Top shoujo anime lists have to include favorites like Kamisama Kiss, Ao Haru Ride, and Your Lie in April. shoujo anime is a genre of anime targeted toward teenage girls.
With themes of love, comedy, and coming of age being the main focus, it has cuter themes and art styles and is usually shorter with a happy ending.
Although it can be universally enjoyed, its target audiences are young females and teenagers.
Shoujo Anime tends to focus on feelings and emotions and to understand these changes in an almost Slice of Lifeway.
They usually have very catchy songs and an underlying pink tone and are generally in a high school setting.
Shoujo anime, over the years, has developed a strong fan base and is one of the most beloved genres. We bring you the top 13 best shoujo anime of all time!
Top 13 best shoujo anime
1. Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon first aired in 1992 and became one of the leading Shoujo Anime of all time. It follows the adventures and journeys of Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who adopts a talking cat Luna, becomes Sailor Moon, finds other heroes, and fights the Dark Kingdom. It was one of Japan’s first serialized anime focused mainly on girls.
2. Ouran High School Host Club
Ouran High School Host Club is an anime with a gender bender. It has a ridiculous start and comedic themes, with the main character, Haruhi, being mistaken for a boy in the beginning and being manipulated into joining the Host Club of a school made for elites.
The anime does not dive too deeply into gender but focuses on light-hearted comedy and is ultimately a reverse harem anime.
3. Akatsuki no Yona
Akatsuki no Yona or Yona of the Dawn is a fantasy take on shoujo anime and focuses more on the plot than the romance. Yona of the Dawn may be a reverse harem, but because it’s plot-driven, it is not emphasized.
Yona, a princess, loses everything she knows on her birthday and goes on a journey of self-discovery and identity. With her bodyguard Hak with her, they go on several adventures and become stronger together to get their Kingdom back.
4. Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura is a story about a girl named Kinomoto Sakura and her adventures as she tries to capture the magical cards she accidentally freed with her powers.
It’s an anime about magic and fantasy that was released in 1998 and had 70 episodes. Cardcaptor Sakura is also known as one of the first anime with canon BL themes.
5. Kimi ni Todoke
Kimi ni Todoke is a story about a girl who is misunderstood, labeled, and becomes an outcast, and the most popular and cheerful boy in class who takes the time to understand her and befriend her.
From Me to You is a sweet story reminding viewers that appearances are deceptive and that we shouldn’t judge someone based on their outward appearance.
Kimi ni Todoke is a very popular shoujo anime because Sawako and Shouta’s relationship starts as a friendship and eventually turns into romance.
6. Toradora
Taiga and Ryuji are complete opposites! Taiga is a feisty girl with a cute appearance who forms a friendship with Ryuji, a guy who has a rude look but is very sweet.
Their friendship develops into romance in this comedic Slice of Life anime. Toradora is a fun anime with plenty of cute content and a happy ending to treat viewers.
7. Kamisama Kiss
A regular high school student, Nanami is evicted from her house in unfortunate events. This leads her to meet Mikage, a runaway God who bestows his duties and responsibilities onto her in exchange for shelter and safety.
Nanami butts head with the keeper of the shrine, Tomoe, and romance sparks between the two as they fall into all sorts of adventures and worlds. Kamisama Kiss is a funny anime with most fans swooning for Tomoe, the fox yokai.
8. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
This anime is popular within the anime fandom and even outside. Your Lie in April is an anime about music, coming of age, acceptance, and the brutality of the truth.
It keeps the viewers interested until it drops a truth bomb right at the end, which has devastated most viewers. The story between Kaori and Arima explores understanding and maturing but ultimately makes viewers bawl.
9. My Little Monster
My Little Monster is one of the best-animated series of its time, with special effects to emphasize the moe! My Little Monster is another high school anime with the ‘Bad boy meets Nerdy girl and falls in love’ trope.
However, My Little Monster explores the themes of growing together and learning from each other through their main characters — Shizuku and Haru. The anime allows space for the other characters also to explore their love and is, all in all, an adorable anime.
10. Clannad
Clannad starts as your ordinary ice of Life anime with a high school setting and very soon evolves. Staying true to a Slice of Life anime, Clannad is a slow-paced anime allowing all the characters to have the spotlight with their stories.
It has two seasons, and season 2 focuses on the couple, Nagisa and Tomoya, as they continue their relationship into adulthood. The themes become much more serious, and fans are bound to cry as it reaches the end.
11. Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is a romantic comedy about Tohru and Kyo, two teenagers in an odd setting. Tohru becomes an orphan and moves into the house of the Soma family, where she tries to remove the curse afflicting the family. What’s the curse, you ask?
The family members turn into animals of the Chinese Zodiac at odd times, and when Tohru learns of this, she makes it her mission to cure the family using any means possible.
12. Ao Haru Ride
Although laid back and chilled, Ao Haru Ride is a sensational anime that pokes the question of first loves. Futaba and Kou had a crush on each other in middle school but lost the chance to continue their relationship because of Kou’s disappearance.
His name changed when he returned to high school, and he seemed different. Futaba and Kou take time to recreate their love and learn how to support each other. Blue Spring Ride is a sweet anime that tackles topics of loss and grief while growing up.
13. Kaichou wa Maid sama
Kaichou Wa Maid Sama is undoubtedly one of the most popular anime in the shoujo anime fandom, and rightly so because of its excellent story delivery. With 26 episodes, Kaichou Wa Maid Sama follows the story of Misaki, the class president who breaks the school rules by working a part-time job to earn money.
Unlike most shoujo anime female leads, Misaki is an outspoken and confident person who thrives on being independent, so being caught by one of the class’s most famous rule breakers, Usui was not the plan. In a hilarious setting, Usui and Misaki gradually fall for each other and have each other’s back while protecting the other.
A special mention goes to a popular anime released in 2021 and quickly becomes a fan favorite — ‘Horimiya.’ For more shoujo anime recommendations, you can check out our list of Top 10 Shoujo Anime movies — with heart-wrenching anime movies like ‘Into the Forest of Fireflies and ‘A Silent Voice.’
