Moka is excited to see her little brother return to Japan from living in New York City with their father. While preparing for his return, Moka decides to go to the library to get some material on a new artist that she likes. At the library, Moka meets Masato who also likes the same artwork. They hit it off, but quickly, Masato turns Moka down. Licking her wounds, Moka throws herself into bonding with her little brother and then suddenly, Masato says he’s changed his mind?!

Datte Suki Nan Damon is a rather entertaining shoujo manga about school love and the difficulties one can face, especially when choosing to be friends with the boy of your dreams. The relationship between Moka and Masato is rather complicated with Masato being a bit of a strange person when it comes to what attracts him to certain women. They have a difficult time with their friendship as Masato doesn’t know how to really respect Moka and her feelings. For those who have ever been in an unrequited love, you might just be able to understand Moka most of all.

Life as a mangaka is hard with little time for a personal life as Sakura knows only too much. Unfortunately, she is coerced into attending a goukon (Group Date) where a rather obnoxious doctor gets on her nerves. Yet somehow, they end up dating? What exactly will come from dating such a difficult man?

Everyone has dreamed of marrying a doctor and living an easy life, right? Well, Sakura is about to find out that it’s not quite so easy, especially with a doctor who is rather rude, but what do you do when everyone wants you to be in a relationship and work gets in the way? You date someone who has the same problem, of course. We get to explore this dynamic with two people who may or may not want a real relationship but have a lot going on in their lives. It follows a rather realistic dynamic, the way josei does, and is one of Yoshizumi Wataru’s first ventures into the josei genre. Why not check out this manga when you get a chance?

Hagiwara Mio is an up and coming Japanese celebrity whose only motivation is her neighbor and secret crush, Morimoto Teruomi, who is also an actor. Unfortunately for Mio, her best friend and pop singer, Sawaki Aya, catches Teruomi’s eye instead. When Mio is consoled by the great director, Kumagai Ichiya, Mio finds herself with a new love and yet, Ichiya doesn’t seem to want a relationship with Mio either.

Handsome Girlfriend has to be a shoujo classic and for good reason. Mio is just a girl pursuing her dreams and her love, but what happens when everything seems to be going wrong? The dynamics between the characters are great and the plot is really well developed. All the same, nothing is too far fetched compared to some shoujo plots. However, it’s watching Mio grow and find true love as well as her own ambitions that makes Handsome Girlfriend such a great read.

Maria and Noel are twins who are always together. Maria chooses to go to Morinomiya School after having fallen for the basketball coach so Noel follows her to the same school. However, it’s an all girls school so in order for Noel to join, he’s going to have to dress up as a girl. Life gets just a bit more complicated when Noel finds himself falling for a classmate named Miyu while another classmate is also after him.

Mint na Bokura is another Yoshizumi Wataru classic and one of her earlier, most well-known works. Following a gender bender story, it already has a tricky start but add in all of those relationships and it just gets out of hand. Yoshizumi Wataru does a great job with Noel’s character and really developing it as he evolves from a sister obsessed boy to someone more independent. You can really start to like Noel as he develops and root for him in his life as he finds his identity outside of being Maria’s twin. As a gender bender, this may not be that different, but it’s still special because of the characters that Yoshizumi Wataru brings to life.

Sakura Nina has been training to be a witch and is now spending her time studying on Earth to fix her grades. Tateishi Ayu comes across a PC and returns it to Nina without knowing its true purpose. Suddenly, Nina decides that she wants to share her secret with Ayu and that solidifies their friendship in all things in love and life.

Ultra Maniac is a popular series by Yoshizumi Wataru and has been adapted into an anime. Yet, don’t let the anime deter you from reading the manga as the experience is much different. This is an anime about magic and fantasy involving two girls who really find the true meaning of friendship despite their differences. The romance in this manga is rather sweet and Ultra Maniac is very light hearted despite the small twists and bouts of drama it does contain. On top of that, it’s not as magical girl-y as the anime, which makes it a lot more fun to read than it was to watch on screen. While not overly complex, Ultra Maniac is a great starter manga for many and a wonderful manga by Yoshizumi Wataru.

Koishikawa Miki thought her family was normal until one day, after returning from a trip, they decide to divorce and switch partners with another married couple. Suddenly, Miki finds herself living with four parents and a new stepbrother, Yuu, who is good looking but rather cheeky. Along with the strangeness of her family situation, Miki is going to have to grow up if she’s going to have to cope with difficulties with her friends and Ginta, a boy she has liked for a long time.

It should be more than evident that Yoshizumi Wataru’s #1 manga is Marmalade Boy, which has also been adapted into a rather long shoujo anime back in an era when shoujo manga were more complex and developed. The character development in this manga is superb with many of the characters being hashed out well compared to many of other Yoshizumi Wataru’s manga. The side characters have real personalities and pasts, while the main characters have their own complexities. The relationships Miki has with her family and the other men in her life each have their own intricacies that makes for a good read, as well. Then there’s Yuu, the boy who seems rather cool and collected, but may have a few things he’s hiding under his belt (metaphorically speaking, of course). Marmalade Boy is a wonderful shoujo manga with a rather peculiar premise but beneath that, there are many different complex stories just waiting to be unhashed.