#so cute it hurts

[kidflashimpulse]

the first pic is so devastating if u think what saving barry meant to him 🥲 he loves his grandpa sm

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

Think I'm noticing a trend with my favorite series...

The series will probably include:

A competent well-written female character(s)

Well-written characters

A very interesting plot with some sort of hidden critique about the real world.

Usually a well-balanced mix of comedy and serious/sad stuff.

Bonus points if the character has an extremely strong special interest (Sleepy Princess, Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, So Cute it hurts, Hi Score Girl, In this corner of the world, Mayonaka Punch, Soaring Sky Precure).

I was gonna list all of em in the tags but like here's my MAL favs list ig

IDK why it's blurry but if you can identify these series despite their blurriness you are amazing.

Also I am totally biased but I 100% recommend all of these!

[peachyomega]

He is so boyfriend

[hobohobgoblim]

This could be us but y'all playin.

[sparkylurkdragon]

Miss Urist has achieved Cozy and will not be answering questions.

[noirgasmweetheart]

Not my GIF.

Found this on Pinterist. EDIT: And apparently it originates right here on Tumblr. Thank you @fyeahpeterlorre for this gem!

[youdonthavetocallmedarlinnn]

My bbs are literally so fucking beautiful.

[dailybrittanysnowpics]

[sspacetravelss]

So as a side hustle when I'm not nursing I'm petsitting and this guy I'm watching rn literally is so cute it's not real. Introducing... KEVIN

[i-collect-bunnies]

I love rabbits. I want to eat them. Not eating rabbit meat – eating the entire rabbit, including its aliveness. It's like cute aggression but more specific. Cute hunger? It's such a pity that you can't devour something without destroying it. I want to have rabbits inside of me.

[readtilyoudie]

So Cute it Hurts!! Vol 1

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

So basically the main couple of So Cute It Hurts? Right?

“I don’t want you to save me. I want you to stand by my side as I save myself.”

— Unknown

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

SHOJO RECS

I feel like shojo manga's bad rep is caused by the fact that the shojo manga that was getting adapted back in the early 2000s used a lot of the same tropes... even though there was PLENTY of INCREDIBLE shojo manga that didn't have these tropes. These manga were the ones that introduced me to shojo:

Shugo Chara (which has a LOT of problems but I loved it as a middle schooler it was my first shojo manga and my second manga ever first was Chi's Sweet Home).

Komomo Confiserie (probably had some issues but I'm nostalgia-blind to it so idk). An anime for this would've been cool!

Tokyo Mew Mew (INSPIRED MY ART STYLE SO MUCH OMG)

A Devil And Her Love Song (um... don't read this one unless you're... 16+ It's good but really dark and has a lot of triggering topics). I don't think anyone has the guts to adapt this though.

Kimi Ni Todoke (got an anime adaptation but I still would like to mention how good it is)

Meteor Prince (MY PFP it's a little weird but it's such a cute series Hako is one of the best shojo protagonists EVER I love her so much!) Short but really good, if it did get an anime I honestly would love some filler!

So Cute It Hurts! (AMAZING MANGA ONE OF MY FAVS OF ALL THE TIME! DEAF REPRESENTATION AND JSL BEFORE A SILENT VOICE DID IT! I love how most of the main cast learned JSL just because one of their friends was deaf. (For the main girl it was her crushes sister, for the main male character he learned because he was accidentally rude to her and wanted to apologize. BUT ON BOTH SIDES THAT SO CUTE OF THEM. Also ptsd rep. Megumu is another one of the BEST shojo girlies of all time. She did not "fix" him she just patiently waited for him to work out his trauma on his own and supported him through it LIKE A GIRLBOSS I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS MANGA FOR DECADES AND IT WOULD NEVER BE ENOUGH) THIS NEEDED AN ANIME SO BADLY IT WOULD'VE BEEN SO POPULAR GUYS. IT WOULD'VE BEEN A SHOJO ANIME CLASSIC!!!

Voice Over: Seiyu Academy. Don't remember too much from this but I remember really enjoying it and thinking the fact the anime about VOICE ACTING SCHOOL never got an ANIME WE WERE SO ROBBED GUYS.

Young Miss Holmes. Amazing manga. The characters the feminism the absolute girlbossery that goes down in this manga. Annemarie's "GO TO HELL" will always live rent-free in my mind. (Um some trigger warnings with this one too though I don't recall a lot.) I think if this got an anime adaptation announcement I would scream.

Now these were all the ones I read in middle school (Some may be flawed I haven't read them in awhile)

And here are some other great shojo recs for you all:

Fruits Basket (duh)

Honey So Sweet (remember when I said I was fine with problematic themes as long as the story ACKNOWLEDGES that they are bad and explores them rather than justifies them. This is what I'm talking about! And as someone who has read the whole manga NO SHE DOES NOT HAVE FEELINGS FOR HER UNCLE she just couldn't imagine loving someone else as much as she loves about her family (in a normal way) and got confused. I reread vol 1 and forgot that it had that whole subplot where she rejected a guy because of that HONEY SO SWEET IS SUCH A GOOD MANGA THO-) THIS NEEDS AN ANIME.

Perfect World. The manga that made me start thinking about wheelchair accessibility everywhere I go because one of the main characters works in creating wheelchair accessible places. Anyway this was an AMAZING read I LOVED IT. I love disability rep in shojo it's *usually* really good. THE FACT THIS HAS NO ANIME IS A CRIME.

A sign of Affection. Really cute manga with JSL rep! Have really enjoyed thus far!

Kodocha: Sana's Stage. Another manga that covers problematic topics with a lot of grace. Somehow manages to balance comedy and serious stuff perfectly. I LOVE KODOCHA SO MUCH OMG. Trigger warnings in this one too though. NEEDS A REBOOT PLZ

Honey Lemon Soda. Started reading this one recently. It's pretty good thus far.

Why am I not describing the premises? BECAUSE I'M TIRED. But also you should check them out for yourselves! :) :) :)

[hobohobgoblim]

[sparkylurkdragon]

In Urist Being A Good Girl news: she usually sleeps either against my belly or in the crook of my knees, but the other morning I woke up a couple of hours early with a sore back. As I lay there on my side trying to go back to sleep, I felt Urist walk across me to my back, flop against it, stretch herself out, and start purring.

It's always adorable when pets try to help and seem to know just the thing.

[sparkylurkdragon]