Comments on: Female friendship in shōjo manga

By: Ciarda

Ciarda — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:38:20 +0000

Fushigi Yuugi. Although Yui does go bad, it’s not really about romantic rivalry, but that Yui thought she would lose her bond to Miaka when she fell in love with Tamahome. Miaka stays intensely loyal to Yui and keeps trying to reach and rescue her- finally suceeding, in part 2 Yui repays this friendship by standing up to those that threatened Miaka’s life. You also have the bond Subaru feels toward both her former miko Suzano and to Miaka. In Watase’s Ayashi no Ceres there are several central female friendships that until the final arc do play a role in the story.

By: Friendship in shojo anime and manga « Shojo Corner

Friendship in shojo anime and manga « Shojo Corner — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:07:09 +0000

[…] and manga I thought were well-portrayed or could really relate to. And after reading an interesting article on friendships in shojo; I decided to write about the manga friendships that have affected me […]

By: Two series by Hidaka Banri :: Joy Kim

Two series by Hidaka Banri :: Joy Kim — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:56:40 +0000

[…] work had been on my to-read list for a while anyway, but last month’s discussion of female friendship in shōjo manga inspired me to track them down sooner rather than […]

By: Oyce

Oyce — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:34:31 +0000

@Joy – Very agreed about shoujo and friendship vs. romantic rivalry. I wonder how many series there are in which the women start out as rivals and then end up becoming friends instead? I feel like I can list a few, but they’re very rare (in all genres and media, not just shoujo manga, alas).

Yeah, I have Sand Chronicles in my head as a potential series for a great friendship, and I’m really hoping that the mangaka takes more time to show Ann and Shika’s relationship sans romantic entanglements.

Good point re: Her Majesty’s Dog! I wouldn’t include it because I’m unsatisfied with where the mangaka ends up going with the story… I really like Amane’s relationship with Takako in the beginning, but sadly, like many manga, it gets shafted a bit for the romance and for other plot stuff. I think Takeuchi tries to put it back in in later volumes, but it’s not always successful.

By: Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:33:10 +0000

@joy – Oh, I agree with you about Crimson Hero. I find the team/volleyball action far more interesting than when Nobara angsts about boys! :)

@Oyce – You’re right; the rivals in High School Debut *do* get more screentime than the friends, and that’s a shame.

By: Lettering, inking, and screentones « MangaBlog

Lettering, inking, and screentones « MangaBlog — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:06:51 +0000

[…] Joy Kim’s footsteps, Oyceter lists some manga that feature female […]

By: Joey C.

Joey C. — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:42:51 +0000

I didn’t see any of the Twitter posts, so I don’t know if Card Captor Sakura was mentioned? Even when the series started to focus on Sakura and Syaoran, Tomoyo was there cheering them on. There was also Sakura’s trio of friends. I think it’s one of the most friendshippy shoujo series I’ve got on my shelf.

By: What I’m Reading: Ouran High School Host Club, vol. 13 :: Joy Kim

What I’m Reading: Ouran High School Host Club, vol. 13 :: Joy Kim — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:11:40 +0000

[…] friendship is exactly the sort of interaction I wish the series had more of. As I’ve remarked elsewhere lately, I love Ouran despite the fact that there are so few important female […]

By: Joy

Joy — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:07:10 +0000

@Oyce – One reason I originally framed the discussion within the shōjo genre is that the genre’s conventions so often seem, to borrow your words, to pit women against each other. It’s like relationships are this zero-sum game for women; they can have romance or friendship, but not really both.

Ouran is one of my exceptions; I love it a lot even though it is such a reverse harem series. I was so glad when Mei turned up; I just wished she had appeared earlier! (How far are you? I don’t want to spoil you?)

My feelings on Sand Chronicles are similar to yours. Though I wouldn’t put it on a list of series celebrating female friendship–family is really the theme that balances out romance in Sand Chronicles and makes it so appealing–I think Shika’s characterization had enough layers to avoid some of the usual traps. I can’t be quite as charitable about the depiction of the other girl who like Daigo, though at least that is more peripheral to the main plot.

I almost want to put Land of the Blindfolded on the list because I really liked Kanade’s friendship with Eri. I was still left wishing, though, that Eri had a slightly bigger role in the story.

I don’t remember Her Majesty’s Dog very well–it’s been so long since I read it!–but wouldn’t that qualify?

By: Oyce

Oyce — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:36:10 +0000

I swear, I will stop commenting soon! But I also like Chmakova's Dramacon and (so far) Nightschool for their relationships between women. I particularly love that the primary plot of Nightschool is driven not by romance or guys or whatnot, but by sisterhood.