Josei, which translates as “woman,” is a demographic aimed at women from late adolescence to adulthood. These titles are typically more mature, focusing on realistic situations such as work or romance. Josei is the polar opposite of Seinen, which is aimed at older teens and men.
Are you tired of the shoujo series’ fantasy and unrealistic plots? Are you looking for a more mature and down-to-earth genre? Then check out our list of the best Josei manga, where you’ll find stories aimed at older teenage girls and adult women. Here are 13 of them.
13. Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai
Genres:Comedy, Drama, Romance
Chapters:40
Shibata Michiko, an unemployed woman, is literally betting everything on her romance with a younger man. To keep him happy, she denies herself of her desires and buys him expensive clothing and accessories.
She needs to find work before she starves to death and loses her young love interest because she is completely broke. Michiko, on the other hand, discovers that the boy was never romantically interested in her. She meets Kurosawa, an intimidating former boss she used to dislike, after being depressed after being dumped and after a series of unsuccessful interviews.
12. Game Over
Genres:Drama, Romance
Chapters:5
This is an age-gap romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. The storey was simple, but there are only a few chapters, so there isn’t much to go on. It’s basically about an older woman playing a bus game in which she has to make every man she meets look at her twice in order to win, but she meets her match in the form of a middle school boy who doesn’t look at her at all.
This causes her to think about him constantly day after day, until she discovers that he did, in fact, look at her, just not in the way she imagined. They then fall in love. Yes, that’s exactly how it works. They fall in love and begin dating.
11. Bokura no Kiseki
Genres:Action, Drama, Fantasy
Chapters:113+
Minami Harusumi has had recurring dreams about Veronica, a princess whose kingdom is on the verge of destruction, since she was a child. He believes they are flashbacks from his past life, and that he is her reincarnation.
As a result, he is mocked by his classmates. When the mockery becomes bullying, he rediscovers magic, which Veronica had studied and used. Minami, reassured that his past life is not a fantasy, attempts to learn more about his past memories and the reasons for them…
10. Paradise Kiss
Genres:Drama, Josei, Romance
Chapters:48
Yukari Hayasaka is a serious student whose overbearing mother has high expectations of her. Her life’s focus used to be on excelling in her studies until one day she meets a group of fashion students who decide Yukari would be the ideal model for their latest design. While Yukari initially resists, she gradually grows to love this group of people who live lives so different from her own.
She also falls in love with the lead designer, George Koizumi, and becomes close friends with Miwako Sakurada, her boyfriend Arashi Nagase, and Daisuke “Isabella” Yamamoto. Yukari is inspired by her new friends to stop living her life the way her mother wants her to, and instead sets out on her own, determined to find what will make her happy.
9. 14-sai no Koi
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Chapters: 143
Kanata Tanaka and Kazuki Yoshikawa, both in middle school, are mature beyond their years, perfect model students admired from afar by classmates and teachers alike. When school is out, these two childhood friends can let loose as normal fourteen-year-olds, fresh from puberty, adolescence…and the persistent, bittersweet pangs of first love.
8. Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou
Genres: Romance, Supernatural
Chapters: 20
22-year-old Hatanaka Seri is the daughter of a wealthy family with no historically significant name. Furumidou Yuzuki, 22, is the son of a well-to-do family that no longer has a lot of money. A marriage between them is not only mutually beneficial, but also extremely desirable in their parents’ eyes. Seri, on the other hand, is adamantly opposed. Not only does she despise being forced to do something she does not want to do, but she also does not see how their marriage could work.
They may have been friends as children, but she and Yuzuki have since grown apart and no longer even like each other. She was expecting Yuzuki to agree, but she is surprised to learn that he is content with their parents’ decision. Is he simply too lazy to rebel against his family, or does his desire to marry so quickly have a much more mysterious and sinister explanation?
7. Barairo My Honey
Genres: Romance, Supernatural
Chapters: 15
She may appear to be a cute girl, doll-like at first glance, but as soon as she opens her mouth, it’s clear that she’s a very shrewd and independent young lady! Koume is her name, and she has a “date with destiny!” She meets a very cool “tiger-master” and a very hot “tiger-tamer,” both of whom are very handsome young men… But what is the real storey behind them?
6. The One I Love
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life
Chapters: 12
The One I Love, based on CLAMP’s own personal experiences, provides insight into both the creators’ own lives and the oft-elusive concept of Love itself.
This intimate collection of short stories and essays doesn’t shy away from confronting issues like insecurity, honesty, distance, independence, age, and marriage.
This one-volume anthology contains 12 separate stories, each with seven pages of manga and two pages of prose.
5. Mizutama Puzzle
Genre: Romance
Chapters: 2
The storey revolves around a young man who works in a restaurant and a career woman who works in a hotel. The man has taken an interest in the woman after seeing her on the same train with him several times, and he suddenly calls out to her.
4. Nodame Cantabile
Genres:Comedy, Josei, Romance
Chapters:146
Chiaki Shinichi is a rising star in the world of classical music, but despite having everything going for him, he is held back by his own phobias. Because he is unable to leave Japan due to his fears of flying and sailing, he finds himself in the company of another naturally gifted individual, the strange girl Noda “Nodame” Megumi. As they struggle to develop their talents and overcome their shortcomings, the two develop a more intimate relationship.
3. Chihayafuru
Genres:Drama, Romance, Sports
Chapters:241+
Chihaya Ayase is a well-known beauty at her school, but she is far from a typical young lady. Chihaya and her friend Taichi became obsessed with the card game Karuta three years ago in her final year of elementary school after meeting a lonely boy named Arata Wataya.
When the trio graduated from elementary school, they went their separate ways, but they all had one goal in common: to excel in the game and meet each other at the national championships. Now, Chihaya is attempting to share her love of the game by forming a competitive Karuta club at school, but when she reunites with Taichi, it appears that she may be the only one who intends to keep their childhood promise…
2. Sakamichi no Apollon
Genres:Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Chapters:45
Lonely Kaoru Nishimi has lost count of the number of schools he has changed because of his father’s naval career. He has just arrived in Kyushu, and most of his classmates are immediately hostile to him and suspicious of his elite background. Only two other students, the infamously abrasive Sentarou and the gentle Ritsuko, appear to be unconcerned about who he is.
They have a passion for jazz, unbeknownst to Kaoru, and they’re about to drag him out of his stiff, joyless world and into theirs of loose, swinging self-expression. Kaoru will discover that life has a wealth of experiences in store for him through friendship and frustration, love and despair!
1. Nana
Genres:Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Chapters:84
Lonely Kaoru Nishimi has lost count of the number of schools he has changed because of his father’s naval career. He has just arrived in Kyushu, and most of his classmates are immediately hostile to him and suspicious of his elite background. Only two other students, the infamously abrasive Sentarou and the gentle Ritsuko, appear to be unconcerned about who he is.
They have a passion for jazz, unbeknownst to Kaoru, and they’re about to drag him out of his stiff, joyless world and into theirs of loose, swinging self-expression. Kaoru will discover that life has a wealth of experiences in store for him through friendship and frustration, love and despair!
The two meet by chance on the train and in the city, eventually deciding to live together, and despite being polar opposites in every way, the girls quickly become close friends. Nana and Nana will discover the bittersweet truth about love, loss, and the growth that results.
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