r/shoujo

As Shoujo connoisseurs what are some of your favorite Male Lead character archetypes?

Hello,

recently a JP acquaintance has shown me the light when it comes to the insane depth Shoujo/Josei gives characters. I’ve grown quite fond of the physiological aspect.

However, I’m a straight Male who’s favorite authors are Cormac Mcarthy and Dante Alighieri.

I know some works, like monthly girls, fruit baskets, lovely complex. but I’m certain that there is far more to them other than romance ( I must admit however, I love gentle romance)

as such, and as a person who likes to read, what novels would y’all recommend. It can be anything.

EDIT - My Grammar was shit lmaooo

I just finished watching episode 2 of ogres bride, and I made the mistake of reading r/anime comment sections about the story, criticizing it for having a so called " male saviour" character who essentially fixes all the fls problems, calling this unrealistic, a red flag, and bad.

I'm sorry, but I am a queer ( bisexual) woman, and very much a feminist, yet I see nothing inherently wrong with this story so far, which is nothing more than wish fulfillment with a dash of social commentary, and delicious wish fulfillment at that. I honestly kinda find it insulting that the Internet is filled with people who assume shoujo readers don't understand the difference between fiction and reality, and act as though it's warping our minds!

Is the concept/ romance aspect unrealistic? Yes.

Would someone Immediately meeting to you and calling you their bride/ claiming they are going to love you forever be a red flag in real life? Also yes.

Are fox demons and ogres real? No!

Shounen and seinen are filled with the unrealistic fantasy of large busted, submissive women falling head over feet for the self insert YN male protagonist, I don't understand why this is so normalized, yet wish fulfillment stories for women are demonized ( pun intended). Whether it be shoujo readers, book tok girlies, or simply teenage fanfiction writers on the internet, it seems that if women enjoy something that isn't 100% "healthy" in the real world, said media is deemed as completely destructive, which imo just seems like an excuse to shame women for their sexuality and interests.

Would I be with some random person who claims me out of nowhere in real life? No id probably run away. But in sexy fantasy hot demon husband land, I don't understand anyone who wouldn't want someone that devoted to making your life better and loving you more than anyone. It reminds me of Twilight, which I will admit the writing is not the best, but is comforting to it's readers BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. FICTION IS AN ESCAPE METHOD FOR MANY PEOPLE, AND HONESTLY I'D RATHER BE ESCAPING TO MY ANIME HUSBANDOS THAN CRYING ABOUT MY GOVERNMENT TAKING MY RIGHTS AWAY 24/7.It's not even like we're talking about Hana Yori dango, which while I love I see the potential harm it can bring very young viewers, but ogres bride is NO WHERE near HYD in terms of how "problematic" it is. While Ml and Fls meeting would definitely be a red flag IRL, so far the ml has been nothing but wonderful and sweet to Fl.

too bad for you, r/anime, more sexy black haired ogres for me! God forbid a girl wants to dream...

edit: I wrote the original post at like 12 AM, and now that I've slept I realized that I should probably clarify some stuff. I absolutely think it's ok to dislike this series and series similar to it. I believe that nothing should be above criticism, and i wrote this post not to completely defend the story, but to call out the moral police who act as though series like this are evil. I very much see a difference between " I didn't like this bc the ML was possessive and took over Fls life, just not my cup of tea" and "this is a disgusting misrepresentation of real life, the Ml is evil and toxic, this shouldn't exist, but please ignore my post history about why some random isekai protagonist needs a harem of servant girls, including his sister, and why this is totally necessary to the story." I'm just saying I dislike the communities hypocrisy, calling some ( Aka, intended for a female audience) media a moral failing.