"Shoujo Sucks"

Kako from Mishounen Produce
understands my feels.

Here we go, the common thing you hear from people who don't like shoujo, it's because it "sucks". I have to admit there are a lot of bad shoujo mangas but the same thing could be said about shounen, yaoi or anime in all honesty. I know I love to bag shoujo a whole lot but it's more or less a love-hate relationship.

When I see people say the whole genre sucks, it's usually for the following reasons:

• Art sucks/ eyes are way too big
  I get if art sucks if things aren't too in proportion or positioning of their features are weird. Though it's quite a contradiction to say their "eyes are too big" as anime and manga eyes are considered big to outsiders. Art is subjective and just because you've seen a few eighties-esque eyes doesn't mean all shoujo mangakas draw saucer plate eyes. If you judge a manga/anime based whether it's a 10 or not, you're are missing out. Though I do have my favourite mangakas in terms of art so check out that post.

• Bishies, men don't act like this in real life
  I think I can write a whole individual post on bishounens alone and in fact, I'll make it a future post. Bishies represent a teen's ideals in the most hyperbolic way in much the same way as moe girls in shounen or even some men's ideals on bust size in H mangas/anime. We don't expect men or teenage boys to act like this, look like this or be like this in real life. They don't have to be the definition of perfection but can you let a girl fantasize?

• Romance/Characters/Storyline is dumb and unrealistic
  I've said this before and I'll say it again, when your manga is being post in something like LaLa magazine, do you really think there is going to be anything too deep and meaningful? The demographic  puts many potential story ideas out the window (you got editors) and shoujo is such a niche market already.
  
  If you're reading a psychological manga you take the story quite seriously, that's a given. So if the story doesn't live up to you expectations, like having a ridiculous story line then that's a valid complaint.
  If you read a horror, fantasy or even a comedic manga the author expects you to "suspend disbelief" and go along with the premise instead of proclaiming their work to be an unrealistic portrayal of romance/people. It's not meant to be taken that seriously.
  
  The same principles apply to shoujo. If you come in with the expectation for it to be a masterpiece you will be disappointed. Realise the intention and target audience and appreciate it for what it is. You're allowed to hate some manga series but don't let it stop you from enjoying some silly titles every now and then.

All in all, shoujo is a pretty ridiculous genre full of exaggerated caricatures and ideals, not meant to be taken seriously but for fun. Not to say that there aren't some amazing titles out there. My top 5 list has some of my favs plus I will be posting another Top list of some mangas for non-shoujo lovers to try out so stay tuned.

So do you like a lover, hater, neutral to shoujo? Or are you just like me, it's a love-hate thing.