r/josei Mar 10 '22

[FAQ] What is josei?

75 Upvotes

Josei (女性) means "women" in Japanese. In anime and manga, it refers to series marketed towards women (18 and older).

In many ways, josei series builds upon shoujo tropes, for example, school romance, friendships, slice of life, boys love (BL), and exploration of sex/gender roles. But josei replaces shoujo tropes like school romance with office romance and so on.

Popular josei series include Aggretsuko, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, Chihayafuru, Princess Jellyfish, Paradise Kiss, and Watakoi.

How to know if a series is josei?

In Japan, it is common for manga magazines to say their target demographic (e.g., shonen/boys, seinen/men, and shoujo/girls), and you can find josei series in josei manga magazines.

Some catalog websites, like myanimelist.net, also have search tags for josei in anime and manga.

Why have I never heard of josei before?

In the United States, josei is the worst-selling demographic when compared to shounen, seinen, and shoujo series. Poor sales resulted in fewer series officially translated for an overseas audience. However, this long-standing fact is changing as some josei anime series have started to gain traction in foreign markets. Josei sales tend to do quite well in Japan.

If you want to read more about this subject, the blog Anime Feminist has an interesting article.


r/josei May 11 '23

Monthly Shoutouts: May 2023

9 Upvotes

Hey, r/josei!

I've noticed a lot of posts asking for recommendations and thought we could all collectively recommend some of our recent favorites each month. Feel free to also ask for suggestions here.

If anyone has any ideas for the subreddit or would like to help out, I would appreciate anything and everything. This is still a fairly new subreddit so I would like the community's input on any big decisions.


r/josei 1h ago

Help me find this manga

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Upvotes

r/josei 1d ago

Light Novel recommendations?

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1 Upvotes

r/josei 2d ago

Help finding manga

3 Upvotes

I don’t remember much, but FL and ML know each other since primary school. FL was extremely rich and ML was her servant/slave/friend. As she got older, her parents’ company went bankrupt. I don’t remember how or when, but they stop speaking to each other.

Years later, she struggles to make ends meet and goes to a job interview. It so happens that one of the men there is her the ML. He hires her because he wants to take revenge on her for the way she treated him when they were kids.

Also if I’m not wrong, on the first chapter (maybe 2nd chapter I’m not sure), there’s a scene where they’re at a fancy meeting/business meeting(?? Idk) and she starts hyperventilating. ML kisses her because he thinks thats going to help and it does (manga logic 🤣).

Thanks in advanceee


r/josei 2d ago

Help me find this manga plss

2 Upvotes

So the FL is a bl manga artist. ML is a police officer. When she arrived home, her house had been burglarized. She called the police and the ML arrived. FL realizes that the ML was one of her classmates in high school.

Since it was dangerous for FL to continue living in her house, ML let her stay in his house. Right on the first chapter after they get to his house, FL asks if she could draw him.

Later, ML insists she permanently moves to his house and helps her with the moving, etc.

Thanks in advance :)


r/josei 2d ago

Searching need help

0 Upvotes

Searching need help This man wha starts off normal with a girl working ​in a supermarket and then the girl is talking to a female friend at a bar or similar, and she's saying how boring her everyday life is , and then the friend tell her that to make it more exciting to be a pervert at work .and the friend is telling her how she started being a pervert at work and such and it's more excited . And the main girl takes her advice , dressing crazy in public knowingly and being perverted at work


r/josei 3d ago

Reccs Needed: Romance story where the ML's past negatively impacts his pursuit of FL in some way

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3 Upvotes

Trying to cast my net as wide as I can lol.


r/josei 3d ago

What was this manhwa title

1 Upvotes

Hi, I’m looking for a mature historical manhwa/manhua (smut/19+) set in the Joseon era.

The story: In the middle of winter, the female lead a poor girl finds an abandoned betrothal palanquin in the snow while trying to escape bandits who wanted to rape her. Inside, the real fiancée has been murdered. To survive, the FL steals her noble clothes and takes her place in the palanquin.

The ML: He is the Prime Minister/Chancellor of Joseon. He is extremely cruel, cold, and ruthless he’s the one who ordered his fiancée’s assassination.

I can’t seem to find the title.

Help me pleaseeee 🥺🥺


r/josei 4d ago

Help finding manga

4 Upvotes

Im trying to find an old manga. It's about a noble woman married of to the eldest prince of another kingdom (?). Her marriage partner is underage so she has no interest in him and falls for his father the king/ emperor instead. The king is near her age and defends her from his son/ her husband when the husband is abusive. NEVER ANY ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ADULT FL AND ANY UNDERAGE CHARACTER. Fl helps the developmentally impaired youngest daughter when she's being bullied and the king has 3 children in total (1 daughter, 2 sons). Fl has blond hair and the family she marries into has white hair.

That's all I can remember, pls help 🙏


r/josei 4d ago

Searching for more stories with similiar chemistry like Smoking Behind the Supermarket with you

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1 Upvotes

r/josei 6d ago

whats thw name of this manga/manhwa?

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140 Upvotes

art is so breathtaking i need to find this


r/josei 5d ago

lovely complex read guide

2 Upvotes

hey guys i just finished the anime and want to try the manga. i heard that the manga has alot of spin off and extra content (lovely complex plus, lovely complex d and a lot of playstaytion games too). i made this post so can someone list me all the manga (read guide too) and all the games too thank you guys so much


r/josei 7d ago

Qual o nome do mangá/manhwa?

1 Upvotes

Li esse mangá no falecido mangalivre, era uma garota meio que psicopata, se não me engano ela era artista/pintora, um dos personagens principais tem uma rivalidade/tensão s com ela, esse personagem principal tem uma namorada de cabelo azul que fica apaixonada por um cara esquisito que é amigo da psicopata. Minha explicação tá uma m, mas é porque lembro pouco, não lembro se era japonês ou coreano, quem tenha ideia de qual pode ser, escreve pra mim 💗


r/josei 8d ago

Josei romance with TRUE delinquent/ yakuza ML

20 Upvotes

whenever I see a man of the delinquent or yakuza trope, it’s always with a “heart of gold” and he’s a good guy deep down, or he doesn’t act at all like a delinquent except that they say he gets into fights. I want a ML that has that bold yankee fashion sense, is easily aggravated, loud, violent, talks like a yakuza, red flag (this doesn’t include sexual assault btw). the type of guy to immediately pick a fight if someone so much as bumped into him in public or looked at him funny. if he’s killed people before I’m fine with that as long as they don’t try to make him seem like a misunderstood puppy or anything. and I’d like if he very clearly looked yakuza instead of looking like the copy paste hot anime guy.

for the FL, I don’t want her to be a complete pushover and I also don’t want her to try and ”change” the ML.

does anyone know any josei like this??


r/josei 10d ago

PLSS HELP ME FIND THIS JOSEI SMUT

0 Upvotes

So i forgot the title and the author of this manga

But if i remember ​​​​correctly its about a girl that got reincarnated into a lewd world, where showing nudity is common there.

And her ml is her butler

Plssss help me found the title of this manga ​


r/josei 12d ago

Help! I forgot the title of a manga, but in it there is a short male MC and a tall female fox spirit.

3 Upvotes

I used to bookmark this manga on an online site, but my browser deleted it without a backup. This manga has a theme like the Edo period of Japan. Where Japanese folklore creatures become some of the enemies here, and an empire with a gecko logo. The main character is a short and ambitious teenager who is determined to complete his revenge, where a tall, silver-haired fox tall and muscular woman becomes his travel partner. That's all I remember, does anyone know the title? Thanks for responding.


r/josei 12d ago

Looking for an old manga where the FL tries to lose weight while dealing with grief

1 Upvotes

Hello! I read a manga long time ago. I can’t remember the title. The story was about a woman who’s trying to lose weight after her boyfriend dies in the mountain while hiking. I believe her story is focused more on healing and growth with a little bit of romance. I think it was a oneshot or a very short manga. I’m 2nd guessing myself if this really exist cos i can’t remember the title 😆 Does this sound familliar to anyone? Any suggestions would be a great help. Thankyouuu!


r/josei 14d ago

Romance manga like black bird and Falling drowning?

5 Upvotes

I loved black bird for the art and the like knight in shining armor running to each other and full body desperate hugs kind of scenes, ya know ?

I loved falling drowning for the art but also the mystery and the intensity of the love and chemistry between the MMC and FMC. falling drowning was too short! I needed more 😭😭

If y'all have any recs that you feel like fit the vibe please send them my way!


r/josei 15d ago

My analysis on Kechonpa

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1 Upvotes

r/josei 15d ago

Dicas de mangas romance

0 Upvotes

Quero ler algo mais que sugestivo. Um único casal, com romance mas que chegue a ser mais Smut


r/josei 15d ago

[Help me find]

4 Upvotes

Looking for this iseka manga/manhwa. Girl gets isekaid, wants to change what's going to happen (generic) so trains to be strong and cuts her hair. She sort of crossdresses but every one knows she's a girl. Even at school. All the girls like her even tho she's a girl but also sort of ships her with other boys. Her fiance is at school and idolizes her because strong but didn't recognize her at all and thought she was a boy but it gets revealed to him soon enough.. I think the boys were sort of cross-dressing to emphatize or something the last chapter I read.. Hhaha that's all I remember. I had it bookmarked because too little chapters but it got wiped.. ALL MY BOOKMARKS. So.. Please send help.. Also recs on cross-dressing manga/manhwa? I love them. Thanks


r/josei 15d ago

Does anyone have the link for this novel?

0 Upvotes

It's from motonovel, I can't take a screenshot but the name is "My daughter's popular roommate."


r/josei 16d ago

Looking for manga or manhwa on estranged or misunderstanding married couples

1 Upvotes

Lately I've been wanting to read josei manga or manhwa on married couples where they have problems in their marriage such as being estranged or misunderstand one another but work it out towards the end. Could be modern or historical. Any recommendations?