Manga is very popular in Japan. It is the style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels. Japanese comics are an essential part of Japanese popular culture and have formed a large market in Japan. There are five main types of manga: yaoi/yuri manga, shonen manga, seinen manga, shoujo manga and josei manga. Shoujo is a genre of manga aimed at teenage girls that features romance, drama, and sometimes fantasy or adventure. Here is a list of all Japanese dramas based on shoujo manga.
1. Itazura Na Kiss: Love In Tokyo
It is a Japanese romantic comedy television series. The series is based on the popular manga "Itazura na Kiss" by Kaoru Tada. This drama follows Kotoko Aihara, a high school girl who has a crush on the intelligent and handsome boy Naoki Irie. Initially, Naoki Irie rejects her but later falls in love with her. When Kotoko Aihara moves into her new makeshift home, she is surprised to find Naoki Irie also living there.
2. For You In Full Blossom: Iemen Paradise
This Japanese drama is a Japanese teen romantic comedy series produced by Hiroyuki Gotō for Fuji Television and Kyodo Television, based on the comedy series by Hisaya Nakajo. Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to attend an all-boys high school to meet her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano. In this series, Mizuki tries to keep her true identity a secret while also trying to help Sano to regain his passion for high jumping.
3. Marmalade Boy (2018)
The story of Marmalade Boy follows the lives of Miki Koishikawa and Yuu Matsuura, two high school students whose parents decide to get divorced and marry each other. The two adolescents are obliged to live near each other as they become step-siblings while trying to work out their emotional complexities for each other and their former partner's current relationships.
4. Good Morning Call
Good Morning Call is a Japanese shoujo manga series by Yue Takasuka. This drama is the story of two high school students, Nao Yoshikawa and Hisashi Uehara, who accidentally rents the same apartment and decide to live together due to financial difficulties. Initially, they dislike each other, but they eventually fall in love and face various challenges together.
5. Boys Over Flowers
This Japanese series is based on the popular manga Hana Yori Dango by Yoko Kamio. Makino Tsukishi is the only poor high school student at Eideku Gakuen, a wealthy and privileged school. The Flower Four, or F4, a group of four boys from high, rich, and powerful families led Eitoku Gakuen. In this drama series, Makino Tsukishi is bullied and mistreated by F4 and their supportive fans but supported by his good friends, who are also studying at the same school.
6. Lovely Complex (2006)
This Japanese romantic-comedy drama series, aired in 2006, is based on an Aya Nakahara manga. The tall Japanese girl Risa Koizumi is rejected by a boy because she is taller than him. Atsushi Otani, a short Japanese man, is rejected by a girl because he is smaller than her. They both feel insecure because of their height. Despite their differences, they become good friends and eventually develop feelings for each other.
7. From Me To You (2010)
A shy and misunderstood high school girl Sawako Kuronuma is often mistaken for a ghost due to her resemblance to the character “Sadako” from the horror film The Ring. Despite her kind nature, Sawako struggles to make friends and communicate with her classmates. One day, she meets the popular and outgoing Shota Kazehaya, who befriends her and helps her overcome her social anxiety. Sawako falls in love with him, but she is unsure the how to express her feelings and fears rejection.
8. Love And Lies (2017)
Love and lies are also known as Koi to Uso. This drama story is primarily in a future in Japan where the government assigns marriage partners to citizens based on a compatibility algorithm. A high school boy named Yukari Nejima falls in love with a girl named Misaki Takasaki. However, he is already assigned to marry another girl named Ririna Sanada. As Yukari struggles with his feelings for Misaki and his obligation to Ririna, he begins to uncover secrets about the government’s matchmaking system and the true nature of his relationship with the two girls.
9. Switch Girl (2011)
High school student Tamiya Nika appears to be a fashionable girl in school period, but she uses a fake personality in society. At home, he "turns off" the facade and returns to his true, gentle nature. One day, on the roof of his school, he met a rough but handsome student. He is Kamiyama Arata, a nervous new transfer in his class, who wears ridiculous round glasses to hide his face because he hates attention.
10. A Girl And The Three Sweethearts
Misaki Sakurai is suddenly fired and struggles to find a new job. She begins working at a café owned by a handsome and mysterious man named Kanata Saionji. As Misaki works alongside Kanata and his two younger brothers, Haruto and Takeru, she develops feelings for all of them and struggles to balance her personal and professional aspirations.
