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This article contains mentions of sexual abuse, stalking, and other problematic trends between romantic couples. It also mentions pregnancy and birth complications, as well as child death. Reader discretion is advised.

Some shojo anime can be an acquired taste, but even some of the most popular titles could turn skeptics away. Anime fans who know the genre appreciate these popular shojo anime for what they are. Open-minded people who are curious about anime may still enjoy these titles, but they all have problematic things that might scare away a new viewer.

Immense trauma, toxic relationships, and age-gap romances are often part of shojo anime. Yet, non-anime fans would probably switch the anime off. Even if the writing and characters are great, specific plotlines and situations could still turn potential fans off from enjoying even the most beloved shojo titles.

Kiss Him, Not Me Perpetuates Body-Shaming Stream Kiss Him, Not Me on Crunchyroll

Kiss Him,...

Shojo is a popular anime demographic that caters to a young female audience. This unique genre centers around female-led stories featuring strong emotion and rich character growth. Romance often plays a major role in shojo anime as well, and some of animes most iconic romances come from this demographic. Many of these incredible love stories helped shape shojo into what it is today.

The classic shojo love story has become so famous over the years that even non-shojo fans recognize its defining features. From typical high school love stories to romantic fantasy adventures, shojo romances come in many different forms. The very best of these romances stand out among the rest, and their influence can be felt even years later.

Related 10 Most Influential Shojo Anime

Shojo anime like Fruits Basket 2001, Ouran High School Host Club, and The Rose of Versailles set the standard for the genre.

Kiyoka and Miyo...

Shojo anime has been around since the 1950s, starting with the series Princess Knight, which was about a magical girl knight who challenged gender roles. Anime marketed for that demographic has only grown and evolved since then. Shojo's marketed for young women, but it has mass appeal to viewers of all ages.

Shojo stories tend to revolve around romance, friendship, and personal development. There are many series whose heroes set the standard for shojo. Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon influenced nearly all magical girl anime to follow, and Kiyoka Kudo from My Happy Marriage is quickly revolutionizing the protective kuudere love interest character type.

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Related 10 Most Influential Shojo Anime

Shojo anime like Fruits Basket 2001, Ouran High School Host Club, and The Rose of Versailles set the standard for the genre.

Takeo Gouda Set the Standard for Male Leads in My Love Story!

My day started with me balancing emails and waiting at the InterContinental for my first interview of the day: American Fable. I spoke to the director for a podcast I am also working for during SXSW, One of Us, and it went really well. It always feels good to be the first interviewer because you know you’ll be on time and you’ll probably also have the chance to run over time and ruin everyone’s schedule for the rest of the day.

As I mentioned yesterday, American Fable is incredible, so talking with Anne Hamilton about her movie was equally special. She had so much to say about her craft, and I cannot wait for people to hear it.

My next interview was for I Am Not a Serial Killer, but luckily for me that wasn’t until 1:00pm. That meant I had about an hour and a half to kill,...

On Friday, I attended the Fresh Romance panel moderated by Janelle Asselin, a former editor at DC Comics, Disney, and Comics Alliance and the founder and current editor-in-chief of Rosy Press. Rosy Press’ only monthly title is Fresh Romance, which is a digital romance anthology comic that comes out on the last Tuesday of every month and contains three ten page stories that are usually serialized. The comics can be found on Comixology or the Rosy Press website and are just a click away.

Currently, Fresh Romance has two stories running and one that has recently wrapped off. There is “School Spirit” written by Kate Leth (Bravest Warriors) with art by Arielle Jovellanos (Jem Annual) and colors from Amanda Scurti. “School Spirit” is a high school romance about two lesbian teens pretending to date boys so people won’t find out about and also has magic and superpowers. There is...

Alongside my film passions, expressed on WhatCulture! and on my own blog, my other big creative passion is radio. I’ve been involved in radio in one form or another since 2007, and currently broadcast three times a fortnight on Exeter’s Phonic FM.

But rather than sit here blowing my own trumpet, I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to promote the passion project of one of my favourite online reviewers – anime critic Hope Chapman, a.k.a. JesuOtaku (Jo for short). If you’re into anime you probably watch her reviews on That Guy With The Glasses, but what you may not know about is her on-going magnum opus – the Fruits Basket Radio Drama.

Fruits Basket Radio Drama is an adaptation of the manga series Fruits Basket, written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It tells the story of young orphan Tohru Honda, who moves in...

Actors Vic Mignogna and Aaron Dismuke, best known for voicing Ed and Al Elric in hit anime Fullmetal Alchemist, have been announced as special guests at the McM Birmingham Comic Con.

As well as playing Ed, Mignogna (above, on right) has performed in a host of major anime series, from Broly in the Dragon Ball Z films to Ikkaku Madarame in Bleach and Tamaki in Ouran High School Host Club. Other shows featuring Vic include Vampire Knight; Soul Eater; Naruto Shippuden; Hetalia: Axis Powers; Full Metal Panic! and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

Aaron Dismuke (above, on left) has been a voice actor since he was nine, taking on roles such as Hiro Sohma in Fruits Basket; Ouri Kagami in Corpse Princess and Leon Elliot in Black Cat. Other anime that Aaron has voiced include Trinity Blood; Ouran High School Host Club; Big Windup! and YuYu Hakusho.

Aaron and Vic will be...

Many of us are in the midst of mourning/celebrating Tokyopop, which closed up shop in the United States last month. The fate of many ongoing series is undetermined (and Amazon is unable to fulfill orders for them), but as we wait and wonder at their fate, we can go back and catch up on or look anew at over 300 titles offered through their house around the world. The most popular titles over the years have been my personal favorite, Fruits Basket, along with Mobile Suit Gundam, Paradise Kiss, Sailor Moon, Saiyuki, PhD: Phantasy Degree, Suikoden, Angelic Layer, Devil May Cry, Cowboy Bebop, Magic Knight Rayearth, .hack, Jing: King of Bandits, Dramacon, Bizenghast, Anima, Pet Shop of Horrors, Kingdom Hearts, and the more recent and bestselling additions to their list, Priest, Gakuen Alice, Alice in the Country of Hearts, Butterfly, and Pavane for the Dead. Here is a look at...

Most people who are familiar with anime (and many who aren’t) probably already know a thing or two about Dragon Ball, one of the most popular family of anime titles to ever grace our shores. But for those of you who don’t, a quick synopsis may be in order. A rough breakdown of the series would go something like:

Episode 1: Goku (charging energy fireball attack) Ka –

Episode 2: Me –

Episode 3: Ah –

Episode 4: Me –

Episode 5: (releases massive wave) Ahh!!!

Episode 6: Ahhhh!!!

Episode 7: Hhh!!!

Episode 8: !!!

Episode 9: Piccolo (sees approaching fireball) Oh crap –

Episode 10: (is hit) Yaaahh!!!

Episode 11: Ahhh!!!

Episode 12: Hhh!!! (end of season 1)

Seasoned fans will get the joke — Dragon Ball, while much beloved, is not exactly known for its breathtaking rate of plot development. Whole episodes, heck, whole Seasons go by as the characters punch, kick, taunt, charge...

“A sound soul dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body…”

Or so Laura Bailey, the voice of Maka, tells us at the beginning of each episode of Soul Eater. While she doesn’t give us any details about the percentages of recommended daily allowances, we can tell you that Soul Eater, the latest hit series from Funimation, is 100% awesome.

If you’ve been to an anime convention in the last year or so, chances are you’ve already witnessed the phenomenon that is Soul Eater. Starting its tour of our shores as a manga serialized in Yen Press, the series went on to be collected into volumes, giving U.S. fans a taste of what the process is normally like in Japan as a title gains popularity. It exploded onto the con scene, with hundreds of cosplayers taking part in some of the biggest photo shoots I’ve ever seen.

Do You Look At the World Through Apple Eyes?

It’s been a long time coming, but Holo is finally here, and despite fan anxiety over name changes, a mix up of release dates, and a dubious choice of cover for the associated light novel, the wolf girl proves to have been more than worth the wait!

I’ve been excited about this series ever since seeing it in fandub. My friend/ Go teacher/ co-conspirator in world domination recommended it to me — more like demanded I watch it or Else! So I did, taking in half of the first season in one sitting. It cost me a lot of sleep, and I’ve been thanking/blaming him ever since.

If you missed our preview back in June, or like me, you can’t really remember back that far, or for that matter, much that happened before last weekend, Spice and...

Last week, North American anime distributor Viz Media began airing the first episode of the long awaited conclusion to Rumiko Takahashi’s hit series, Inuyasha. Appropriately titled “Inuyasha: The Final Act”, the series will run for 26 episodes, and finally bring the animated version of Takahashi’s beloved feudal fairy tale to a close. The first episode, “Naraku’s Heart”, aired Saturday in Japan and was streamed on Hulu with English subtitles, making this a near simultaneous release. Upcoming episodes will be released the same way, with new installments airing each Saturday.

Loyal fans won’t be disappointed. Right from the start, this looks and feels like vintage Inuyasha, with beautiful opening animation set to the sounds of Do As Infinity’s “Kimi ga Inai Mirai.” Dai are no strangers to Inuyasha soundtracks, having also done the second and fifth ending themes for the show, “Fukai Mori” and “Shinjitsu no Uta” respectively.

The 45th volume of the popular manga Naruto has debuted in the USA Today bestseller list at number 31. It was followed by the 23rd and final volume of Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket, which entered at number 53. Naruto #45 had already topped The New York Times’ manga bestseller list, with Fruits Basket in second place. Viz Media’s Naruto, written (more)...

According to ICv2's of Diamond’s numbers, the top selling graphic novel for November was Vertigo’s Fables Vol. 11. The 12,800 units sold was good for first place but shows a dip from the previous volume. Second place went to Aspen’s Michael Turner Tribute Graphic Novel, “ the only other book with over 10,000 copies sold in by Diamond.”

In terms of revenue, the $99 Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 took the top spot with an estimated 3500 copies sold. The Watchmen hardcover edition was in second place.

Marvel’s first appearance on the list was in 13th position with Hulk Vol. 1: Red Hulk while Naruto Vol. 32 took 9th place for best manga.

Here’s a look at the top 25:

Rank Index Title Price Pub Est.Qty

1 12.4 Fables Tp Vol 11 War & Pieces (Mr) $17.99 DC 12,791

2 9.74 Michael Turner Tribute Gn $8.99 Asp 10,047

3 8.97 Btvs Season 8 Tp Vol 03 Wolves At The Gate $15.95 Dar 9,253

4 8.95 Heroes Hc Vol 02* $29.99 DC 9,232

5 7.86 Watchmen...

It’s little surprise that the Watchmen toped BookScan’s list of Top 20 Graphic Novels for November for the fifth month in a row. In a report at ICv2, it was noted the book actually hit the Top 10 list twice with the paperback edition of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ story atop the list and the new hardcover edition in the sixth spot.

Eight of the 20 spots belong to traditional graphic novels with the remaining dozen spots nabbed, as expected, by Manga releases, led by Fruits Basket Vol. 21 in second place. DC’s Joker original tale debuted in fourth place and gave the publisher three of the Top 10 spots. Marvel had no titles in the Top 20 although Dk’s holiday book Marvel Chronicle debuted in 17th place. Similarly, Running Press’ wonderful DC Vault appeared in 15th place.

BookScan’s report of bookstore sales is an incomplete picture of the book...