What are the shoujo/josei that you originally were not interested (because of over hype, seemed cliche, or just simply wasn't your type, etc) that you gave a chance to and unexpectedly loved?

For me it was Cat Street. I usually any manga involved with entertainment industry and the premise seemed too hokey for my taste. But it was so much better than I thought it would be and I am so glad I read it.

Definitely Gokusen. I read the first chapter, got turned off by the amateurish-looking panelling, and abandoned it for awhile. I eventually tried again, loved it and now it's one of my favourites.

Secondly, maybe Hana Yori Dango - as a rule I'm annoyed by the gang of hot popular guys cliché (especially when their name is something as exceedingly lame as the 'flowery four'), but the story turned out to have a surprising amount of depth. Considering that it's the best-selling shoujo manga in history though, I wasn't too surprised that I ended up liking it.

Haha same. I saw that post and immediately thought of Cat Street. Six Half gives the same vibe as well.

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Akuma de Sourou The step sibling thing I am usually iffy on but this was well done and the art significantly improves.

Fruits Basket - I was sure it would be too cute for my tastes, so I avoided watching. But I kept hearing how good it was and decided to watch it for myself, and I loved it. This is actually the show that got me into manga, because I wanted to see "what happens next."

I really liked Cat Street. But the serendipitous find was Skip Beat. I surprised myself when I found I liked it.

Shoujo: Hajimari no Niina no expectations in this because of the reincarnation and huge age gap. I really couldn't imagine a 10 year old girl can fall for a guy twice her age. But it turns out great with many aspects I never would have expected.

Josei: Dokuhime I'm neither a fan of lolita nor goth style. But the art was really stunning, I loved it . Perfect background for the tragic plot.

I'm a bit shocked when I realize I like this series even though at the beginning I don't want to read it (usually because I don't really feel like I want to read it)
\[o ^ O ^ o]/

* Jinco from Room 203 - a recommendation from my friends. I usually avoid mysteries or horror, but because my friends lend me this manga, I read it. Now this is one of the manga I love the most and I even collect it as well! ^^ I wonder why I like this so much? //brickd

* 3 am Dangerous Zone - Reading from the synopsis, I don't really give any interest with this manga. Perhaps because I want to see what kind of style that Nemu sensei draw (which is pop-art style) that makes me read this. Well... I'm glad I read it! It's cute and simple story with deep feeling at the some point!



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NODAME CANTABILE! I don't like the artwork, it's not detailed. That's what i thought at first. I attempted to read the first chapter several times but I really wasn't interested. One day i was really bored, and then continued reading it. I didn't notice i was already too hooked. I was really happy i read it!

Um possibly the 7Seeds manga. The sci-fi post apolitical world thew me off and I really only checked it out because I was so in love with the mangaka's other work, Basara, and most other shoujo/josei manga after completing that one felt shallow. 7Seeds jumped between characters and teams a lot but I surprised myself how much I ended up caring about them and how engrossed I got with it. There's a lot of character development as well.Have to say I ended up loving 7Seeds as much or even more.

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Definitely BASARA. Never knew this manga is so good.
And of course, my top Josei manga. Honey and Clover (the anime one was gold). Still on my top 10

Hmmm, of the top of my head, definitely Shugo Chara!, Peach Girl, and Gakuen Alice. Most of those are pretty kiddy, yet surprisingly good.

For me, I think the ones I liked were Ao Haru Ride, Tsubasa to Hotaru, and Love So Life. I tend to stay away from shoujo at times because the protagonist annoys me most of the time, but somehow in Tsubasa to Hotaru the main girl grew on me even though I hated her guts at first. So now I love her lol.

Kimi ni Todoke Kept seeing it, but I read the summaries and found it to be cliche, but I got the first volume as a price and read it and Sawako was totally not the protagonist I was expecting.

Last Game. I felt prejudiced against guy and girl rival/childhood friend plots, but this one surprised me. The characters were so lovable and it was the few manga where I consistently rooted only for the main couple.