recommend me a shoujo manga/anime

[tribble]

My sister's birthday is in a week, she's turning twelve and really likes japanese stuff. I asked about six months ago what to get, and the playground told me to get cardcaptor sakura. that's great, except the collection hasn't been released and induvidual volumes take months to ship from amazon.
so, I now am in need of a new recommendation for a shoujo manga that is already available to purchase. Comedy is preferable to drama and action.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Just off the top of my head:

Single volume manga: "Call Me Princess". Straight romance with amusing bits and pieces.

Series: Fruits Basket (The anime is is available as a single boxed set; the manga is considerably longer and requires a suitcase). This is a mix of drama, humour and whatnot, and may be slightly too old for her.

For other consideration: "Oh My Goddess". There is a very short (5 episodes/2 DVDs) OAV, two television series + film and the original - still running - Manga. Note that this is actually shonen rather than shojo, and is more of a romantic comedy.

[Atelm]

Seconding Fruits Basket, particularly the manga.

I've heard good things about Aishi teruze Baby (both anime and manga).

Edit: The auto-censor apparently doesn't like that name. Take out the space between "Aishi" and "teruze" and you'll have the real name. :smallconfused:

[tribble]

she already watches fruit's basket on youtube, so that prolly is no good.

[Elaro]

Ouran High School Host Club!

It's an average student "forcibly" enrolled into her high school's host club for breaking a very expensive vase. Only problem is; she's a girl, and the club entertains ladies, so she has to cross-dress. Hilarity ensues.

Or you can go with Azumanga Daioh. It's a high school comedy focused on a group of girls who are all friends. It's pretty funny, in a silly type of way.

[AlterForm]

Ouran High School Host Club!

It's an average student "forcibly" enrolled into her high school's host club for breaking a very expensive vase. Only problem is; she's a girl, and the club entertains ladies, so she has to cross-dress. Hilarity ensues.

Or you can go with Azumanga Daioh. It's a high school comedy focused on a group of girls who are all friends. It's pretty funny, in a silly type of way.

+1 to both of these. Loved both.

[tribble]

She also watches both AzuDai and Host Club off youtube, too! I'm worried, now.
So, I guess it comes down to Aishi teruze or Call Me Princess, then?

[AlterForm]

She also watches both AzuDai and Host Club off youtube, too! I'm worried, now.
So, I guess it comes down to Aishi teruze or Call Me Princess, then?

If you can wait a day or two, the regulars of the Anime Thread here can hopefully pop in and recommend several.

[Manga Shoggoth]

she already watches fruit's basket on youtube, so that prolly is no good.

It may still be worth getting at least some of the Manga - the TV series covers most of volumes 1 to 8 of the manga (with a slightly different ending). The original Manga is longer and covers much more ground.

Another suggestion: "Whisper of the Heart" - quite a nice little film, screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki.

[Weimann]

I personally love Ai Yori Aoshi, but it's admittedly about romantic love a whole lot, and might not entertain her at the age of 12.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Does anyone else find it worrying that all the respondents on a thread about shojo are at least notionally "Male"?

[mallorean_thug]

If you can wait a day or two, the regulars of the Anime Thread here can hopefully pop in and recommend several.

Except that most of us over there are not fans of shojo as none of us are adolescent girls regardless of avatars for the forum.

Well, according to Tvtropes, the only shoujo manga/anime that I've watched enough of to pass judgement on is D.N. Angel. And I did get most of the way through it so I guess I could recommend it. It has the weirdest mix of drama, action and comedy of any show I've seen and also probably one of the best "d'awww" moments later in the show. It has complete manga and anime localizations so it should be findable in english and since its lower on the radar, your sister might not have watched it yet.

[Elaro]

Does anyone else find it worrying that all the respondents on a thread about shojo are at least notionally "Male"?

We're in touch with our feminine side?

Also, to the OP, buy the DVDs anyway. Support the official release, save the industry! (I'm not kidding.)

Well, if you're committed, why not Yotsubato! (http://www.amazon.com/Yotsuba-Vol-1-Kiyohiko-Azuma/dp/0316073873/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274453140&sr=8-3) It's by the same author as Azumanga Daioh.

[Optimystik]

Does anyone else find it worrying that all the respondents on a thread about shojo are at least notionally "Male"?

Depends on the series, really. Magical Girl tends to have a substantial male demographic. (Yes, that includes you straights :smalltongue:)

[Oslecamo]

Does anyone else find it worrying that all the respondents on a thread about shojo are at least notionally "Male"?

That's because there's actualy few 100% shoujo material out there.

Take the magic girl genre for example. Sure it has boring romance and drama and "growing up" stuff that's aimed at little girls. But then it also gets hotblooded females in exotic clothes, intense action scenes (wich are actualy a lot more nicer to watch when performed by females in exotic clothes than over-muscled males with over-spiked hair), explosions, some more hotbloodness, magic, monsters and some other stuff that will atract male readers like flies to honey.:smallbiggrin:

Even if a show is 2/3 shoujo, if the remaining 1/3 shonen part is good quality then it's worth watching by shonen fans.

The whole Nahoa series goes a step beyond by removing almost all drama and romance and focusing almost exclusively on the "hotblooded females in exotic clothes hacking at each other while stuff explodes" part. Where's your shoujo now?:smallamused:

Then silly comical stuff like Azumanga Dayoh is more neutral than anything and atracts both genders equally.

Finally, we males have feelings as well! We're not like Ryusei that has two girls melting over him and yet can only see mechas and hotbloodness!:smallfrown:

[Optimystik]

The whole Nahoa series goes a step beyond by removing almost all drama and romance and focusing almost exclusively on the "hotblooded females in exotic clothes hacking at each other while stuff explodes" part. Where's your shoujo now?:smallamused:

See also: My-HiMe, Pretty Cure, Tokyo Mew Mew, Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki.

(Okay, that last one is a [totally awesome] webcomic. (http://www.sgvy.com/))

[endoperez]

Lovely Complex is a high-school romance that's really funny when it wants to be funny, and gets past the soppyness before the last episode. Tall girl and short boy, and for some reason, ridiculously expensive DVDs on a quick search.


If she happens to like classical music, she might like Nodame Cantabile. It's about classical music, and a girl that's a complete airhead, and a boy that tries rather hard not to like her.

[Oslecamo]

(Okay, that last one is a [totally awesome] webcomic. (http://www.sgvy.com/))

Altough I'll agree with the awesome, it can't really be called a manga as it isn't drawn by an asian and even then the drawing quality is quite low even by webcomic standards. But the author sure knows how to make it apealing even then and the plot sillyness is quite good. It does have some moments of boring drama/love, but the oppai overload more than makes up for it.

[Dr. Bath]

Altough I'll agree with the awesome, it can't really be called a manga as it isn't drawn by an asian and even then the drawing quality is quite low even by webcomic standards. But the author sure knows how to make it apealing even then and the plot sillyness is quite good. It does have some moments of boring drama/love, but the oppai overload more than makes up for it.

What.

I. Just. No.

Manga is just the japanese word for comic, so really it has nothing to do with style. If you ARE going to label manga as a style, then sure that comic is in the manga style, which is known mostly for large eyes, thin limbs and bodies and often exaggerated ...body parts. Neither style nor language has anything to do with race.

Categorising things into 'boy' and 'girl' is silly anyway.

Azumanga Dioh is a good choice though. She might also like Lucky Star I guess? It's kind slow/dull though.

[Optimystik]

it can't really be called a manga

Pretty sure I called it a webcomic, not a manga? :smallconfused:

[true_shinken]

I recommend Kobato, by CLAMP. I'm enjoying it an awful deal.

[tribble]

Another suggestion: "Whisper of the Heart" - quite a nice little film, screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki.

THAT will do very nicely indeed, she's in love with Miyazaki's work.

[Oslecamo]

Manga is just the japanese word for comic, so really it has nothing to do with style. If you ARE going to label manga as a style, then sure that comic is in the manga style, which is known mostly for large eyes, thin limbs and bodies and often exaggerated ...body parts. Neither style nor language has anything to do with race.

Well let's see what wikipedia has to say about it:

""Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan."

Well so much for your personal interpretation. Wich also fails to aknowledge all the mangas where the artist does care to make realistic looking bodies.

[Dr. Bath]

Except... it's not? It's not used that way here. Or you know, by the actual publishers. Wikipedia is not the font of all knowledge surprise surprise.

Also I said it was known for that. Ask pretty much anyone and those are the main stereotypes that come up.

Even if I concede all your points, country is still no indication of race. Race has nothing to do with what a comic is or is called.

[Lifeson]

I recommend Kobato, by CLAMP. I'm enjoying it an awful deal.

Pretty much anything by CLAMP. I'm not gonna lie, Magic Knight Rayearth got me into manga and anime back in 2001.

Also, I'm seconding Ouran High School Host Club (It's got a Haruhi. :P), as well as The Wallflower/Perfect Girl Evolution. Imagine a bunch of Bishounen trying to make that creepy ghost chick from the Ring into a pretty lady. And it works...eventually.

[nothingclever]

Ouran High School Host Club. Accept no substitutes. The manga is ongoing so you might get her that. It's licensed and sounds like the type of thing you could easily buy translated volumes of in a bookstore since it's easy to market. The tone is supposed to be different from the show but still good. From what I've heard there's more drama involved while still keeping much of the humor and lightheartedness. Please don't get her anything Fruits Basket related.

[tribble]

Please don't get her anything Fruits Basket related.

If you think you can make a statement like that and give no explanation, you got another think coming. Also, It's a done deal because I already ordered her whisper of the heart. (my stomach would have liked some warning before the glomp, but oh well.)

[Manga Shoggoth]

Ouran High School Host Club. Accept no substitutes. The manga is ongoing so you might get her that. It's licensed and sounds like the type of thing you could easily buy translated volumes of in a bookstore since it's easy to market. The tone is supposed to be different from the show but still good. From what I've heard there's more drama involved while still keeping much of the humor and lightheartedness. Please don't get her anything Fruits Basket related.
If you think you can make a statement like that and give no explanation, you got another think coming. Also, It's a done deal because I already ordered her whisper of the heart. (my stomach would have liked some warning before the glomp, but oh well.)

I suspect that - since he mentions the humour and lightheartedness of Ouran High School Host Club - that he may be referring to the fact that althogh there is quite a lot of humour in the story, the last couple of episodes of the Fruits Basket Anime (and quite a lot of the Manga) is quite emotionally charged.

(I could be wrong, of course...)

Good luck with "Whisper of the Heart". If she likes it there is a sequel of sorts called "The Cat Returns".

[Atelm]

Good luck with "Whisper of the Heart". If she likes it there is a sequel of sorts called "The Cat Returns".

Eh, more like two characters from Whisper have Expies in Cat Returns. Awesome films either way though. :smallwink:

[Manga Shoggoth]

Eh, more like two characters from Whisper have Expies in Cat Returns. Awesome films either way though. :smallwink:

Hence the phrase "of sorts".

Someone mentioned CLAMP earlier. I had forgotten about Angelic Layer (Both manga and anime good, for different reasons).

PreTear (Anime much better than the Manga, and I can't find Vol 4 of the Manga either...) is also worth a look...

Something to bear in mind for Christmas, perchance?

[Kato]

I'm not so much into shoujo but I can recommend Ouran as many did if you are going for some easy comedy harem. It's really enjoyable.

The only other shoujo I think I know more than superficially would be Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki. It is really good but a completely other tone. It's pretty dark and though it is funny at times the overall impression would be rather serious and at times it even gets a bit bloody and sexual... and such. Anyway, if you are looking for something deep and serious give that one a try. (Though, it's long, 20 volumes I think)
Yuki also did some shorter works, such as Bloodhound (I think) or Fairy Cube or the Ludwig Revolution mangas, (Actually, if you don't want anything long, the last ones are pretty decent but also vary between funny and dead serious)

[Yora]

The only other shoujo I think I know more than superficially would be Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki. It is really good but a completely other tone. It's pretty dark and though it is funny at times the overall impression would be rather serious and at times it even gets a bit bloody and sexual... and such. Anyway, if you are looking for something deep and serious give that one a try. (Though, it's long, 20 volumes I think)
That's the one with the anime my friend always calls "the one with the close up of an arm getting ripped off in slow motion". It's also the one in which the guy runs away with his underaged sister because their parents disapprove of their sexual relationship.

I would not recommend that as a gift to a 12 year old girl. :smallwink:

[9bit]

Hmmmm.... Thinking age appropriate.... Naruto? Fruits Basket?

[Kuma Da]

You know, I'm not sure shoujo is always what I'd recommend for a girl. Yes, that's the demographic it's aimed at, but I know plenty of ladies who were into Bleach at one point or another.

As far as recommendations go, Ouran is a really good pick. You might also consider Fushigi Yuugi, since it has a slightly more overt Japanese feel to it and there's a lot of it.

However, if you're willing to go beyond just selecting shoujo, figure out which miyazaki movies she doesn't have and get her those. That is practically a sure-fire success.