Shoujo Manga?

[Benzene]

I was thinking of making my own online shoujo manga.

But since the only shoujo themed manga i read are:

Lunar Souls

and

The Way To Your Heart

I have no idea what most shoujo include, well, i mean i do, they are generally magical girl stories, high school love stories etc etc.

But what do you think most people would prefer to see in a Shoujo Manga?

Im getting ready to start writing my story, i just wanted to know a little more on Shoujo manga before i started, so i dont make it look or seem horribly wrong sweatdrop

Heres a character design sketch for the main girl:

I dunno if it will be the final result, probably not XD

And heres her colored, in one of her out of school outfits..

heh...

[CB_Young]

If I may offer a suggestion: write what you want to write, don't worry too much about fittintg it into one style. That's how bad cliche's arise. The last thing the world needs is another coppy of the same magic girl story with slightly diffrent hairstyles.
What I would like to see in shojo manga is something that's not just a cookie-cutter of every other shojo manga, as most of them are. Study others if you want, but don't limit yourself to that. Origonality goes a long way.

[Benzene]

I know that didnt really make much sense but i hope someone knows what i mean sweatdrop

[Benzene]

Quote:

If I may offer a suggestion: write what you want to write, don't worry too much about fittintg it into one style. That's how bad cliche's arise. The last thing the world needs is another coppy of the same magic girl story with slightly diffrent hairstyles.
What I would like to see in shojo manga is something that's not just a cookie-cutter of every other shojo manga, as most of them are. Study others if you want, but don't limit yourself to that. Origonality goes a long way.

thats a good point ^_^

I dont want it ending up like Sailor Moon..cuz well..i dont like it O_O. My story would probably contain quite a bit of angst, and visual kei/gothic themes, as well as maybe something to do with the occult or witchcraft. But i love love stories and fluffy-ness also, so i would definatyl include that! Im actually mainly affraid i might get too graphic in the violence/romance side of things, because i want it to be sutable for at least 13 and over.
Im not too fond of magical girl stories, and high school's are fun, but i dont think i have any hope of actually draing a school building or anything sweatdrop

[Overlord Keisa X]

sounds like your being forced yto do shojo. why do it if you dont like the themes you have mor edark prowess.. matbe a gothesque love trinagle with a twiat of some type

[Benzene]

Quote:

sounds like your being forced yto do shojo. why do it if you dont like the themes you have mor edark prowess.. matbe a gothesque love trinagle with a twiat of some type

maybe, its just shoujo art is so beautiful! And i do like the high school loved story ones, i geuss magical girl always reminds me of sailor moon or cardcaptor sakura sweatdrop

[CB_Young]

Sounds like it could be interasting. And I'm a sucker for gothic art.

I guess I was ranting becasue it seems like everything called 'shojo manga' seems to look exactly alike; almost identical drawing styles and the same story over and over again. There's nothing wrong with studying the style, just don't base everything you do on it ^_^
Anyways, best of luck to you with your comic. And above all, have fun with it biggrin

[Benzene]

Quote:

Sounds like it could be interasting. And I'm a sucker for gothic art.

I guess I was ranting becasue it seems like everything called 'shojo manga' seems to look exactly alike; almost identical drawing styles and the same story over and over again. There's nothing wrong with studying the style, just don't base everything you do on it ^_^
Anyways, best of luck to you with your comic. And above all, have fun with it biggrin

Thankyou whee

[Overlord Keisa X]

Quote:

Quote:

sounds like your being forced yto do shojo. why do it if you dont like the themes you have mor edark prowess.. matbe a gothesque love trinagle with a twiat of some type

maybe, its just shoujo art is so beautiful! And i do like the high school loved story ones, i geuss magical girl always reminds me of sailor moon or cardcaptor sakura sweatdrop

why dont you make dark powerd magical girl XD

[Benzene]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

sounds like your being forced yto do shojo. why do it if you dont like the themes you have mor edark prowess.. matbe a gothesque love trinagle with a twiat of some type

maybe, its just shoujo art is so beautiful! And i do like the high school loved story ones, i geuss magical girl always reminds me of sailor moon or cardcaptor sakura sweatdrop

why dont you make dark powerd magical girl XD

lol i dont think magic will be a part of it, if it is it wont be a big part ^^

[Tsukiyono]

I think the most important thing when creating shoujo style comics is to have a likeable heroine and hero. Try to make them as 3 dimensional as possible too.

[Yu]

Quote:

I was thinking of making my own online shoujo manga.

But since the only shoujo themed manga i read are:

Lunar Souls and The Way To Your Heart

I have no idea what most shoujo include, well, i mean i do, they are generally magical girl stories, high school love stories etc etc.

But what do you think most people would prefer to see in a Shoujo Manga?

Im getting ready to start writing my story, i just wanted to know a little more on Shoujo manga before i started, so i dont make it look or seem horribly wrong sweatdrop

Heres a character design sketch for the main girl:

I dunno if it will be the final result, probably not XD

The art looks good so far. I would love to see more.

I was at a Shoujo panel in California. In the panel of elements in a Shoujo story, you must have some sort of mascot... like the cat from Sailormoon...or the "lion" from CardCap. All shoujo must contain elements that can be marketed or turn into merchandise.

Must have a pretty boy around.

Must have a transformation sequence......

Must have cute things....and cute friends.

you must think from a merchandising standpoint.... wand, charm, amulet, etc, etc, etc.

In the story, there must be some sort of gadget of magic or technology or both....

[lilsuika]

If you really want to know what shoujo is, got to Matt Thorn's homepage. The man is a cultural anthropologist who studies comics - a very credible source. Here's a snipplet:

Most people seem to think that shôjo manga are distinguished by certain features of content and style. For example: the eyes are unusually large (even by manga standards); flowers and bubbles are often seen floating in the background; they are romances; or they invariably have a female protagonist. I've seen fans debate these fine points on English-language message boards for ten years or more, and when I intervene and offer my own two cents (based on 15 years of studying shoujo manga, their readers, their creators, their editors, their publishers, and their retailers), participants are usually disappointed. This is probably because, after they have plumbed the depths of style and content ad nauseam, I simply tell them that shoujo manga are manga published in shoujo magazines (as defined by their publishers), and shounen manga are manga published in shounen manga magazines (likewise defined by publishers).

Quote:

I was at a Shoujo panel in California. In the panel of elements in a Shoujo story, you must have some sort of mascot... like the cat from Sailormoon...or the "lion" from CardCap. All shoujo must contain elements that can be marketed or turn into merchandise.

Must have a pretty boy around.

Must have a transformation sequence......

Must have cute things....and cute friends.

you must think from a merchandising standpoint.... wand, charm, amulet, etc, etc, etc.

In the story, there must be some sort of gadget of magic or technology or both....

Those are the elements of a magical girl series, which is a subgenre of shoujo. For example, Marmalade Boy is shoujo, but does not have a mascot nor a transformation sequence. Same with Paradise Kiss, Mars, Nana, Kaguya Hime, Penguin Brothers, Peach Girl, Gekka no Kimi and so on.

[Shashaleperf]

Manga series like Basara, Angel Santary, X/1999, Alichino are far from the "typical" shoujo romance and magical girls series as well.

[Benzene]

oh good info again!

thanks guys ^_^!

im working on improving my drawing style, since the top picture was done in oekaki centrals paint chat ^^;