With the recent success of Fruits Basket's new movie Fruits Basket: Prelude, which was released in mid-February, 2022 and detailed the lives of series protagonist Toru Honda's parents, the Shoujo genre has seen many recent industry successes.
Benefitting from its reboot anime successes, Fruits Basket's manga has retained its top ranking as a popular Shoujo manga and has sparked interest in what other top-rated Shoujo manga could potentially surpass it, based on the characters and experiences they face that impact the various series readers.
Glass No Kamen (1976 - 2012; Hiatus) - 8.46
After displaying her ability to perfectly mimic any performance she sees word-for-word, Maya Kitajima draws the attention of the formerly famous actress, Chigusa Tsukikage, who wishes to nurture her talents and turn her into a world-renowned star. Maya's growing talent draws both ire and admiration from those who have taken an interest in her as she strives to perform The Crimson Goddess.
Glass no Kamen realistically portrays the hardships and elations experienced within the acting industry. Its almost entirely female cast, revolving around the rivalry between Maya and Ayumi Himekawa in who should perform The Crimson Goddess, was revolutionary in stepping away from the predominantly love-centered Shoujo manga genre.
Ouran Koukou Host Club (2002-2010) - 8.51
Haruhi Fujioka is a poor, young girl whose dream is to attend the prestigious Ouran Academy to move up in the world and raise her and her father out of debt. However, after mistakenly entering Ouran's most famous clubroom, and in her shock accidentally destroying an impressively expensive vase, she finds herself in massive debt and is contracted by the club's president, Tamaki Suou, to work as a fellow host.
Ouran Koukou Host Club, with its wacky cast of characters, and the ridiculous situations they find themselves in (usually due to the plans of Tamaki Suou), is filled with comical storylines. As Haruhi becomes far more comfortable with her new role, seeing the male and female cast around her take increasingly more notice of her makes this series impossible to put down and one of the best manga ever made by a woman.
Fruits Basket (1998-2006) - 8.51
After a freak landslide destroyed the tent Toru Honda was living in, the members of the esteemed Soma House allowed her to live with them until her grandfather finish remodeling his home. But when Toru accidentally slips and falls into the arms of Kyo Soma who was fighting with his cousin Yuki, his transformation into a cat explains why the Soma's always seemed so distant.
While Fruits Basket starts as a typical Shoujo series with the added twists of the Somas around her turning into animals, as she learns more of the Somas' traditions, the series takes a dramatic and dark turn. The exquisite balance of Toru's healing personality, and the horrors the cast faces as Toru attempts to break the status quo, has made Fruits Basket one of the most well-known Shoujo series ever written.
Ohayou, Ibarahime (2014-2017) - 8.53
Upon entering high school, Tetsu Misato is requested by his father to begin working at his housekeeping agency and is tasked with the cleaning and management of the mansion that had caught his eye as a child. Tetsu then meets the young girl Shizu Karasawa and grows ever closer to Shizu every time he visits her at the mansion.
Tragedy is a staple of the Shoujo genre, though it's not often used to end a series as fans prefer happy endings. Ohayou, Ibarahime's interactions between Tetsu and the sickly Shizu, resulting in fan speculation about whether she would be ok, had fans craving an anime adaptation and the next chapter. To see Tetsu's earnest feelings for Shizu grow throughout this short series and swell at the climax provided an excellent and emotional love story for fans to enjoy.
Kamisama Hajimemashita (2008-2016) - 8.53
With her father skipping town to run away from his debts and her being evicted from her home, Nanami Momozono chances upon the odd scene of a man in a tree being pestered by a dog. After rescuing him and talking about their respective problems, the man offers her his home believing she would be a much better "Master," only for her to find a shrine inhabited by spirits and her as its new "god."
Kamisama Hajimemashita's reverse harem of beautiful animal and spirit boys all vying for Nanami's attention, and their varying personalities, allowed the mangaka many opportunities to display the character's many sides. While having a supernatural setting, Kamisama Hajimemashita's true brilliance lies in the character interactions that provide both drama and much-needed comedy.
Skip Beat! (2002- ) - 8.58
Spurred by her intense hatred that her childhood friend Shoutaro Fuwa thought of her as nothing more than a maid when she traveled to Tokyo to help him realize his dream as an idol, Kyouko Mogami decides to become an idol herself. However, after an initial crushing rejection, the president of the company gives her another chance in the new group, "Love Me," where she will have to work hard to become a top idol.
With many Shoujo readers tending to be younger girls, slice-of-life stories are exceptionally popular. Skip Beat's choice to have its main character Kyouko decide to pick herself up and do something positive for herself, rather than wallow in misery, provides not only an excellent example for young women but a lesson that perseverance in the face of adversity is always a viable and worthy effort.
Banana Fish (1985-1994) - 8.64
17-year-old gang leader Ash Lynx is well known on the streets of New York as a ruthless gangster who's not opposed to killing anyone that goes against him. When he runs into Eiji Okumura, a young Japanese assistant photographer, they become embroiled in a string of murders in which the only clue is the cryptic words "Banana Fish."
While many Shoujo manga focus on the love between the main characters, Banana Fish's decision to focus on the murder mystery aspect, which then incrementally progresses the love dynamic, gives the series more depth. Its blend of mystery and love allowed the manga, and its criminally underrated anime, to attract viewers of multiple genres.
Natsume Yuujinchou (2003- ) - 8.71
Hindered by the ability to perceive spirits he inherited from his grandmother Reiko, Natsume Takashi wants nothing more than to just live a simple and carefree life. After finding his grandmother's book which she used to confine and bind various Youkai, Natsume is tasked with dealing with the various spirits, some of which are helpful and some that wish to kill him.
Making friends is an endeavor for many people, especially young adolescents who have their whole world expanding all at once. Natsume Yuujinchou perfectly encapsulates how difficult making friends can truly be and also shows that the effort you put in corresponds to the results you see. This encouraging message speaks to many young readers and has become a popular topic among much more recent Shoujo manga series.
Nana (2000-2009; Hiatus) - 8.76
Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki are two young women who share the same name but are completely different in every other way. After both Nanas decide to travel to Tokyo for opposite reasons, they find themselves living in an apartment together, and as they both slowly open up to one another, they offer their support to each other by sharing their unique perspective.
Both Nanas' opposing personalities, along with their individualistic choices in similar situations, allow for excellent character writing. The ability for readers to see how drastically different a person could be based on the choices they make allows Nana's main characters to act as individuals as well as portray the inner conflict a person experiences when presented with a choice that could affect their entire life leading them to become one of the best couplings in anime.
Akatsuki No Yona (2009- ) - 8.83
Yona, the Princess of the Kouka Kingdom, was living an ideal life with her father reigning peacefully as King and spending her days in the company of her Bodyguard Hak and their mutual friend Su-Won. But when Su-Won kills her father in cold blood one night and she barely escapes with Hak's aid, her ideal life as a Princess is replaced with the struggle of merely staying alive.
Akatsuki no Yona or Yona of the Red Dawn won its popularity from Yona's dynamic of being an exceptionally hard-working woman, and Hak who encourages her to persevere when she occasionally stumbles cements them as one of anime's cutest couples. Her choice to keep fighting to regain her kingdom, and her determination to join the fight herself, has made her potentially the most influential female lead in all of Shoujo manga.