Shojo perhaps remains as one of the bestanimegenres for female audiences out there, especially considering that the genre exists specifically as a counter to the more action-packed shonen genre. As a result, shojo anime tend to be more emotional, grounded, and even romantic - qualities of stories traditionally suited for female audiences. With decades’ worth of years behind them, it’s natural for shojo stories to contain more or less similar tropes. As such, it’s only natural for shojo fans to recognize similar patterns in shojo stories.
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However, it might interest anime fans to know that some shojo anime just can’t get rid of certain shojo anime tropes for various reasons, with some just becoming too iconic for creators to remove. As such, just what shojo tropes would never get old in the eyes and hearts of fans?
8Responsibility Versus Love
Love stories are often the focal point of shojo stories, but it’s sometimes the conflicts that arise during these moments that make their anime all the more worthwhile. In particular, it’s when the protagonist has to choose between love and their responsibility that makes their shojo story much more relatable - especially when viewers have to juggle school work and their extracurriculars with their feelings for their crushes.
A popular anime to deal with such a problem would probably beCardcaptor Sakura, where 10-year-old Sakura Kinomoto would have to deal with the responsibility ofsealing powerful beings into Clow Cards as a Cardcaptor. However, the appearance of the rather annoying Syaoran Li - another Cardcaptor - would force Sakura to develop a friendship with him and even start exploring the idea of crushes and puppy loves. However, her responsibilities as a Cardcaptor would have to outweigh any feelings she might develop for Syaoran through the years.
7Nobody Girl Meets The Popular Guy
It’s always a dream come true when one’s crush suddenly starts to notice them, much more fall in love with them, and this is a trope present in a lot of popular shojo anime. In most of these instances, an ordinary girl who’s usually a “nobody” at school gets roped into a world of drama and adventure after getting the attention of the popular guy, often surrounded by those who like him or other circumstances.
A good example of this isKimi No Todoke, where Sawako Kuronuma, often called “Sadako” by her classmates due to her resemblance to the character, hence her being misunderstood, suddenly gets the attention of Shota Kazehaya, a popular boy in school. While this initial conversation will eventually blossom into a relationship, baseless rumors about both Sawako and Shota often lead to hilarious roadblocks in their relationship.
6Enter The Beautiful Boy
Perhaps one of the most common shojo anime tropes out there that make the genre quite irresistible is the “bishonen,” also known as the “beautiful boy” trope. Despite how mundane the plot of a shojo anime could get, everything easily becomes more bearable at the presence of an extremely attractive male character.
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A popular example of these are perhaps all the protagonists inOuran High School Host Club, where the androgynous Haruhi Fujioka becomesan errand boy to Ouran High’s aforemention host club, home to its fair share of attractive male characters, each with their unique quirks and personalities.
5The Love Triangle
Nothing would make a love story more exciting than a love triangle, especially when both the protagonist’s love interests are equally appealing and attractive. Depending on the story, both love interests might find ways to earn the attention of the protagonist, and the protagonist is most likely too naive to understand it.
An example of this occurrence would probably beOrange, an anime where a girl named Naho Takamiya has begun receiving letters from her future self that tell her to “help” a new transfer student named Kakeru. Naho’s friends would soon discover the letters she’s received from the future, with her friend Hiroto Suwa also receiving letters of his own that tell him he and Naho would eventually get married. Suwa would have to make the choice of whether to help future Naho somehow “save” Kakeru and throw away their future together, or to commit to fate.
4Two Naive Friends
In real life, sometimes one’s best love is just right there in the form of a close friend, they just couldn’t see it. Love stories make use of this trope as well, and shojo anime particularly loves featuring a girl and boy that become close friends, eventually developing feelings that the both of them couldn’t properly reconcile. A popular example of this would beLove Com, orLove Complex. In this story, taller-than-average-girl Risa Koizumi is often at odds with shorter-than-average-guy Atsushi Otani.
But when both Risa and Atsushi discover they like certain people from other classes, they decide to put aside their differences and work together for their love interests. Sadly, the people they liked end up being together - and lucky for Risa and Atsushi, their journey to pursuing their former love interests did blossom into a friendship. While the anime often shows comedic adventures between the two protagonists, there are often moments where their feelings for each other just try to slip out in the open.
3The Botched Confession
Love stories often look forward to the “confession” to see whether a protagonist’s love interest would finally accept their love for them. It’s often the “confession” that serves as a build-up to episodes’ worth of cheesy moments - so it’s quite a surprise for some shojo anime to actually begin with a confession that botches spectacularly. Funnily enough, some shojo anime actually use a botched confession to propel its story, often motivating protagonists to pursue their love interests further.
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One such anime would beMonthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, which begins when Chiyo Sakura confesses her love to the classmate she has a crush on, Umetarou Nozaki. Unfortunately for her,Nozaki misunderstands her confessionand mistook her for a fan, giving her an autograph. As luck would have it, Nozaki is actually a shojo mangaka. And to finally get closer to him, Chiyo decides to work as his assistant.
2The Wacky Gimmick
Yet another popular trope in shojo anime that makes fans go back to them would probably be the wacky gimmick, wherein the story revolves around not just the protagonist and their potential love interests, but some sort of “quirk” that brings them together. This is often tied to a hilarious incident or a weird supernatural occurrence that would force the protagonist and her potential love interests to stick closer to each other.
An example of this would beFruits Basket, where orphan Tohru Honda would meet Kyo, Shigure, and Yuki Sohma. She would soon discover that theentire Sohma household has a total of 13 members, with each member having the possibility of being possessed by and transformed into an animal in the Chinese zodiac whenever they are stressed, weak, or embraced by someone from the opposite sex. Aside from dealing with the wacky adventures from these occurrences, Tohru’s stay within the Sohma household would help her discover the true meaning of friendship, love, and having people to care for her.
1The Destined Lovers
Anyone who’s ever wanted to find “true love” might feel like there should at least be a shortcut or a “set path” to the one person they will be with forever, right? Love stories often have viewers look at protagonists as destined lovers, and shojo anime definitely set up their protagonists as fated for each other. However, one of the best shojo anime tropes would probably be setting up destined lovers, as though telling in the story that these two people would somehow be together in the end, no matter how incompatible they seem to be.
A good example of this would beSailor Moon, where Usagi Tsukino and her friends wouldbecome Sailor Senshi and gather powers from different planetsto fight forces of evil. And while Usagi would have to balance her school work and saving the world, she eventually meets Chibiusa, a young girl who proclaims she is Usagi’s daughter with the future Mamoru Chiba, who unbeknownst to the Senshi is Tuxedo Mask, a mysterious ally of the team.
