Hello, I'm looking for manga/manhwa with a dominant fl. Dominant as in she takes charge in the relationship or is the one who does the flirting. The ml can be submissive or at least not that assertive.

For example : Haesol and Yeonwoo from Yeonwoo's Innocence, Shikimori and Izumi from Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie

Preferrably nothing explicit, though a bit of spice can be accepted.

But, the assertive one must be the girl. All throughout. Not like the ones where she becomes more submissive after getting the guy.

Thank you ^^

This is literally my daily grind while trying to find manga to read because I like stuff exactly like this and it is HARD to come by. I'm gonna give you an overview of some titles (although not all of them are ever perfectly like this), but to be honest I'm mostly curious about others' answers because the dynamic not flipping is something so, so rare 🙁

Moral Sense is inarguably the best at this, helped by the fact that it's about a D/s (femdom) relationship. The thing is, if the manga has to decide between hot and lightness/funny, it will mostly go with funny 99% of the time. But it's amazingly written!! And if you would like some more "hotness", the movie adaptation provided plenty, although the ML there is not as sub in his attitude as the manwha (not all that much, just enough for you to roll your eyes and understand they wanted him to be more Male Lead-y).

Takane to Hana is another one that definitely doesn't drop the ball with Assertive and Dominant Female Lead. Hana is much younger and has more of a "cute" character design and she does get affected by love (i.e., there is some blushing), but she is without question the dominant one with the upper hand most of the time (but she is not the instigator of the romance, but she isn't shy either when it happens). Like Moral Sense, this one has a lot of comedy in it (especially because it deals with an age gap), but it has far more of the classical romantic shoujo moments (and Hana is the dom 99% of the time).

(worth noting that none of these two I mentioned follow the flirting process in a usual way, so it's not exactly that these FL do the flirting, but more that the structure of these romances is a bit different from the norm)

Onnanoko ga Daicha Dame desu ka? is again about femdom, but it's an established relationship. It's been a while since I checked it out, and I'm waiting for more chapters to pile up so I can get back into it, so I can't really attest to the whole journey. But it's a shame that since it's a couple's discovery and it's about their sexual relationship, it doesn't have the exact dynamic of flirting you seem to be after.

My Boss's Special Request it's a bit too soon to say with this one because I can't tell how she's gonna turn out when they're actually together, but so far it seems to stand to its premise. I think it's a bit bland, but I always take what I can get as a Dominant FL enjoyer.

Suenagaku Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu is not entirely Dominant FL because the author has been feeling the need more and more to make those doki-doki moments where the guy is "cool" 🙄 , and they aren't together yet for me to know how she'll be in the actual relationship, but she can usually hold her own and has more than a handful of Assertive moments (that honestly were pretty hot).

Kawaii Hito is pretty short and not all of it is scanlated yet, but it was pretty good with having the FL be more assertive and dominant (also has a very cute type crossdressing ML 😀). Unfortunately, very short.

Ookami to Koushinryou so, I can't actually attest for the entire story because I've been meaning to finish this in forever, but in the anime, Holo (the FL) can walk miles around Lawrence, especially being a very old deity-like mythological creature (the author really did not let down with making an ancient character actually feel ancient and act with more experience, unlike what happens in titles like Yofukashi no Uta and Vampeerz). Lawrence is not exactly submissive in his attitude, but he does put himself in a very submissive-like position of care and dare I say devotion and the romance instigation mostly comes from her teasing him. Mostly, they are equal partners, but if anyone has the upper hand, it's Holo (though she is a very complete character with her own fears and vulnerabilities. It's a very grown up story).

Happiness speaking of ancient creatures and their new underlings, this manga isn't actually romance and there is no flirting and no actual focus on Them, but they do end up together and even if she is more ancient creature than human, the boy who she turns into a vampire is definitely a sub type, so I thought I should mention.

Totem's Realm the relationship between the leads is more adult than a typical romance, but from what I've read (60 something chapters so far), the FL calls basically all the shots. Technically, it's an explicit title, but the option with more updates (taken from the English serialization) censors everything. So, they are sexually active but you don't see much of it.

Beast Master is a lovely example, but it's very short, so the flirting is pretty limited, especially because it's mostly about their bond and unconditional love between them than romantic tension per see.

Ano Hito no I ni wa Boku ga Tarinai the individual moments between them are good, but it's not a story as focused on their dynamic as I would like, it's more like a shounen romance vibe.

Don't Cry, Girl it's more that he is sub than she is dom, but she is pretty headstrong and, again, their relationship is not typical and it's a pretty short manga.

Ikemen Joshi to Josou Danshi around a 100 very short chapters, this manga does a great job with a girl who takes the lead, but it's pretty direct with the romance. Still, I think the moments between them are worth it.

Miageru to Kimi wa definitely isn't as romantic as it could have been and while the girl is definitely the cool type and the boy is the sub cute type, it manages to not have any dominant part in the relationship at all overall.

Ojou-sama ga Mamorasete Kurenai again, pretty cool and prince-like FL, but doesn't do all that much on the romance front. still was a nice read.

Palace Meidi this story is like an east asian courtly love. very big and well done on the premise of the longing of a servant towards a monarch (emperor, more like) and the tentative bond that comes between them, but the actual romance was pretty direct.

Pashiri na Boku to Koi suru Banchou-san kinda ambivalent about recommending this. more like a shounen-type romance where, unfortunately, the author wanted to create a "gap moe" in the girl between her being a delinquent leader but clueless at love. She is pretty forceful, though, but I wouldn't say it's exactly in a cool way.

Saruyama! I don't think she actually takes the lead in their romantic interactions, but the boy is definitely not "cool" about it either, the cool and strong one is definitely her.. this is a pretty different kind of shoujo romance, it's the protagonist of a shoujo manga (the cool girl who is supposed to be melted by love and become a blushing mess with your typical even cooler guy-type) and the protagonist of a classic type-shounen protagonist (energetic underdog boy) get together.

Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san you of course must have heard of this one, but for the sake of being thorough I decided to mention. I haven't gotten to the part where an actual relationship happens between them (if it got to that point yet), but the premise of the manga basically involves being in some kind of S/M acquaintance with a girl from school lmao. But unfortunately, not the romance kind you must be after.

Hachigatsu Kokonoka Boku wa Kimi ni Kuwareru. this is a monster horror manga and the monster is the FL so this is not at all romantic and wholesome, but there is attraction between them (especially from her end), but in a horror manga kinda way. She is definitely the dominant one, but beware, she is a crazy eldritch beast lmao

Kimi wa Pet to my shame, I haven't actually gotten to at least half of this (it's really really good, but I was busy and put down for a while and now it's been like a year haha), so I can't attest to how she behaves when the actual romance happens, but their relationship is very much pet/master (their own choice), and she is very strong and no-nonsense, although with her vulnerabilities like any human being. Another very adult story.

Minus Ondo no Serenade there's only like 3 chapters scanlated and translated of this one so I don't know how it ends :'( but it was rlly good on the cool dom-type FL and cuter sub-type ML (much younger though, so it's a slow romance from what I've gathered). I'm just mentioning bc I miss it, I guess and I wish I had the whole thing to read.

Anata ga Amaku Nedaru made is pretty explicit, so I left it for the end, but I thought it was worth mentioning it. More focused on their sexual dynamic than romantic dynamic.

Lady & Maid just a horny little series with no actual romance, but a true Dom girl (also a lot of guys in maid outfits). Explicit.

Aida Ni Hatachi another kinda explicit one that doesn't exactly have flirting, the relationship progress in a atypical way (not a shoujo manga at all) and the focus is on the guy. The woman is pretty Dom, though, so worth mentioning.

Aki-Sora I don't know how you feel about incest, but the sister is definitely the dominant one. Again, not a typical romance and pretty explicit.

Kanojo wa Sore o Gaman Dekinai a very VERY weird manga from someone who clearly had an awakening after reading Aku no Hana but doesn't have the chops to go too deep with it. I still had fun and spoke directly to the freak in me, but it's definitely weird and bad on consent.

One thing you can notice about all these titles is that basically none of them are a typically structured love story with the recognizable banter/falling in love beats (maybe with the exception of Takane to Hana) and I think that is a very bad thing. No straight romance manga bets on the Female Lead being the admired/cool/elevated one in a way that is not prudish/sex-negative (if she is cool, she's always a klutz at romance and acts like a "typical girl" when it happens, all blushing and unprepared) and in a way that invites the audience to fall in love with her like they would with a ML. On one hand, I get it, these stories are for girls who are attracted to men, and they want to see their weaknesses reflected in a refreshing way in the girl and an idealized guy who has the exact right mixture of the cool type of vulnerability (he can appear to be whipped for her, but he still needs to kabedon. It's why we can have a handful of titles where the guy is sub, but almost never the girl is Dom to match). But I wish we had more diverse intents, something not only for the girls, but for the rest of us who also like romance manga and wish to see the girl doing more than just having it done to her.

This is my thing too and I can tell you that, while unfortunately it's still being translated, Seishun no Hekireki is *really* giving me exactly what I want