Cute bishoujo/slice of life anime aimed at boys that a girl might like as well...

[Aiia]

I'm a die hard shoujo and josei manga/anime fan (female, in my twenties), but I have quite broad tastes when it comes to anime.

From time to time I find myself in the mood to watch stuff I normally wouldn't check out, and actually like it a lot. Cute anime mainly aimed at boys is one of those genres, but to be honest, I don't know a lot about it. So maybe there's a few hidden gems out there that I've missed so far?

I would like to avoid series that are "too loli" or suggestive in their portrayal of young girls, since I find that it a bit distracting.

Yuri-ish themes/subthemes is ok but not a must.

Even if it's only available in R2 Japanese, its ok (I live in Japan).

I have a thing for "manly" femaly characters in the sense that they are stoic, sort of quiet, or maybe protects/acts as a mentor to other girls (think Maria Tachibana in Sakura Wars). So that would be a plus. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

To help you know what kind of kawaii/bishoujo/harem etc stuff I enjoy, here's a few shows I've enjoyed so far, more or less in this order:

Sakura Wars (my favourite so far)
Sugar the tiny snow fairy
Somedays Dreamers
This ugly and beautiful world (Konomini)
Love Hina
Risky/Safety

I've recently decided to give Air a try as well.

So, any suggestions?

[itsuka]

Have you checked out Boys Be, currently being released by TRSI? It's a romantic anime made for boys, but I really liked the love stories and the characters, and I think it would work also quite well for someone who likes shoujo and slice of life.

[Njr Scrawl]

You might like Kimagure Orange Road. Madoka, the main/female character is kimagure but mature for her age (15 at the start), protective of her best friend, Hikaru, but is also fun-loving as well.

While the series starts off (& 1st introduction) as light, its not long before deeper layers to the main characters are shown. To me (biased of course) KOR is more addictive than Maison Ikkoku, which I also recommend. KOR is shorter, & has less annoying supporting characters, & time spent with them - but both have characters with deep emotional needs to find a soul-partner.

[touma]

I do not pay any attention to the shonen/shoujo thing so I might be a bit off. But based on what you have liked I think that these might work for you:

Angelic Layer
Petite Princess Yucie
Fancy Lala
World of Narue
Kaleido Star
Shrine of the Morning Mist
Wedding Peach

If you are familiar with any of those do they seem right, or wrong, for you?

[lilgumba]

Fruits Basket in a way has a reverse harem with some manly girly boys...and men in it.

World of Narue is more slice of life romance that's not too girly but is a bit out of this world...literally.

Kare Kano is another more slice of life romance. There are a few hints of a girly boy but nothing too major. Maybe I should say self absorbed boy. Only downside is that it will leave you hanging a bit.

[Dagger]

I'm glad you already settled on AIR; it's a brilliant bishoujo series. Very cute, very heartbreaking. No manly female characters though, sorry (I understand what you meant by saying that, btw--I like 'em too! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif).

As for others... if you haven't given My-HiME & My-Otome a try yet, I encourage you to do so. My-HiME in particular gets a lot better as it goes along.

Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo is a superb shounen magical girl series--with the twist that the magical girl is an adult woman. The first episode or so is laden with fanservice, but that's actually somewhat misleading; the series tones it down as it goes along. More importantly, it has strong, serious themes, great characters, and a wonderful resolution. The animation style is strongly reminiscent of Melody of Oblivion (they share a lot of staff members, too).

I would recommend fare like Tsukuyomi Moon Phase (coming out from Funi later this year) and Pani Poni Dash, both directed by Akiyuki Shinbo (of Le Portrait de Petite Cossete & Soultaker), but the loli tendencies would probably turn you off. So instead of PPD, how about School Rumble?

Kamichu is definitely worth considering; there's a thread about it elsewhere in this forum.

For hardcore drama, you can't do any better than Koi Kaze. And for that plus hardcore violence, there's always Elfen Lied (lots of bishoujo + harem set-up + blood &amp; gore galore). Elfen Lied might be too gratuitous for your tastes; I dunno. There's one scene of <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>sexual abuse of a young girl by her step-father</span> that proved to be too much for several viewers. I'm mentioning this mainly because you listed Konomini, which has a roughly similar premise; all of the above shows except for HiME &amp; Otome could be considered slice-of-life, though.

[something]

[ QUOTE ]
Dagger said:
As for others... if you haven't given My-HiME &amp; My-Otome a try yet, I encourage you to do so. My-HiME in particular gets a lot better as it goes along.

[/ QUOTE ]
While HiME and Otome are indeed amazing and everyone everywhere should watch both of them no matter what, the very serious matter later on (in HiME especially) probably isn't what she's looking for here (not slice of life), but that doesn't mean she wouldn't like it anyway.

[ QUOTE ]
Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo is a superb shounen magical girl series--with the twist that the magical girl is an adult woman. The first episode or so is laden with fanservice, but that's actually somewhat misleading; the series tones it down as it goes along.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo is indeed good stuff, although I think I might have found it a bit more fanservicey than you did -- sometimes it even felt ever so slightly awkward (the transformation sequences o_O), but it never ruined the show at all. The story is simple but works quite well, the animation is fantastic (I love the designs, as I loved MoO) and it's well worth owning, should someone be smart enough to license it.

[ QUOTE ]
I would recommend fare like Tsukuyomi Moon Phase (coming out from Funi later this year)

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm, could work. I know Hazuki is like, moe fetish queen, but the show really isn't bad at all with fanservice (eyecatches aside, and even those aren't bad). I think anyone watching with an open mind will accept the show for what it is, unless they come in with an already strong hatred of moe and a preconceived notion about what Hazuki is. If not, they should like it, and Hazuki especially. She's a wonderful and deep character.

[ QUOTE ]
and Pani Poni Dash, both directed by Akiyuki Shinbo (of Le Portrait de Petite Cossete &amp; Soultaker), but the loli tendencies would probably turn you off.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, possibly might seem too "loli" if someone is really sensitive to that, but generally it isn't too bad. The only really loli character is Becky though, and outside of eyecatches, theres nothing really remotely sexual about the show's treatment of her. I just assume you'd want to steer clear of PPD doujins though &gt;_&gt;

[ QUOTE ]
So instead of PPD, how about School Rumble?

[/ QUOTE ]
School Rumble is like HiME/Otome - everyone everywhere should watch it no matter what. It is rediculously cute, not loli at all, and absolutely hilarious.

[ QUOTE ]
all of the above shows except for HiME &amp; Otome could be considered slice-of-life, though.

[/ QUOTE ]
Bah, I should have known you'd anticipate my comments about HiME/Otome =P

[BonnKansan]

Azumanga Daioh, believe it or not. The original manga ran in Dengeki Daioh, a bishoujo magazine aimed at adults, but the characters are so quirky and fun, and nothing's overdone in the bishoujo department, so it's easy to forget it's that type of show. I think you'd like Sakaki-san, though she isn't quite the usual type of stoic /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif. Both anime and manga are fun, and the anime's available as a cheap (albeit extras-less) boxset.

[gpn]

You listed Love Hina as a show you liked, so I'm guessing you're not averse to harem-type shows. Some that I think stand above the crowd are:

Ai Yori Aoshi
Dual - Parallel Trouble Adventure
Hand Maid May (Right Stuf has an excellent price on the complete set)
Vandread

And for slice-of-life, you can't go wrong with Figure 17.

[EmperorBrandon]

Hand Maid May is a really cute and sweet series that I've found highly rewatchable. It's probably one of the more fanservice-heavy shows in my collection (which actually isn't saying too much since I typically avoid those kind of shows), but I never found it to be too distracting. Also a loli character there that they are somewhat suggestive with, but only one.

Another series you might like is Mahoraba Heartful Days. Very cute shounen anime with a slice-of-life feel and some great comedy. For its type, it actually has very little in the way of suggestiveness.

Both of the above have the anime directed by Shinichiro Kimura (who also directed Sugar).

[Yukino Miyazawa]

[ QUOTE ]
Aiia said:

I have a thing for "manly" femaly characters in the sense that they are stoic, sort of quiet, or maybe protects/acts as a mentor to other girls (think Maria Tachibana in Sakura Wars). So that would be a plus. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif



[/ QUOTE ]
I think you would like Haibane Renmei. There is a strong female mentor, and despite the fantastical elements, this is a very slice-of-life show.

Also, while not shoujo, Magic User's Club is fun and revolves around a female character.

If you've seen Azumanga Daioh, you might also like Doki Doki School Hours, which is also slice-of-life comedy.

Pita Ten is also a cute series, though it's not licensed yet.

[Njr Scrawl]

Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo also has Kikuno Inoue as seiyuu for its lead character. I hope its licensed soon....

[EmperorBrandon]

[ QUOTE ]
Yukino Miyazawa said:

Also, while not shoujo, Magic User's Club is fun and revolves around a female character.


[/ QUOTE ]

Somehow this managed to slip my mind, even though it's my favorite series and I actually have my DVD's right in front of me on my desk. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif It's got moderate amounts of fanservice, but it's a great series that I think would appeal to girls as well (on a side note, it had a shoujo manga released around the same time as the OVA's)

[Dagger]

[ QUOTE ]
disarm said:
[ QUOTE ]
all of the above shows except for HiME &amp; Otome could be considered slice-of-life, though.

[/ QUOTE ]
Bah, I should have known you'd anticipate my comments about HiME/Otome =P

[/ QUOTE ]
/images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

Two more that I forgot to mention are Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow) and Uta~Kata.

Ichigo Mashimaro is a sweet, cute, funny slice-of-life series; it's known for being popular with the lolicon crowd, but I wouldn't let that put you off, Aiia. It doesn't contain anything like fanservice. More than that, it's clever, adorable and really relaxing to watch. I have to recommend it just because as I got to the end of the first episode, I suddenly gained this deep, spiritual understanding of the concept of "moe." /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Seriously, though, it's a well-done show that doesn't pander. I guess you could compare it to something like Azumanga Daioh, kind of.

In contrast, Uta~Kata's characters are rather over-sexualized, for being young teens. But the show itself (it's another shounen magical girl anime, more about everyday life than battling evil) is remarkably atmospheric and emotional. It's noteworthy in a different way for having both shoujo-ai and BL undercurrents, something that really isn't all that common in shounen/seinen, as far as I know.

[TheGreenMan]

Kamichu and Ichigo Mashimaro are good shows (they are/were aimed at men) and they feature cute bishoujos.

[frijoles]

You're Under Arrest

[DanielJr]

You can't get a better slice-of-life aimed at males than Maison Ikkoku. It's lenghty, but totally worth the investment. Great series.

[2old2care]

Sentimental Journey

[treatment]

Air and Kanon should fit your want, but be aware that Kanon has OMGHUGESTANIMEEYES!!! shock-factor. That said, both of these titles aren't really slice-of-life, but more of the fantastic/mystical variety.

If you want slice-of-life (no magic and stuff), try these titles:

--romance--:


Lamune -- straight-forward bishoujo-romance title. a little shoujo-angst, but nothing major.


Canvas 2 -- sometimes major shoujo-angst stuff, but another quite straight forward romance-title.


REC -- no shoujo-angst here. shorter time-length (12mins per ep) romance-title. About a struggling voice-actress suddenly shacked up with the dude who came up with the voice-job she just won.


Honey and Clover -- I added this title coz Hagu is rather cute and blatant moe-crowd pander. It's originally a shoujo-manga title, but transformed into a seinen-anime (at least, to me). Others are more likely correct in that it's a josei-anime, tho. Really sophisticated, realistic and kickass in it's anime-form, regardless of crowd-demographic.


I''s Pure -- This is a high-school romance/drama anime about a boy and three girls ( his crush, his childhood-friend, and his stalker /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif ). The OVA has condensed the manga-stories to present a more straight-forward and more drama-based romance, and the ecchiness is relegated as an Extra instead. The manga-version is mixed with comedy and drama, and the ecchiness is integral instead of as an Extra.


Ichigo 100% -- This is sorta similar to I''s Pure story, but it's not as condensed. The anime also is not complete compared to the manga since the anime does not contain the later and conclusion chapters of the manga-story. This series features a lucky guy involved with three to four girls (his love, his other love, his other other love, and a late admirer (only in two of the OVAs) /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif ). High comedy and romance, plus lots of panty-service. Some tame angst, but the anime does not contain the full drama-angst since it doesn't have the full story, especially the concluding chapters of the manga that made the fans cry coz their favorite girl didn't win. /images/graemlins/relief.gif


--non-romance--:


School Rumble -- not really cute nor bishoujo, but close enough. About the travails and stuff in the battlefield of high-school love. Super Hilarious Comedy and some romance.


Azumanga Daioh -- not really cute nor bishoujo, but ok enough. About the lives of high-school girls that mostly belong to the go-home club and their rather weird female (and one male) teachers. Super Hilarious Comedy. No romance.

That's about the only titles I can think of at the moment to meet your slice-of-life requirements.

[Dagger]

Just wondering, why is the Honey &amp; Clover anime considered to be seinen? I thought that it and the manga were josei, but I guess I was wrong on both counts, heh. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[treatment]

[ QUOTE ]
Dagger said:
Just wondering, why is the Honey &amp; Clover anime considered to be seinen? I thought that it and the manga were josei, but I guess I was wrong on both counts, heh. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

From what I understand, H&amp;C was a shoujo-manga distributed/marketed in the josei-comics/mags or something. The anime is seinen-variety since the story-telling and realistic presentation were really more sophisticated and mature (ala Maison Ikkoku) than the idealistic josei-demographic the original manga was marketed to.

Fwiw, I don't know how the females react to Hagu's moe design and portrayals in the anime. Iirc, some of the episodes also were really blatantly poking fun at known shoujo-anime conventions (sparkles, hearts, male-love, bishounens, etc, etc) and with great success. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[nakimushi]

Well, since R2 is fine, you might want to check out MariMite (Mariasama ga Miteru) if you haven't seen it yet. It is ostensibly shoujo/josei melodrama, but the strong yuri themes make me suspect it was (cross-)marketed to males.

It is a great series. I only wish they would release it here.

[EmperorBrandon]

[ QUOTE ]
treatment said:

--non-romance--:

School Rumble -- not really cute nor bishoujo, but close enough. About the travails and stuff in the battlefield of high-school love. Super Hilarious Comedy and some romance.


[/ QUOTE ]

Umm... you put School Rumble under "non-romance"? /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

[Dagger]

Speaking of romance... Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl is pretty good, despite having an utterly silly premise. You could also start simply by checking out the manga.

[martod]

Mahoraba is EXACTLY what you're looking for. Ultra cute slice of life show with almost no fanservice and lots of great comedy. It's currently my absolute favorite R2 show.

[railohio]

How 'bout Gunslinger Girl? It's a great short series that hits on a lot of the points you mentioned. It is centered around young girls but there is no fanservice and only a little graphic violence (relative to how the show is promoted, at least) overall. It's by far my favorite show now and I can't recommend it enough!

[Isuzu Inugami]

[ QUOTE ]
2old2care said:
Sentimental Journey

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the one I thought of, along with Seraphim Call. Short, slice of life stories, not necessarily even romance related, but bishoujo girls trying to figure themselves out. A little bit of everything you mention.

[treatment]

I don't know if you'll like it, but the franchise-title below is targeted squarely at males and is from a bishoujo-game. The story-collections are highly melodramatic that can be lead to boredom at times. At least to me.


Memories Off (original/2nd/3.5/upcoming 5)

Fwiw, I think 2nd was ok and 3.5 was good. The original was a little too hokey. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif The upcoming Memories Off 5 (http://memories-off5.jp/)has a trailer at http://www.5pb.jp/contents/OVA_moff5_pv.zip (133mb)

[BluWacky]

[ QUOTE ]
treatment said:
[ QUOTE ]
Dagger said:
Just wondering, why is the Honey &amp; Clover anime considered to be seinen? I thought that it and the manga were josei, but I guess I was wrong on both counts, heh. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

From what I understand, H&amp;C was a shoujo-manga distributed/marketed in the josei-comics/mags or something. The anime is seinen-variety since the story-telling and realistic presentation were really more sophisticated and mature (ala Maison Ikkoku) than the idealistic josei-demographic the original manga was marketed to.

[/ QUOTE ]

However, H&amp;C was the first incumbent of the Noitamina branding slot on Fuji TV, which is targetted specifically at college-age women; the anime shown in that slot have also included Paradise Kiss and, currently, Ayakashi, and all are targetted towards older women.

The script for each episode is pretty much verbatim from the manga, incidentally (well, for the first few certainly, since I've only got the first volume). None of the story is anime-original, either.

It's pretty much josei through-and-through, IMHO, and don't think sophisticated mature storytelling is something that you don't get in josei or even bog-standard shoujo - it's not even a particularly mature story, really, considering how Morita is usually spazzing around the place and Ayu spends most of the show being incredibly immature.

But that's kinda off-topic - it's an awesome show, whoever it's aimed at, and I reckon Aiia should give it a go anyway!

[treatment]

[ QUOTE ]
BluWacky said:
[ QUOTE ]
treatment said:
[ QUOTE ]
Dagger said:
Just wondering, why is the Honey &amp; Clover anime considered to be seinen? I thought that it and the manga were josei, but I guess I was wrong on both counts, heh. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

From what I understand, H&amp;C was a shoujo-manga distributed/marketed in the josei-comics/mags or something. The anime is seinen-variety since the story-telling and realistic presentation were really more sophisticated and mature (ala Maison Ikkoku) than the idealistic josei-demographic the original manga was marketed to.

[/ QUOTE ]

However, H&amp;C was the first incumbent of the Noitamina branding slot on Fuji TV, which is targetted specifically at college-age women; the anime shown in that slot have also included Paradise Kiss and, currently, Ayakashi, and all are targetted towards older women.

The script for each episode is pretty much verbatim from the manga, incidentally (well, for the first few certainly, since I've only got the first volume). None of the story is anime-original, either.

It's pretty much josei through-and-through, IMHO, and don't think sophisticated mature storytelling is something that you don't get in josei or even bog-standard shoujo - it's not even a particularly mature story, really, considering how Morita is usually spazzing around the place and Ayu spends most of the show being incredibly immature.

But that's kinda off-topic - it's an awesome show, whoever it's aimed at, and I reckon Aiia should give it a go anyway!

[/ QUOTE ]

Morita's and Ayu's characters were surprisingly deep and mature later on in the anime, tho I like Morita better as the comic-relief anti-hero of the show. I like Ayu alot, too, coz she's teh crazy like Yagami of MI. /images/graemlins/relief.gif

fwiw, I think Paradise Kiss anime was alot more representative of josei-type anime than H&amp;C anime was, i.e. PK has yaoi-esque character-designs combined with rather gaudy ambiance and idealistic drama-queen story setup. Of course, I've never read the H&amp;C manga on how josei it really is in terms of designs, art and stuff. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Aiia]

Wow, thanks for all the answers! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Its ok even if the show isn't slice of life. Since I love Sakura Wars, action is ok as well.

So far it looks like the ones I might enjoy the most and should give a try is (in no specific order):

My Hime/Otome (action is no problems)
Kimagure Orange Road (saw some of it as a kid actually)
Shrine of the morning mist (seems cute and innocent enough)
Okusama ha mahou shoujo (the covers have turned me off so far)
Elfen Lied (I seem to recall a couple of female friends liking that one)
Le Petit Cossette (Love the gothic designs)
Mahoraba Heartful days (if its as funny as it seems I'll definitely give it a try)
Haibane Renmei (enjoyed Lain)
Uta Kata (I loved Kiddy Grade, which I forgot to mention before)
Ichigo Mashiro (looks really cute and cozy in some way)
Kamichuu (remembering liking the cover designs though I don't know what the anime is about)
I''s Pure (I loved the manga despite the fanservice)
Gunslinger Girl (I heard the pacing was painfully slow but if the story is good then I don't mind)

I had seen and enjoyed a lot of the other stuff mentioned (like Angelic Layer, Kaleido Star, Azumanga Daioh, Magic Users Club, Doki doki High School Hours to name a few). Some others I know I probably wouldn't enjoy from checking out the re-runs on TV over here. A lot of the titles on the list was stuff that I was mildly interested in before, but had forgotten about (like Uta Kata).

But this seems like a good list to start exploring. I'll begin with renting a few at the time and then see what I enjoy enough to collect.

Thanks for all the help! /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

[Aiia]

[ QUOTE ]
treatment said:
fwiw, I think Paradise Kiss anime was alot more representative of josei-type anime than H&amp;C anime was, i.e. PK has yaoi-esque character-designs combined with rather gaudy ambiance and idealistic drama-queen story setup. Of course, I've never read the H&amp;C manga on how josei it really is in terms of designs, art and stuff. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Just wanted to say that I have started collecting H&amp;C as well as planning to collect PK, both being rare examples of josei manga turned anime. /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif