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Best shoujo anime aren’t always high-school romances. They often explore multiple genres, offering stories that go beyond the scope of typical teenage love. Anime like Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen, Dragon Ball Z, and many more have the baton for being the signature anime for the industry; they are what many call ‘shonen’ anime.
However, other genres have good shows. One highly overlooked genre is the ‘shoujo’ genre in anime and manga. It gets ignored often because of its cutesy vibes and girly undertones. Shoujo means ‘girl’ anime and is mainly aimed at teenage girls and young adult women.
These anime and manga almost always have female characters as their lead and are mostly centered around romance. They also sometimes have mystery, action, and fantasy blended into them. Here are some perfect shoujo romance anime to watch, ranked per their IMDb ratings.
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1. Fruits Basket
- Streaming On: Prime Video, Netflix
- IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
- Director: Yoshihide Ibata
Plot: Fruits Basket is a romance shoujo anime with fantasy elements that had its manga run from 1998 to 2006. It was initially turned into an anime in 2001 but was rebooted later in 2019. The reboot had three seasons.
Fruits Basket follows the story of Tohru Honda, an orphaned girl who has trouble finding a place to live. She starts living in a tent in a nearby forest to avoid becoming homeless. Fortunately, she gets offered a place to stay by her classmate Yuki Sohma at his family’s main house. But she has to live there with 12 men from the Sohma clan.
2. Ouran High School Host Club
- Streaming On: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Prime Video
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Director: Takuya Igarashi
Plot: Ouran High School Host Club is a reverse harem shoujo manga that had its original run from 2002 to 2010. It was turned into an anime in 2006. This anime revolves around Haruhi Fujioka and the Ouran Academy’s host club.
Haruhi is an elite scholarship student who needs help making ends meet. Haruhi’s boyish appearance lands her in a tight spot—she accidentally becomes part of this boys-only host club and now has to deal with six teenage boys who don’t know she’s a girl.
3. Maid Sama!
- Streaming On: Prime Video, Hulu
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
- Director: Hiroaki Sakurai
Plot: Kaichou wa Maida Sama, most commonly known as Maid Sama, is a rom-com shoujo manga that had its original run from 2005-2013. It was turned into an anime in 2010 but only came out with one season and an OVA in 2011. Maid Sama is another slice-of-life comedy anime with exaggerated comical sequences.
It follows Misaki Ayazawa, the first female president of a male-dominated high school. Misaki doesn’t like boys and usually mistreats all the men in her circle. She is commonly known as the ‘demon president.’ The only guy she tolerates is Usui Takumi- another intelligent, popular student in her school.
4. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me To You
- Streaming On: Netflix
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
- Director: Hiro Kaburagi, Kenichi Matsuzawa
Plot: Kimi no Todoke: From Me to You is a slice-of-life, coming-of-age romance manga that initially ran from 2005 to 2017. It was turned into an anime in 2009 and has three completed seasons. It follows Sawako Kuronoma, a shy and clueless girl who has trouble making friends.
People avoid her like the plague because of her quiet nature and scary appearance. The only person who treats her well is her classmate, Shota Kazehaya, with whom she naturally falls in love. The anime follows the two on their awkward path of finding love with each other.
5. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime
- Streaming On: Crunchyroll, Prime Video
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
- Director: Masahiro Ando
Plot: Snow White with the Red Hair (or Akagami no Shirayuki-hime) is an fantasy romance manga that was released in 2006. It was turned into anime in 2015 and currently has two seasons.
It is essentially a retelling of Snow White featuring Shirayuki, a girl with a rare red hair color that gets her unwanted attention. She’s almost pushed into a relationship with her country’s prince but escapes to the neighboring kingdom, where she meets and befriends a mysterious man, Zen Wisteria.
So sit back, get in your shoujo mode, and get ready to unwind. You’re going to love these shoujo romance animes!
Check out our recommendations on What To Watch
Must Read: Must Watch Top 10 Anime High School Romcoms
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