Merry Month of Shojo: VS.

CMX's library never fails to surprise me, even after all these years.  Their library was filled with interesting little shojo series like this.

VS. (Vasasu), by Keiko Yamada.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Reiji is an incredibly talented violinist who is driven to succeed so that he can save himself and his sister from their abusive father.  His playing is technically accomplished, but often lacking in emotion.  Thus, his teacher calls upon the assistance of Mitsuko, a former student and violin prodigy whose career was cut short by an accident.  The two of them are frequently at odds, as Mitsuko tries to find a way to connect with Reiji while Reiji fights to save his sister before it is too late.

Merry Month of Shojo: ALICE 19TH

It seems like the further I look into Yuu Watase's career, the more likely I am to like their work.  I hated Fushigi Yugi, I was iffy on Ceres, but I legitimately loved this one.

ALICE 19TH (Arisu Naintinsu), by Yuu Watase.  First published in 2001, and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Alice Seno is a quiet, pleasant girl, the sort of person who wants to please others at the expense of her own happiness.  She's nothing like her older sister Mayura, who is beautiful, lively, and the darling of both her parents and classmates.  Alice has a crush on one of her sister's classmates, Kyo Wakamiya, and is crushed when her sister starts dating him.

At the same time, Alice encounters a strange bunny, who turns into an equally strange little girl who tells her she is a Lotis Master.  Alice doesn't quite understand what this means until some hasty, heated words from her cause her older sister to disappear and the boundaries between this world and another begin to break down.

Merry Month of Shojo Manga: DEMON SACRED

Today we look at another victim of Tokyopop's shutdown, a series that's wild, nonsensical, but impossible to hate.

DEMON SACRED (Demon Sakurido), by Natsumi Itsuki.  First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

Fifteen years ago, strange phenomenon started to occur across the earth.  Demons straight out of mythology appeared, and a condition known as Return Syndrome started to retroactively age people back to zygotes.  Mona's twin sister Rina is one of those affected and Mona is determined to save her by any means possible.  She gets her chance when a mysterious man from their past named Mika returns.  Through him, Mona discovers she is heir to an incredible power that allows her to capture and tame the demons.  Together, they may be able to reveal the truth and save Rina...if the government doesn't get to them first.

Merry Month of Shojo: THE PRINCE'S ROMANCE GAMBIT

Kodansha continues to churn out digital-only shojo series, and for once I wanted to feature one that didn't make me mad.

THE PRINCE'S ROMANCE GAMBIT (Oji ga Watashi wo Akiramenai!), by Nikki Asada.  First published in 2015 and first published in North America in 2018.

PLOT:

Koume Yoshida is an ordinary middle-class girl at the extremely elite and wealthy Okan Academy.  She never expected to encounter the school prince Hatsuyuki Ichimonji up close, much less while he was eating lunch in the girls' bathroom.  He ends up fascinated by her commoner ways, much to the consternation of his student bodyguards.  Koume is mostly exhausted by his attempts at being "normal," but she slowly finds herself falling for the sincere boy underneath it all.

Merry Month of Shojo: OTOME MANIA!!

Yo dawg, I heard you like otome games, so they made an otome-style manga about making otome games!

OTOME MANIA!!, by Tsukigase Yurino.  First published in 2015 and first published in North America in 2017.

PLOT:  

Yuzumi discovered otome games as a teen, so she's excited when she's hired on by the otome game studio Trick*Star.  While she has loads of fangirl enthusiasm, she has no experience at being a producer.  Worse still, her supervisor never lets her forget.  Yuzumi is going to have to learn the hard way when her pitch for an educational otome game gets approved, learning what she can from her unusually handsome coworkers.