Not a genre but actually a demographic. Refers to anime based on manga that was originally serialized in a magazine targeting girls of any age. American fans seem to often be confused and classify any show that has romance and/or major female main characters as shoujo-- this is wrong.
Anime based on manga targeting young women would be called josei. (though very little of the manga targetting young women gets made into anime-- the only ones I can think of are Ebichu and Momoiro Sisters.)
Self-explanatory. In addition to having a romance, there should be humor too, often directly tied to the romance story. Love Hina, Aa! Megami-sama! OVA, Chobits, and TONS more titles all fall under this genre.
| Title | Rating | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| F | ||
 Fruits Basket |
Buy |
Tooru Honda is a 16-year old girl living in a tent in the nearby mountain woods. Her father died when she was very young and her mother had just recently died in a car accident. Not wanting to put her grandfather (on her father's side) out while his house is being renovated, she told him she would stay with friends so no one knows she's living in a tent. In the meantime, she goes to school and works her part-time job on a cleaning crew so that she can pay her high school tuition (in Japan, high school is like college in the US). |
| Furuba | Buy | See Fruits Basket |
| Furuutsu Basuketo | Buy | See Fruits Basket |
| M | ||
 Marmalade Boy |
Rent |
Marmalade Boy begins when Miki Koishikawa's parents decided to go to Hawaii. They fell in love again with another couple by the name of "Matsuura" and decided to exchange partners with them. Miki was informed by her parents that they would be getting a divorce and marry again. She also learned that the couple her parents were intending to exchange partners with had a son named Yuu Matsuura. Now, not only does Miki have to deal with two sets of parents but her sudden feelings for Yuu... (Synopsis is provided courtesy of momoko8@geocities.co |
| U | ||
| Ultra Maniac | Buy | See Ultra Maniac TV |
 Ultra Maniac TV |
Buy | Nina Sakura is a girl from a realm known as the Magic Kingdom. Here, magic is the norm, but sadly, Nina isn't very good with magic. So her grandfather arranges for her to come to Earth (and specifically Japan) to study and to try to improve her magic skills. Here she befriends the very popular Ayu Tatesishi whom she soon reveals her secret identity to, that of a magic girl. Together with fellow (male) friends and classmates Kaji-kun and Tsujia-kun, this foursome embarks on a year of adventure, fun, study, and even romance at their middle school. All the while, Nina must contend with fellow magic girl Maya on a quest to collect the five magical 'Holy Stones'. |
| フルーツ バスケト | Buy | See Fruits Basket |
| ママレード・ボーイ | Rent | See Marmalade Boy |
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