Even though shoujo Manga’s targeted audience is girls, it’s also loved by boys as well. It is such a sweet and pure genre that we can’t help indulging ourselves in it.
The shoujo romance manga of the 90s and the early 00s had such an impact on the fans that they can never be forgotten. Today, we’re going to be paying a tribute to some of the best shoujo manga of the 90s and the early 00s. We’ve listed some of the sweetest shoujo manga down below!
1. Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon is a 90s classic and the anime that we grew up watching. Sailor Moon was such an inspiration for all of us. Shoujo manga fans adore this manga even to date.
The story opens thousand years back when the Moon Kingdom was under an attack by the Dark Kingdom under Queen Beryl. Queen Serenity of the Moon decided to transfer the souls of her loved ones to Earth in order to protect them. Thousand years later, the Dark Kingdom rose again. Luna, the guardian of the princess, decided to contact Usagi who was the daughter of Queen Serenity living her average life on Earth. Usagi then became Sailor Moon and her fight will evil started.
2. Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is a beautiful story and adheres perfectly to the shoujo manga aesthetic. It tells us the story of Tohru Honda whose life turned upside down after a tragedy. She moves to a house that belonged to the Sohma family. Tohru tries to adjust with her new family. All of them look normal to her but there’s a secret about Sohma family that Tohru ends up discovering. Whenever the members of the Sohma family are touched by the opposite gender, they turn into animals of the Chinese Zodiac Sign. The story tells us Tohru’s struggles as she tries to get along with the members of the Sohma family.
3. Nana
Nana was a pretty popular shoujo manga and it still is really popular. The story of Nana is about a girl named Nana K who falls in love quite easily. We’re introduced to another girl named Nana O. who is an aspiring singer. She wanted to pursue her career as a singer and decided to break up with her boyfriend. Both Nana K and Nana O come across each other on a train on their way to Tokyo. They ended up living together later. Both of them were very different from each other. However, they still managed to get along well. They will face a lot of challenges involving love and luck and both of them will try their best to survive the lemons thrown at them by life. This is a bittersweet shoujo romance manga about love, loss and all the learning that comes with it.
4. Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura was such an inspiration for all of this. This magical girl manga is one of the best shoujo manga out there. The story introduces us to Sakura Kinomoto who visits her father’s library one day. She comes across a mysterious book and as soon as she opens it, she ends up unleashing magical Clow Cards into the world. These cards were sealed away by their creator ages ago. Not only the cards were sealed but the Guardian Beast named Keroberos was sealed with them as well. Now that Keroberos is out as well, Sakura will be able to seal the cards with his help. She must protect the town from the destruction of the wild magic she accidentally unleashed upon the world.
5. Lovely Complex
Lovely Complex is an extremely adorable shoujo manga that was loved by girls all around the world. The story is about Koizumi Risa and Otani Atsushi who are very different from each other. Koizumi Risa is tall while Otani Atsushi is short. Both of them are in the same class but they don’t get along well with each other. They love teasing and picking on each other. However, they start developing feelings for each other. While they have many differences, they still get along well with each other and that’s how their sweet love buds.
6. Kare Kano: His and her Circumstances
This shoujo manga is about Yukino Miyazawa who is perfect in every way. She appears to be very friendly and kind in school. However, at home, she’s spoiled and rude. She also studies all the time in order to stay at the top position of her class. Unfortunately, it’s time for her to get off her high horse as Soichiro Arima steals away her place. Yukino decides to take revenge on him. One day, Soichiro confesses to Yukino and she rejects him instantly. Soichiro finds out that Yukino is completely different from how she appears to be in front of everyone. He decides to blackmail her into doing his school work. Yukino is sick of his attitude and stands up against him. She demands that Soichiro confesses to her again as she had fallen for him after he showed her his true self. Now, both of them are ready to stop pretending to be who they are not.
7. Cat Street
Cat Street introduces us to a popular child actress who stopped acting after an unfortunate incident. She became isolated and didn’t even attend school. As she grew up, she started enjoying her own company and stayed away from people. One day, she came across a guy who takes her to a school where people like her are studying. She enrolls in that school and makes a few friends named Rei, Kouichi and Momiji. This beautiful shoujo manga is about the journey of a reclusive girl into becoming a more open and a more stable one.
8. Red River
Red River is a historical shoujo manga that also incorporates the elements of time travel. The story of this manga introduces us to Yuri Suzuki who is transported back to the Bronze Age. The reason why she was summoned to that age was that the Queen wanted to sacrifice Yuri. There is only one way Yuri can survive. She must become the concubine of the prince of the kingdom. Now, Yuri finds herself extremely helpless because she don’t know her way back home. However, she’ll try her best to find her way out of the unknown Kingdom.
9. Magic Knight Rayearth
Magical Knight Rayearth is one of the best shoujo manga which also includes action and fantasy themes. The story is about three girls named Hikaru, Umi and Fuu whoget transported in the realm of Cephiro. Now, princess Emeraude is kidnapped by Zagato. She was the only one who was protecting Cephiro. The three girls who are transported to Cephiro are supposed to become Magical Knights in order to retrieve the princess. However, their journey won’t be easy as Zagato is going to do everything in his power in order to stop the girls.
10. Basara
We’re here with another Action/Adventure/Fantasy shoujo manga! This one opens in a post apocalyptic Japan. There is a prophecy that a child named Tatara who will restore Japan and make it flourish again. In the village of Byakko, Tatara was born. He also had a twin sister named Sasara. Tatara was killed by the orders of the Red King and now Sasara must take on the job to make Japan flourish again. She must fight with the Emporer and his for sons in order to restore wealth and abundance in Japan.
11. Mars
This shoujo romance manga revolves around an artist named Kiro Aso who liked spending her time creating art either at home or her art club room. Enter Rei Kashino who is perfect in every way. The two come across each other and their lives get intertwined with each other. Both of them fall for each other and their differences can’t come in between their love.
12. Marmalade Boy
Marmalade boy is another shojo romance manga that introduces us to Miki Koishikawa who was living an average life with her parents. Miki’s life turned upside down when she got to know about her parents divorce. They were going to marry another couple that split up. Now, they other couple had a son named Yuu. Miki gets along well with Yuu but their life becomes harder when they come across Miki’s crush and Yuu’s ex.
13. Beauty Pop
The story of Beauty Pop is about Kiri who is a skilled hairstylist. She believes in giving ordinary girls some confidence while changing their appearance a bit. On the other hand, we have the Scissor Project, a group of three boys, who give makeovers to already beautiful girls. Kiri is content with her work as an unknown hairstylist. However, she can’t really keep up her anonymity for long as the Scissor Project’s leader, Narumi, is all fired up for some competition.
14. Tokyo Mew Mew
Tokyo Mew Mew is an extremely adorable shoujo manga. It introduces us to Momomiya Ichigo who was enjoying her date with Aoyama Masaya. That’s when the world around her changed and she ended up becoming a part of Tokyo Mew Project. She’s not alone in this. There are four other girls that are also a part of the New Mew Project. She must work along with the other girls in order to fend off the aliens that have been threatening the Earth.
15. Hana Yori Dongo
This shoujo romance manga introduces us to an average girl named Tsukushi Makino who attends a school that is a house for all the elite students. The richest boys of the school, known as the F4, had complete control over the lives of the students as well as the teachers. One day, Tsukushi ends up getting in trouble for speaking up for her friend when he accidentally knocked over F4’s leader. The F4 were all ready to wage war against our helpless Tsukushi. Now, as the F4 had a massive impact on the school, everyone turned against Tsukushi. How will she manage to get out of this sticky situation.
16. Kitchen Princess
Najika is the main protagonist of this shoujo manga. Her life turned upside down when her parents died. While she was crying, a boy gave her a flan to calm her down. She got really impressed by the boy and named him “Flan Prince”. She wanted to meet him again but had no clue how to find him. She had only a silver spoon that she left behind. Najika decided to enroll herself in a prestigious cooking school named Seika Academy. She wanted to become a great chef and also look for his handsome Flan Prince.
17. Love Monster
Love Monster is another shoujo romance manga that tells us the story of Hiyo Osora. She failed her high school entrance exam and was disheartened at her condition. Luckily, she receives an acceptance letter from a very prestigious institute named the SM Academy. However, the institute was a house of monsters not humans and on top of that, she was a fiancé of one monster!
Conclusion
That was it for our list of some of the best shoujo manga from the 90s and the early 00s. Which one is your favorite? Comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
