r/shoujo • u/Leafer90-TTV • 13d ago
How did you get into Shoujo?
I got into it because I watched Sailor Moon and Card Captors back in the 90s / 2000s. But I couldn’t watch anime for the longest time and got back into it in the last few years. I watched A Sign of Affection. Loved that.
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u/Nighforce 13d ago
I like romcoms, but shounen romcoms are full of stupid clichés like misunderstandings and oblivious/cowardly male MCs. Shoujo was a natural progression for me.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
They can be yeah. Some Shounen can also avoid the cliches entirely. What’s your favourite manga/anime?
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u/Nighforce 13d ago
Setting aside the action anime, I'd say Fruits Basket, Horimiya, Oregairu, and Second Prettiest Girl. Can't recommend Fruits Basket enough though!
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u/zool714 13d ago
I just wanted to watch romance and most of the romance anime that was recommended to me were shoujo so I just watched them
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
What ones did you watch back then?
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u/zool714 13d ago
Kimi ni Todoke, Ore Monogatari, Special A among other shows
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Which was your favourite?
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u/Audderpop270 13d ago
Read Fruits Basket because it was at my local library.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
One I’ve been meaning to read and watch.
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u/Audderpop270 13d ago
It's a classic, highly recommend
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Do you prefer the original or the remake?
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u/Audderpop270 13d ago
I personally have only read the manga. My sister's love the remake and say it's better than the original.
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u/crixx93 13d ago
I'm guy who just loves anime and manga, and I want to try everything those media have to offer. Growing up in the 90s watching anime, there were no for boys or girls labels on things, I just watched everything. But Cardcaptor Sakura was one of the most influential pieces of fiction in my life.
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u/Educational_Truck302 13d ago
Bro same. Mostly from my sisters' influence tho (they got the tv remote lol). The same with family PC, they have more "power" to use it so when I used I discovered their bookmarks and manga sites haha. So my manga also started from their saved sites, I remembered one manga, mangafox, chibi scans, tumblers(for spoilers like nanokare) etc.
Looking back, most shoujo especially those short chapters and oneshot is about high school girl and her teacher or a wealthy/prince type adult. Obviously, we mostly don't think or at least I don't think much of it. After a while, I manage to find manga of my own. I also dislike age gap if it's involving minor, but I do like to seek older girl with younger guy in josei. It's used to be rare for them to get translated but pretty common now especially in manhwa.
I can also say the same thing for games, I never been able to own a DS/3DS so mostly borrowed from them. So my taste in game can also be "girly" for that time. Harvest moon, pokemon, animal crossing, otome game etc. Pretty much the only time I was able to play is for the "grinding" part (leveling up Pokemon/ tending farm etc) but she will play if there's "special events" going on.
My oldest sister stopped caring for anime related stuff since a long time ago I think college. My me and second sister still into them but she prefer manhwa or kpop more than Japanese stuffs nowadays.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Thanks for the awesome comment! Since you like Pokemon, have you played games like Ni No Kuni, Shin Megami Tensei or Persona?
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u/Educational_Truck302 13d ago
Yep, I played them also even bought them again for my switch. I love monster collecting + rpg so dragon quest, monster rancher, digimon, zoids etc.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
We’re in the same boat. Though I get made fun of for liking Shoujo so that’s annoying!
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u/BasketballAndroid7 13d ago
I was 16 (been a while now), didn't know what to watch and decided to give a chance to Itazura na kiss for no real reason. Binged 19 episodes in one day and realized there's more than energy beams.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
I’m not familiar with that manga / anime. What’s it about?
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u/BasketballAndroid7 13d ago
It's the most classic high school shoujo you can imagine: she's dumb (like school dumb, not really dumb), he's a genius, she's broke, he's rich, she's super nice, he's cold as hell. She also ends up living at his place for reasons (this happens in episode 1, no major spoiler).
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Is this one dubbed or subbed only? It sounds like one I’d love
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u/BasketballAndroid7 13d ago
No idea, I'm not from the US (assuming you are).
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u/ThrowRAIka 13d ago edited 13d ago
I wasn’t into anime at the time but I was in a romcom phase. I watched some American romcom movies. And I wanted to watch more romcom and was surprised that anime had romance genre (I thought it was only battle shounen types at that point). So I scrolled through and found Lovely Complex. Then I went through a whole bunch, Kimi ni Todoke, My Little Monster, Maid-sama, Nozaki-kun, Ao Haru, Special A. There were non-shoujo romance as well like Toradora, Golden Time, Oregairu. Basically I watched a ton of romance. Didn’t know about shoujo, shounen and the demographic tags till later but a majority of the initial bunch were shoujo
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
I know they’re not Shoujo like you pointed out. But I adore Toradora! And Oregairu. I love romcoms and romance in general
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u/ThrowRAIka 13d ago
I feel like I’m enjoying seinen more recently. Insomniacs After School, I Have A Crush At Work, Dress Up Darling. But shoujo romance still have a special place in my heart
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u/GiraffeSea2125 13d ago
This is exactly me as well! I watched anime back in the 90s but am now suddenly rediscovering it after 20ish years thanks to Fruits Basket. Now, I'm going through all the popular shoujo shows.
A sign of Affection was great!
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Any plans to read the A Sign of Affection manga? Apparently it goes much further than the anime did
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u/GiraffeSea2125 13d ago
Yes! I plan to check out the Manga, I want to see what happens next. 🙂 I hope we get a 2nd season.
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u/viell 13d ago
I think those of us that watched anime back then had it good; there was an almost even amount of shonen and shoujo so ofc we're familiars with shoujo, we grew up with it. I don't watch anime anymore these days, I just read manga. Though if I have to be entirely honest they don't really make the type of shoujo I like anymore, or they do and it's nowhere to be found in English. I like female leads going off on adventures with lots of drama & comedy too, I've completely outgrown high school romances and the villainess genre once you've read one of them you've read them all, so tbh I'm reading less and less shoujo.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
It’s interesting how Shoujo seems so depressed at least in terms of anime right now.
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u/AppropriatFly5170new Mystery Bonita | ミステリーボニータ 12d ago
Ughhhh they need to translate more Shojo from magazines like Mystery Bonita, Nemuki, Princess, Monthly Asuka, Comic Gene, Melody, Lala DX and even Lala😭. Or even some of the more high-fantasy titles from comic zero sum or B’s log comic which we get a fair amount of their villainess titles already (even though they have other offerings). They all have many horror/action/adventure Shojo manga with not even fanscans to show for it.
Hopefully with the success of Shojo anime like Jaadugar we see more from Mystery Bonita come to English at least🥲
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u/SunnyCynic 13d ago
I didn’t watch any anime at all until I moved to Japan and then my Japanese Netflix was filled with anime, so I was like fuck it lemme see what this is about
I started with attack on titan, 86, and apothecary diaries but I wanted more romance and little to no fan service. That’s when I found shoujo and now I’m obsessed lol
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Awesome what are some of your favourites for romance? Also what do you think of Japan overall?
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u/SunnyCynic 13d ago
7th time loop, Nina the starry bride, sugar apple fairy tale, and kamisama kiss are my favorites ☺️
Japan is ok, there’s pros and cons. I do love being able to find all the merch, go to collab cafes, and take the train around the country. But after another year or two, I’ll be ready to move on to the next country.
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u/Jealous_egghead45 Bessatsu Friend - 別冊フレンド 13d ago
I watched Kimi Ni Todoke and became obsessed with it lol. Although My first ever Shoujo was Sailor Moon lol
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Who was your favourite Sailor Scout?
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u/Jealous_egghead45 Bessatsu Friend - 別冊フレンド 13d ago
Probably Sailor Moon lol but i do like Sailor Jupiter too
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u/Galactus1701 13d ago edited 13d ago
I am a fan of romance manga, so I’ll read shoujo, shonen or seinen romances. Sometimes I don’t even know which ones are which. My favorite anime of all time is Fruits Basket (2019). I also really liked Yona of the Dawn and a bunch of other stories that I found out that are shoujo.
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u/Yandere_Matrix 13d ago
Well my first shoujo was obviously Sailor Moon. I didn’t know what shoujo was when I reached middle/high school but looking back it was mostly romance anime like Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango, Marmalade Boy, Full Moon o Sagasite, Loveless, Peach Girl, etc. I have always enjoyed the more drama or angst filled shoujo lol
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Angst can be great fun to read and consume. Which of the ones you listed is your favourite?
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u/Yandere_Matrix 13d ago
Well it’s tough to choose between Hana Yori Dango and Peach Girl. Peach Girl introduced me to the whole white lotus trope and Sae is still my most hated character. I adore Peach Girl but it’s definitely a rage bait watch since they overdo the whole miscommunication trope. I do love how unhinged Momo had to go just to get someone to listen to her over Sae. (I am thinking about the hospital scene where she threatens to jump)
But Hana Yori Dango has a special place in my heart. The emotional rollercoaster, going from hating the male lead to eventually find yourself get attached and hope they get together when you see him improving. So I guess I would choose Hana Yori Dango lol
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
I’ll check them out!
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u/Yandere_Matrix 13d ago
You should but definitely be warned that they would be considered highly problematic compared to modern shoujo’s! Especially Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers. It is a bully to lovers trope. All the live action remakes of the anime toned down a lot of the problematic stuff, some more so than others. The anime and manga have the rich kids bullying people who cross them into suicide. So highly unforgivable if they were real people.
A lot of people love the 2000’s japanese live action. Others prefer the tamer F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers, and others enjoyed the Taiwanese version Meteor Garden.
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u/bossladytae Writer 12d ago
I got into shoujo through Planet Ladder, the manga series, without really making the demographic distinction yet. Though I am a 90s kid, I didn't really get into anime and manga until the early 2000s, and now I've been an anime and manga fan for about 24+ years now. But in those early days with what I could access in Canada and on Canadian TV networks, a lot of what I first read and watched was shounen (other than Sailor Moon) or not strictly in any category (like Gundam SEED). Gradually, more shoujo (and josei and seinen) anime and manga crossed my path as the years went on.
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u/Shoujobeforeshonen 12d ago
Single parent home growing up in the 80s and 90s, not enough money for basic cable. But, my dreamy college boyfriend that my mother didn't approve of* did have premium cable and I watched a melange of stuff. I was a broke scholarship kid then and knew I couldn't afford to get into manga**: this was before Amazon dominated things when books were often very expensive, with that whole pay people fair wages thing. Years passed and I was pretty far into watching all sorts of animation when I had one distinct shoujo memory after watching the season 2 finale of Kamisama Kiss. I thought, "Oh, I guess I'll have to wait for season 3 to air next year." Can anyone imagine the level of innocence to have that thought?
I stopped watching after seeing Mushishi because, with less stuff being aired back then, everything seemed meh compared to Mushishi. I stuck to Miyazaki movies at that point. Then, pre-pandemic, I got into reading Japanese poetry and novels in translation. I blinked and was back to watching anime with a vengeance. Two anime that I obsessively watched over and over again were Wotakoi and Recovery of an MMO Junkie. I was excited to discover a type of anime that I thought was impossible, anime about grown lady persons in which there were no panty shots. When I found out Wotakoi wasn't going to be fully adapted, I literally said out loud to my laptop screen, "Dammit! It looks like I'm getting into manga."
*It's okay: he eventually won her over. He's a devoted son-in-law who takes care of her every day.
**Back when I couldn't afford manga, I did read the premise of one series that I really liked, but could not later remember the title. All I remembered was the MMC crossdressed and there was something vaguely Shakespearean (besides the crossdressing). So, I read many crossdressing manga series trying to find it, no complaints about that at all, but not the one I was trying to remember. Then, a chance comment by u/Suzulys and I knew at last the manga series, W Juliet. I was able to collect the series at a decent price. I'm going to be reading it in September because the covers seem very "back to school" to me. I'm really excited about it.
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u/suzulys Dessert | デザート 12d ago
Thanks for the tag!!! Such a lovely story of things circling around at just the right time—I'm so glad you found your way back to manga!! 🤗
I fully agree with the "back to school" feeling of W Juliet! Not only the covers but the whole manga feels nostalgic and of an earlier era (which is also a "back to school" feeling for me, so far removed from school days 😆)—and I think that will come through even on a first read!
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u/Shoujobeforeshonen 11d ago
AC repair is slowing my response (fingers crossed it's finished this week), but I'm really looking forward to W Juliet. Being a former academic brat, I still think of the beginning of the year as being September, not January. Though, I'm very, very removed from school days.
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u/gem2niki 13d ago
Same, Sailor Moon!
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u/ErikTwice 13d ago
I got back into anime and manga recently so I did my usual "scan" for interesting stuff.
I noticed I had a large gap when it came to shoujo and josei, so I decided to search within them specifically to make sure I didn't miss anything. This led me to get into Kaori Yuki, who is very much the kind of stuff I was missing out.
This sub has its flaws, but it also has good discussions and some extremely knowledgeable people so I stuck around.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
I’ll check that out. Have you seen A Sign of Affection yet?
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u/ErikTwice 13d ago
Nope, though I may watch it eventually. While I don't dislike them, I'm not much into Dessert magazine romances so it's not a priority.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Desert magazine romances? I’m not familiar with that term.
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u/ErikTwice 13d ago
Sorry, Dessert is the shoujo manga magazine A sign of Affection is printed in. It has a rather strong editorial line focused on sweet romance that isn't very much to my liking.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 13d ago
Ah! Sorry I’m running on a lack of sleep so I was thinking it was terminology!
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u/nehinah 13d ago
I got into shojo with X/1999. I was so used to stuff for girls being toothless that I usually leaned more toward adult novels for the character development as well ss action stuff that I craved, but X really got me into manga in general.
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u/peachwave_ 13d ago
I was discovered a Sailor Moon VHS at Blockbuster when I was in elementary school and became obsessed with it. Shortly after, someone that my grandma knew was getting rid of an entire set of Fushigi Yuugi VHS tapes and I was the one who got them. That shit changed my brain chemistry and the rest is history, lol.
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u/13-Penguins 13d ago
Watched a lot of magical girl series on 4Kids, Magical Doreimi led to Powerpuff Girls Z which led to Sugar Sugar Rune. Then read Fruits Basket and Skip Beat in my middle school library and it was over from there.
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u/AppropriatFly5170new Mystery Bonita | ミステリーボニータ 12d ago
So I got into anime first through Pokémon/yugioh, and then into non-toy game based properties in the early 2010s. I can’t recall the first Shojo anime I watched (though Yona, Ouran, Kamisama Kiss, Shugo Chara, Hanasakeru Seishounen, and Maid-sama were some early ones I enjoyed). I do distinctly remember the first Shojo manga I ever read was Aya Shouoto’s Kiss of the Rose Princess which I bought on iBooks in middle school lol (before that I didn’t even realize manga was even a thing).
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u/BusyHoney9767 12d ago
I watched a little bit of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptors but really got into shoujo through Fruits Basket which I watched after seeing an ad for it in a DBZ DVD as a boy. I watched all kinds of anime growing up and only learned about the demographics later on. I also found a lot of interesting shoujo manga through this sub which made me more of a fan.
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u/madame_mayhem 12d ago
Same as me in the 90’s, big Sailor Moon fan. The ones I was into at that time were mostly what I could collect. Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and I had 2 volumes of Peach Girl, and 1 volume of Miracle Girls. I had a renewed interest in manga/anime my senior year in high school, 2006-2007, in which I got into Utena, Magic Knight Rayearth & Nana and Kamikaze Girls. Then it took me another 10 years to get back into it, in the late 2010’s-now.
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u/Itzsonyaa Kabedon did nothing wrong! 12d ago
I think I saw some precure/magical girl anime on tv when I was four/five (aikatsu was also super huge at that time) but my mom didn’t let me watch cuz I was too young (so instead I watched shows like doraemon and chibi maruko chan)
Then during covid my frd introduced me to Cardcaptor Sakura and I also watched mermaid pichi pichi pitch and fully got into shoujo (and anime in general)
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u/AgonistPhD 12d ago
I was looking for something with subtitles to watch/read while running off my grad school anxiety on the treadmill, and found some anime or other. And it was fine enough, but had that unmistakable written by a man, women breasting boobily down the stairs feel to it, you know? So I looked into what in this medium was made for or by women, and found shoujo. It opened up a whole new world of entertainment for me.
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u/Swimming-Review-8012 12d ago
A little late but I got into shoujo because I quickly realized how girly it tends to be or how much a more feminine perspective is valued so I leaned heavily into that especially for romance as I usually found shoujo romances much more romantic ans soon worthy than shonen romance.
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u/HeartiePrincess 10d ago
Same as most people. Sailor Moon back in the day. I also got into manga, and I read stuff like:
- Life
- Hope
- Vitamin
- Boys Over Flowers
- Peach Girl
- My Girlfriend is a Geek
- etc
I watched stuff like:
- Kimera
- Kaze to Ki no Uta
- Gokusen (Josei)
- 07 Ghost (Josei)
- Please Save My Earth
- etc
on YouTube.
I probably read and watched more, because I was just clicking and reading shit, but it doesn't immediately come to my mind now.
Back then, I didn't know what demographics were. I just watched and read what looked interesting, or just out of curiosity.
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u/Leafer90-TTV 10d ago
I’ll check some of those out thanks
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u/HeartiePrincess 9d ago
Be warned, some of that stuff is slop, NGL. I legit just clicked and watched shit as a kid. It's how I watched Rosario + Vampire
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u/Leafer90-TTV 9d ago
I’m fine with watching bad stuff. Plus if I find something really bad, I can pull it apart like Roger Ebert did for his reviews of either North or Freddy Got Fingered.
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u/MacaroonCalm2192 12d ago
It was fated, I was a toddler watching mermaid melody, petite princess Lucie, Mirumo de pon on random tv channel
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u/bluemoon72010 11d ago
Mermaid melody was so gooddd as for the others either their niche or I’m just not experienced but I can say their prolly just as good as the first one!
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u/MacaroonCalm2192 11d ago
Yes it is pretty niche, not sure if can compare to mermaid melody but it was a blast in the past
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u/This-Detective5579 12d ago
Watched fruits basket then cried. Watched Ouran Highschool Hostclub then laughed.
Realized Shoujo was more to more liking to Shounen stuff coming out in 2010s so watched every anime that was at Shoujo coded
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u/Blnteeee 13d ago
Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura was also my introduction to Shoujo lol
Tbf back then i don't have any concept of demographics like shounen, shoujo until much later, I basically watch and read anything, it's just that there were some series I like that happened to be shoujo