I'm kind of tired of the trope where the female love interest is all shy and blushing and embarrassed all the time. But I'm also not looking for the shonen trope of shy, nerdy guy + overly aggressive female. I'd like to avoid that entire trope of one aggressive partner + one shy partner (because it basically comes off all coercive and dub con-y to me and just nope).

So a female lead that acknowledges she's attracted to a person and does something about it without spending 10 years blushing over it, and the person (male or female) is mutually into the female lead. But I'm also not looking for Kimi ni Todoke slow, shy mutuals. More Horimiya, I guess. I just finished Reimei no Arcana which wasn't too bad on the on the blushing or aggression.

I started 14-sai no Koi the other day, which is adorable and sweet and I'd totally be down for more like that (it's on the innocent side but not annoyingly so).

I think what I'm looking for though is a female lead who just like, idk, notices so and so has pretty hands or whatever, not quite on the objectification level of Gou from Free! but similar?

Edit: Just realized you're already reading it, derp. But I'll keep my post up for anyone else who might be looking for similar recs. x'D -needs to start checking people's lists -

The romance I've been really into lately in UnTouchable (Massstar), a more realistic romance than your typical shoujo fare about a vampire (who feeds by touching rather than drinking blood) hunting a particularly delicious human male (who happens to be extremely mysophobic and thus is off the table for touching). I definitely recommend it if you're into romances with a more dominant female lead as opposed to the traditional male-is-the-dominant-partner thing. A few things of note: the characters do take awhile to realize they actually like each other (him first), though not to absurd lengths; there's some objectification as comedy (she sees him as food initially and even refers to him as "chicken" behind his back); and there's a bit of that annoying k-drama love triangle syndrome (though it's much more mild than most examples). But, the female lead definitely isn't blushy-blushy (the male lead is more so than her), she knows what she wants and goes for it, and once she's over the denial (of liking a human, which is highly taboo, rather than just anyone), she's pretty open with her feelings. As for the male lead, he's shy and a bit distant but also comes to recognize his feelings in due time and without unnecessary drama. The female lead DOES fetishize his body to an extent, though I would say that it's justified within the story since she's literally feeding off him like he's food -- and looking at him like that, too. The author also does a really great job of presenting the story as sexy and seductive without coming across as cheap or trashy, and I'd say overall, it's a pretty positive portrayal of female sexuality.

Honestly, I'm not too into romance in general because, like you pointed out, it DOES tend to be ridiculously idealized, but I've found myself really enjoying this more mature and realistic look at a romantic relationship (and this is in spite of it being about a vampire! xD). So I definitely recommend giving it a shot!

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"Now, everything is... just..."

writer | librarian | critic

Looked through my lists for some stuff, because yes I can totally agree that this 'aggression' is strangely common in manga's and yet so very unrealistic. Sometimes a good sweet romance is all you need!

Kingyo Sou
Sarashi Asobi
Dengeki Daisy
My Hero!
Nineteen, Twenty-One
Taiyou no Ie
Nijiiro Days (MIZUNO Minami)
Natsuzora and Run

Oneshots:
Haru Niwa

I just spend the entire night reading Taiyou no Ie and it was pretty much exactly want I wanted!! Thank you! It had it's fair share of shoujo cliches and love polygons but none of it felt stale to me. And apparently I have a thing for characters who aren't afraid to casually touch one another, so that was great.

try bonnouji

I read that one actually, it's one of the series that prompted this post to be honest. I was trying to find similar mangas and just going through the search and category options wasn't helping. Thanks though!

Akagami No Shirayukihime. Also has an anime that started this summer.

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Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai
Saruyama!
Natsu no Zenjitsu
Gozen 3-ji no Muhouchitai
Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi
Love Catalog

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Check out my ~~

Beauty is The Beast
Pink no Idenshi a collection of short stories with assertive female leads, contain sequel of Kiss Me Baby too, very funny.
Darling wa Namamono ni Tsuki
Pellua Iyagi
They Too Love
Kiss, the relationship was not really a fave of mine but fit your criteria I guess?
The Kidnapping of Minja Jo's Boyfriend
Nodame Cantabile
Li Ren Man
Mademoiselle Butterfly
Power!! VERY FUNNY, and pretty much female leads from this author are pretty...shameless? Not to the point of obnoxious though.
Wild Act

Last edited by bossmama at 9:14 am, Aug 9 2015

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DONDAKEE!!