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yuri / wlw / GL manga by women, for women. this is a work in progress -- feel free to send recs!

shoujo and josei manga that started publishing in the 1990s

Here are all the josei manga I think one should read in order to cover all bases. I organized this list by general theme, with publishing series at the bottom.

We start off with the classic slice of life and coming of age stories, then to a couple of autobiographical manga, then to the dark and realistic drama stories, then to action and horror stories, then to mystery stories, then to the rom-coms, then to the more light-hearted slice of life stories, and lastly to the important ongoing series.

I'm currently using this list too, despite me being the one who created it!

Every manga covered by the Mangasplaining podcast in Season 4.

"I was reincarned as" and similar are disqualified for being too low hanging fruit.

Other than that, suggestions welcome.

This stack is for any manga prominently featuring sapphic characters that was published in a female-oriented manga magazine.

Note: There are plenty of sapphic shoujosei manga, this is just a small selection.

Manga from the indie publisher Star Fruit Books that are in the MAL database.
Star Fruit Books specialize in self published (doujin) manga, small press manga, josei and horror manga - all of which are very special and not the kind you would usually see getting licensed in English.
Since some of their manga are self published or small press, some are not available on MAL. So this list will have only the ones that are on MAL. I will update this list every time a new title from their catalogue is added, or a new one that is on MAL's DB is announced.

On a personal note, they are one of my favorite English manga publishers. Their catalogue is yet to disappoint me, and I think they have potential to become a big thing. You see the amount of love they pour into their manga, and how each of their manga is full of passion.

This list will contain both digital only and in-print manga, as well as upcoming releases that are yet to be released.

More transgender authors and illustrators in manga. Only some of these have direct transgender themes.

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/37710


More manga not on MAL (yet):

Inori. (trans woman) (author)
Gyarudakedo, Cool na Kijo wo Warawasetai!
Heimin no Kuse ni Namaiki na! (Light Novel)
Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou. Maid's Kitchen

Q-ta Minami (x-gender) (author and illustrator)
Boku no Kazoku
Date
Fushiwase Demo Iijanai
Grand Maison Murasakibashi
Hirake Koma!
Hirake Koma! Return
Kiki Sanchi
Mangaka Gohan Nisshi
Olibe
Pink Pepper
Slow
Taratine
The Crimson Boy
Tora Ya
Yume no Ondo
Yura Yura

panpanya (x-gender) (author and illustrator)
Hell

Nanae Chrono (trans man) (author and illustrator)
Paka Run
Special Crime Investigation Unit Special 7 File.0
Wagamama Tenshi no Sodatekata

Shino Torino (trans woman) (author and illustrator)
Mangaka Gohan Nisshi

(Bonus)
Koyoharu Gotouge (maybe x-gender- uses they/them pronouns in English, unclear if because x-gender or because wants gender to remain anonymous)
Kimetsu no Yaiba

Just a list of the one-shot or single omnibus releases in English of Shojo and Josei stories. Companies include Viz, Vertical Comics, Yen Press, Seven seas, Denpa, Kodansha, Fantagraphics, Star Fruit Books, Dark Horse, Digital Manga Publishing, and ADV manga. There are several that Tokyopop licensed as one-shots or single omnibi, but I ran out of room so I didn't include them on this list.

*I ran out of room to include these works:

- Living the Line's "The Girl Who Raised the Dead" (https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/the-girl-who-raised-the-dead)
- My Boss is a Giant Omnibus
- Horrors of Noroi Michiru
- Makeup is Not (just) magic
- Wonder House of Horrors
- Hide and Seek (Yoshiko Naono)

Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/75787

This is a list of the shojo and josei that has been licensed by Star Fruit Books. Some may be Out of Print or unavailable now. Some titles are Doujinshi that were created by mangaka who frequently publish Shojo and/or Josei manga. Horror is the majority of their Shojo/Josei catalog interestingly.

Some titles not included in the MAL database published by Star Fruit Books:

The Final Strike (new!)
Clan Under the Moon (new!)
Drunks
Look Into My Eyes
From Far, Far Away
I'll Quit Traveling . . .
The Horrors of Noroi Michiru
Tatarism
Wonder House of Horrors
The Blood Red Boy
Grin Grin Grin (??? no idea for this one, but the art seems reminiscent of shojo)
The Fantasy Ends Today

Composition is one of, if not, the most important aspect for storytelling within a visual medium such as manga and comics. Commonly referred within the world of cinematography as the "Split-Screen" or "Frame within a Frame" these techniques are often used to show division between characters or separate actions or perspectives simultaneously.

Another technique known as "Double Exposure" might also be considered. Similar to the former, these shots typically have a character appear in frame (often mirrors, reflections, or overlays) to symbolize duality of personality or inner conflict. Overlaying images such as "Sayornara Eri" are compatible with the list and are technically sharing both of these technical shots. If there are too many entries I will make and link a dedicated stack.

One Shot manga with their pages shown do not count.

Missing: Anna to Alisa

Search "Cover Collection" to see my other themes!

The companies featured on this list are publishers who either release physical version of these licenses or who publish DRM-free digital versions of these titles. Some are smaller than others. These companies include One Peace Books, Udon, Denpa, Star Fruit Books, Titan comics, Tokyopop (post-implosion), and eManga/DMP. Glacier bay books is another.

Feel Young is a prominent Josei magazine which has never had tons of titles being licensed from it, but Tokyopop was a big factor in introducing Josei manga from the magazine into the English market. Recently, MangaPlaza has been the biggest licenser of titles from the magazine, albeit all are digital-only thus far.

English-licensed Feel Young manga without MAL entries:

- Days Full of Promise by Hisae Iwaoka (no MAL entry, so here's its Anime Planet entry: https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/days-full-of-promise)

- The glass slipper fits, so who cares if it's chipped by Youko Miyako (no MAL entry, so here's its Anime Planet entry: https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/the-glass-slipper-fits-so-who-cares-if-its-chipped)

- Haguchi-san by Kurakane Atsushi (no MAL entry, so here's its mangaupdates entry: https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/qzn4v2z/haguchi-san)

- Get to Work, Sleep Demon! by Maiko Dake (no MAL entry and cheating a bit since this published in Feel Free, but here's its Mangaupdates: https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/1hhsgly/hatarake-suima-san)

- The Grim Reaper by Yamashita Tomoko (no MAL entry and cheating a bit since this published in Our Feel, but here's its mangaupdates: https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/g7io647/shinigami-yamashita-tomoko)

- CLING ONCE, BLINK TWICE by Yamashita Tomoko (no MAL entry and cheating a bit since this published in Our Feel, but here's its mangaupdates:https://www.mangaupdates.com/series/j4kuk4r/cling-once-blink-twice)

The Mangasplaining podcast is a podcast by comics industry professionals and academics geared at those who are newer to manga and discusses one or two series each episode, typically reading 1-2 volumes per series, and re-visiting some particular favorites. It is hosted by Deb Aoki, David Brothers, Christopher Butcher, and Chip Zdarsky. Additionally, the podcast has collaborated with publisher Udon to bring the Josei manga "Veil" to english, and also will be releasing "Wandering Cat's Cage" in English in collaboration with Fantagraphics.