I'd like to read some manga that includes strong friendships between girls. I'm really bored of all the shoujo/josei manga that just use female characters as love rivals (whether or not their supposed to be the MCs friend) or bullies because they're jealous of the MC for some reason. It's like heroines aren't able to have healthy friendships with other girls, because the role of friends or classmates in shoujo manga is to serve as obstacles to the MC achieving love, happiness, confidence, etc (reading Life totally traumatised me LOL).

So what I'm looking for is:
- shoujo / josei
- female friendships shown in a positive light
- little or no romance (if there is romance, I don't want any love rivals or massive obstacles for the couple to overcome so that they can be together... impossible to ask of shoujo?)

I don't mind if the MC has competition/rivals in other senses, like a rival in sports or careers, but I'd really like the rival to have more depth and character than just the usual cut-and-paste "baddie" who immediately takes a disliking to the completely innocent heroine for no reason.

I just want more depth to the stories rather than the melodrama and cloying sentimentality that's so prolific in women's comics, so I really don't want the generic shoujo-esque "Omigosh, he's so handsome, I'm totally in love! *bluuuuush*", "Omigosh I can't believe he likes me! *bluuuuush*". The equally annoying josei staples "Oh no, I'm too old/fat! I have to go on a diet / get a makeover and then my life will be perfect!" and desperation to get married is equally nauseating.

If anyone can think of a school life manga that fits these parameters, that would be awesome (although it seems unlikely... /cynicism), but other than that, I'm not particulary fussed about the genre, so fantasy, sci-fi, historical, sports, etc are all welcome. ;D

No shounen, seinen, ecchi, smut, shoujo-ai/ yuri, tragedy.

Thank you!

________________

Hmm How About ARISA??
The Main Girl Is Strong And Want To Help Her Twin Sister..
I Don't Know What Will You Think..
Sorry If You Hate It, I Just Suggest

Maybe Himitsu no Kaidan?
It haven't read it yet (it is on my plan to read list) but the description sounds like it would fit.

Warau Kanoko-sama and the sequel Koi dano Ai dano

The only one I can think of it's Hachimitsu to Clover. More than being about female friendship I guess it's about friendship in general. There's some romance but it's not annoying xD The characters are a group of university students.
Oh! And Fruits Basket if you haven't read yet (and if you're ok with the supernatural xD) . Tohru has a strong friendship with two other girls

Last edited by fracchan at 6:07 am, Jan 27 2012

candy candy: between candy and patty and (later) annie
onnanoko wa yoyuu!: school life and minimal romance
Perhaps eensy weensy monster
and definitely honey and clover
All of these has romance but I'd say at a small dose

Tomodachi no Hanashi
There's only one chapter out, but I think it fits the description.

Thanks for all the suggestions!


I read the chapter and it was wonderful! ;A; <333
I can't wait until the rest is translated. >0<

________________

How about Koi Dano Ai Dano?

There's a romance part, but the protagonist is so... uhm... touched by her best friend. the best friend is a girl too xD But the best friend character seems to be just a side character. but she's always mentioned by the protagonist.

Cotton it's pretty much a manga on platonic love between two girls. Doesn't take place at school sorry

The most disturbing thing is that I don't remember reading any sort of manga where there are strong female friendships. In all that I can recall, the friends are either rivals or are a supporting character that doesn't have much screentime in the manga. An exception would be Kimi ni Todoke, a manga which has a slow romance but also has a positive female friendship that is given significant amount of attention in the manga. But I think you're looking for the girl friendship version of Kimi to Boku, where the friendship is the main focus, right?

If you are interesting in dramas too, I'll recommend:

The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry
As you can probably judge by the title, it does contain a lot of romance. Yet if you exclude that part of your request, everything else fits. The drama focuses on the lives of three women who are friends--real friends who support each other and go through hilariously embarrassing situations. Overall, it's light-hearted drama that is great for when you need cheering up.

Miho to Yuko is a bit mature but mainly about the two close friends.

7 Seeds is very good at this - there's at least four different cases of strong female friendship (the cast is absolutely huge). Some of the relationships take time to develop though. Also there is some romance but it never gets in the way.

You can try Dream Star Idol Project. It's a manhua, not manga but it has few romance (at the moment), the girls are rivals and friends at the same time, and the author is not so focus on the MCs that he forgot to develop other girls. There are a few that hate the MCs at first sight though. Although the plot is quite plain, it can still be quite fun to read. Sorry for bad English.