I decided to take a walk down memory lane and look at what years my favorite anime were all released in, which then spawned the idea of picking my favorite Shojo anime from each year 1989-2024 (left out pre-1989 as I haven’t seen enough anime from those years yet).

To be clear, this is about personal preference and not absolute quality, so some of these weren’t the most critically acclaimed or best animated shows of their year, but I enjoyed them the most nonetheless.

Also, some years had super stiff competition with a lot of excellent shows releasing while others didn’t have too much going on, so keep that in mind as well that there were some tough choices to be made for certain years.

What are your favorite anime for each year? Were there any here that surprised you or that you didn’t know about?

Pre-order link: https://livingtheline.com/livingtheline/mother-please-dont-give-birth-to-a-monster-preorder-for-july/

Pre-order link: https://livingtheline.com/livingtheline/mother-please-dont-give-birth-to-a-monster-preorder-for-july/

Thought this was a pretty cool story of effort and hard work being quite rewarding. Linnea has apparently been studying Japanese for 10 years and has lived and worked in Japan as an animator since 2019. Her artistic influences apparently include Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Mew Mew, Nana, and other shoujo manga.

Some anime she has contributed to as an animator include Blue Exorcist and the Lord of the Rings film.

Her story “This Foreigner is too Otaku to Make Her Dreams Come True” received an Excellent Work Award in Kodansha's fifth Women's Manga Awards and was published digitally in Kiss and BE LOVE magazines.

Her website: https://linneakataja.com

So, a couple months ago Kunihiko Hamada, the guy who did the character designs for clear card season 1, left Madhouse on not great terms (madhouse produced clear card). In response, a fan asked him how clear card would be able to move forward since he had such a major role in season 1, and his response was quite negative albeit very vague. Just wanted to share this hint of an update since I know a lot of people have been wondering about whether the project is actually in production still.

Now, this isn’t confirmation either way, but it does tilt the scales toward the project being stalled indefinitely at the moment.

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B88i2sSEnX4&ra=m

I hope this points toward the series getting a physical release from AnimEigo since SkySet is streaming it! The finished product should be about 7 episodes in total.

Synopsis:

Mametarou's life is as good as a dog's can get! With his loving owner Iku, precious girlfriend Hanako, and close network of neighborhood friends, adventure is always waiting around the corner. Yet in between his insecurities about his cross-breed status, a lovesick Iku, and rivals for Hanako's affection, Mametarou's world is a little more complicated than he'd like it to be. With various problems to solve along the way, Mametarou tries his best to be a good pet and, even more importantly, a good friend.

article link: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-05-21/skyset-entertainment-to-stream-produce-english-dub-for-go-forward-anime-series/.237267

SkySet link: https://www.skysetentertainment.com/go-forward

This anime follows a young boy coming of age as he works through grief, maturing, and changes in his family relationships between his dad and younger sibling.

synopsis:

Takuya Enoki lost his mother, Yukako, in a car accident. He now lives with his father, Harumi, and two-year-old little brother, Minoru. Although Takuya is only an elementary school student, he not only does all the housework, but takes care of his little brother. When the Kimura family blames him for Minoru's constant crying one day, his stress gradually builds up. A frustrated Takuya cannot help feeling upset over Minoru, who is stressing him and taking up all his time.

Later, Takuya picks Minoru up from preschool and saves him from a brutal dog that blocked Minoru's way. After coming home and seeing Minoru crying, Takuya realizes that Minoru is just lonely and becomes ashamed of himself. From now on, Takuya learns to care for his little brother.

article link: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-07-02/kodansha-usa-announces-print-releases-for-phoenix-witch-hat-atelier-special-stories-historie-fatale-/.239224

I watch a lot of Laura’s content on YouTube ans a subscriber and wanted to promote the AX panel she’s hosting, especially as a Shojo/Josei manga and anime content creator!

Her substack: https://lauraneuzeth.substack.com

Her YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/neuzeth?ra=m

We’re getting 2 continuations from last season, a few films, some season 2s, and the Chinese-Japanese collab reboot of vintage 1979 Majokko Hana no ko lunlun (Hua Xianzi)!

I’m especially excited for the Ribbon Hero film!

If I’ve missed anything, feel free to comment it below😊

Now that the Summer anime season has begun, I wanted to follow u/sparkletopia ‘s tradition of posts about all of the Shojo/Josei/Josei-muke anime I could find airing during the Summer 2026 anime season.

I included Kaiju Girl Caramelize with the caveat that it’s Seinen since it’s from a longtime Shojo author, Spica Aoki.

The Donghua (Chinese animation) “Hua Xianzi” is a reboot of the 1979 Shojo magical girl series “Hana no ko lunlun” made in partnership between Toei and Tencent.

I included Yami shibai 17 and Pokemon horizons as they’ve both had shojo manga adaptations, although both are technically anime originals. Goodbye Lara is another anime original that’s of interest to Shojo fans.

Credit to Sparkletopia’s previous history of summary posts about each anime season:

https://www.reddit.com/r/shoujo/comments/1s4l4zf/spring_2026_anime/

https://www.reddit.com/r/shoujo/comments/xta1wj/fall_2022_anime/

MAL: https://myanimelist.net/anime/56234/Hua_Xianzi__Mofa_Xiang_Dui_Lun

trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqTNU63yJVM&ra=m

Synopsis:

When Rumi, a young girl apprenticing at a handmade perfume studio, is assailed by a dark fog on her way home, a black cat caling itself an emissary of the planet Flowernu appears before her and awakens the power of the Flower Key left by her ancestor to turn her into a Flower Child.

In order to protect the City of Flowers, Rumi is tasked with collecting and purifying petals from the Rainbow Flower that were withered by dark magic and scattered across the city, using the magic of flower aromas to dispel the darkness implanted in people's hearts and growing as a magical girl along the way.

However, during this adventure, Rumi is attacked by another mysterious Flower Child, and discovers that the black cat by her side also has an unexpected true identity…

official contest website link: https://ourfeel.jp/article/entry/mangasho_2026

The judges for this contest are the legendary:

Moyoco Anno (sugar sugar rune)

Tomoko Yamashita (Journal with Witch)

Yama Wayama (Hoshi in the garden of girls/Onna no Sono no hoshi).

————————————

Titled “the Our Feel Manga Award”, submissions opened on June 4, 2026, and are organized into three separate periods, each overseen by a different judge. The award is open to creators without prior commercial serialization experience, and all genres are welcome.

Award Overview

Eligibility

• Creators without prior commercial serialization experience
• Original, unpublished completed works only (secondary works, rough drafts, plots, source material only, and incomplete works are not accepted)
• All genres welcome

Prizes

• Grand Prize (Moyoco Anno Prize / Yama Wayama Prize / Tomoko Yamashita Prize): ¥300,000 + feedback from the judge
• Promising Work Prize: ¥100,000 + feedback from the judge

Entry Periods

• Period 1: June 4, 2026 (Thu) 12:00 PM – September 30, 2026 (Wed) 11:59 PM
• Period 2: October 1, 2026 (Thu) 12:00 AM – December 31, 2026 (Thu) 11:59 PM
• Period 3: January 1, 2027 (Fri) 12:00 AM – March 31, 2027 (Wed) 11:59 PM

Results Announcement

• Period 1: Around January 2027
• Period 2: Around April 2027
• Period 3: Around July 2027

Results will be posted on the Our Feel official website. 

If you want to know more about the Our Feel manga platform, this post by a redditor is a good intro: https://www.reddit.com/r/shoujo/comments/1ps8yv5/a_brief_look_at_our_feel/#lightbox

the official English version is on the Tapas app

wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bona_Fide_Killer

I found out about this manga from translator Jocelyne Allen’s blog post about it ( https://brainvsbook.wordpress.com/2024/01/05/kuroema-umino-tsunami/ ) and it turned out to be by the same author as “Full-time wife escapist”. This is a fun and quirky manga about the relationship between 2 women and it also recently got a live-action adaptation!

Synopsis:

Emma, a 30-year-old woman, loses her love life, job, and home in one fell swoop, as the boyfriend she was living with breaks up with her on the same day the company she was working for goes bankrupt. She wanders into a mansion, and is soon found by its owner Chloe, an eccentric rich heiress who lives alone. While Chloe initially accepts Emma staying at her mansion for a night, an unfortunate fire at Chloe's home that night forces them to find a living situation together. Later, a customer arrives at Chloe's fortune telling shop and brings mysterious circumstances that the two get drawn into.

This marks the start of the Summer 2026 anime season seemingly

Crunchyroll link: https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GT00378069