Making the Shonen Jump to Shoujo 2: Electric Boogaloo

[@thais_cdm]

I started Queen's Quality (after reading QQ Sweeper) and it's a crime that there hasn't been an anime adaptation. It's so action-packed, but still very emotionally resonant. So so good!

[@KimikoChan28]

Probably also a crime that QQ Sweeper is in dire need of a reprint as well! 😭

[@Nikita_Akashya]

@@KimikoChan28 The biggest crime is QQ sweeper being the only part of the series available in German. Why was QQ never licensed? I have it in Englisch, but still. And the German version also needs a reprint!

[@titoleon3101]

Next month: Making the jump 3: Rise of the Lycans.

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

You've already guessed the pattern from here on 😭

[@melancholicotaku]

I’ve been a Shonen fan for the longest but this year I’m excited to get into shoujo.

[@moominkomet]

Currently, my New Year’s resolution is to read more Shojo. So far so good! Working on Queens Quality. Bulked up my reading list to include many recommendations you’ve given and even found a Shojo reading partner in a friend I already had! It’s going to be a good reading year! Edit: oh yeah, Karnival is on my tbr list! 👍

[@Money_D_Luffy]

This is a BANGER concept for content! I'd really like a third installment down the road!! As a certified Fujimoto freak I had to check out the first 2 epps of Karneval. I see the CSM comparison. There are creepy horror aspects just like the Devils but the world is also eccentric and silly similar to Fujimotos works. The crew of Airship Two has a few screws loose. Yogi definitely has some Power/Beam energy 😂

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Thank you for validating my rec for it!! 😭🙏 I feel like at the very least they start out with similar vibes and premise

[@sedie94]

I love this series because as a shoujo fan I feel like I'm living in a shounen world and constantly trying to appeal the charms of shoujo to my friends. Plus all these are solid recommendations! Both the shounen and shoujo XD

[@Vividaze]

The Tanjirou-esque sweater is a nice touch for discussing shonen

[@KirbyFanDude]

Damn, you reminded me I started watching Karneval and just somehow forgot it existed. Just like I started watching Chainsaw Man and then forgot about it after the first few episodes, spot on recommendation.

[@pattongilbert]

I actually just ordered a number of first volumes from series you recommended.❤️ Skip and Loafer, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Ao Haru Ride, Kimi ni Todoke, Tsubaki-chou Lovely Planet, My Happy Marriage, Usotoki Rhetoric, and A Condition Called Love. SO excited to read them when they get in here in a couple weeks.😊

[@birdofclay9581]

For those from my neck of the woods: Ran the Peerless Beauty has a physical release in German. The final volume drops in February. I might give it a shot since I´m also reading and pretty much enjoying Komi.

[@agayfrog]

turns out, it's a Tokyopop release, so vol. 1 is already OOP this is why we can't have nice things

[@evers33n]

The art for Queen’s Quality/QQ Sweeper is so glossy and pretty! Limit sounds so interesting, so I will have to check it out. I love Komi-I’ve collected all of it-and Ran the Peerless Beauty sounds so good!!!

[@DarkwaterSmidge]

since you're asking for requests, my favorite shonen/seinen series have been what I've been calling "awkward boys in trauma recovery after living someone else's shonen plots" with my top 3 examples being Silver Spoon, March Comes in Like a Lion, and Run With the Wind. So I would be very excited to hear recommendations on that axis.

[@Eleanor_R_2006]

OMG someone who finally mentions Karneval!!! I genuinely love this manga so much and it always upsets me that it never seems to get the recognition it deserves. Thank you for bringing it some much needed attention!!! :)

[@ajrockboy129]

I'm so glad to see another installment in this series especially with the recommendations this time as JJK, CSM, and Dress up Darling are some of my favorite Manga currently so excited to try out the recs!!

[@saraha.3057]

I think another series for people who like The Apothecary Diaries is The Story of Saiunkoku/ Saiunkoku Monogatari. There's political intrigue, romance, and great main character. There's 9 volumes that are available in print and digital.

[@judeffr]

I've been reading usotoki rhetoric thanks to you :) keep up the great work!

[@shockmethodx]

Thanks, Colleen.

[@barbarasusej]

Reading Basara thanks to you, I'm really enjoying it, thanks!

[@nvandy64]

Loving Chihiyafuru. Thanks for the recs! Excited to check out QQ Sweeper and also see how hot or cold that Chainsaw Man/Karnival take is haha. Keep killing the game

[@mohmohthesmog7179]

i wouldn't recommend the karneval anime to new commers because i don't think the way it tells it's story is quite effective. it has the issue of adapting too much at a time BUT it's fun for 2 preposes 1) watching the first 1-2 episodes to get the vibe 2) to see your faves in a very unique and just very pretty color wise anime.

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Good to know!!

[@kwanzatrotman6337]

Agreed. I watched most if not all of the anime years ago but never quite liked it. I'll be checking out the manga, though!

[@generalzwinger3943]

Great idea to leverage the popularity of shounen in anime to highlight some good shoujo manga! Have added several of your recommendations and will give them a read.

[@thequietestlilbucket8402]

The second you put Otomen on the screen I had to pause and say that I whole-heartedly second and third this recommendation. It’s such a fun series! I just recently got the volumes I was missing used, but I know it still seems to be reprinted occasionally and can be bought digitally. It’s also possible that your local library might have it.

[@unluckylibrary4866]

gender role breaking male lead? tomboy female lead?? from the same mangaka as requiem of the rose king??? oho. ohohohoho absolutely adding to my tbr

[@annaissodone]

please do more of these! I diversified my reading quite a bit after this video

[@de8763]

I've struggled to get back into manga but your channel and recs have been a big help!

[@samuelgonzalez157]

I would take a look at all the recommendations, especially because you seem really happy when you talk about the mangas you like!!! It's so contagious!! One of my favorite mangas of the shonen jump is Soul Eater, so I would really like to read something like that without the problems that Soul Eater had (ehem... fanservice) and is the same with bleach (except that I dislike lot of things about bleach LOL) so it would be great if you considerer to do another part of this series because I looove your recommendations (I'm currently reading chihayafuru!!!) thank you and take care of yourself Colleen!!!

[@PocketLeaves]

OMG! I remember seeing art from Karneval several years ago, and wanting to read it then forgot all about it! Thank you for putting it back on my radar!!!! Will definitely be checking it out since I love Chainsaw Man!

[@angelagwen1818]

I'm very hyped to start QQ Sweeper and Limit. You have great recommendations

[@aarondubourg3706]

2 maga recs I have for this series are 1) Bloom Into You, an 8 vol Shounen GL manga with A-spec (Asexual-Aromantic Spectrum) themes and characters. 2) Our Dreams at Dusk, a 4 vol seinen LGBTQ+ manga with magical realism.

[@saadalhamar9828]

I love your channel lot and it’s in one of my favorite

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

I love Queen's Quality & Otomen! And yes, now you mention it, I definitely see how you could suggest QQ to someone who loves Jujutsu Kaisen. QQ also has detailed scary monsters & deals with mental health. It also has one of the healthiest couples I've ever known, anime/manga or otherwise. They're like Zoe and Walsh from Firefly.

[@tansjord]

Similar series to: monster, claymore, or black cat 👀

[@shineefeels]

If I had to make a recommendation for Apothecary Diaries, I personally would go for Ascendance of a Bookworm. Although idk how well the manga holds up as my preferred vehicle for the story has been the light novel & anime. But! A few of these recommendations I haven’t read before so I’m excited to check them out 😊

[@teapartypenguin1353]

I'd also recommend Raven of the Inner Palace, it has a similar setting and also deals with the main character solving inner palace mysteries and drama. The main character's personality is also similar to MaoMao's, but for different reasons. It's more fantasy though, and the anime was gorgeous.

[@katherinecargill8214]

While Ascendance is a great rec, it's both a light novel primarily and a seinen series. (I've heard the Manga is not particularly great, though YMMV.)

[@shineefeels]

@@katherinecargill8214 As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a specified demographic for Ascendance of a Bookworm. Imo it leans more towards a female demographic.

[@teapartypenguin1353]

@@katherinecargill8214 Ascendance is a weird one to categorize because I've seen it sorted in seinen and shoujo. Wiki says the light novels are seinen and the manga is shoujo, but the light novels are also tagged as shoujo on sites like Bookwalker. And I believe the demographic has been switched around depending on the publisher and adaptation. Which is the same with The Apothecary Diaries, the original novel it was based on was published in the "female" demographic.

[@buggydes]

I read the first 10 chapters of QQ Sweeper online and proceeded to buy all the volumes after you recommended it in one of your older videos and what a recommendation it was! Manage to get them all except QQ Sweeper vol 1, Here's hoping they'll reprint that volume :)

[@Demonsta]

Wow, you sounded sarcastic in the intro but this IS the best series on KZbin. Amazing recommendations and somehow comparing them to shonen counterparts, even of series I am not familiar with, really provides a lot of information you would never get while trying to pick up manga from their intro blurbs. Would love to see you Collab with some more traditionally male KZbin channels, giving these same summaries but gender swapped, only to pull the rug at the end of the video and reveal they are shoujo. So many guys immediately write off shoujo manga even while many of the same tropes are now used in shonen manga. But I think people commonly misunderstand the shoujo genre - including myself until watching your video explaining it. Maybe tricking guys would be rude but if we could start getting some gender crossover, the same way women watch shonen, maybe we could start seeing some shojo get anime adaptations again. 😭

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Thank you! I always enjoy doing this series 🥰🥰 I "trick" people on Twitter threads sometimes by not adding that series I recommend are only shoujo and josei titles lol

[@SA871M1]

Great list as always! Thank you for the Limit rec, even as a hardcore shoujo reader I'd never even heard of it, so super keen to check it out. On the Tatsuki Fujimoto/CSM note, I've recently had decent luck recommending the following two manga (both officially licensed, completed): Blank Canvas - My So Called Artist's Journey as a rec for his one shot Look Back (also previously as a rec for Bakuman). I think this one is pretty self evident Otherworld Barbara as a rec for CSM - it has the same out-there craziness, esp from CSM's later arcs. Wikipedia summary: "Jyujo Aoba, who has been in a coma since she was nine years old, who was discovered next to her parents' bodies, with their hearts inside her stomach. To discover why she killed her parents, the protagonist (an investigator) enters her coma dreams and finds that Jyujo is dreaming about and simultaneously creating the future." Other series that are completed but unlicensed that I've had luck with are Palace Meidi (hapless, non-bishounen male protagonist, sexy older lady waifu LI) and Silver Triangle (male protagonist, scifi in space, murder mystery and timeline bending, fascinating world building)

[@minniethriver]

Maybe I should read Jujutsu Kaisen as QQ is one of my absolute faves? 😄 Also, Otomen also reminds me a bid of Switch Girl regarding the "hiding your real personality" trope, I think about trying it :) I love your videos, listening to you makes me happy as back in the day when I was babbling with my sister about manga!

[@Ash113Lynx]

Ugh, if only From Far Away was still in print! At least I think you can get it digitally. The amount of "bog standard isekai" you'd have to list though, it'd take you an least an hour, just on that part of the video alone.

[@icanbwatevai1ab]

Yes I wish that too! I am using my library's Link+ system to get existing copies to borrow.

[@mismagia]

you're really selling me on making the jump to shoujo

[@mellysandshrew]

Great recommendations! It feels a bit like Limit's similarities with tpn aren't terribly deep but Limit sounds like it's 100% up my alley on its own merits, and Ran the Peerless Beauty sounds like exactly what I really wanted out of Komi but didn't quite find. I'll definitely be checking these and some of the other recommendations here out ⭐

[@daiseef7094]

I love this series you're doing! I will definitely check out Carnival, I cannot wait🥰🥰 Luckily action scenes in shonen anime/manga are usually my least favourite -- which is why I prefer shoujo anime/manga, because even action scenes feel way more emotional. I would love for you to find a shoujo "alternative" to Hunter x Hunter next! It's my favourite shonen, I feel like it's pretty special in the sense that it isn't entirely battle oriented, it's more a mix of genres: noir, political drama, psychological aspects, even isekai in one arc, etc. I'd be interested in finding out what manga you think would be similar to it! Love your videos as usual ❤️

[@chloemuro278]

i’ve been wanting to read limit for a while and you just sold me on it 100% hahaha thank you for this!

[@revenby3722]

do you know if it's available online? cause I can't find it anywhere 😥

[@chou8220]

Dr. Stone or 20th Century Boys!!

[@maxaroni39]

So excited for The Eccentric Doctor of the Moonflower Kingdom's English release! Both the premise and the gorgeous art have me hooked 😊 And I wholeheartedly agree with you about Limit, it's a series that really deserves more love! It's proof that shojo can tackle heavy themes and serious issues. As for a shonen I'd like a similar shojo to, it would be Beastars!!

[@imshyasfuck182]

I'd love to hear about shojo/josei grim or depressing coming of age stories like punpun, flowers of evil, boy's abyss... etc. Thanks for the recommendations on this video!

[@amuletangeldevil]

You should definitely check out River's edge by Kyoko Okazaki which actually was one of Asano's inspiration! I think there is an official English release coming out this year. I loved Hibari no Asa by Yamashita Tomoko too, it's is a pretty dark coming of age story. Akane Torikai is great too and she has some josei series.

[@imshyasfuck182]

@@amuletangeldevil Thank you! Will definitely check them out

[@carolcorreia1245]

happy new year, colleen!!!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Happy new year to you as well!!

[@cardcaptor1792]

For a second I thought the Collen joke was going to Collen Hoover and was pleased 😀

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

I am the only Colleen. The one true Colleen.

[@cardcaptor1792]

@@ColleensMangaRecs Yes you are 💗💗💗💗

[@hegaukatze1599]

Thank you for the recommendation, i like jjk and i want to know more shojo.

[@susiemellen9530]

Loved this! What’s a shojosei match for Death Note or Alice in Borderlands? Also, thank you for reminding me to re-read Limit! It’s fantastic and unlike any other shojo titles I’ve read!

[@AyAReI00]

Takane no Ran-san is a gorgeous manga with a very realistic romance between highschool kids withoth going either into cringe fest or extreme naivette ..... 100% hidden gem

[@sebastianc1110]

My New Year’s resolution is to read more shoujo manga. QQ Sweeper/Queen’s Quality sounds cool but the first volume is OOS at the moment. Limit sounds really neat and it’s cool that it’s only six volumes long. I did read the first volume of Karneval and thought it was fine (I joke about my experience all the time) but I might give it another try. Great video!

[@bananabread782]

I've recently discovered and love Busu ni Hanataba wo which seems categorized as seinen but reminds me a lot of shoujo.

[@lotus4636]

Imagine if there was a shojo that matches Berserk. 😳 Also, now I want to be a shojo mangaka that specializes in making action shojo. 🤩 Edit: Btw, am I the only one who thinks the QQ Sweeper world would be perfect for Levi from AoT? 😂

[@NightSong-fi1ep]

I would love to see a shoujo comparison to one of the following: Tokyo Ghoul, Haikyu!, Tokyo Revengers, or Yugami-kun Doesn’t Have Any Friends.

[@sanjithechef]

this is such a cool series, thank you. I def need this to get into shoujo :)

[@katarinaclaes96]

I love Manga and Anime 😁

[@rj_hooks]

MAKING THE JUJU-JUMP TO GOJO

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

STOP HAUNTING ME

[@rj_hooks]

@@ColleensMangaRecs *wiggles fingers* [in Gojo]

[@lolitaku7229]

Surprisingly, Toilet Bound Hanako-kun is a shounen. Is there any shoujo similar to it, that isn't a catfish??

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

I plan on having that in the next one actually!

[@ryannthegawd]

a whole video on catfish series would be a great idea. i enjoy series like k-on and school rumble, and was surprised to find out they were shonen/seinen lol

[@mono8476]

@@ryannthegawd never seen it myself but is k on that surprising tho? 'cute girls doing cute things' has always been a guy thing to watch. its like how female idol shows & GL target guys while male idol shows & BL target girls

[@ryannthegawd]

@@mono8476 i watched it as a teen before i was even aware of all these demographics. i still think it has a huge appeal to women/girls despite a lot of men being into it.

[@deanlock2986]

Congratulations on such an accomplishment.

[@evgeniyaptichkina1882]

Great recommendations! Thank you!

[@EmeraldCave1]

If you do another one of these videos, you should call it Making the Shonen Jump to Shoujo 3D, followed up by 4: The Revenge

[@rawdha3246]

MY FAVORITE SERIES!!

[@mahoupanda2639]

I just got the first six volumes of Otomen and read volume one and I was enjoying it but the backstory with Asuka’s parents could maybe be handled better *sort of very early spoiler* his mum being so transphobic she ends up in the hospital did make me laugh though I can’t lie

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

I'm back and forth with it because I feel like the mom is the villain of the series for how horrible she is so I don't think the story has tried to feel bad for her much. Where I'm at in the manga she basically is shown as being extremely sexist and tries to control Asuka's life.

[@mahoupanda2639]

@@ColleensMangaRecs someone put her transphobic ass back in that hospital. She is so neglectful as a mother as well as controlling which to me is worse because she thinks she gets a say when she doesn’t even act like a parent, nah. Justice for my boy.

[@zepherfire6790]

I now have more manga to add to my reading list.

[@EspeonaSparkle]

Great video!!! :D I'm a huge JJK fan and this video has made me wanna check out QQ! :D

[@ryuukichi2531]

AHHHH OTOMEN LETS GOOOOO!!!! HE'S JUST LIKE ME FR FR

[@yunfeikwon]

Thanks for Ottomen recommendation! I will read it immediately for sure! But I wonder if there's shojo/josei series about cosplaying? I love cosplay culture after all

[@corvidaze3285]

I don't know if this even exists but a Shoujo equivalent to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure would be very interesting; it's such a weird series and it's hard to picture something like it marketed for women

[@romeocapulet4265]

since my taste seems to be "i can't believe it's not shoujo", i'd kill to have an Actual shoujo equivalent to dear my living dead, toilet bound hanako-kun, or black butler.

[@piccolofan24]

Episode 3 please! This series is great.

[@meadowsz5390]

Land of the Blindfolded was good if anyone wants to check that out. Sorta slice of life shojo with a bit of mystical drama. The one shots at the end of many volumes were cute too.

[@r.e.n.k.1907]

ngl, the plot of Queen's Quality reminds me a LOT of ID:Invaded; I REALLY wanna check it out 👀

[@elkeyes]

Any chance you could do a similar format for live action TV shows/movies to shoujosei? I picked up Prince Freya after one of your videos mentioned it's like Game of Thrones, so I would love recommendations like that in addition to these awesome anime based ones :) Overall I really appreciate how you break down a show's themes and tone versus just looking for art style or direct story copies. Looking forward to more videos!

[@sebastianc1110]

This would be a neat video idea.

[@ninjagirlemily9534]

I'd be interested if there was a Shojo or Josei comparison for Fullmetal Alchemist or Yu-Gi-Oh. Really enjoying this series!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Look forward to the next installment for FMA actually!

[@artres7]

"Karneval" is so wholesome and unfolds into such a grand scale, it's so good. And don't we all love some tragedy in a cute manga? I would completely skip the anime, though, the vibe is just off.

[@cyclonechaos]

Hmmm might check out Queen's Quality. It looks like CLAMP I like CLAMP. The dude on it reminds me of Kamui from X/1999 and that other dude from Code Geas.

[@ARVETDEG]

Omg, love your sweater! Where did you get it? Also... Awesome recommendations, will definitely check them out! Haha

[@ZainAK283]

Great video - I'm enjoying this series and I look forward to the next one :) I wanted to ask - I don't think I could find a Chihayafuru series review on your channel...? Is it part of a different video that covers lots of series?

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

I talk about it in my top 15 video as well as my Kodansha video! But look forward to next month when I will be putting out a very long video on the series.

[@JohannesBee]

If you make another followup to this video, I would love for you to mention something similar to Kocha Agasawa's You and I are Polar Opposites. Since I've started reading it, I'm desperately craving a romance story where the focus is placed on the relationship itself rather than the buildup/will-they-won't-they!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

You may like Hayaku Shitai Futari then! It isn't officially licensed though so if I do that series it would be with another title instead.

[@JohannesBee]

@@ColleensMangaRecs Thank you so much, I'll check it out!

[@PerryTShipman]

Quick note that Queen's Quality V2 is not availability in book (non-ebook) format :(

[@JC-ny9go]

It's so sad! I hope that it gets an adaptation or something that allows the series to get some reprints...

[@previoustimtamthenusedtobe744]

I would love a recommendation for fullmetal alchemist or demon slayer

[@Chiibia]

Genuine qiestion: is apothecery diaries actually a shonen? Ive been reading it for awhile and the artstyle + budding relatio ship between maomao and jingshi always felt like shojo to me. I always thought it was a shojo so if it is a shonen thats insane to me

[@mono8476]

anime planet (website) tags it as a seinen

[@amuletangeldevil]

The original novel was published under the female imprint but when it was turned into a light novel imprint it moved into the male imprint so it's a bit of a grey area Both of the manga adaptations are published in seinen magazines.

[@Chiibia]

@@amuletangeldevil oh thank you!!! Had no idea, cuz the art style and story telling remind me of a lot of shojo. Wouldve never guessed it came from a seinen magazine

[@mayzzz429]

@@Chiibia Safe to say, it DOES target the female audience since the original LN is like that. The manga adaptation just so happens to be in a seinen magazine and manga is the secondary source compared to the LN. However I do know that the creator of Apothecary Diaries actually doing a shoujo fantasy series serialized in Hana to Yume, so that's why you get that shoujo vibes come from since that's the creator style of writing

[@mahnoorkhan7601]

Can you recommend Shoujo series where there isn't any romance or the romance is minimal because since most of the Shoujo series that I've tried is largely romance focused and I don't like romance in my books.

[@pandax9949]

Try Life, it's about school harassment.

[@tansjord]

As soon as you said “wishy-washy” I said to my boyfriend “we, of #teamwishywashy , are a vibes based team” & then you started talking about vibes 😭😭😭

[@tanchungsern2864]

What is the shojo manga for attack on titan

[@LostCommenter7]

Can you perhaps do a recommendation for a series similar to Hunter X Hunter ? Also love you videos!

[@davidsabillon5182]

❤

[@shekeliasmith5103]

😁😁😁

[@luisaabreu4028]

👏👏👏

[@oscarsantos4813]

Oh come on, 3:54 the joke was right there you were just missing the sound track.

[@oscardasilva468]

Does anyone maybe know a Shoujo similar to Homunculus or Blood on the Tracks?

[@nonchi5113]

Idk abt homunculus but you might like A Cruel God Reigns by Hagio Moto. It has a lot of similar beats with oshimi's tropes but the best thing is... zero misogyny! Yay!

[@mono8476]

havent read them myself but homunculus seems similar to himitsu (1999)

[@missskabls2247]

:D

[@buchelaruzit]

the thing i'm wary about in shoujo and what always makes me distrust it is how Allo & Straight TM it can be. I HATE annoying/problematic gender roles and tropes like the romanticizing of possessiveness or jealousy, unnecessary drama, etc etc. i'm also on the aromantic spectrum so romance can be really hit-or-miss depending on how it's handled. i'm always scared it will be amatonormative. i hated 'kimi ni todoke' and 'ao haru ride' (100% personal) because they were this Straight TM. btw i like stories that focus on characters and psychology, for example i loved fruits basket, nana, and also skip & loafer. usually more mature stuff i suppose; but i liked scum's wish and hated oyasumi punpun so like i said, hit-or-miss. on a different note i also love stuff with surreal/chill vibes like ikuhara kunihiko animes, or sonny boy, or mushishi, or fujimoto mangas. i can also love romantic comedies, like gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun and kaguya-sama (i also watched special A which i really liked at the beginning but then it became too Straight. also tried to read oresama teacher but couldn't make it past the first chapter for the same reason :/), especially (and precisely) when it's subversive with gender, like ohshc which i also like. so if anyone wants to give me shoujo recommendations based on what i told you, PLEASE do so!

[@vondas1480]

1:20 glad you said that, so that means i can request that you do so for the manga Teppu, never got official English translations but scanlations are easily available