Quote from brid

I think the reason why it's so difficult to come up with titles for this is becauses in all shoujo, the girls MUST end up with guys of some type of higher status than them (in wealth, intelligence, popularity, fame, etc.), because we all know that what all women want is to marry up since it's unrealistic for them to have their own personal and professional goals outside of landing a man. I think that's why butler mangas can be the exception to the "no poor boys" rule, since the girls in those mangas are shown as being utterly spoiled and useless as a result (so they're still very much dependent on their men, who as butlers, pretty much run their lives). 🙁

[Sorry for the rant. I needed to get that out of my system!]

I want to nail that statement at "sexist", utterly so .. so much that despite liking shoujos so much, I have a seething dislike for most contemporary mangas . I know butler mangas are pretty not quite the topic. It would be exceedingly rare to see the topic type in shoujo mangas- one of my male friends told me to my surprise that "many women are feminists but its all a ruse 'cause these women would not be able to survive without the touch of men. if they can, then they are gay" I would love to disagree but some part of his early statement was so true (I experienced that in countless female friends!!) that I had to swallow my words. shoujo mangas definitely lack the modern strong woman/girl thing completely. Emptiness in life coz there are no men/boyfriends is what most project so this topic can stroke the female ego provided the woman isnt spoilt.... which unfortunately is shown in 99.99% of the cases wherever they can squeeze in a rich girl for a change...

u know, u could try kodocha, boy isnt exactly poor but girl is a celebrity. Now this is a manga where the girl is clearly more talented than the guy not to mention richer though the guy isnt poorer. This is one of the rare ones out there...there is a poor boy only manga ..Yamada Tarou Monogatari - not romantic but hilarious...

[img]http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd199/vivharv/Gokusen-1.jpg[/img]

I'm sure I've seen some of this in urban fantasy shoujo where the rich heroine is lonely and bored and then a supernatural guy appears and adventure begins... but dammit the only one I can remember now is Shinobi Life which has already been mentioned. But maybe it will spark someone else's memory.