What this genre is
Manga for adult women, born as shojo readers grew up. It drew love, marriage and work with a plain realism, and led on to the josei manga of later decades.
Shojo & Josei — about this band: The expressive revolution of the Year 24 Group: interiority, romance, BL, josei.
Connections
Three kinds of line: direct evolution, influence, and born in reaction against.
↓ Flowed into this
↑ Grew out of this
Key works
Love, dreams and friendship between two women who share the name Nana. A landmark of josei manga, with a charismatic following built on music and life-sized youth.
The unrequited loves and youth of art-college students, drawn freshly. Its balance of ache and humour is where the author's later work begins.
A classical-music romantic comedy between the unruly pianist Nodame and Chiaki, who wants to conduct. Set in a music college, it drove a boom in classical music.
An alternate history in which the roles of the sexes are reversed and the shogun is a woman. Widely praised for its careful period research and its thinking about gender.
The love lives and the panic of women around thirty, drawn severely and comically at once. Life-sized recognition won it an overwhelming female readership.
Shojo & Josei — walk the band
Genres in the same band, in order of year. You are at the highlighted one.
- 1953 Early Shojo↓
- 1958 1960s Shojo↓
- 1972 Year 24 Group↓
- 1972 Epic Shojo Romance↓
- 1978 Boys' Love↓
- 1980 Ladies' Comics（you are here）↓
- 1986 Shojo Horror↓
- 1992 Magical Girl Warriors
All genres
About this entry
Genre boundaries are drawn where the network of manga happens to concentrate, not by decree. Years are approximate. Where opinions differ, this page says so rather than picking a winner.