Natsume Yuujinchou/Natsume's Book of Friends. It is a series that is basically a bunch of awesome things -- spirits, slice-of-life, mysterious creepy-but-very-human villain dude, slowly growing friendships, and the main character learning how to actually get close to people. (He isn't a jerk at all, I swear. He's nice! Too nice, even!) And there is basically nothing unlikeable about it. It's possibly my favourite manga. ♥
Land of the Blindfolded! It looks at the beginning like it's going to be tiresome supernatural-ish melodrama, but it's actually about a bunch of high-schoolers just hanging out and being friends. (You may sense a bit of a theme amongst my recommendations.) Very sweet: you may have a sensation of phantom hugs while reading. Totally fluff, but quite good fluff.
Anata to Scandal. I started it on the promise of LESBIANS IN SHOUJO MANGA, YES YES YES, and while it has only kind of delivered on that (there are far too many scenes of the main character and her Childhood Friend Guy that are very stereotypical romance-y type scenes) it's a fun series. The later chapters actually start to go over things to do with their band and music, and Main Character Girl is going <3 <3 <3 at Princely Lead Singer Girl again. (Plus, only twelve chapters have been translated, so it's not too long.)
Teppen! is about a girl who goes to Japan to search for her brother. All she knows about him is that a) he's older than her, b) he has a great big burn scar, and c) he's in the Japanese entertainment business. Naturally, she ends up as part of a hot male idol duo with her new roommate, who just happens to have a Mysterious Burn Scar. Which she doesn't see until after they've already kissed. Fun melodrama.
Ame Nochi Hare/Clear Up After Rain may or may not be shoujo, but I'm recommending it because of the excellent way the gender issues are dealt with. A bunch of high-school guys mysteriously begin to turn into girls whenever it rains, and although all their prejudices and such are still intact they deal with their own sudden genital-changes in a pretty natural way -- no loud screams, no passing out, no 'omg must grope self' (although one of them does not object to taking a nice long bath that evening). Their chief thoughts are "mustn't get caught on the boys' side of the school right now" and "I hope this isn't permanent." It's kind of a quiet manga, and very nice.
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Natsume Yuujinchou/Natsume's Book of Friends. It is a series that is basically a bunch of awesome things -- spirits, slice-of-life, mysterious creepy-but-very-human villain dude, slowly growing friendships, and the main character learning how to actually get close to people. (He isn't a jerk at all, I swear. He's nice! Too nice, even!) And there is basically nothing unlikeable about it. It's possibly my favourite manga. ♥
Land of the Blindfolded! It looks at the beginning like it's going to be tiresome supernatural-ish melodrama, but it's actually about a bunch of high-schoolers just hanging out and being friends. (You may sense a bit of a theme amongst my recommendations.) Very sweet: you may have a sensation of phantom hugs while reading. Totally fluff, but quite good fluff.
Anata to Scandal. I started it on the promise of LESBIANS IN SHOUJO MANGA, YES YES YES, and while it has only kind of delivered on that (there are far too many scenes of the main character and her Childhood Friend Guy that are very stereotypical romance-y type scenes) it's a fun series. The later chapters actually start to go over things to do with their band and music, and Main Character Girl is going <3 <3 <3 at Princely Lead Singer Girl again. (Plus, only twelve chapters have been translated, so it's not too long.)
Teppen! is about a girl who goes to Japan to search for her brother. All she knows about him is that a) he's older than her, b) he has a great big burn scar, and c) he's in the Japanese entertainment business. Naturally, she ends up as part of a hot male idol duo with her new roommate, who just happens to have a Mysterious Burn Scar. Which she doesn't see until after they've already kissed. Fun melodrama.
Ame Nochi Hare/Clear Up After Rain may or may not be shoujo, but I'm recommending it because of the excellent way the gender issues are dealt with. A bunch of high-school guys mysteriously begin to turn into girls whenever it rains, and although all their prejudices and such are still intact they deal with their own sudden genital-changes in a pretty natural way -- no loud screams, no passing out, no 'omg must grope self' (although one of them does not object to taking a nice long bath that evening). Their chief thoughts are "mustn't get caught on the boys' side of the school right now" and "I hope this isn't permanent." It's kind of a quiet manga, and very nice.