Like my shoujo list, I think there’s also some good titles that
fall under the seinen (young adult men) category that are really gender
neutral and appeal to both young men and women. Since the josei genre is
so small I think some of these titles are confusingly in the seinen
section of MyAnime List so I’ll include them in my personal list of suggestions.
A strange hybrid love story is Arakawa Under the Bridge, that has Kappas, a male nun, an eccentric superstar and other kooky characters. In the mix is the relatively normal Kou who has a principal of not being indebted to anyone. So when Nino saves his life she requests that Kou live with her under a bridge, thus allowing insanity to ensue. It’s an odd story that appeals to a more mature audience as Kou is 22 and deals with the stress of taking over his father’s company while also being indebted to Nino. It’s another story that I think is gender universal even though the protagonist is male. If you’re looking for that Japanese quirkiness then check this series out.
I genuinely don’t understand why this title is considered seinen (unless you’re in the camp of sexualizing high school girls yuck) but if you’re a woman then there’s a lot of appeal to this show. The story is about Ohana who moves out to the country away from her home of Tokyo to work at her grandmother’s hot spring inn where she has to learn strict discipline if she’s to keep up. She works with 2 other girls Nako and Minko who can be difficult to get along with. She’s got an irresponsible mother and her own bag of hardship but it’s an interesting story of self development and maturity as you have to deal with what life throws at you. She doesn’t get to live the life of most girls her age so it’s a nice change of pace that forces her to be more mature. It’s a light slice of life story so it’s an enjoyable to watch.
If you’re around my age and grew up in North America you’d remember this title. I was surprised to see it in the list of seinen anime because it has been so long since I’ve watched this title! It’s a super hero story with some mystery mixed in. With it is a strong female lead who gets caught up with a detective for some romantic tension. With the femme fatale and interesting story it makes for a nice short watch as it’s only a season long. It’s originally Argentinian but it’s been dubbed into all sorts of languages including Japanese and English, with its international acclaim it’s worth looking into.
If you’re into the seriously weird and random then you’d enjoy this short series. Dr. Ichiro Irabu consults with a myriad of patients with obscure problems and uses unorthodox methods to cure them of their illnesses. It’s funny for its strangeness but it does attempt to give background into how people develop anxieties among other problems, and their struggle to cope. It gives some perspective on how everyone comes into contact with unsurmountale trouble, and it delves into the psyche of the regular joe. The anime is based off of literary stories so it’s a colourful take on something that originated from a literary magazine, not a manga. Even the short stories might be worth checking out if you can read Japanese!
I’ve mentioned this title before, but for those unfamiliar this is a spin-off of the famous Lupin III series involving their femme fatale Mine Fujiko. It’s a story of intrigue and adventure as she’s a famous thief who uses her good looks to get the items she covets. In the mix is Lupin who attempts to woo her, and a cast of characters who fight alongside or against Fujiko as she moves from location to location. It explores the nature of being a thief, as well as going into depths on the mystery of Fujiko’s past. This title has a lot of appeal for young women as it features a strong female lead, as well as an in depth story that only gets more mysterious until its conclusion. If you’re familiar with the series, or curious I would highly recommend checking it out.
So that’s my second list of suggestions, I’m going to be tackling a shonen list next, but as that’s the largest genre of anime it will probably be a larger project to tackle resulting in multi parts. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading and that this list gave you some ideas for a good watch or read!
Christina
Arakawa Under the Bridge
A strange hybrid love story is Arakawa Under the Bridge, that has Kappas, a male nun, an eccentric superstar and other kooky characters. In the mix is the relatively normal Kou who has a principal of not being indebted to anyone. So when Nino saves his life she requests that Kou live with her under a bridge, thus allowing insanity to ensue. It’s an odd story that appeals to a more mature audience as Kou is 22 and deals with the stress of taking over his father’s company while also being indebted to Nino. It’s another story that I think is gender universal even though the protagonist is male. If you’re looking for that Japanese quirkiness then check this series out.
Hanasaku Iroha
I genuinely don’t understand why this title is considered seinen (unless you’re in the camp of sexualizing high school girls yuck) but if you’re a woman then there’s a lot of appeal to this show. The story is about Ohana who moves out to the country away from her home of Tokyo to work at her grandmother’s hot spring inn where she has to learn strict discipline if she’s to keep up. She works with 2 other girls Nako and Minko who can be difficult to get along with. She’s got an irresponsible mother and her own bag of hardship but it’s an interesting story of self development and maturity as you have to deal with what life throws at you. She doesn’t get to live the life of most girls her age so it’s a nice change of pace that forces her to be more mature. It’s a light slice of life story so it’s an enjoyable to watch.
Cybersix
If you’re around my age and grew up in North America you’d remember this title. I was surprised to see it in the list of seinen anime because it has been so long since I’ve watched this title! It’s a super hero story with some mystery mixed in. With it is a strong female lead who gets caught up with a detective for some romantic tension. With the femme fatale and interesting story it makes for a nice short watch as it’s only a season long. It’s originally Argentinian but it’s been dubbed into all sorts of languages including Japanese and English, with its international acclaim it’s worth looking into.
Kuuchuu Buranko/Flying Trapeze
If you’re into the seriously weird and random then you’d enjoy this short series. Dr. Ichiro Irabu consults with a myriad of patients with obscure problems and uses unorthodox methods to cure them of their illnesses. It’s funny for its strangeness but it does attempt to give background into how people develop anxieties among other problems, and their struggle to cope. It gives some perspective on how everyone comes into contact with unsurmountale trouble, and it delves into the psyche of the regular joe. The anime is based off of literary stories so it’s a colourful take on something that originated from a literary magazine, not a manga. Even the short stories might be worth checking out if you can read Japanese!
Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko To Iu Onna/A Woman Named Mine Fujiko
I’ve mentioned this title before, but for those unfamiliar this is a spin-off of the famous Lupin III series involving their femme fatale Mine Fujiko. It’s a story of intrigue and adventure as she’s a famous thief who uses her good looks to get the items she covets. In the mix is Lupin who attempts to woo her, and a cast of characters who fight alongside or against Fujiko as she moves from location to location. It explores the nature of being a thief, as well as going into depths on the mystery of Fujiko’s past. This title has a lot of appeal for young women as it features a strong female lead, as well as an in depth story that only gets more mysterious until its conclusion. If you’re familiar with the series, or curious I would highly recommend checking it out.
So that’s my second list of suggestions, I’m going to be tackling a shonen list next, but as that’s the largest genre of anime it will probably be a larger project to tackle resulting in multi parts. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading and that this list gave you some ideas for a good watch or read!
Christina
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