5 Shoujo Series for Japanese Learners

When it comes to studying a language, the absolute most important factor, in my opinion, is interest! You could read a dictionary and try to memorize all of the words and their definitions, but you wouldn’t be very engaged, now would you?

For example, say two friends were to tell you a story: the first friend tells you of how their boyfriend was secretly dating 5 girls at the same time, and the second tells you about their morning commute to school. Which story do you think you would remember more clearly by the end of the day?

Apply this thinking to studying language, and it should make sense that the more interested we are in a certain material, the more the information will stick with us!

And so, for those of you who are interested in shoujo manga, I want to recommend 5 series that I think are beginner friendly!

Please note: As these are beginner friendly manga, I will not be including anything fantasy (so no Kamisama kiss 😦 ). This is because we want more beginner-friendly topics and vocabulary!

Kimi ni Todoke

If you’re a fan of shoujo manga, it’s highly likely that you know that manga already! I am going to assume that most of the people reading this have probably watched the anime, but have you read the manga?

If you start a manga already knowing what it’s about, it will make comprehension that much easier! Rather than going in blind, if you already know more or less what happens, you will be able to make connections to unfamiliar words and the story.

Ao Haru Ride (Blue Spring Ride)

If Kimi Ni Todoke is a little bit too sweet for you, Ao Haru Ride may be more your style! Ao Haru Ride is a little bit more emotional, and does take you through a bit of a rollercoaster when compared to Kimi Ni Todoke, in my opinion.

This manga also has an anime, so it may be a good strategy to watch the anime first, and then take a shot at reading the manga.

Horimiya

In my opinion, Horimiya is by far the most entertaining manga on this list. While Kimi ni Todoke is more sweet and Ao Haru Ride is more emotional, Horimiya is just fun.

This is the only manga on this list that I read multiple volumes in the same sitting because of how entertained I was. Thankfully, this one also has an anime that you can watch!

Mairimashita Senpai

This is more of a mature manga, but it still has very beginner friendly vocabulary! This manga has a very unique artstyle, and I really enjoyed reading it thanks to that.~

While this manga doesn’t have its own anime (yet?), I do think that the story is simple enough that you should be able to understand what’s going on without any preparation!

Our main couple gets together in the very first chapter, so the entirety of the story follows their relationship.

Wolf Girl and Black Prince

Wolf Girl and Black Prince is so out there that you’ll be retaining literally everything. All of the characters are the worst, and really there’s no one to root for. Because of this, you’ll be able to enjoy this incredibly messy story, and hopefully learn some new vocabulary along the way!

Our protagonists two best friends do sometimes use slightly difficult vocabulary (slang commonly used by some teenagers), but besides this, the used vocabulary isn’t anything crazy!

This story also has both an anime (with a crazy good opening song), and an anime (with my favourite actor~), so it shouldn’t be difficult to get invested in the story before starting this manga.

My lvl 999 love for Yamada-kun -> this manga doesn’t have furigana, so if you can’t read kanji you’ll be struggling to read it.
Ouran High School Host Club -> the text in this manga is very small for reason, so I would wait until you’re very comfortable with the writing system before trying this one.
Orange -> time travel is difficult to understand in English, let alone Japanese.
Vampire Knight -> Nothing fantasy!

What about you?

Have you found any shoujo manga that helped you on your Japanese-learning journey?

Maddies Manga