Ask John: What Are Good, Mature Shoujo Titles?

Question:
Is there a type of shoujo anime for older girls and young women? I’ve seen titles such as Paradise Kiss that have more mature themes and darker tones. If there is a type of anime aimed at older girls? Are there any titles you recommend?

Answer:
The genre you may possibly be interested in is called “josei,” the Japanese word for “woman.” Josei manga is manga targeted at young adult female readers, roughly consumers from age 18 up to mid 30s. Unlike typical children’s shoujo anime and manga that may feature magic, fairies, superheroes, and puppy love, josei manga typically feature mature story development, frank sexuality, and a focus on realism rather than magical transformations, fantasy lands, and dreams of becoming an idol singer. A few of the titles that Yahoo Japan’s 7&Y classifies as josei or “ladies'” comics include Masayo Miyagawa’s Kiss and Fight, Natsumi Itsuki’s Oz, Satoru Makimura’s Do Da Dancin’, Erica Sakurazawa’s Lovely, Kamoi Masane’s Sweet Delivery, and Masayo Miyagawa’s Loveholic. Yahoo Japan’s bookstore also classifies Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss as a “ladies'” comic.

However, based on your example and the titles I believe American anime and manga fans are most familiar with, I think that you may actually be looking for a variety of manga and anime that falls in between children’s shoujo and josei. Yahoo Japan’s bookstore categorizes Fruits Basket, Honey & Clover, Shinigami no Ballad, Meine Liebe, Nana, Ouran High School Host Club, Nodame Cantible, Hana Yori Dango, Gakuen Alice, Ginban Kaleidoscope, Kimi wa Pet (“Tramps Like Us”), and Maria-sama ga Miteru all as “shoujo (chugakusei, ipon)” or “shoujo for typical junior and senior high school girls.”

As far as I know, true josei anime aren’t very common, and the ones that are made are often stylized to seem very simplistic and unlike conventional “otaku” anime because they’re targeted at mainstream adult Japanese women. A few examples include Sweet Valerian, Erico, and the three series that made up Gainax’s Anime Ai no Awa Awa Hour: Ai no Wakakusayama Monogatari, Koume-chan Ga Iku!, and Oruchuban Ebichu (which I’m not going to link to because the Ebichu page contains screenshots of graphic sex). Anime adaptations of shoujo manga for teens, like many of the titles mentioned in the previous paragraph, seem to be much more commonly adapted into anime. I don’t read a lot of manga, so my ability to provide recommendations is minimal. But I have found that anime series including Honey & Clover, Nana, Ouran High Host Club, Hana Yori Dango, and Maria-sama ga Miteru have been outstanding.