I may or may not be in my mid 20s. Is that too old for shoujo manga? My husband thinks I'm too old to read high school romance.

I'm just wondering what your opinion is. I probably won't stop either way

Lol, i dont think you're ever too old to read anything that makes you happy. But, I think the term "too old" is more for a change in taste. I've been reading shoujo for like half a decade. Still, reading, but now adays I've been reading more seinen and josei. The other day I was going through my list of completed, and I wondered how in the world I was able to get through reading some of those mangas. LOL My tolerance for crazy was really high when I was a daydreaming little kid.

Last edited by F_J at 1:32 am, Feb 7 2023

Yep basically what F_J said you are never too old to do something you enjoy.
Or to quote a colleague of mine : "I'm serious at work, I'm serious at home with my family, so in my free time I'll play as many games and watch as many cartoons as I like."

I'm also in my 20s and I'm reading/watching stuff from really serious to completely silly - you're never "too old" for anything, as long as you're having fun doing it ^^
But I must say, it's a litte bit more complicated with shoujo manga. You can't really say "I'm too old to read high school romance" because it all depends on how the said romance is depicted. Things like, let's say, Fruits Basket, could also be considered a "high school romances", but I think there's much more to it than that. Or when you're reading a comedy, it's pretty much the same as watching any romantic comedy movie.
Though I can't deny, that when it comes to the cliche shoujo, when I was in Middle/High School, I was definitely much more tolerant of the overwhelming drama and MCs crying every single page, but now I grew up and I absolutely can't stand weak heroines and needless conflicts. However! From time to time I still find something cute to read from this genre. So I won't exactly say that we become "too old" for it. We just understand how the world works so much better than in the past, therefore our tolerance for bullshit sometimes depicted in shoujo is just lower xD And I think being picky is a good thing in this case

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I'm about to leave my 20's behind, and I don't think I read too much shojo, but my age doesn't mean ill stop reading something if it catches my attention.
Besides, this is a loaded question because "shojo" is more than just high school romances.
For example, Natsume's book of friends runs in a shojo mag. Thus being considered shojo, but I think adults might find it more enjoyable than the 10-12 year olds shojo is aimed at.
There are a lot of shojo that at first glance may not seem like shojos,
A few examples are Yumekui Kenbun or X

The same thing can be said for shonen. I really enjoy shonens, but I'm way past that demographic age

Too old? Is there such a thing? Look at how many writers, artists, musicians, etc spend their entire careers writing about the high school years.

When Yuu Watase stops writing Shoujo Manga, I guess then she'll be too old for it. She's currently working on another Fushigi Yuugi comic, which will almost certainly be finished before Berserk is.

You can be any age!

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As of December 31st, 2021, this account is inactive. I have long moved on. Goodbye.

I'm 31 and I'm doing it, but I'm kind of a giant manchild to be fair

Most empathetically not. I started reading shoujo - and manga - when I was 12, and at the time I thought I would never be sick of it. Now, however, I both realize how my tastes has evolved to a greater appreciation of Josei, as well as a lower tolerance for stupid shoujos, as another user has said. I still enjoy shoujo and read it in great quantities, but I read less of those incredibly fluffy one shots and aim more for stories with some substance and character development beyond "I want to get a boyfriend in high school."

Thankfully, I think industry standards have risen as well, so I find more new material that is quite interesting. So you're definitely not too old for shoujo!

I still adore all those animated movies and will probably do so even in old age. XD

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I don´t even have the right gender (or race)...
The amount of good and most importantly varied Shoujo manga is way higher if compared to the barely existing Josei demographic and even that one´s targeted age range starts to fizzle out around the age of 30. 3 more years, eh?
It´s EU/US comics that ended up having a reading age of 30+ and that´s why they sell way less. Hm. I would´t be all sorts of things if i consonantly bowed down to conformity or marketing (!) and Shoujo isn´t a genre either, so don´t always expect a teen romance.
Feel free to view it as a state of mind.

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I've been reading shoujo since 2005 and I'm still enjoying it, at 23 years old
So, you're not too old, heck, I'll probably be reading it till I'm an old wrinkly grandma XD

I'm 25 and I times I feel like I'm getting too old for shoujo manga. Not "getting too old" in the sense of my numerical age or life circumstances (married no children, full time job), I just feel it doesn't hold my interest like it used to. Certainly I am much less tolerant of shoujo oneshots and series with repetitive storylines, crying girls and mean guys.

I finally got to reading the end of Ao Haru Ride which I had followed for a long time. Kimi ni Todoke and Wolf Girl & Black Prince seem to be wrapping up and I feel that once they do it won't be picking up shoujo series again. I don't know why. I just feel like I've grown out of it. Unless there is a lot of net talk about a hot new series that is a must read, I don't think I will be enticed into reading again. I recently read Heroine Unqualified and Daytime Shooting Star and before that Sand Clock from beginning to end to see if I would love it but I didn't.

What I enjoy the most right now is It's Not My Fault I'm Not Popular (which is a comedy if anything) and Gisele Alain (which I think falls into the slice of life category like my beloved Aria series). I still read Yotsubato when I remember and the last full series I enjoyed a lot was A Silent Voice.

Shounen is the same for me. I was following Naruto and One Piece. Naruto ended and I haven't caught up on OP in a while. I probably will and eventually finish it once it is completed (in another decade or so lol).

Manga as a whole is definitely I seem to be growing out of.

Am I reading the wrong things? Are there any recommendations you could give a tiring manga reader like me?

It's natural to grow out of things but I never thought it would be manga...I started when I was 12 and it's been part of my life for more than half of it. I think I will always read it once in a while but it's sad that it doesn't hold the same exciting place in my heart.

Anime and J-movies are the same. The J-movie for Heroine Unqualified made me want to scream. The last anime I enjoyed more than usual were Free and Attack on Titan and My Love Story...those were all from last summer (or earlier) so I've been in a drought for almost a year.

Psh. It's just like asking if "you're too old for Pokemon". Of course not. Whatever thing catches your interest, age doesn't matter.

As I've grown older, I feel like my tastes are more refined and I'm less forgiving toward badly written shoujo. But there are still a few gems out there. There are even times where I will ditch my Josei or Seinen for a nice Shoujo read because my jaded adult mind craves a bit of that purity in pure love that can still be found there.

By the way I'm 30 and the shoujo authors I read are in their midthirties and forties. It's never too old.

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I feel the same here. I used to read every shoujo with decent art I could understand, but now I've deviated more to eschewing the lesser shoujos to more meatier stories (better plot, not just a girl with the "I want a boyfriend" mentality, etc.) I've also started reading josei too, which I would not have done a few years ago. (Currently 21).

Edit: I just realized I replied to this thread twice. Early onset Alzheimer's?

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Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus