So by apparent definition; josei is a genre above shoujo, garnered for the taste of those at a more mature age than the general “Shugo Chara” or “Fresh Pretty Cure” fan. They tend to also not be eccentrically “girly” or “cinderella story”. These anime/manga tend to include more complicated plots/sub-plots and intense language/scene in comparison to shoujo. However that does NOT mean all the characters have to be out of highschool or with children and job already. That also means they are more entertaining!! lol ok jokes aside what is your favorite shoujo manga/anime? What do you think deserves to be called the ULTIMATE josei?
My vote goes to: KURAGEHIME
Strong contenders: peach girl, bad pet, skip beat, kare kano, kechonpa
Hm… Haven’t nearly read/seen enough to make a judgment on this. But I did sort of recently watch Kuragehime, and I love love the animation style. Quite enjoyed the story too XD
i used to read honey & clover in the shoujo beat magazine :’-)) i’m watching parakiss right now, but have yet do see nana. i was thinking of just watching the LA movie instead, but idk haha would u recc. watching it?
For Nana please the manga or the Anime first, the movies are Ok, I love the actors that are in the movie but your will only know why Nana is soooo good by reading the manga or Watching the anime
Nodame Cantabile Mukyaaa! I’ve read the manga, I’ve seen the anime and the movies. Kimi wa Petto (and for those of you who don’t know, there’s also a Korean Live Action) Skip Beat! - if you’ve given up on this one, give it a go again. It has finally gone where everyone was thinking it should go! Yupee for chapter 211!
Although it says shounen, it’s about a woman-jjang that decides to make a better life for herself. She may be a wife and a mother, but you can’t take the jjang out of her ^^
EDIT : I’ve also looked into josei mangas from my read-list. You should look at some of the following:
Japanese
Emma - A victorian romance (comes with an anime)
Gokusen - yakuza, highschool and josei! (also with a live action)
Piece - loved the live action!
Mars - very good! And the live action as a taiwanese drama “Mars” with Vic Zhou.
Korean
Crazy Love Story - manhwa, very angsty
The Great Merchant Kim Man Duk - there’s a sageuk made on the same subject
I’m a big fan of animes and I love josei. I think my favorite is Chihayafuru.
I strongly recommend you Kids on the Slope and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.
1. Nodame Cantabile This is one of my favorite anime’s because it’s funny , romantic and just a great anime. I truly recommend this one.
More Honorable Mentions :