Masamune Asuka is a totally cool and tough second year high schooler and kendo expert. His manly aura is unmistakable and he is admired by everyone at school… to his chagrin. Despite living what seems like the perfect high school life, Asuka is dissatisfied with being unable to be his real self – he really loves knitting, cooking, sewing, cute things and even shoujo manga. Asuka’s father was greatly bothered by these so-called “girly” interests; so much so that he even abandoned Asuka and his mother. His father’s departure shook his mother so much that she became ill and as a result, Asuka swore to become a “manlier” man. One day when Asuka saves a female classmate from bullies, he instantly falls in love with her and he is rekindled with his love for sugar, spice and everything nice.

Otomen does a great job at reimagining a well-used trope in anime and manga: the manly girl trope. Usually, these characters are female characters who, for whatever reason, choose to totally abandon their femininity. However, much like what happened with Asuka in Otomen, they are rekindled with the person that they really want to be. Hence we find Otomen’s similarity to Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge: both protagonists which are something that they are not but have the potential to become and through interactions with characters of the opposite sex, they are well on their way to blossoming into the people they always wanted to be.

Serinuma Kae has never been too interested in finding love. However, she is totally obsessed with the concept of two princes falling in love. As a result, Kae is what one would call a “fujoshi”; constantly fantasising about men, both real and fictional, being in love with each other. Her world is happy, at least until her favourite anime character dies. Grief-stricken, Kae locks herself in her room for a week. When she eventually emerges, she realises that she has lost copious amounts of weight! Suddenly, all the boys she used to pair with each other want to be paired with her, but Kae being Kae, she just isn’t interested. With several boys now vying for her affections, can Kae somehow turn her fujoshi fantasies into reality?

As a result of something completely accidental, Serinuma Kae’s entire life changes within a week. People who barely noticed her are now taken aback by her beauty; however, the way in which she sees the world hasn’t changed at all. Kae’s personality greatly resembles that of Yamato Nadeshiko’s Nakahara Sunako – complete with her fujoshi tendencies. Both Kiss Him, Not Me and Yamato Nadeshiko feature what most call a “reverse harem”, situations which feature the viable and possible romantic relation of a female main character to her main male counterparts, who remain constantly by her side throughout the series.

“How the mighty have fallen,” seems appropriate here. After a certain incident of violence against a teacher at the prestigious St Katria Girls’ High School, the enigmatic Kawai Maria transfers into Touzuka High. Touzuka is a school with a fairly low grade point average, proving to be a completely different environment to what Maria is used to. As a result of her blunt, often stand-offish personality, Maria quickly becomes alienated by her classmates. However, such is not the end of her high school story…

This is possibly the title on this list which is least like Yamato Nadeshiko, but still fairly similar is Akuma to Love Song. Much like Yamato Nadeshiko, Akuma to Love Song features a main character who for whatever reason, is isolated from society or her respective community. In Sunako’s case, her terrifying physical appearance makes people avoid her and Maria’s sharp tongue does a good job of keeping people away. Both manga feature the prospect of major personality changes in the main character, and of course, the main ingredient: romance.

Kubozuka Yuiko is an animal lover. Unfortunately for her however, animals do not return those same sentiments and often flee from her. However, when her inhuman-looking classmate, Aoi Leo, transfers into her class, she feels curiosity instead of the fear her classmates felt. Her curiosity is heightened when he turns out to be a complete sweetheart; at least until both he and Yuiko are attacked and he goes into a rabid rage in order to protect her. Can Yuiko tame her new-found beast? Or will Leo give in to the same intuition that told all the other animals to run?

Beast Master’s greatest similarities to Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge reside within its characters and themes. Leo’s role as a scary-looking, inhuman character is greatly reminiscent of Sunako’s constant likening to Sadako the ghost. As a result of their physical appearances, both characters end up being a complete surprise personality-wise, sporting beautiful, sweet dispositions. Like Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge, Beast Master also sports a fair amount of romance, with the potential to blossom between Yuika and Leo.

Marui Hanabi is a girl heading into her first year of high school. Due to the fact that she hates boys more than anything else, she strives towards getting into an all-girls’ school – ANY all-girls’ school. However, the school she ends up attending is not only not an all-girls’ school, it is also made up of mostly boys! Finding herself trapped in the same halls as the one thing she hates the most, have Hanabi’s hopes for an awesome high school experience been completely ruined?

Koibana is similar to Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge in a multitude of ways, starting with the main character, Hanabi. Hanabi totally detests guys; Sunako from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge on the other hand does not; however, given her behaviour in the first few chapters of the series, the male characters were under the impression that she totally hated them. Like Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Koibana features the prospect of romance for the main character in a situation where her daily life will be completely overrun with guys.

Suzuki Hana has only two loves in this world: eating and sleeping. Hana has no real regard for boys, so even when a handsome classmate who has a major crush on her asks her to join the school hockey club, persuading her is near-impossible. Knowing all too well that the hockey club is full of cute guys, Hana still isn’t too impressed with the idea, at least until the field trips to fancy resorts are mentioned. Now with food on the brain, Hana has to manage her love for chowing down and catching z’s with the hard work and effort it takes to be an effective hockey player.

With striking similarity to Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Gokuraku Seishun Hockey Club is the final entry on this list. Featuring a somewhat disinterested main character and several attractive male characters surrounding her, it’s almost like the two manga were cut from the same… paper. In similar fashion, Seishun Hockey Club’s use of the harem surrounding Hana is similar to that which we’ve seen in Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge.