Valentine’s Day Manga #MangaMonday Recommendations

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

This week’s #MangaMonday Recommendations topic is about Valentine’s day, I of course could do nothing else but recommend *shōjo manga. I’m following up from last week where I recommended short shōnen manga, by including short shōjo series in this post!

Besides being extra short, these series also feature the cutest pure-love-type boy-girl relationships. Whether you’re in love, or not, these series are sure to make your heart go doki doki!

Several of these titles are out of print, so might be a bit harder to locate. But, since they are short, shouldn’t take much to complete!

 

The Heiress and the Chauffeur, volume 1-2 by Keiko Ishihara

Set in Taisho era Japan, an heiress and her servant must never cross the boundaries of their station in life. They can never touch. And they certainly can never fall in love!

Backstage Prince, volume 1-2 by Kanoko Sakurakoji

I personally think Sakurakoji is better in her shortest series. Akari gets mixed up with Ryusei the socially anxious and demanding kabuki prodigy when she accidentally injures him before a performance.

Wanted by Matsuri Hino

If you love the “Princess Bride,” but wish it was even more piratey, you’ll want to read this title! Armeria’s first love Luce has been kidnapped by pirates! Several years later she has set herself on a mission, has disguised herself as a boy, with the intent to rescue Luce from the dread pirate Skulls! From the “lovely” and “fluffy” imagination of Matsuri Hino.

Miss Me? by Tomoko Taniguchi

I’m personally a huge fan of Tomoko Taniguchi, and have everything she’s got published in English. She’s one of (if not the) first shōjo mangaka published in English.

Most of the stories cross-over with each other, so you see familiar faces from other titles in each one (especially in Popcorn Romance, Call Me Princess, Just a Girl, and Let’s Stay Together Forever). I wish more manga did this – I love it! Plus, these are so exceptionally cute, I want someone else to love them as much as I do!

Miss Me? follows a stylish high schooler who has fallen in love with the lead singer of a heavy metal band. But, he doesn’t seem very interested… so, maybe she should just date his desperate band mate instead!?

Stolen Hearts, volumes 1-2 by Miku Sakamoto

Stolen Hearts is actually an incomplete manga. Or, it was in publication when CMX went defunct. But, is actually on of those manga that ends relatively well, and is still well worth checking out!

This is similar in plot to Backstage Prince (above), meek Shinobu accidentally damages an antique Kimono that the scary Miharu is carrying around in his school bag. He demands reparations… which turn out to be working at his grandmother’s kimono store.

What’s this?! Now she gets to wear all of the cute kimono she could ever desire! Perhaps Miharu isn’t as mean and scary as she thought!

Punch!, volume 1-3 by Rie Takada

Rie Takada is one of my all-time favourite shoujo mangaka! Her female characters are so fun, and quirky — with huge personalities.

Punch! is about Elle who lives with her grandfather at his boxing gym. She hates boxing, and wants nothing to do with it… especially not to marry her betrothed, who is himself an up-and-coming boxer. She spends her time looking for a normal boyfriend. But when none of them can stand up to her jealous fiance, she gets help from a scrappy street fighter.

Beast Master, volume 1-2 by Kyousuke Motomi

The covers of this manga are scary, but this is anything but. Yuiko Kubozuka loves animals… she loves them so much that she always scares them away. But, then a mysterious student comes to class with his glowing animal-like eyes… just maybe she’s found an animal who will love her back!?

 

That’s it for my recommendations this week! Have you read any of these titles? Will you be reading shōjo manga this Valentine’s Day?

 

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*shōjo manga is a marketing demographic for manga. It means that it was originally published in a magazine who’s target readership is girls (children through teens). Unlike shōnen manga which tends to be more of a “catch-all” or “everybody” demographic, shōjo manga tends to be more of a “niche” demographic. But more on that in a future post.

If you would like to participate in #mangamonday recommendations on your blog or YouTube (or wherever), check out the instructions and future topics, here: https://mangahoarder.com/mangamonday-recommendations/