Every once-in-a-while, someone asks me for manga or anime recommendations. It's flattering to be asked, and I'll generally try my best to provide them with some useful leads based on their likes and what I'm familiar with. Recently, a friend of mine asked for some manga recommendations for a friend of hers. She wanted me to recommend some shoujo series, along the same lines as NANA or Nodame Cantabile. My immediate response was to state that those series weren't shoujo, they were josei (which in retrospect probably sounded kind of rude). Both she and my husband were confused about the difference, and since I see the same confusion from other people pretty regularly and because I tend to throw these terms around frequently, I thought I would elaborate on how I make the distinction between the two.
Josei is the Japanese word for "female/woman" and refers to anime and manga aimed at the demographic of young adult women. It's essentially the "older sister" to shoujo and deals with more mature characters (generally female characters around the same age as the targeted age group) and themes like college life, motherhood or the trials and tribulations of being a part of the workforce. Many josei manga and anime involve romance, though of a less idealistic and more realistic variety than what is often found in shoujo manga. They also tend to contain more graphic or frequent sexual content.
Josei manga appear in demographic-specific compilation magazines, but I tend to take those categorizations with a grain of salt. More often than not I trust my gut feeling about a series more readily than what magazine the series ran in. If a manga or series deals with more adult themes, has a realistic romantic component or stars a more mature female character, it might fall into the josei category.
Unfortunately for people like me, josei is one of the most under-represented categories of manga and anime when it comes to what's available to purchase in the United States, but there are some options out there and even some series can be obtained through less scrupulous means (but I'd certainly buy them if given the option!). Here are a few of my personal suggestions, but keep in mind that this is in no way a complete list and that there's a bit of fluidity between the worlds of shoujo and josei so not everyone will necessarily agree on the demographic should you go searching elsewhere:
Eden of the East
Morimi Saki goes on a trip to the United States to celebrate her graduation from college. While in Washington D.C. she meets a naked amnesiac named Takizawa Akira who is participating in a mysterious game and may or may not be the terrorist who caused missiles to drop on Tokyo and the disappearance of a number of Japanese NEETs. Saki and her friends use their informational program named "Eden of the East" to help uncover Akira's secrets and the mysteries behind the Selecao game, while Akira regains his memories and his purpose.
Some might see this as a debatable entry into the josei category because it's so action-oriented and can be very technology focused, but at its core is the story of a young woman just taking her first steps into society and dealing with various romantic issues (she's caught between going with a safe choice of boyfriend, someone who she's known through school, and the cool new dangerous guy she just met abroad).
This anime and its 2 companion films are licensed by Funimation, with a DVD release date sometime in the near future (the dub cast was just announced, so hopefully the wait won't be too much longer).
(The) Gokusen
Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi is the heiress to a Yakuza family, but she begins a career as a math teacher at Shirokin Gakuin Private School. Unfortunately, her classroom is populated by an unruly group of delinquents. She works to earn the respect of her students and excel at being a teacher while disguising her Yakuza background.
The premise of the series is not entirely unlike that of Great Teacher Onizuka, but Gokusen has a very likable (and badass) heroine who has a passion for teaching but who also knows when to break out the big guns when needed. Yankumi's age and career-mindedness makes this josei through-and-through, but unlike many josei series, this one is quite a bit more comedic and less focused on sex and romance.
The 13 episode anime series is available in a very affordable boxed set (under 20 dollars!) from Media Blasters, and it's certainly worth grabbing. There is also a J-drama series which may be more difficult to find.
Hataraki Man
Matsukata Hiroko works as a magazine editor for a magazine aimed at middle-aged men. She is one of only a few women in her workplace, and finds herself working much harder than the men just to gain some modicum of respect. But the more hours she works, the more her relationship with her boyfriend, a construction foreman, suffers. She's faced with a choice between letting her workplace performance suffer or potentially ruining her relationship, which is barely hanging by a thread as it is.
This series is a very odd case because the first episode actually made me angry - there's a gag sequence where Hiroko turns into "Hataraki Man" (working man), essentially becoming more masculine to up her work performance. Upon watching the entire series, however, it becomes apparent that the show is more a commentary on the unrealistic and unequal expectations placed on women in the Japanese workplace. While Hiroko plows away, taking on more and more work as other people in her office give up or flake out on her, other women gain what they want via their beauty or other forms of subterfuge, and it becomes apparent just how complicated all their roles are just due to their sex.
As far as I know, neither the manga or the anime series are available in the US; I watched the series earlier this year in fansub form.
Honey and Clover
This manga and anime follow a group of college art students as they hone their craft, fall in love and deal with some complicated love triangles all while maintaining their friendships and growing up. Perhaps one of the most interesting characters is Hagu, a very fragile-looking college freshmen with immense artistic talent, who must deal with living up to the extreme expectations thrust upon her as a prodigy, as well as the fact that she seems to attract the attention of multiple suitors including Takemoto, who still isn't sure what he wants to do with his life.
What makes this series interesting is that the relationships are all very complicated because they involve complicated people; whereas in a shoujo series everything would work out somehow, these characters have the added complication of aiming towards a profession that involves a lot of very intense, difficult work. In this field relationships are often secondary and need to squeeze in between intense bouts of work with many late nights. The series does a good job of showing how relationships which might have everything going for them just don't work out.
The manga and the anime are both available in the US from VIZ; the anime is available in 3 boxed sets and features some great music. There is also a live action film available.
Michiko to Hatchin
Michiko Malandro, a convicted felon, escapes from prison and rescues Hana Morenos from a life of servitude and abuse by her manipulative foster family. The two go on a cross-country quest in order to locate Hana's absent father, Hiroshi, all the while encountering multitudes of shady characters, weird locales and people from Michiko's past.
This show doesn't usually show up on many "josei" lists, but I put it here because, aside from the intense action and sometimes extreme amount of violence, at its core the show is really about a couple of women who really just need to figure themselves and each-other out. Michiko (as well as Atsuko and Satoshi, two supporting characters who share a past relationship with her) are lost in their own pasts, grasping for lost relationships and situations that, by their nature, can't be regained. Hana/Hatchin has lived a life of abuse and needs to learn to trust and rely upon other people for the first time in her life. As a bonus, the series is one of very few to be directed by a woman. Whether that makes a major difference in the end product isn't obvious, but it's an encouraging fact nonetheless. The music, coordinated by none other than Shinichiro Watanabe, is also excellent.
Unfortunately this series isn't available officially in the US, so fansubs or importation are your only options. The show is well-worth the trouble, however.
NANA
Two young women, both coincidentally named Nana, meet by chance on a train to Tokyo. Nana Osaki is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band, and Nana Komatsu is an idealist looking to make her dream life with her boyfriend a reality. The two of them end up rooming together in a beautiful old apartment, and the story follows them as their friendship develops and they support each-other as they each chase after their dreams.
This series, based on the popular manga by Yazawa Ai, seems to often get classified as shoujo, but to me the story always seems a bit more on the mature side (even if Nana K. herself is pretty immature). The characters are post high-school and their relationships have a realistic but non-exploitative amount of sexual content which tend to raise the target demographic in my opinion. There are some comedic moments, but the show always feels very down-to-earth to me, and the characters, despite their radically different personalities, seem very complimentary to each-other.
The manga is available in the US, as well as the anime which was released in 4 boxed sets from VIZ. There are also 2 live-action films.
Nodame Cantabile
Noda Megumi, nicknamed "Nodame," is a piano student who has multiple bad habits and a bizarre outlook on life. Like many of her female colleagues, she has a crush on Chiaki, a talented but arrogant student who has ambitions of becoming a conductor like his idol, Sebastiano Viera. The two meet by chance and Nodame wastes no time claiming Chiaki as her own, but it takes Chiaki much longer to realize that he enjoys Nodame's company. The two help each-other to face their fears and take risks in their lives, becoming better people in the process.
This delightful series couples humorous romantic aspects with wonderful classical music into a delightful little package. It also tackles an issue so often left untouched by shoujo manga; what happens after the couple have confessed to each-other? Though it's clear that Nodame and Chiaki love each-other, they both have very involved careers which bring them halfway across the world. The subsequent seasons of the anime help to elaborate upon how the two, as well as the many supporting characters, tackle their continuing education and their musical careers while still maintaining their ever-important relationships.
The manga is available from Del Rey, but the anime version remains woefully unlicensed in the US which is a real shame. There is also a live action J-drama version.
Ooku: The Inner Chambers
In an alternate version of medieval Japan, a disease called the Redface Pox decimates the male population of the country. 80 years after the onset of the disease, the ratio of women to men is 4:1 and women have taken over many roles in society originally performed by men, including all administrative duties. Since young men are at such a premium, only wealthy women with high social status can afford to marry and bear children. The Shogun keeps a harem of many men, called the Ooku, within her palace for her own personal use.
While the premise makes the story sound like just another goofy gender swap, in execution the manga is much more interesting than that. The new Shogun who appears in the first volume is very smart takes a very frugal approach toward the palace's finances, and it's difficult to dislike a woman so attached to common sense surrounded by a strange inner world which is based around excess. The translation of the manga is a unusual - it incorporates Shakespearean language to convey the time period and the incredibly formal social aspect of the piece - and this odd choice may be enough to turn people away. I got used to it pretty quickly, though.
The first 4 volumes are available now (or in the near future) with a proposed 10 volumes to appear eventually. The manga is part of the VIZ Signature line and includes some color pages and nice covers.
Paradise Kiss
Yukari is a high school senior caught up in intense studying for her entrance exams. By chance she's discovered by a couple of fashion design students on the street who beg her to be their model for their upcoming student fashion show. Initially hesitant, Yukari eventually agrees and a whole new world is opened up to her. Despite the protests of her overbearing mother, Yukari begins to pursue a career in this new field while also experiencing a whirlwind romance with George, Paradise Kiss' head designer and resident playboy.
This is another of Yazawa Ai's works which usually gets lumped into the shoujo category but which feels more josei to me. Even though the characters are high-school aged, the story eschews most of the idealistic melodrama one would expect and follows Yukari as she finds her place in the fashion world and experiences an intense but imperfect romantic relationship with George.
The manga from Tokyopop is out of print, but the less-detailed but enjoyable animated version can be bought inexpensively. As an aside, the anime is directed by Osamu Kobayashi, whose adaptations tend to focus more on dialog and setting, something which I've found to be enjoyable but which may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Ristorante Paradiso
Nicoletta, a young twenty-something, travels to Rome to confront her absentee mother, but ends up temporarily abandoning that goal to become an apprentice at the Casetta dell'Orso, a small but popular restaurant owned by her mother and staffed by attractive older men in glasses. She finds herself falling for Claudio, a well-mannered gentleman still trying to get over a divorce from an ex-wife whom he still loves. The two people learn to let go of their pasts in order to reveal an optimistic future together.
While the prospect of May-December romance may squick some people, the story is not so much a romance as it is about two people and how they each overcome an obstacle to true happiness in their life. The Italian setting provides the opportunity to feature some really delicious-looking food as well as some vibrant cityscapes. The story is almost entirely character-oriented, so people who require a strong plot for their enjoyment may not get a lot out of the manga or anime, but for me they really hit the spot.
The manga is available from VIZ, including the follow-up which is forthcoming. The anime can be seen for free on Crunchyroll.
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
A compilation of two stories which reflect upon the aftereffects of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, as well as the nature of and desire for peace, told through the eyes of young women in 1955 and 2004. The first story, Town of Evening Calm, follows a young woman named Minami who makes peace with having survived the bomb drop and who eventually succumbs to radiation poisoning. The second, two-part story, Country of Cherry Blossoms, is a cross-generational tale of a young woman named Nanami, Minami's niece, who follows her aging father to Hiroshima and reconnects with her family's history.
Presented in a gorgeous hardcover-bound edition, these character-driven stories provide a more personal perspective on the violent event which affected the lives of so many Japanese people. The first story is unexpectedly moving - have a tissue or three at hand - while the second longer story is more reflective and thoughtful.
The book is fairly short at barely 100 pages, but well-worth the short time it takes to read it. You can buy it from Amazon, but I was able to find my copy at a Border's.
Hopefully this has helped to clarify what distinguishes the josei classification from other demographics. These examples are given as exemplary of the category, and as with any other distinguisher, there are plenty of bad examples too. But I hope that this short description and list will help more people to appreciate the things that set josei series apart from the mainstream.
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