It’s undeniable that shojo is a majorly underrepresented demographic in the anime and manga industry. Despite spawning some of the most influential series of all time, more often than not, groundbreaking shojo works are pushed to the side by anime studios in favor of more shonen getting produced in their place. While this seems to be slowly changing thanks to shows like My Happy Marriage and A Sign of Affection receiving critical acclaim and being deeply beloved by fans, there’s still plenty of work to be done.
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Something a lot of shojo fans have been advocating for is seeing classic series that were done dirty in the past be re-adapted in the same vein as the recent Fruits Basket reboot in order to properly tell their stories and develop the relationships each of these works are known for. While there’s a mountain of shojo manga that deserve proper anime adaptations, there are a few classics that would be huge hits with fans today.
Lovely Complex
One of the most wholesome love stories in all of shojo, Lovely Complex tells an adorable tale of first love with the gimmick being that the main couple has an extreme height difference. For those who grew up watching the series, Lovely Complex delivers a light-hearted yet empowering romance teaching its audience that in spite of how others may view your relationship, it’s important to stay true to the person you love and to overcome any hasty judgments made toward you. This includes internalized feelings one may hold against themselves.
While the series may not seem like anything groundbreaking for today’s anime fans, it is an excellent representation of a couple that doesn’t fit into the cookie-cutter mold of other couplings found in romance anime, which, in a world where audiences want to see relationships representing people from different backgrounds, would be an excellent step in the right direction to push other, newer creators to explore diverse concepts in their work.
Maid-Sama!
It’s difficult not to think of Maid Sama! when talking about anime that desperately deserve a modern reboot, even outside of shojo-centered circles. the dynamic between the male and female leads makes it an instant must-watch for any anime fan who loves a little enemies-to-lovers in their slice-of-life shows. Plus, the banter between Usui and Misaki is absolutely addicting to watch, with the pair being able to keep up with the other’s brash personality.
More than that, though, the supporting cast in Maid Sama! is equally enjoyable to follow. There are also plenty of rivals introduced before Misaki and Usui become canon, which is a trope that modern anime romance series have begun to stray away from. A proper reboot would also give audiences a chance to actually see Usui propose to Misaki, something that never came up in the original anime adaptation.
Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight is rather controversial due to the canon pairing in the original manga, however, the series is still deeply beloved by many shojo fans for a variety of non-problematic reasons that make it a great choice to be reimagined with new visuals and higher quality animation than its 2008 iteration. That’s not to say the original anime hasn’t held up extremely well, of course, but considering how popular supernatural romances are – especially with vampires being the main love interests – there’s a special niche in the shojo community basically begging to be catered to.
Of course, the potential for a Vampire Knight reboot does beg the question of how an anime studio would handle some of the manga’s more problematic elements, but, even if they chose to change up who the lead protagonist’s endgame love interest is, there’s ample room for appropriate rewrites to make the series something truly special for modern-day anime fans.
ItaKiss
Originally released in the late 1990s, ItaKiss is the definition of a classic shojo series. The story follows an aloof, clumsy high schooler named Kotoko Aihara who finally musters up the courage to confess her romantic feelings for her classmate, Naoki. Of course, Aihara’s crush is the complete opposite of her, being extremely good at sports and one of the top students in their grade, and ends up bluntly rejecting Aihara’s advances. To add insult to injury, an earthquake ends up ruining Aihara’s home shortly after being rejected, and while she and her family wait for it to be rebuilt, she begins living with her father’s childhood best friend – Naoki’s father.
ItaKiss is absolutely hilarious and would make for the perfect seasonal rom-com in the modern age. Despite the series never receiving a proper ending due to the sudden and tragic death of the original creator, Kaoru Tada, seeing it reimagined for a new generation of anime fans would be a beautiful way to keep the story alive for decades to come.
Skip Beat!
With anime having a heavier focus on the Japanese entertainment industry becoming more prevalent thanks to Oshi no Ko, there’s no better time for one of the most dense shojo series ever made to be given a proper reboot. Skip Beat! opens by introducing audiences to Kyoko Mogami, a 16-year-old girl who’s betrayed by her first love and childhood friend, Shotaro Fuwa after following him to Tokyo to support his budding career in music after catching him flirting with his manager.
Enraged and wanting revenge, Kyoko gives herself a complete makeover and breaks into the entertainment industry to become a bigger star than Shotaro could ever dream of being. As the series continues, fans get to see Kyoko develop as an entertainer and move away from her need for revenge and instead pursue stardom for herself. The original manga is still running today, and a new anime adaptation would have the opportunity to catch up to everything that’s happened since the original anime ended in 2009.
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His and Her Circumstances
His and Her Circumstances, otherwise referred to as Kare Kano, follows the perfect “don’t judge a book by its cover” setup. The main character of the series, Yukino Miyazawa, is the envy of her classmates as one of the top-performing students and good looks. Of course, this preppy exterior is all a massive facade – in truth, she’s spoiled and messy. Plus, she spends every waking moment outside of school rigorously studying to keep her grades up.
Her life gets flipped upside down upon entering high school, where she’s knocked off her throne by Soichiro, an easy-going young man whose very presence is a threat to the non-stop praise she needs to survive. With Kare Kano‘s humor focusing primarily on social hierarchy and the female lead constantly trying to one-up her love interest, it would be the perfect pick for fans of anime like Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War.
Earl and Fairy
Earl and Fairy is incredibly unique when compared to other shojo series, partially due to the fact that the source material is a light novel, not a manga. Written by Mizue Tani with illustrations by Asako Takaboshi, Earl and Fairy‘s original run began in 2004 until 2013 with thirty-three collected volumes. Compared to the anime adaptation, which ran for only 12 episodes in 2008, there’s plenty of room for an anime studio to revisit the series and give it a proper adaptation.
The series is set in Victorian Britain and follows a 17-year-old girl named Lydia Carlton who has a keen interest in fairies. She’s soon hired as an advisor by Edgar J. C. Ashenbert, also known as “Legendary Blue Knight Earl”, who is setting out on a voyage that requires the unique knowledge that Lydia possesses. While it’s a mix of a fantasy road-trip and romance, Earl and Fairy‘s aesthetic and vibe make it perfect for the modern day shojo fan.
Fushigi Yugi
Credited as being one of the original isekai series, Fushigi Yuugi is the perfect anime to be picked up for a brand-new adaptation now that the genre is one of the biggest in the industry. The series follows two friends, Miaka Yuuki and Yui Hongo, after being transported into a magic book they find at a local library. While the two girls initially end up in the same spot, they’re soon separated, with Yui being returned to the real world.
From that point on, both girls are determined to reunite with each other – but Miaka is whisked away by Hotohori, the emperor of the land she’s been transported to, who believes that she’s a priestess foretold to serve their kingdom’s god and protector, Suzaku.
Gakuen Alice
While it may be a bit more niche compared to other classic shojo series, Gakuen Alice is unmatched in its character writing and dynamics. The series follows Mikan, an average young girl from the countryside whose best friend suddenly moves away to a prestigious school for “Alices” – gifted young people with unique abilities. Determined not to lose her friend forever, Mikan follows her to the Academy, learning that she possesses a rare “Alice”. While much of the series is written to be adjacent to a slice-of-life or coming-of-age story, there’s an intriguing political mystery just underneath the surface.
Considering the original manga ran from 2003 until 2013, and the original anime adaptation of Gakuen Alice only ran from 2004 to 2005, a reboot would give the story an opportunity to reach a proper conclusion, and to deliver on some of the many mysteries surrounding the Alices enrolled at the Academy.
Ouran High School Host Club
While it may seem like an obvious choice – there aren’t many series that deserve a redemptive reboot as much as Bisco Hatori’s Ouran High School Host Club. The original anime series, which was produced by Bones in 2006 ended up deviating heavily from its source material during its 26-episode run and ended up having a completely different ending from the manga. This not only meant that fans didn’t get a chance to see Haruhi and Tamaki’s relationship properly come to fruition but they were also robbed of the many epilogues that the other members of the host club received after the main events of the story.
Considering how deeply beloved the series is, and how Bones continues to torture fans with new merchandise featuring characters from the series, it only seems right that they – or another studio – would finally give Ouran High School Host Club a proper adaptation and finally beat the never-ending rumors of a potential second season.
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Image Credit: Star Trek
