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Cowboy Bebop
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Your first thought wouldn't be to classify Cowboy Bebop as shoujo, would it? But it had two separate manga series (both available in English from Tokyopop) that were serialised in the shoujo magazine Asuka Fantasy DX.
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However, those manga series were both conceived of and published after the creation of the anime (one started publication about a month after the anime began airing and the other was published about a year after the anime aired).
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
Cowboy Bebop the anime was likely created to have a wide appeal to many different groups (although I have to think they had a shounen/seinen demographic in mind). As part of it's mass-marketing campaign, they decided to create a shoujo manga version. Maybe to entice females to watch the anime? The second manga series likely resulted from a positive response to the first series (though they're by different artists). It's also worth noting that while the various Asuka magazines are shoujo, they also have a lot of cross-over appeal. The anime may not be shoujo, but it's the type of series that can be enjoyed by all types of fans, women included.
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Cyber Team in Akihabara (Akihabara Dennou Gumi)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| The companion manga was serialised in the shoujo manga magazine Nakayoshi (as Akihabara Dennou Gumi PitaPi).
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The anime was created before the manga (the manga was drawn by the anime's character designer). There are also shounen light novel versions of the series (printed by Kadokawa Shoten in their Sneaker shounen novel imprint).
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
Cyber Team in Akihabara seems to be one of those series that marketed different aspects of itself to different groups. It is a mahou shoujo (magical girl) series, so those aspects could be marketed easily to girls in Nakayoshi for the manga version. They decided to go a different route with the novels. I have not personally seen in the anime, but it's probably worth a look if you like the mahou shoujo genre.
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Hamtaro
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| A shoujo manga series ran in the shoujo magazine Ciao.
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There are also kodomo (pre-elementary school kids) versions of the manga.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
Hamtaro is best classified as an anime for young children (boys and girls), and this is the market it is consistently marketed to. Given its Kodomo audience, it makes sense that Hamtaro ran in Ciao, which is Shogakukan's shoujo magazine for young girls, as opposed to running Hamtaro in something like the older-demo shoujo mag Sho-Comi (Shoujo Comic).
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Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Hell Girl's companion manga is serialised in the shoujo manga magazine Nakayoshi.
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The manga is being published alongside the anime, but the concept was created in anime form first.
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The Verdict: Pretty darn close to shoujo
It can't be included on the list because of the strict definition of only including anime that were first created to be published in a shoujo manga magazine. However, I would argue that Hell Girl's multimedia approach definitely points in the shoujo direction. Certainly, if you're a shoujo fan (of its many different genres), I think you would enjoy Hell Girl. Of course, it also pulls in fans of darker/horror anime.
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Heroic Legend of Arslan (Arslan Senki)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Arslan had a long-running shoujo manga that was serialised in Asuka magazine.
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The original story came from a series of fantasy novels (not explicitly shoujo). The author also wrote the manga, but did not illustrate it.
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The Verdict: Close to shoujo
The anime was based on the shoujo manga which was based on the original novels (which were loosely based on an ancient Persian legend). Because the author wrote both the novels and the shoujo manga, you could argue he was going after a similar demographic for both. Or maybe the novels were intended to be made for a general audience, while it was decided that a shoujo magazine was the best fit for the manga adaptation. Either way, the anime was likely designed to go after fans of both the novels and the manga. So the anime's not strictly shoujo, but there is a shoujo thread that weaves through it.
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Kaleido Star
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| There's nothing concrete for the shoujo column. In general, many people find similarities between Sora, the main character, and different shoujo heroines (probably due to her independence, determination, naivetŽ, accepting nature, and cuteness). The character designs (especially the bishounen), bright colours, costumes, and themes of friendship also share similarities with shoujo series.
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However, none of this adds up to the show actually being shoujo. The anime had a shounen manga spin-off (actually a sequel) that was only published for a few volumes. It was serialised in the shounen manga magazine Shounen Fang.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
And you could make a pretty good argument that it is shounen. Despite this, I think the anime was going after a younger kid audience, both boy and girl. Worth a look for the strong female lead and if you like the idea of something like Cirque du Soleil animated.
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Pokemon (Pocket Monster)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Believe it or not, this had two shoujo manga versions published that ran in Ciao (created after the games/anime started), proving that when a series is really popular, they try to market it to all demographics in different ways.
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Originally based on a series of Nintendo games. Also many different shounen manga series by different artists. The shoujo manga is only loosely based on the anime/games (same universe, different characters).
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
Pokemon is a property that has wide mass-market appeal. It makes sense that they would try to capitalise on this success by diversifying the way its released - games, toys, books, anime, movies, shounen manga, shoujo manga, etc.
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Princess Nine (Princess Nine Kisaragi Joshikou Yakyuubu)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Princess Nine is an anime with strong feminist themes (they fight to form a baseball team good enough to take on any boys' team). It also aired on NHK's BS2 network after Cardcaptor Sakura in the spring/summer of 1998.
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It was created first as an anime. A 3-volume manga exists (magazine unknown), which has been classified by one Japanese manga website as shounen.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
But I think the themes and the personalities of the girls themselves make this a very appealing show for females. There's a little bit of fanservice, but it's certainly not overpowering, and there's also two nice romances as side-stories. All in all, Princess Nine is ultimately a shounen sports anime that can appeal strongly to girls.
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Princess Tutu
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Princess Tutu is a mahou shoujo (magical girl) anime with a strong ballet theme.
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The Princess Tutu manga (created after the anime) ran in the seinen magazine Champion Red.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
But...honestly, it kind of is. Everything about this anime, from its character designs, to the music, to the costumes, to the characters (bishounen!), to the fact that the main character turns into a ballet princess in a tutu just screams shoujo. I think of it as the spiritual successor to Utena, especially with regards to its dark and twisty plot. So it's not shoujo, technically, but if you enjoyed something like Cardcaptor Sakura or Shoujo Kakumei Utena and were looking for something similar, Princess Tutu would be the obvious choice.
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Magic User's Club (Mahou Tsukai Tai!)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| It has a shoujo manga version that was serialised in the shoujo magazine Asuka.
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The anime was quite different from the shoujo manga (some of the same characters and a little bit of the plot) and it has a shounen manga version that was very faithful to the anime.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
But still an enjoyable, fun series. Depends on your tolerance for fanservice. Jeff-kun!!
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Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Miyuki-chan is a one-volume manga (and short anime) from CLAMP. It takes place in the same universe as X, CLAMP Campus Detectives, and Tokyo Babylon. All of those related series are shoujo.
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Miyuki-chan is not shoujo by a technicality - the manga ran in Newtype instead of Asuka like X and CCD (both are published by Kadokawa Shoten). Manga that runs in Newtype is not given a shoujo/shounen label because the magazine is designed for all anime fans.
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The Verdict: Practically Shoujo
CLAMP was exclusively drawing shoujo manga at that time, and Miyuki-chan's related series all ran in shoujo magazines. To go even further, in the CCD anime, there was a Miyuki-chan cameo episode and the Miyuki character had the same seiyuu (Kouda Mariko) as the Miyuki-chan in Wonderland anime.
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Studio Ghibli
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Many of Studio Ghibli's movies have strong, independent female characters that appeal strongly to girls and women.
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But only two of their movies (Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns) were based on shoujo manga.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
But I like to think of them as shoujo in spirit. Honestly, if you were to watch Whisper of the Heart and then Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa: Castle in the Sky or Nausicaa, I think you would be hard-pressed to call one definitively shoujo and the others not. Kiki especially is pretty obviously aimed at girls, although it was based on a children's story book and not a manga. Regardless of the label, Studio Ghibli likes to produce movies with universal characters and themes that appeal to everyone: boy, girl, young, and old.
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The Vision of Escaflowne (Tenkuu no Escaflowne)
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Escaflowne had a shoujo manga version as well as a shounen manga version.
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The shounen manga was published before the anime aired (although the anime was technically created first) and was much closer to the anime than the shoujo manga version.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
I like to think of Escaflowne as a half and half series. Plenty there for the girls: strong female lead, romance, bishounen, and gender-bending. And boys get fighting, swords, blood, and mecha! Best of both worlds! The creation of the shoujo manga after the anime indicates that the anime had a strong female following.
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xxxHolic
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Both the production company (Production I.G.) and Ohkawa Ageha (Nanase) of CLAMP refer to xxxHolic as a shoujo series/manga in this interview at Anime News Network. Both specifically talk about how this is Production I.G.'s first time adapting a shoujo manga into an anime series.
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xxxHolic is serialised in the seinen magazine Young Magazine.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo?
I'm kind of confused by this one. If CLAMP themselves think of it as a shoujo manga, why did they serialise it in Young Magazine (which often features bikini-clad real Japanese women on its cover)? Maybe it was a publisher decision? Female fans familiar with CLAMP think that xxxHolic actually has a strong josei "feel" or at least would be very appealing for fans of mature josei manga/anime.
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Shounen Action Series
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The Case FOR Shoujo...
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The Case AGAINST Shoujo...
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| Many shounen action series (e.g. Rurouni Kenshin, Full Metal Alchemist, Bleach, Gundam Wing) have legions of female fans thanks mostly to the inclusion of bishounen characters. It helps that many (all?) of these series are eminently slashable (which is why you see approximately a million FMA doujinshi and yaoi fanfics).
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They're shounen. Unarguably shounen.
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The Verdict: Not Shoujo
But there's no doubt that the creators of these series are very aware of their female fanbase and often do a lot to cater to them. For example, look at these pics of Heero and Duo from Gundam Wing and try to tell me they weren't created to get the female fans' blood pumping. ^^;;
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