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SHOUJO ANIME

Reviews of Shoujo anime titles #2

Introduction

Shoujo anime is formally defined as anime adapted from shoujo manga - that is manga written for magazines aimed at girls and young women. In general this nowadays means manga that is also written and drawn by women. Obviously, such anime has some female orientation, but it would be over-simplifying matters to label it as female anime, since men are likely to be involved in anime productions.
It should also be borne in mind that some popular manga created by a woman (eg RANMA 1/2) is not regarded as shoujo manga since it was aimed principally at boys and published in a boys' magazine. Also, for similar reasons, ORANGE ROAD, though it treats strong female characters sympathetically, is not regarded as shoujo. Anyway, we believe that Izumo Matsumoto is male. For those interested in such matters, there is a lively shoujo mailing list on the Internet. (to join, use Mailing Lists, and pick the Shoujo ML.
The "flowers" cliche has become associated with shoujo in fans' minds. Yes, but not all shoujo anime is like that...