While talking about the manga canon with some friends, I realized that most of my girl friends were dropping more shounen titles in their canon than a shoujo manga. And when I asked why they seem to have a particular distaste for the genre. Is it me or a good number of girls would sooner pick a shounen or seinen manga than pick up a shoujo manga to read? Somehow that strikes me wrong. Because if the shoujo manga market is supposed to target a young girl and this said target would rather read another thing… does that mean that the content of shoujo manga no longer caters to the girl’s heart? Or am I assuming too much that international readers are similar to Japanese readers?
Or… am I really surrounded by fujoshis?
Hence, here’s a poll. I’m mildly curious on the taste of foreign female readers. I want you guys to answer honestly and maybe instinctively. Don’t try to think of gajillion ifs and buts when you answer. The question is rather straightforward. I will not entertain loopholes on this once since it’s a rather informal question and I’d like to see what you guys would answer in an instant. There is no ‘both’. Answer it in the same way that you would pick that manga off a shelf. Which one would you pick first?
If you have your reasons, please comment on why you gave your answer. Certainly it will all boil down to taste. Then please share with me what are your tastes in manga? What is it that shoujo has or lacks that makes you prefer or not prefer the genre at all. The comments are optional but I’d highly appreciate it if you give your two cents since I’m rather interested on what sways your choice or your taste. I’m quite sure that the answers here will lead me to another question, but for now, let’s see how this one rolls.
I trust that only girls will reply in this poll. So boys, even if you love shoujo, you can’t answer the poll. I’m looking at you, Pao. And maybe Boss. If my answers are rigged… :< You guys suck. For the girls, spread the poll around. I'd like to get a variety of answers and comments. Anyway, here goes: [poll id="2"]
what can i say? i got tired of the big eyed sparkles and protagonist that bugged me to no end. yes while i am a fujoshi, i have to say that reading a shonen is more exciting to me and that shojo was the sort of manga i read at the start of my hobby. now that i cosplay, read them doujins and started collecting my figurines of all i can, i started more of the bl then again i just recently bought the whole season of gantz and am dying to get some gar titles in my shelf.
anyway if i do read a shoujo its for the comedy relief, and that the main character doesn’t bug me. im tired of the whole cliche attributes i recall during my first time wandering into the manga scene.
As an American reader of manga, I will always always always pick shoujo over any other genre. The first manga I picked up was shoujo, and I have continued reading it to this day.
Although I am a rabid fan of shoujo, there is a problem in finding GOOD shoujo to read. I read indiscriminately, but there are very few titles that I would actually recommend to other people (I am also a very objective, and as some people say, harsh, critic of my manga). While much of my manga diet consists of the sweet, insubstantial, teeth-rotting candy kind, I am constantly yearning for the decadent, weighty, devil’s-food-cake kind of shoujo manga. I hope that makes some sense…
Anyway, shoujo takes precedence over everything for me!
I read shoujo manga only when I feel like it or when I see an interesting title. Most of the time, it’s anything else other than shoujo. XD
Oh wait, the poll’s for foreign female readers? @_@
Yes there are a lot more interest in Shonen as well as Shonen-ai for me, but on occasion I still pick up shoujo series to read. My local library is great for having shoujo title to read. I can’t read it in Bookstores, and if I want to buy all the titles I read, then it would break my bank. I would never touch shoujo’s that have a very dramatic love triangle like Nana or Watase Yuu works, but if there is a light romantic plot then I am game. One title I am reading now Wild Ones, the plot caught me, but inevitably it goes into a love triangle, and that bores me. But the consistency is still an OTP, so I will continue.
Shoujo just happens to be the smoother read for me. The ones I end up reading tend to be shorter than the shounen series that I’m into. I like shounen, but I will inevitably find myself looking for a romance angle somewhere. That’s just who I am. 😛 Kaya nauuwi na talaga sa shoujo haha.
Last time I checked, I still am (reading shoujo mangas)!
Trying to embark on a ‘Catching up on classics/awesome shoujo mangas I still haven’t read/finished (or rereading other faves for a better appreciation)’ adventure recently, among those in the list would be Shanimuni Go, Please Save My Earth, Basara, Mars, Cipher, Houkago Hokenshitsu, Rose of Versailles, etc. Great stuff!
Every genre would have its own pile of “crappy stories/series”, but there are sure to be gems too. I’d always want to be on the lookout for those! 🙂
I usually read all types of manga. I mean all types – shoujo, shounen, and the other non-mentionables. Lol. As long as they’re interesting. I started as a shoujo fanatic, but it quickly became too long to read, or too predictable. And the romance, gah. Takes up too much time. So I started reading shounen, because even if it takes 15 pages max, a lot of things happen. Not to mention, there are a lot of hot guys too. *cough* Reborn *cough* My staple manga these days are Reborn, One Piece, xxxHolic. Shoujo, I read only Skip Beat, because Kyoko’s kick-ass. Though, am a big fan of Furuba (my first collection of manga even), because story wise, I think it’s the best piece of shoujo written. I guess, what makes me prefer Shounen manga these days is that I think they offer more original and more interesting storylines than shoujo ones. ^_^
I don’t pick a manga over another because of its genre.
Very good shôjo manga are among my very favourite readings, but sadly, I think a big majority of shôjo manga don’t appeal to girls once they’re too old.
I.e. I’m 27, I still enjoy very much re-re-re-re-reading Dragon Ball, but I’m not able to re-read Sailor Moon AT ALL.
BUT. Good shôjo manga (often where romance is not the main plot) can be so much better than shônen. Manga like Banana Fish, Kaguya Hime, 7 Seeds, Versailles no Bara, Nodame Cantabile, Shanimuni GO… Thriller, fantastic, historic, sports… in every sub-genre shôjo can be very very good.
I know here in France good shôjo manga are usually not that popular… too bad ! People just don’t know what they’re missing.
The thing is: usually a shôjo manga with a very good scenario doesn’t have to have beautiful drawings to have an audience in Japan, as it will be pre-published and people will read it among other things and realize that it’s very good despite the art being different. But here, with no prepublication, people judge by the art first. Too bad.
It really depends, I think. In normal circumstances, I’ll immediately pick the shounen option if someone gave me one new shounen series and one new shoujo series and told me to choose one. I read manga because of a lot of things, but mostly because it’s something that will entertain me, bring me away from the real world for a bit, and because shounen manga plotlines usually have the fantastic/epic/impossible themes that I so love in my fiction. If I want to indulge in my escapism urges, I don’t want to read something that’ll remind me of my own lack of a rosy love life. I get easily envious and I wonder why springtime of youth scenarios never happen in real life – most specifically to me.
Also, kickass art of boys >>> flowery images of girls with saucer eyes any day.
But as I said, it should depend on the situation. I regularly check out summaries of new scans at OneManga before passing judgment; if something sounds interesting enough, if the storyline doesn’t make me think of any of a huge number of shoujo tropes, then even if it’s shoujo I wouldn’t mind giving it a try. Also, what I told you about going for a shoujo series if it’s readily available and if I had the time, and if it’s well-recommended by people I trust.
I-I honestly don’t know how to answer this. There are both brilliant and horrible titles in every demographic, I’d rather judge them by their quality.
See, my favourite shoujo series are the rare ones where the romance stays on the sidelines to some extent and the girl has her own goals and dreams other than being together forever; you could argue the ~shounen spirit~ is there, too. Also, I despise the smut genre as a whole. As for stricly shounen series, I have lots of fond memories of them but got temporarily fed up with the repetitive plot devices and the only one I follow now is FMA. Now, seinen is another story. I suppose it’s the closest to what I look for in books, which should probably sway my vote but hnnngh, I love my shoujo too.
…Also, I think I may have lost my fujoshi goggles somewhere along the way, if I ever had proper ones in the first place. :< In any case, I SHIP IT!!11 wouldn't be enough for me to pick up a shounen series.
So, um. I'll think about it some more but I have a feeling that no matter what I vote for, I'll immediately regret the choice. |D
Man, I am very picky with shoujo.
I have at least one different reason though than most. I do not like the fru-fru shoujo art style, itself. Boys have the same semi-short, semi-messy, black vs blonde hairstyle with the ginormous eyes.
Some of the “girl fanservice” is a bit ridiculous too. I do not find the appeal of sparkly flowers as the guy sparkles in the sunlight by the school window very often.
And the heroines…just feel so fake. There are a few that I enjoyed (such as the main lead for Skip Beat!, one of the few shoujos I really love) but there is nothing likable for most of them.
For shonen, I like the twists and the plots and the fact that feelings are affected by more than just LOVE. Thats what I think bugs me about shoujo. EVERYTHING IS REVOLVED AROUND LOVE.
I like my lovey dovey too but sometimes, I want more than that. 8(
Plus guys look nicer in shonen manga what.
It’s not a shoujo or shounen thing for me. It’s more of a interesting omg shiny art do want thing. I didn’t think I’ll like R&J or ParaKiss or VK but I did, hopelessly into them despite the shoujo meh D:
i haven’t changed.. i still read 98% shoujo manga… although the volume has gone down.
i like the fluff.. but most of what i read lately are by authors that are pretty much established for me. authors that have a slightly different ‘voice’ or some of them have a career track that goes along with the main plot which they work out.. there’s still some long, epic stuff (like please save my earth, which is old, i know, but whatevs; i can re-read that series so many times), some of which are still hilarious for me (i still love tcp and, yes, i’m still following skip beat!)…
a lot of shoujo manga may have a similar overall theme between titles. a lot of the shounen manga i’ve picked up have a lot of the same, repetitive stuff within the same story… and they run for volumes upon volumes. maybe i just haven’t found a shounen series that i can read past 10 volumes (except for maybe one or two).
to each their own. XD
I happen to actually love romance, and romantic stories. …But I hate most shoujo, *especially* the love stories. They’re often written with stereotypical, trite plots; stories that imply women are all fangirls and bubbly and sparkly and moody and superficial and ARGH! My least favorite kind of female character, with no spine or backbone when it comes to the boy she inexplicably LOVES just because he’s cute, or kinda maybe nice to her.
I prefer shounen, frankly, because it’s often written better. More diverse plots, and the females that *do* appear are stronger, and more intelligent. And the men? WAY SEXIER. There is no comparison.
I replyed yes because I’ve only considered the worst case scenario: if you ask me to choose between a really bad shoujo (=for very young girls, full of pink and flowers and huge eyes and highly improbable story)
and a really bad shounen (=for very young boys, full of repetitive battles and set in a completely unoriginal world of fantasy), I would pick the shoujo, because I get more curious about which boy the girl decides to choose rather than whatever type of quest a shounen title would present.
As for seinen, if the choice is between the really bad shoujo from above and a really bad seinen (=blood and violence and unmotivated hatred/angst in a believable but not quite interesting mysterious future setting) I’d still choose the girl who has a harem to choose from u_u.
Then my own personal experience (i.e. maybe it’s different for others) taught me it’s easier to find a compelling shounen title than a compelling shoujo one. And some seinen are definitely worth a thousand movie material, while on the shoujo side I can only save with eyes closed my beloved Takaya-sensei…
But I think I should give my answer with that first scenario u_u.
I generally dislike shojo manga. There are a few exceptions to this rule (do you count josei as shojo? I like quite a few josei series, esp. Umino Chika’s manga), but I much prefer shonen and seinen.
The problem is, I don’t like reading about romance. I like adventures, mysteries, humor and the likes. If the shojo offers good humor, sure, why not, I will read it. But if it’s just a love story/drama? Thanks, I’ll pass. I especially dislike massive amounts of drama, which is why I couldn’t stand Nana in the long run, even though I value Ai Yazawa’s art and humor rather highly.
Art is another thing. I hate anorectic boys. I much prefer reading about adult men that look like, well, adult men; see Urasawa Naoki for what I mean. As for girls, eyes like two soup plates are a big fat NO. I rather liked Yoshizumi Wataru’s Mint na Bokura but the art irked me and stopped me from reading anything else by that mangaka.
So, yeah. Not a shojo person.
brain a little too fried and will comment better later but i do think our minds are wired (at least a little, probably a lot) differently from japanese girls.
i… honestly can’t answer this. i pick up titles based on how interesting i find the premise, so when i’m faced with two equally intriguing titles, i can’t say which one i’ll pick up first.
it will depend on a lot of things, i guess? like artwork and general novelty. if the boy in the shounen cover is prettier than the boy in the shoujo cover, for example, i might choose that XD otherwise, i don’t find myself gravitating toward a specific genre.
mmh, i just find relationships and stuff like that kind of boring :’D i can’t relate to the mary sueish characters either and the humor-if-any in shoujo is kind of….
i used to be mostly into shounen but it gets kinda repetitive after a while! i like seinen best because i think it can get really creative, and you can find a lot of the odd/artsy stuff in that genre. i’ll read anything though! i have moments where i’ll get all excited over an epic shonen power jesus moment or squee at bishounen or something. :B hmm but yeah, it’s mostly art and humor that do it for me
I’m a sucker for romance and chick lit so it’s only natural for me to go for shoujomanga. And yes, khursten, even if you think I’m the queen of smut, I do enjoy reading innocent, romantic stories too.
RELEVANT TO INTERESTS!
For your poll question, no, I personally would not pick shojo manga over shonen. However, shojo manga still occupies a huge space in my
kokoro eien niheart (blame CLAMP) even without the bl. Most of my female friends would rather read shojo manga, some read shojo manga pretty much exclusively.… I actually had a really long comment typed out on my current reading list and my shojo manga reading habits then figured it was too incoherent to post. orz *will comment properly later*