Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books for Readers Who Like Manga/Graphic Novels (Especially in the Shoujo Genre)

Hi everyone! Once again, I’m participating in the Top Ten Tuesday meme, by The Broke and Bookish. This week’s topic is actually Ten Books for Readers Who Like _____, so it was really left for the blogger to choose this week’s theme. Since it’s rare to get this opportunity to make up your own topic for the weekly feature, I thought it’d be fun and different to talk about books most of my readers don’t read, manga (or graphic novels)! And, I guess, some could argue that manga/graphic novels aren’t books, but I don’t care, I still think they are.

Oh, and if you click the image, it leads you a page called myanimelist, which is basically the equivalent to goodreads for someone who loves to read manga or watch anime. And if you hover over the pictures, they should all be sourced/cited to where I got the original image since these aren’t my photos (well except for one).

Anyway, here goes!

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Skip Beat!
by Yoshiki Nakamura

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo

This one is my favorite and the art is gorgeous! It’s about a girl named Kyoko, and she follows her childhood crush to Tokyo. There she helps him achieve his dreams of becoming a singer and actor, but he dumps her after a couple of months. So to seek revenge, she decides to enter the acting industry herself to show him how much more successful she will become without him in her life. Kyoko goes through a lot of character development as more volumes are released, and there’s some great humor too!

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Kamisama Hajimemashita
by Julietta Suzuki

Genre: Comedy, Demons, Fantasy, Supernatural, Romance, Shoujo

The protagonist, Nanami, becomes homeless after her father abandons her. She then meets and helps a man named Mikage, and he allows her to stay at his residence. When she arrives at his “residence,” she learns that Mikage was a god and has now passed on his powers to her as a human diety. At Mikage’s shrine she comes to term with her newfound gifts, and grants the prayers the shrine-goers give with the help of the shrine spirits and her familiar (bound servant), Tomoe. Kamisama Hajimemashita is very cute and incorporates mythology.

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Nana
by Ai Yazawa

Genre: Drama, Music, Romance, Slice of Life

This one has a really unique storyline despite it being in the slice of life genre. Two girls, in their 20s, both named Nana meet by chance on a train going to Tokyo. Both have trouble defining their identity and deciding what they want for their life. Despite being so similar, they are very much different. There’s a lot of life lessons incorporated in each volume. And there’s a heavy emphasis on relationships and finding one’s self. The art is also beautiful in a unique way. Oh and fun fact about the manga: the author decided to go onto permanent hiatus after a crazy cliffhanger, so it’s never finished. She pulled a Stieg Laarson, but she’s alive. 

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Chihayafuru
by Yuki Suetsugu

Genre: Drama, Sports, Josei

Chihayfuru is pretty unpopular among the non-Japanese readers because it’s not fully released in English just yet. I learned a lot about Japanese poetry and some history from reading this one though. It’s about a girl, Chihaya, that loves to play Karuta, a card game about the 100 Japanese poets, and she’s determined to one day become the Karuta Queen (a real title). Karuta is a game of mental will and physical ability. Some even consider it a sport because of how much physical strength you must use. This one is really interesting to read, and the art is beautiful as well. There’s also character development and a very realistic love triangle (seriously, I’m not joking).

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Vampire Knight
by Matsuri Hino

Genre: Mystery, Drama, Supernatural, Romance, School,  Shoujo

Definitely not the best manga out there, but still one that’s close to my heart since it was the first one I read. And, I still find it better than Twilight. It’s about a human girl named Yuki, and she’s one of the Cross Academy’s guardians. Cross Academy is a school her adopted father made to a create liaison between both human and vampire students. There’s a lot of plot twists, and at first the storyline is intriguing but, eventually, the story drags.

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Claymore
by Norihiro Yagi

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Shounen

Claymore has a lot of action, blood, and gore, but I actually liked it (horror is usually not my cup of tea though). Claymores, are “silver-eyed witches” that help eradicate yoma, or gut eating demons. But these claymores also have yoma blood in them, so the more they use their yoma powers during fights to become stronger, they get closer to “awakening” or becoming a yoma themselves.

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Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
by Hiro Fujiwara

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Shoujo

This one has a fun and lighthearted storyline about a girl named Misaki. She’s bright, witty, and headstrong but she’s also prejudiced against males. Much of her skepticism is due to her dad leaving her family at a young age. And because of the absence of a male figure, she takes it upon herself to work part time jobs to support her family. One of them being at a maid cafe. She’s embarrassed to disclose her job at school because she’s respectable and gives off a strict demeanor.

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Akatsuki no Yona
by Mizuho Kusanagi

Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo

Yona, the daughter of the late king, becomes a fugitive after her father is murdered. She decides to embark on a journey of learning about her kingdom. In the process, she also seeks the 4 dragons that used to serve the legendary Hiryuu, her ancestor. It was interesting to find a lot of Korean names and influences in this. There’s some action, and a lot of humor. I’m actually currently reading this one, so I thought I’d add this to the list.

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Special A
by Maki Minami

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Shoujo

Special A is about 2 best friends that have always been competitive in academics, sports, and life, but eventually find themselves falling for each other. It’s nothing too special, but I still really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of character development, and displays a lot of friendship and loyalty.

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Sailor Moon
by Naoko Takeuchi

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Shoujo

Basically my childhood (along with Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Naruto). That is all.

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Any thoughts? I would love to know if you’ve read manga before (or watched anime), or if you found one of these interesting!