The History of Shoujo Manga

[@Chiibia]

"The male editors were never really sure of what their target audience was wanting" and sometimes it feels like they still aren't...

[@Fumbann]

Honestly the development of the channel lore in the sketches are getting so intense 😭poor gameshow host...

[@ViktorErikFade]

Rest. In. Pepsi...... Game show host-sona

[@RedMageUltra]

The part of shoujo history being dominated by men reminds me of American romance comics also being mostly male dominated. Complete with ROMANCE TIPS written by men (often posing as women)

[@PredictableEnigma]

Ew I had no idea

[@surprisinglyblank2392]

Yeah, the fairly robust romance comics genre that existed before the Comics Code Authority in the United States is an interesting rabbit hole to go down. The main reason the stereotype of comics = superheroes or newspaper strips in America came to be is so many other genres were hit hard by censorship and 'the moral authority'. I think that is a big reason I gravitated to manga. I love fantasy/supernatural character centric stories and I just wasn't getting any in mainstream American comics at the time. Meanwhile it only took me minutes to stumble across 'Fushigi Yuugi' and 'Ranma 1/2' which were some of my first manga reads. Thankfully, American comics is healing and once again diversifying. There are now trully fantastic works aimed at girls out there. Some I highly recommend: "Through the Woods"- Emily Carroll (horror, fantasy/historical) "Anya's Ghost" - Vera Brosgol (horror, coming of age) "Snapdragon" - Kat Leyh (supernatural, coming of age) "Salt Magic" - Hope Larson & Rebecca Mock (fantasy) "Fangs" - Sarah Andersen (cute supernatural romance)

[@RedMageUltra]

@@surprisinglyblank2392 yeah manga was a such a fresh and exciting experience when I discovered them in 2005. Even though I was still reading the mainstream comics alongside them, the stories manga were free to tell grabbed my attention. They also made me think and resent how much the CCA stunted American comics growth and what might’ve been for the industry if they never existed. Also, thank you for the list of recommendations! I only knew Through the Woods but the others I never heard of!

[@SecretIdentityStudio]

44:09 I just think of how Ikumi Mia originally wanted to make a horror series, but Nakayoshi execs latched onto a catgirl side character, pushed her into the lead, said to add more kemonomimi, and then had it change from horror to magical girl. Tokyo Mew Mew is a beloved series and one of the classics of the 2000s, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but the fact that she wanted to make something very different and had to make something that would sell for the trends of the time anyway (and basically everything else she made was cancelled quickly) is still sad to know. No wonder she reportedly spent her 15-year hiatus drawing doujinshi for danseimuke properties instead.

[@zigzag8392]

Isnt the problem capitalism? Authors would have more freedom if they didn’t have heirarchy making demands of them.

[@Sdir]

@@zigzag8392 i think it's connected with each other

[@cloudyskytrash5310]

Rest in peace, Ikumi Mia

[@MadsterV]

@@zigzag8392 Quite the opposite. If the market really wanted it and she was good at making it and willing to, what got in her way was something else. People make bad choices in any economic system, but only one lets you break out and succeed by yourself :)

[@zigzag8392]

@@MadsterV That's fantasy. What literally "got in her way," meaning told her to make changes if she wanted access to the marketing, printing, and distribution they had control over, was a large scale company run by Capitalists. The "free market" isn't real, it's a creation of political and economic forces. You sound like the underpants gnomes.

[@exhaustedpunk1477]

Being a girl into anime and manga in the early 2000's in Latin America was hell for me, you were not allowed to admit enjoying anything remotely percieved as shoujo otherwise boys would be INSUFERABLE towards you. I particularly remember being mocked for watching/reading shoujo stories while they praised every shounen under the sun, but now that they have noticed a lot more girls are into shounen (possibly affected by less shoujo animes being produced and anime becoming more popular in general with shounen series being the more pushed by promotion) there's this whole narrative doing its rounds that shounen is crap because girls watch it and boys of course only consume higher forms of entertainment, and they even went and changed their stances about those old shounens they used to praise! (sigh). At the end of the day it all always comes back to our society were boys and everything related to them are seing as superior, if girls are into boys stuff it can be seen as cool but boys always have to have desdain and at max just tolerance for girls stuff, which is just exausting and ridiculous.

[@angelsdoexist]

I think removing the shojo genre would be a terrible idea. As it is women and girls are not viewed as the main audience in video games and western comics (and in a lot of instances ignored and disregarded). Let us have our own genre and actually be catered to. I'm tired of having to make do in so many different forms of entertainment that don't seem to care about female enjoyment. This was so informative and interesting thank you for all your hard work!!

[@princessjellyfish98]

The most cynical interpretation of the argument to dissolve demographics sounds a lot like an excuse not to associate with things made for girls or women. I totally understand people's negative associations with things marketed to girls, but less than a year out from the Barbie movie, you'd think people would be able to see the merit in a literary genre made by and for that same demo. Would shojo be more palatable to western fans if it wasn't "for girls"? If the label really doesn't matter then why care so much about removing it? Thanks so much for making this Colleen and for all your videos. I'm so glad there are folks like you who care as much about this side of the manga and anime world as the rest of the western internet cares about whatever's happening in Jump.

[@MadsterV]

this tells you a lot about the western demographic :)

[@kagari-aru]

i love shoujosei not just bc of it's feminine portrayal of love and the cute flowery artstyles, but how this genre captures different aspects of life in such a tender and gentle way. while it usually has romance, there's almost always an exploration of some other human relationship or emotion. from the pure determination of making your crush fall for you to navigating through broken relationships or the complicated friendship of youth or just figuring out want you want in life, growing up reading shoujo has made me look at the world and people with more compassion, understanding and kindness. i wish more people can learn to value love and happiness just as much as they love sad or action-packed stories. also i believe your channel played a big part on the shoujo licenses we got recently. keep it up

[@catharsisthroughstories]

100% we still need the demographic, since the male lense is so prevalent anyway, it's considered "universal" (but its still a lense). And like you said, women and girls have no problem reading stuff made for boys but the reverse isn't true. Thank you for this video and just for putting your thoughts out there! You convinced me to pick up again shojo, even though I loved them to bits, and you led me to discover josei too!🥺❤️

[@thatkodochagirl]

Love the "Lack of respect for Shoujo" section in particular. So true!!!!!

[@dandeliondot]

I think people misunderstand what shoujo is doing for girls. People call these demographics "sexist," when the truth is that shoujo is our best shot at equality. While gender is a construct, being one of the constructs is still a shared experience. And women/non-binary do not get to tell their stories as often, for one reason or the other. To get rid of demographics in manga is to get rid of these voices all together. As no doubts, shounen will prevail (let's just look at the state of anime). But hey, another amazing video, Colleen! Couldn't put it down. Talk about being seen. P.S.: I'm so invested in the channel's lore ^^

[@livamyyo]

"gender is a construct" Kek

[@dandeliondot]

@@livamyyo well, a lot of gender expressions are a construct, my dear friend. being a man in one culture means something different in another. the same is true with being a woman. not to mention the historical perspectives. it all is quite inconsistent and always has been

[@NoReplyAsset]

​@@livamyyo go back to 4chan 😂

[@SariaSchala]

Those kawaii and soft aesthetics are my heart, and they and the emotions they evoke perfectly capture a lot of what I love about shoujo.

[@spookymuffin88]

I’ve never even recognised the paneling differences between shoujo manga and others, just pulled down a few copies of a few different genres off the shelf and it’s so obvious! It’s funny though growing up reading so much shoujo I have no difficulty reading them with all the floating panels, but I have often struggled with reading and understanding more recent JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure because of the density of the art contained in the more rigid boxes - possibly because I’m not as used to reading action-heavy manga.

[@doniatl5033]

From a girl's perspective, i havent been able to enjoy romance mangas/animes because they seem to be very "male gazey" and sexualized (my last experience being dress up darling, komi san cant communicate...) and that kinda made me miss the shoujo romance genre where it was written for girls by girls. When i mentioned that to my guy friends (who really enjoyed the mentioned shows) they called me out on my "feminism" and how everyone can read everything. But then i really cant get past the oversexualization of the female love interest now everytime i read/watch a romance manga/anime. Its gotten to the point where its making me uncomfortable and i just went back to rereading old romance shoujos I used to read 10 years ago. And man do they make my 25 y.o heart feel alive again 🥲 is it really that bad for me to want to read a romance shoujo that focuses on the girls feelings on love and relationships rather than the guy's pov and how turned on he is by the love interest? On a side note, I'm really enjoying the resurgence of good romance mangas like a sign of affection. I really hope we see more of those mangas (if anyone has any recs please give them to me)

[@FullmoonPhantom-dn2sr]

I definitely think shoujo is making a return in the coming years.

[@angelsdoexist]

Honestly I have the same problem. And if your male friends can't admit that there's a lot of fan service and male POV going on then I think that's a them problem rather than a you problem. Because you CAN tell if something is written with a male in mind including the fanservice and panty shots. This has nothing to do with Feminism. It's to do with the demographic that it is created for and what THEY like. Sure this isn't always the case - I enjoyed A Galaxy Next Door, The Apothecary Diaries and The Ancient Magus Bride. But very often i find myself abandoning shows, romance or not, that I can tell are created with a guy in mind like Dress Up Darling or The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses. Nothing about being a feminist, I'm just not the target audience and its not worth me forcing myself to read or watch something I don't enjoy. Your male friends sound like inconsiderate jerks.

[@NoReplyAsset]

omg I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's uncomfortable with Komi and My Dress-Up Darling. they're so not worth it. I say look to female authors and/or "josei" and "seinen" mangas for less juvenile tropes. to take a popular example - Dungeon Meshi (not a romance, I know) for example is seinen with a female author and has no juvenile cheap sexualisation in it which is a breath of fresh air. I'm a gay man, so I'm just put off by female character sexualisation in manga, while male characters are hardly ever designed to even look attractive or interesting.

[@jadaw644]

I've recently gotten back into Shoujo after realizing that it's what I've been craving for the past few years. 😂 Media that's unapologetically feminine and revels in candy-colored, idealized worlds (sometimes, of course there's plenty of angst and drama in many series). 💛

[@kageyukiaru]

the part about shoujo manga being criticized for just having a different style made me chuckle. the way that men do things are always seen as default or the "correct" way. to quote from the book "wordslut" (highly recommend): "speak with too much vocal fry, overuse the words like and literally, and apologize in excess. They brand judgments like these as pseudofeminist advice aimed at helping women talk with “more authority” so that they can be “taken more seriously.” What they don’t seem to realize is that they’re actually keeping women in a state of self-questioning-keeping them quiet-for no objectively logical reason other than that they don’t sound like middle-aged white men."

[@mippa]

Any time I see you put Please Save My Earth up as an example I shed a happy tear. Been a shoujo devotee since my teens (I'm now turning 41 this week sob) and it's so nice to see someone taking up some space on KZbin dedicated to educating on shoujo!

[@nelsama0881]

Happy Birthday :)

[@SammyRobinson62232]

I’m glad I found your channel and I kinda wish we have more Shoujo channels like your that is this well know and I 💯 agree when you said that nerd communities rather that be gaming, manga/anime, comics, and etc. feels like a boys club. More specifically a club for male cis gender able body straight white man. And if you’re not apart of that group due to being POC, Afab, Queer, disabled, and etc. you’ll just be treated an an outcast or an annoyance to get rid of. That’s why I wanna get into more Shoujo and more diverse media. Since despite what these animebros and anti woke channel say. Representation matter. Keep up the amazing work and I can’t wait to see what else Shoujo manga you’ll recommend us. Edit: also does anyone know an website where I can read Shoujo manga that is translate into English for free?

[@princessjellyfish98]

27:33 I think this and the next section are my favorite new things you added in this video! I remember you talking about art and paneling in the original video, but showing so many examples was so helpful, and your script was also so much more in depth! It made me realize how acclimated I am to this art style and paneling style in manga. Getting in to manga through shojo and growing up to read mostly josei and BL, I'm so used to reading these layouts, and it wouldn't even occur to me that someone who's not into the genre would notice it as odd! On the topic of digital, I've noticed from reading a lot of web comics aimed at women, there's somewhat of an adaptation of the free-flowing paneling style through chapters that scroll endlessly, with panels falling down instead of to the left. It's definitely different but feels like an adaptation of the same idea! This was such a great and in depth video and I can't wait to send it to my friends who are new to shojo!

[@groofay]

Can't believe I'm about to say this but... #TeamGameShowHost. You've put them through the wringer this past year. Looking forward to the redemption arc.

[@Katt1721]

Aww poor game show host 😅 But sincerely, I think redoing an earlier video, esp one that's meant to be more of an informative retrospective than a deep dive into a specific series, makes a ton of sense! Not only to cover newly learned info or more in-depth research on your part, but even events that have happened since then in the world of publishing (i.e. the Shogakukan manga awards doing away with demographic considerations). Keep up the great work!!

[@mintjaan]

There are so few English-speaking fans of the 24 year group that whenever there is a controversy I know exactly who said it and what Japanese source they interpreted it from.

[@SurelySkyrocket]

ARINA TANEMURA MENTIONED 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 she’s my favorite mangaka!!! I cant even IMAGINE reading her work on a phone screen haha. 💗

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

it was a difficult task to say the least haha

[@Chelseyful]

A wonderfully passionate history of shoujo manga. I especially loved the strong closing. Looking forward to more great videos!

[@Solaxia]

how is your comment 6 days ago, are you a time traveler

[@Misa.misato]

@@SolaxiaPatreon supporters get early access to videos so that’s probably how. Your theory is way more exciting tho. 😆

[@ConvincingPeople]

As a comparative layman in the field, one thing that I find really aesthetically appealing about a lot of shoujo manga artwork, particularly but not solely from the Year 24 Group and that '70s/'80s boom period more generally, is the way that it really leans into abstraction and elides the traditional panel layout to different degrees while maintaining visual flow as an expression of characters' emotional states or an overall tone being set within a scene. It's kind of hypnotic to look at something like that spread from Candy Candy you used where the panels literally dissolve into a cascade of bubbles, for example. I also think of how the anime adaptations of Keiko Takemiya's Song of Wind and Trees (albeit only the early chapters, alas) and A Door Into Summer, while created by entirely different teams so far as I am aware, both have the same dreamlike cadence to their narratives and visual direction which is clearly rooted in the source material. Edit: And of course I say this halfway through the video, and a substantial portion of what comes after is discussion exactly this at length! That notion of suspended time you talk about is especially resonant, as while there are shounen and seinen manga which also do this, sometimes very effectively, those tend to be by mangaka who I suspect have read a lot of shoujo and josei works themselves; for instance, the late great Kentaro Miura was very forthright about his love for the artistry and character depth of shoujo works and how they had made an impact on his work, and honestly, I see it.

[@kururu4ever]

I don't usually comment but I absolutely had to let you know that I love this video! You've done a great job at explaining everything in detail! I hope the shoujo community gets more love going forward 💖

[@robmarney]

That creative/editing divide is wild! In American comics, editing is a junior writing position, and some of the all-time best editors (like Louise Simonson) were women also writing their own titles.

[@sugarzblossom8168]

Honestly, I agree woth the different gender categories. I wish there were more things aimed at women and girls that are unique. Like games for example i don't think there are any RPGs for women. " Women don't play games, women don't read comics women aren't that into anime." Yet, if we look at otome games we can make the conclusion that men don't like romance graphic novels because a lot of the players are female right? But then what about love simulators/dating sims with a mostly male audience? If we look at romance shoujo anime and manga we can conclude that men don't like romance because of the mainly female audience right? But what about romance shounen and seinen anime and manga? Women aren't that into anime so that's why live dramas are the better adaptation for them? What about shounen with large female audiences and popular shoujo anime with a mostly female audience? It sometimes annoys me that women and girls are hardly thought of in general or are seen as important in the entertaining industry. I am horrible at drawing and though i love create stories in my head writing even 20 pages is hard for me and I lack writing skills but i want to make games, comics and cartoons for women and girls. I want to learn blender.

[@blacksiren18135]

The "women aren't into anime" claim is especially hilarious when you look into the history of fujoshi and how much monetary and creative value they provide to franchises. Especially series like Gundam, Yuri on Ice, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc. They have and will continue to spend tons and tons on art, merch and little goodies and contribute through the fandom with fanfic and fanarts. They are such integral parts to a lot of fandoms so it's funny that people actually think women aren't as into anime as men.

[@vyckygy6626]

And that's why we all celebrate with Love and Deepspace now. Finally a battle system and sweet fanservice! I hope there will be more various games, visual novels, anime and manga aimed at women. I 100% agree.

[@dania7989]

I believe in you, you CAN do it 🩷 I also felt like i sucked at drawing and never attempted but i picked up a pencil 4 years ago and have slowly taught myself and improved a lot. i love it when people pay homages to shoujosei and other female oriented media in their own creations. We need more!

[@sugarzblossom8168]

@@dania7989 thank you I will try. That's very encouraging 🩷❤️🩷❤️

[@strawberrysunshines8020]

Excellent video, it's always really fun to learn more about shoujo history! I feel like the anime Sekaiichi Hatsukoi actually shows a pretty honest portrayal of the culture and attitudes found in shoujo manga editing. Most of the publishing department didn't care about their shoujo magazine at all until it started selling incredibly well, and the main character is assigned to be a shoujo manga editor despite having no experience in the genre/demographic (and yes, his first task is literally to read a bunch of shoujo manga lol). It's a pretty good watch as long as you can stomach some of the outdated dubcon/noncon nonsense in the show.

[@markigirl2757]

Omggg yess sim glad someone brought up this yaoi it’s one of my favorites but yeah the non con shit was insane lowkey think it’s written to spite the male editors 😅

[@mangacaptor]

This video is stunning, iconic, informative, and so well done! Amazing! I loved it so much, I watched it in one sitting while I was waiting for my banana bread to bake and this video was the perfect length. At the end I was left with a perfectly baked loaf and valuable knowledge on the world of Shoujo! Thank you Colleen! :)

[@jomaq9233]

I mean, yeah, in an ideal world, demographics wouldn’t and shouldn’t matter that much, but it’s pretty telling how making demographics more obvious have affected things when it’s relatively easy to actually name notable examples of super popular manga primarily aimed towards a female demographic (Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura), and I just can’t say the same for American comic series primarily aimed at women/girls, probably because the vast majority of super mainstream American comic book series are superhero-themed, and most of those are primarily aimed towards boys/men (even the mainstream comics that are not related to superheroes also tend to be primarily made for a male audience) Regardless of how demographics are handled, feminine media will often get shoved into an awkward “only for girls” corner anyway, so being more obvious with demographics can help with visibility

[@chocomintparfait]

You really knocked it out of the park on this one ❤Seriously, your videos are always brilliant, and this one had me almost in TEARS. You're so right about the indescribable feeling that shojo manga gives you, and reading it for 20 years I've never heard someone describe it so deeply. Thank you for putting in SO much research and work and time putting this together, I'm really going to be showing this video to people as MUCH as possible. Awareness is the first step to garnering more love, support and real BUSINESS for shojo mangaka!!

[@lacybookworm5039]

As someone who is genderqueer and thoroughly enjoys reading shoujo manga, I appreciate how much work you put into making this video. :)

[@hanahashi]

Wow, what a good video, I really loved knowing how there were GL mangas even before Sakura Namiki. I'm sure it must have been a lot of work not only in the research but also in curating the sources. Keep up the good work and be nicer to Game show Collen she deserves to sleep on the couch or at least inside of it

[@whimsicalVanilla]

The first manga I ever read were Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, and most of the manga I've read since then has been Shoujo. I love Shoujo manga, for the beautiful art, attention to detail, and how emotions are expressed. I especially love how Clamp uses screentone to express different emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, confusion, anger, etc. By today's standards, a lot of scenes in Ikeda's manga are melodramatic, but I really like the style. A lot of her characters are teenagers, so of course emotional moments hit them harder and she's great at expressing that through her art.

[@nazZiz-b5v]

OMG I...wow I always wondered why I couldn't follow Action in shounen. even stuff like Haikyuu I'd skip the matches and just watch it when it got adapted cuz I couldn't follow what happened....this explained so much. Thanks so much! This video meant so much to me, I always the thought the history of shojou started with Princess Knight...I had no idea there was more to it. And yeah while I enjoy the highschool romances, in the end it was AnS that got me into shojou back in 2015, I've been reading more fantasy these days, I hope we get more adapted into anime as well translated (COLD GAME PLSSS)! Thanks again :D

[@retroanimemike]

There is definitely a case to keep the demographics separate, no question about it. Not overly directly related but i feel it proves my point: a while back I tried to look for books by Spanish-language authors from the US. Plenty of Spanish speakers, a vibrant and practically all-present community throughout the nation. Well it was way more difficult than I thought. It's about the same for every minority-majority situation, I guess. The systemic discrimination is invisible to us, so the defence of the minority seems like uncalled-for extra rights. There are many countries that use quotas setting how many women need to be in parliament, and shoujo manga is still firmly on the free market, not being paid for by the government or anything. Also I want to mention Sukeban Deka, that is just an over-the-top highschool delinquent manga but with girls for some reason!

[@Mathue360]

I really appreciate how well constructed this video was. I learned so much history and how it applies to the now! I do see genre's blending more and I love to see it that. I can also see how easily it is for other style ls and genres to be erased for one cookie cutter style (which would be shounen) that erasure of creativity and individuality would be my issue

[@mayzzz429]

I've been following you from TikTok and since you first post your shoujo video "What is Shoujo" on KZbin and I'm so happy seeing your growth!! Your videos just gets better and better Colleen!! And wow!! You definitely put a lot of work into this one with the amount of resources and editing. This is by far my favorite video from you so far. It's just *chef's kiss*. I really hope you will gain more subscribers cuz honestly you're the best animanga KZbinr I can find right now. No one.did it like you imo

[@mimi5769]

I love your historic videos

[@Ohmleyt]

49:50 the dedication!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

game show host went through a lot

[@clashwithwords]

I mean this sincerely, while acknowledging it sounds kind of cringey... but shoujo changed my life. like genuinely, I feel like I have been able to process a lot not only from my own teenage years, but my adult years too. I have found depth even in series that seem like nothing more than lovey dovey fluff (and no hate on fluff either, sometimes it's also very needed!)

[@JohannesBee]

Let's go, more lore for the Colleen Cinematic Universe

[@olavikorpi8269]

Thorough and disciplined research. I'll take notes. Thank you very much for your effort and sharing!

[@TheJohnblyth]

The panelling topic got me excited, since it made me realize the commonplace that the right-to-left expectation of reading is the opposite of how kanji are written (yet manhua manhwa etc. tend to be left-to-right). This perhaps reflects the columnar writing that would be expected in novels etc. where one starts at the top right, goes down, and then moves one column to the left to continue reading. That kind of presentation of narrative is preserved more completely in the 4-koma style of panelling (a 4-koma presentation works better on smartphones too, and favours lighter stories with less detailed or dramatic artwork). The gender disparity between editors and mangaka makes me think of the parallels of headmasters/teachers, doctors/nurses etc. Keep up the good work!

[@trifan8502]

This was very informative and definitely progress from the original intro to shojosei video, excellent work. There's so much context and history I didn't know about. Thank you for continuing to make videos about shojo and josei, I hope people are being nice. Your comments section seems very positive.

[@LauraAGrace]

This was an incredible video to watch! Thank you for sharing all your time, research, and thoughts because I had no idea about this kind of history shoujo had! It would be heartbreaking to “erase” demographics just simply for the fact the history there and like you said, what those women did so we could have the shoujo we do today! Definitely my favorite part of this video though was shoujo being a visual language. I think it was so perfectly said because when I think on the stories I’ve read, it feels exactly that! Very much enjoyed watching this!!

[@mirroredhour]

Your work is much appreciated as always, Colleen!

[@Money_D_Luffy]

Really outdid yourself on this one 👏 Super informative and editing 🔥 Appreciate when you highlight the differences between magazines like Ribon up to Cookie. I'm now able to look up series from places like Lala or Melody for what to read next 🙏

[@rudetuesday]

I'm in my mid-50s. Shoujo's been an important part of learning more about Japanese language and culture, leading me to lots of fantastic conversations about writing, stories, and comics of various types around the world. Shoujo is a treasure.

[@Shewhospeakesinverse]

Its great that youre taking the time to present what you now know.its tough to do that for a lot of people

[@retroanimemike]

I had to stop the video and go listen to "In High Places", been positively too long since I heard that song! Good taste, Colleen!

[@lorlacs611]

I need more female boss companies to exist We need more empathy,love and open to change to create diverse stories, This video is truly a step up from your previous one

[@surprisinglyblank2392]

I was a little surprised to hear that some non-shoujo readers struggle with the format shift in panel layout that is popular in some titles. I've always found the formatting of Japanese comics in general to be very clean and rarely read things out of order in any genre or demographic. Especially compared to some older American comics whose text can be very dense or experimental in its flow. For example I found it more difficult to parse the reading order of some pages of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing than any manga I've read. It makes me wonder if frequent shoujo readers would have an easier time adjusting to non-Japanese comic formats than exclusively shonen readers.

[@vveva]

the amount of effort is admirable, love your content 💕

[@rti9]

Colleen's opinion on the shoujo manga editors reminds me of Frank Zappa on the music industry. It is on KZbin named "Frank Zappa - Decline of the Music Industry". Relying on the taste of conservative editors and current data collection to dictate the creation of the safest possible product will blind shoujo manga publishers from innovative ideas and inventive art styles.

[@albaniaalban]

I'm very curious about the differences in editorial oversight between shoujo and shounen magazines. Is there a similar trend-chasing sentiment for the shounen artists, or are they granted greater creative freedom - and if so, to what extent? Being a westerner, the way I consume manga and the patterns I notice are not going to be indicative of the cultural climate in Japan. Hence, I really enjoyed your deep dives into the themes and art present in Shoujo, both in regards to the historical origins and the contemporary magazine culture!

[@markigirl2757]

It’s basically the same there too. Many mangaka deal with rejection a lot or if the sales aren’t to par. Freedom is also limited and this that’s why I am way more pickier with Shonen I read these days.

[@gracepolak4464]

Shoujo saved me truly, the period in my life when I had nothing… manga about school life and love and careers gave me such an escape and hope that I could get through everything. I will defend shoujo with my life 😤

[@grandmablobby]

This is my first video I watched from you and that intro was absolutely stellar, can already tell I’ll enjoy this!

[@impsail374]

I love shoujo and josei manga

[@saraheart756]

So happy to have this video to listen to on my break at work 🥰

[@FairyPrincessNia]

I'm getting so much creative inspiration from this video, as my dream is to someday turn my book into a shojo manga.

[@Reverse_Cat_Cowgirl]

Colleen is the only KZbinr where I find myself looking at their eyes for the majority of time.

[@kurootsuki3326]

god i love this channel

[@60508]

Loved it. Great updated to a video I enjoyed in the first place! Commenting for the AI overlords. One thing that I found fascinating in an earlier video of yours that wasn't covered here were the censorship rules that were created that specifically targeted media created for female demographics and how that had an effect on the kinds of stories being told. I'd be really interested in hearing more on that topic in the future.

[@lolitaku7229]

Thank you for making another wonderful video that is more than a shoujo/shounen comparison. I'm always so happy to sit and watch your video essays and i appreciate how much time and effort you put into them with your jokes and skits on the side

[@MangaMuse]

This was such a fantastic video with a ton of great information!! Also poor game show host

[@jacki8106]

Great video!!! ❤

[@itsjustme6334]

Can we please get an edit of Game Show Host's Greatest Hits? 😭 They need it. I'm worried for their ego.

[@Misa.misato]

51:00 Omg, they were roommates!!! 🤭

[@QuintrellDemary]

Really good video on Shoujo and how it started didn’t know some of this only a little 😊

[@katarinaclaes96]

Aww great intro of the video wonderful video in general i really enjoyed it I'll check out these Shoujos Mangas and give them a read.🥺👍

[@morganqorishchi8181]

Me, at 51:05 : "Oh my God, *and they were roommates*?!"

[@curiouscloudy]

omg i love your videos and i always find myself jumping back to your channel to check out more

[@eblom366]

I think you got close to approaching a topic that I think can make it difficult for some shoujo series to find a broader market: screentones don't compress or scale well when represented digitally. There have been times when I've used a manga reader app and given up on reading something because, like you mentioned, the scale doesn't really work for zooming in and out, and to preserve the quality of the screentones you need to start from really high quality scans, whether in a series that's explicitly shoujo or takes a similar approach to its artstyle. If you twist it around, there's a way for Shoujo publishers to upsell the value of physical manga volumes from the pre-webmanga era as merch - moreso than comics with more digital-friendly paneling, it really looks best on paper.

[@VocaloidRoxs09]

Oh my gosh you showed Skip Beat!! 🤩

[@denisapasca154]

Great video! I had learn new things 😊

[@KawaiiStars]

the irish joke is true, unless you're speaking full gaeilge, no one gets called cailín

[@saraheart756]

Love the video and the editing! Great video :)

[@allthegoodnamesaretaken]

I'm happy i discovered your channel!!

[@somefellow2]

☘ The motherland awaits! ☘Thanks for teaching me more about shoujo! We mostly call the indigenous language usually referred to as Gaelic by Americans just Irish which I offer as context to say people really do go around the few pockets of Irish language left calling people cailín (colleen)! Maith an cailín!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

thank you for the additional knowledge fellow brethren 😤

[@mythicdreamer629]

I would read a shojo magazine edited by Colleen - I think it would be very interesting and probably would have a range of different genres and styles inside.

[@princessjellyfish98]

10:02 LETS GO LESBIANS LETS GO

[@jaimecardona92]

Great video as always!

[@shougatea]

your videos are always so informative and also give me a ton of new manga to read ♥️

[@charlieedwards4331]

Very excellent video!

[@anoob6614]

Shojo is so looked down upon even though the cuteness influenced so many male demographic shows and styles we see today

[@bobi200samatar6]

To support the point of keeping the gender demographics: when I first started dabbling in anime in the late 2000s and early 2010, I didn't really pay attention to demographics or anything like that. I just looked at the genre and art style and went with that. So I watched stuff like Peach Girl, Tokyo Mew Mew, Medabots, Gakuen Alice, some Yu-Gi-Oh. When I tried watching anime later in the late 2010s, I found myself put off at just how much fan service there was, and how much the stories just didn't appeal to me. I felt very out of place because all the anime viewers around me loved My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer and One Piece. It wasn't until I actually had a look at what the demographics were that it clicked: they stopped making things for my gender. So even though I believed I didn't care about gender demographics, I realised something was wrong when anime effectively became for 'everyone', AKA, for guys.

[@yukikurosu260]

Colleen, by the way are you interested into otome games?

[@badsmilesorrisocattivo]

12:29 my new notification sound

[@CaptGarth980]

i love women so much

[@reminiscentoss681]

Ngl the drama and acting in the intro had me by the throat.

[@Artfanbookfan25]

I'm a guy, but some of my all-time favourite manga are shoujo series (Yuu Watase's _Alice 19th_ and _Fushigi Yûgi_ , the majority of CLAMP's work). I've been reading Ai Yazawa's _Paradise Kiss_ and also want to read classic shoujo series like _Nana_ , _Fruits Basket_ , _Marmalade Boy_ and _Rose of Versailles_ . Shoujo manga is so much more than just "girly" or romantic stories. Also, I've always felt that female mangaka put so much more love into their art, and unlike many shounen/seinen manga, they've written about sex without objectifying women. I was also suprised to discover that shoujo manga has had a long history of gay and queer presentation (much longer than mainstream Western media).

[@gracequeeney3399]

What's the manga title in 28:52 timestamp?

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Kono Setsugen de Kimi ga Zutto Waratteirareru You ni

[@gracequeeney3399]

​@@ColleensMangaRecsthank you🙏

[@millimausa]

This is the first video of yours I'm watching and I habe no idea what the Intro is about but I'm intreaged (is That how you write That word?)

[@seandarbe2521]

Hey Colleen is this why gun moll manga are crime and mystery manga are less common since the eighties? Can you recomend urban fantsy/ ocult detective manga for me to try out that are shojo, josei, senien.😊

[@talto]

Manga at 32:54? I see a birb, I like.

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Kazeyobi no Makana

[@zetsyy]

17:22 gonna come back

[@AlexisRaven-ou4cu]

I don't think I've ever been this early 😅

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

welcome

[@Toastcat890]

Manhwa will just replace shoujo manga I've already moved on because it felt like we were getting more female oriented manhwa and manhua and I was right it seems but it's such a shame because I started with shoujo and love josei something Japan apparently doesn't really care about anymore apparently.

[@yunfeikwon]

Well yeah but manhwa tend to be mass produced so it lacked originality and diversity as South Korean is known to allergic to anything different or contemporary, I mean look at nowadays state of kpop idols. Only otome isekai manhwa so far is decent, some of them even are literacy masterpiece. Modern shoujo manhwa lacked narrative wise and character wise, as it lacked depth and layers compared to shoujo manga. I say this as a long time fan of manhwa, but I only read manhwa as general for its artstyle and character's fashion as most of them are better than most of the shoujo manga counterpart. And most of popular manhwa are adaptation to light novel series instead of original works, so it is a crime to compare them to shoujo manga as most of them are original creation. Plus in literary narrative wise and characterization wise, shoujo manga is still far better objectively. Though I must say manhwa is still the best for portraying real world patriarchy problems and misogyny, as nowadays manhwa leans towards healthy feminism though most of them still has strong internalized misogyny especially otome isekai manhwa with angst. I want to blame the book author instead as they the original source but I hate how 90% of time FL ended up with a**hole ML who only justification is PaSt tRaUmA and ended up as entire personality with little to no grovel or repentance, despite the fact that she has other options (the classic sad boy 2ndML who never get the girl and ended up with no one trope). It's my personal biggest pet peeves for manhwa with that type of ML. Anyway sorry for long rant, I don't mean to criticize or belittle you as the fan of manhwa, but I just want to say that veteran shoujo manga mostly can't take manhwa seriously as literary work yet.

[@gracequeeney3399]

yeah right? I'm confused on why shoujo is being so stagnant rn. Even shonen and seinen begin to broadened the target audience by having more series with female protagonist or lowering the male fanservice or increasing the female fanservice like BL shipping bait or ABS cleavage like they did with Gojo. Not that I'm complaining but I think shoujo need to step up their game or else it will lose to other demographic or even to manhwa. No hate or offense to manhwa, but I agree that they're still not reaching shoujo's level in narrative wise and characterization wise. However I believe they will catching up soon enough if shoujo still on this condition. I mean look at rapid decline of shoujo magazine's publication. It's very concerning and makes me really sad💔