Hi all,

I'm looking for a shoujo or josei manga with a smart/intelligent female lead, but a less booksmart male lead.

The first req isn't too hard, but I'm also looking for one where the male lead isn't also smart. No academic rivals, or Slacker Genii.

Please no recs that feature a smart female lead with a male lead who slacks off, but could be #1 and outperform her if he just tried. No secret genius male leads, PLEASE.

It'd be a huge bonus if he were also a Kind Male Lead and/or a Blushing Male Lead, though.

Every time I find a story where the shoujo or josei lead is Smart, the male lead always has to be smarter somehow. It's frustrating.

Not necessarily looking for a Stupid Male Lead, but wouldn't mind one either.

Horimiya is one of my faves, btw, & the only one I can think of off the top of my head with this kind of pairing.

Thanks in advance for all suggestions!!

Last edited by ohkimch at 6:31 am, Nov 22 2017

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90s child waiting for last chapters of Glass Mask to be scanlated.

Warau Kanoko-sama is what popped into my head the moment I read your description but I don't recollect if it fits your requirements exactly.

A few other titles would be:
Horimiya
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

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Hobbies include impersonating fictional characters and sucking on ketchup packets.

Last Game
Okoborehime to Entaku no Kishi
Koi da no Ai da no
Akuma to Love Song
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou
Ciel - The Last Autumn Story

Useful tag for you: Smart Female Lead

Useful old post regarding Smart Female leads: CLICK HERE

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Palace Meidi
Online - The Comic
Takane no Hana Nara Ochitekoi!!
The Duke of Death and his Black Maid
Chang Ge Xing


The content in these two are kind of... out there, but they have intelligent female leads so I thought Id rec them anyway LOL
The Sensual M
S Watari-san to M Mura-kun

These all have interesting/smart female leads, but the male tends to be smart too, even if not in a bookworm sense.

Skip Beat!: world-famous manga about acting.

Takane to Hana: a rich, arrogant guy falls for an impertinent high school girl.

3D Kanojo: a beautiful, "easy" girl falls for an otaku.

Akuma to Love Song: about a mysterious girl.

Bambi to Dhole: an orphan and a teenage dad.

Bameur Geonneun Seonbi: set in ancient Korea, a genderbended bookseller and a vampire.

Back to the Highteen (webtoon) - The female lead continues to tutor the male lead in school (even at the end).

The Prince's Cactus - The female lead is smarter than the male lead (in my opinion). At the end I was wondering what she ends up seeing in him.

Seconding Chang Ge Xing and Palace Meidi (both historical). The male leads have their own strengths, but continue to respect the female lead's intellectual abilities.

Koi da no Ai da no (and by extension, Warau Kanoko-sama) & Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun both have smart female leads, but do have the trope where the male lead is lazy but can still do better in school than the female lead. They are both enjoyable (and the female leads are great).

Psychopass

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I love martial arts, especially grappling.

Idk how you feel about WEBTOON but The Office Lady and Her Butler would be a great one for you. I struggle to find series that have actual strong female leads and this is one of my faves