Hmm.. in most shoujo I've read, the guy is older or the same age. There's only a few I've read where the guy is younger (usually by a year) but the only one I can think of right now is Akuma de Sourou. But there are more where the guy is older - in every manga with a student-teacher relationship obviously.

There's only one manga that has bothered me with the age difference:
Full Moon wo Sagashite

There were older woman/young man couples in the shoujos I've read (haha even less than your sample--> 5) but never as the main characters. In Beauty Pop, they makeover a school nurse in preparation for her wedding with a former student. There are probably teacher-student mangas featuring the rare older woman/young guy couple but they're probably not shojo.. hahahaheheh heh.

Ah-ha, I was going to say, I don't think I've ever read a shoujo series in which the guy was younger than the girl...but I don't really read one-shots either. Most of the time, it seems like the guy is the same age or older than the girl.

Then again, when looking for goodies to read I may have been filtering out series involving younger guy/older girl relationships because I don't really find that kind of pairing attractive. For whatever reason, I prefer the guy to the same age or older. And taller, too. Wow, I'm picky. And I've got not cred. Yeah, that was the point of this last bit. *cough* NEXT POST!

Meh, I prefer the guys to be older if the mangka insists on making them look about thirty.
I hate it when the guys look atleast twenty and then next chapter they're all like: "No, I'm only sixteen! I'm still in school, even though I get into clubs and have my own apartment!"

I'd rather the girl dated someone a few years older than her. When I was about sixteen some of my boyfriends were 18/19. It's not a big deal.

Maybe it's because of the one-year difference that readers find exciting. When you think about it, one-year isn't really that much of a difference, but I guess it all depends on the characters and where the story is going.

An example would be a high school female student attracted to a boy in middle school who is a grade below her?

Cliche, yes, but it was the closest example I could grasp.

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*__* I'll have what she's having... please~♥

you have to realize that manga can't be bothered for the girl to meet someone that's not in: The same apartment complex/neighborhood, School, or job.

There's a bit of truth to that in that you have to actually meet a person to know them. But there's rarely dates and they rarely deal with someone that the girl meets just out(wherever).

That's why the teacher thing is used. Its mostly to have someone older that's still in high school. The 3 years of high school are why the characters are usually just a year apart. Especially since the third year is sometimes treated as not existing since their studying for exams.

Anyway I'd say only about a 1/4 are about a younger guy. and 50/50 split between older and same age(even just a year). Course, when people say same age, they just mean same year. No one is ever really the same age but that rarely matters.

the only shoujo mangas i love and only read are in high school, so what i've seen so far is guy older than the girl by one year perhaps, and in another manga the guy was younger than the girl by one year Koukou Debut freshman/second year etc..well, i really dont pay attention to those small details unless it comes into view by the manga=D

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shuuu~

in the shoujos i read most of the time if the male is older -the girl could feel more protected ..n same age- have more in common, same grade/or maybe class

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never fr0wn cause you never know whos in love with your sm e
Your mind is like a parachute it works best when its open

i only stumble upon a shoujo manga where the woman is older once in a while, and it's funny because when i read manga where the girl is older, she is much older than the guy.
like:
Forest of Gray City--the girl is older by seven years..
Beautiful Seduction is Better Than Love--the woman is a teacher, guy is student..
The Prince's Cactus--his step-aunty,i believe?
or that one story in Koi-Moyou--woman=teacher, guy=student.
but as you can see, i've only listed a few even through the hundreds of shoujos i've read..
i think it's quite rare to come across manga in a row with that kind of plot where the guy is younger [i've come across these mangas separately by weeks..].
that's quite interesting to read at least half where the guy is younger,Doc.

I noticed this too. I dont really mind it. Sometimes a change could be interesting though.

I've read a few that have a older girl/younger guy couple:
- Itadakimasu smut..but its not like it lacks a story.
- Yoru Made Matenai says smut but from what I read I didnt see much.
-Dear Mine

For the last two the guys are really, really young. I should find it creepy. For those particular two I didnt. Come to think of it in the cases where the guy is the younger one usually he doesnt really act it.