Erika Shinohara has been trying to make herself seem cool in the only way that she knows how to. She lies to everyone about her experiences with romance to make her friends adore her even more. She finds herself between a rock and a hard place when her friends demand a photo of her boyfriend. She randomly snaps a shot of a passer-by and it turns out to be someone that everyone seems to know! His name is Kyouya Sata. Kyouya looks like a soft and gentle, good looking guy. After Erika explains everything, he decides that he will post as her boyfriend, but she is essentially now his slave. Doing things like shopping, taking care of dogs, and spinning three times ridiculously, she does it all in the name of her “relationship”. Kyouya uses every last stop to his advantage. Through it all, though, Erika begins to see a deeper part to Kyouya. Could this all bemore than a ruse?

When looking at similarities between Maid-sama and Ookami Shoujo, look no further than the two main characters. Takumi and Kyouya clearly care for their female counterparts while still not only having the upper hand in the relationship but are hotly pursued as the best-looking guy in school. Comedy in the forms of jokes and teasing are littered throughout the series. Speaking of the upper hand that Takumi has over Misaki and Kyouya over Erika, it is essentially blackmail. It would not be a shoujo without a good fat dose of romance as well throughout the series, but we aren’t saying anything. Be sure to check it out for yourself!

Ever want to feel really good about yourself and the choices that you make in life? Then it is easy; be happy that you did not wake up as Haruhi Fujioka on that fateful day. Haruhi is a brilliant scholarship student currently attending Ouran High School. Ouran is an academy that only lets those with the highest pedigrees attend. Unless that is, of course, you are Haruhi. One day while looking for the library to study, Haruhi stumbles into Music Room #3 where women are being entertained by men in the school’s official “host club”. Taken aback, Haruhi tries to back out but is cornered by Tamaki, Kyouya, the Hitachiin twins, Honey, and Mori. In the process, she knocks over a vase worth about $800,000. Haruhi is poor and has no way to pay them back, so the club cuts her a deal. She will work off her debt in the host club. Posing as a boy, Haruhi now has to woo female customers while fighting off the boys from the club? What is going on?!

Both Haruhi and Misaki find themselves in unfortunate situations. Haruhi is poor and cannot afford to repay her debt while Misaki is trying to keep her family out of debt. Haruhi and Misaki are straight A students who are strong willed and have to hide secrets from those around them. Misaki cannot let people know she is a maid, while Haruhi has to conceal the fact that she is a girl. Tragically, or maybe for the viewer’s pleasure, Ouran and Maid-sama also feature blackmail as an introduction to the series. One other and the final adorable trait is that Takumi and Tamaki only have eyes for their female counterparts even though there are countless girls and women around them.

Kyouko Mogami is actually a very smart girl. However, out of the goodness of her heart, she has been supporting a close friend of hers, Shoutarou Fuwa, as he has become a rising star in the music industry. She busts her chops working so hard to support him. However, one day it comes to light that Shoutarou does not really care about what she does for him and he thinks of her essentially as a servant. Fueled by rage, Kyouko decides that she is going to become a star herself and crush Shoutarou. Suddenly, like a fish out of the water, she now has to learn how to survive in a cutthroat environment.

The series opens with the extreme poverty that Misaki and Kyouko face while the both support others. They are so strong and are just trying to hope those that they care about. Romance is also a theme; it’s shoujo, come on people. While the path may diverge at first for Kyouko, it does reach a resolution eventually. Misaki and Kyouko as well also have a driving force behind them that leads them to take risks. Misaki is there to help her family while Kyouko is dealing with the betrayal from Shoutarou whom she supported while sacrificing her own time. Romcom to its core, though, both are great watches!

Kei Takishima and Hikari Hanazono have been friends since they were six years old. They met in a very unique way that their fathers introduced them. Both of them loved wrestling and Hikari, figuring that she could beat Kei in a wrestling match, challenged him. Her defeat was swift. Ever since they became friends, Hikari has always been second best. Who was the first to her second? It was none other than Kei. Fast forwarding to a few years later, they both are in the same school competing, yet again, for the number one and two spots. Hikari is still losing to Kei however they are close friends. Pushing even further, Hikari attempts to try and beat Kei but Kei sees Hikari as more? This school romcom is sure to keep you hooked from start to finish!

The standout themes between Kaichou wa Maid-sama and Special A are clear themes of rivalry, romance, and school. Not to mention a bit of comedy as well. Both Misaki and Hikari are strong female protagonists that are a little dense when it comes to understanding boys’ feelings and true intentions. Misaki comes from a poor family and Hikari is not exactly rolling in the dough herself as her father is a carpenter and struggling to send her to school. Both anime start out showing the male and female leads as being somewhat of opposites but eventually, they are able to bridge similarities.

Nanami Momozono does not have many requests. She just wants to be a normal girl. You know, one where she is not shackled with insane amounts of debt that her gambling addicted father shoved on her and left. She does not even have a home to go home to because she cannot afford anything. She wanders to a park where she sees a man being attacked. Instinct kicking in, she saves him and he thanks her by giving her a home?? She gets a house from this man, or so she thinks. She arrives at the home, but it is actually a shrine! He is, or rather was, a god! He wanted her to take over his duties and now she must do it. Next up, she meets Tomoe who is supposed to help her… if they don’t take each other out before that happens that is! Today starts Nanami’s life as a human god.

Cute, adorable, and rivalry with romance are just a few of the similarities that show up in this series. Nanami is pseudo-blackmailed into becoming a god much like how Misaki is blackmailed by Takumi. Both Misaki and Nanami have to stand on their own two feet in their lives with no one to reach out and support them at first. The cool and perfect male is going to help out the young, troubled girl is the trope invoked here.

Let’s roll out one more school romcom shoujo anime. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun follows Shizuku Mizutani who encounters Haru Yoshida. They both are not into their classmates and in fact, Haru does not even like going to school, due to the fact that he became violent, and has stopped altogether. They oddly bond over this and out of the blue, Haru states that they are now friends and confesses his feelings?!? Shizuku is reeling at what has just happened, but gradually is does gain some traction. Is it possible that the girl who wanted nothing to do with others, because she was so absorbed in her grades, now is learning about human interaction and feelings from the last person she ever thought she would??

Again, both Kaichou wa Maid-sama and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun belong to the same genres. Both Haru and Takumi are not your cookie-cutter of an average guy, but rather the more extreme. There is nothing like some headstrong female leads as Misaki and Shizuku have plans and are straight-A students. Also, neither of the girls like to or will willing lean on anyone, especially another man. Both also feature love stories where the males are slowly but surely gunning for the girl’s hearts!