person, but in due time you may find yourself with a bigger audience and a greater ability to make an impact
Hay Colleen!
I'm not normally one to comment but I just really wanted to say thanks for making this video! I am so glad I found your channel. Please keep them coming!!!!!
like 4 minutes in the video (I'm going to make this comment while I watch through this video), my problem is that I only find like up to 3 most recent volumes of Requiem of the Rose King, otherwise I would read it in a heartbeat. :(
I agree that shojo titles being released across different publishers in the US (usually when they get licensed, their demographic tends to not be revealed for some reason) so it can lead into a problem.
I used to have the mindset that shojo lack variety until I touched things in my senior year that said otherwise (Earl Cain series, X/1999 and Gakuen Alice). So glad that I did, although finding recommendations can be hard as unless I look it up, I won't know what is a shojo outside of shojo beat titles :( (at the same time, I haven't had much luck finding friends that also read shojo manga)
somewhat unrelated, but thank you for making videos like this. you helped me remember the joys of shoujo manga, i even rewatched kamisama kiss because of you! now i want to dive even deeper into other shoujo animanga that are available. i appreciate the awareness you're making for this genre, and i'm sure that you'll soon become a role model many viewers will look up to thanks to your knowledge and sincere feelings towards shoujo manga
another stellar video!! my reading list for shoujo manga has gotten so long thanks to you, its great!!
furiously writing down all the recommendations so I can binge read and order the japanese volumes when they come out...
Not sure why some people (usually guys, I'm a guy also btw) feel the need to bash on shoujo titles. Some of my favourite and highest scored anime shows are shoujo (FruBa, Kamisama Kiss, Natsume's Book of Friends). Personally i find shoujo more emotionally mature, especially with romance (not always though, looking at you Maid-sama). But there's as much variety in shoujo as with the other demographics, but sadly not as many titles to explore, same with seinen/josei. Shounen dominates anime and manga. Hopefully this trend will change. Looking forward to the shoujo titles you suggested in your last video that are coming out next season.
I love your channel! Finally there is someone who notices how different shoujo animanga are from the sterotypes and that they're not getting enough representation! I have a question: what exactly makes you like shoujo more than shounen?
It's really not even a matter of which one I like more than the other. Because I DO enjoy many shonen but they just don't resonate with me in their themes and character writing as often that they don't stick with me emotionally. Haikyu is one of my all time favorite series as well as Mob Psycho though.
However I'm drawn to shoujo because I can relate to the characters struggles, the women aren't pushed to the background or nonexistent, the comedy is usually more my speed, and I love shoujo art styles.
i guess you could say I'm not a shoujo fan but more of a BL fan and everything you said here really hit home. i have no clue how many BL manga have actually been translated to english officially because every time i read one it's always from a scanslation site. the same arguments used for shoujo are used for BL as well. the whole "there's no variety" is just so so wrong because as much as there are smutty BLs there's also an insane amount of comedy, psychological, mystery, horror, romance, slice of life, etc. just because it has to do with gay people doesn't mean it's going to be inherently sexual. just like shonen, seinen, etc. BL and shoujo manga are just catered to people with different taste than shonen fans and that's fine!
i feel like part of the reason we don't get many shoujo series over here is because nobody really talks about them... which isn't our fault of course! they're hard to access! but that's why someone like you is important. hopefully your success going forward will make publishers realize there is a market for shoujo in the west !!
looking forward to ur next video :)
I'm shocked about the amount of Shojo series you get in english. :/ The last years in Germany were good for Shojo fans but with the new programmes I'm worried about the next years. The last years nearly every german publisher released at least one Shojo but since a few programmes it became less and less. The only publisher who seems to release the same amount of Shojo is Tokyopop. Sadly most of the TP Shojo have a school setting with romance focus. I understand everyone who thinks Shojo is all school and romance because it's what we get the most. :/
Ahhhh this was a great video again!! Thank you!! I knew about Furare Girl and I wish we had it in germany (we just recently got Collette so who knows) but Himitsu looks really, really intersting. As someone who is a fan of crime fiction and proecedurals, this seems like up my alley.
You talked about shoujo in this video but if we start talking about josei and availabilty, I might get too frustrated. With josei it is often not even that there are big differences with Seinen (a demographic I have several favorites in) but we still barely get any. I can not even imagine what we are missing out on in that regard.
Beside the point of the huge variety that shoujosei has, I also find that somehow shoujosei needs to adhere to a certain standard to "deserve" a physical release or an adaptation in the eyes of many people, that shounen just does not need to.
Thank you for your videos about shoujo manga! I used to love it 15 years ago until I had a total falling out with anime and manga in general. I reignited my love for anime in the last 2 years but you convinced me to explore shoujo manga again and I’m so much happier for it!
Don’t let the trolls and negative people get to you, you’re helping grow the shoujo manga community, one person at a time!
Thank you!! For speaking the truth. I read a stupid article the other day about "The 10 harsh realities of being a slice of life fan" and I felt like I could have critiqued that to kingdom come. But there are so many things that people just generalize that they don't get to see the true depth and beauty of series like these. So I really appreciate you bringing these to light!
I'm so glad I found your channel, I had pretty much given up hope on anitubers with how mainstream they've all become, but your channel is really a breath of fresh air and as a female weeb and a shoujo lover it's cool to finally find someone who represents us~
Btw, what would be your top recommendations for more recent shoujo/josei manga? I prefer more of the shoujo fantasy variety over the high school romance stuff and while I've mostly read older shoujos which are great don't get me wrong, it would be nice to check out some of the newer stuff too~
For ones that are currently being published the top picks would be QQ Sweeper/Queen's Quality, King's Beast, Prince Freya, Requiem of the Rose King (just the manga), and Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts!
@@ColleensMangaRecs Oh I loved Requiem of the Rose King and QQ Sweeper, I'll have to look into the others!
@@ColleensMangaRecs Btw do you have any more info about Happy Candy Virus? It sounds really interesting but I can't find out anything about it through searching on Google. I'd love to read Mimizuku and the King of Night as well but I can't find anything about it online