There was good shojo manga to be found this year, ones that relied not on webnovel buzzwords but on good old-fashioned drama and trauma.
TALES OF THE TENDO FAMILY (Tendo-ke Monogatari), by Ken Saito. First published in 2014 and first published in North America in 2024.
PLOT:
Ran Hojo was sent to settle her family's debts by marrying Masato Tendo, the middle child of a noble family. In despair, she throws herself into the river only to be rescued by a nameless peasant girl. The peasant girl offers to save Ran by taking her place, in the hopes that she will die a noble death by aiding another. Masato is a cruel, twisted young man who immediately sees through "Ran's" deception, but her willingness to die has him intrigued. If she wants to die so badly, she can do so by helping him navigate the intrigues of his equally twisted family.
