Manga like Gokinjo Monogatari

NANA

Also known as Nana.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

Nana Komatsu is a young woman who's endured an unending string of boyfriend problems. Moving to Tokyo, she's hoping to take control of her life and put all those messy misadventures behind her. She's looking for love and she's hoping to find it in the big city.

Nana Osaki, on the other hand, is cool, confident and focused. She swaggers into town and proceeds to kick down the doors to Tokyo's underground punk scene. She's got a dream and won't give up until she becomes Japan's No. 1 rock'n'roll superstar.

This is the story of two 20-year-old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of Nana is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties.



Note: Winner of the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2002.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Shoujo , Band , Pregnancy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Time Skip , Found Family , Bisexual , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Rock Music , Netorare , LGBTQ+ Themes , Cheating , Achronological Order , Urban , Age Gap , Drugs , Nudity , Bar

Tenshi Nanka ja Nai

Also known as I'm No Angel.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

In a brand-new high school of only first-years, Midori, a girl who gives her all, runs for a spot on the student council alongside Akira, a guy who sees things through. Once elected, they start a new legacy at the school while also falling in love.

Midori has had a crush on Akira ever since she saw him stop to rescue an abandoned cat. She hopes to become closer to Akira now that they’re working together on the student council, but his heart may still belong to someone else…



Tags: Female Protagonist , School , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , School Club , Love Triangle , Coming of Age , Motorcycles

Hachimitsu to Clover

Also known as Honey and Clover.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.



Notes:
Won the the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo in 2003.
Includes 11 extra chapters.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Josei , Love Triangle , Age Gap , Heterosexual , College , Primarily Adult Cast , Unrequited Love , Male Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Philosophy , Teacher , Drawing , Work , Cycling , School , Male Harem , Tragedy , Bar

GALS!

Also known as GALS!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

The invincible kogyaru, Ran Kotobuki. Today, she runs wild in Shibuya, unaware of anything scary, but what happens when she finds out that her classmate is engaging in compensated dating? Passionate and pure street life!!



Tags: Shoujo , Gyaru , Female Protagonist , Fashion , School , Age Gap , Heterosexual

Cat Street

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

The story centers around Keito Aoyama, a former famous child actor. Due to a childhood incident, she retired from her career early and withdrew from normal society. Now 16, she passes her days in boredom and without purpose. But one day she runs into a stranger who takes her to El Liston--a free school for high school students like herself, who don't have a place where they belong. Though hesitant at first, Keito decides to enter El Liston and subsequently, she begins a new stage in her life. With the help of her only remaining childhood friend, Taiyou, and her new classmates Rei, Momiji, and Kouichi, Keito slowly finds the courage to open up to others and to accept their support. Will Keito return to acting? Will she find true friends? Love?

Tags: Shoujo , Hikikomori , School , Bullying , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Acting , Rehabilitation , Love Triangle , Software Development , Time Skip

Kuragehime

Also known as Princess Jellyfish.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Tsukimi Kurashita has a strange fascination with jellyfish. She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.



Note: Includes 10 extra chapters.

Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Fashion , Heterosexual , Foreign , Femboy , Primarily Adult Cast , Love Triangle , Otaku Culture , Language Barrier , LGBTQ+ Themes , Found Family , Urban , Makeup , Age Gap , Drawing , Male Harem , Gender Bending , Animals , Coming of Age

Jelly Beans

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Mameko Endou is 14 years old, loves fashion and lives in a village dreaming of becoming a model in Tokyo. A classmate from her school who's in love with her, calls to leave together but Mameko, uncertain of her feelings and embarrassed, ends up ruining their first appointment. Mameko's beauty is not good enough for a model, which gives her little hope. However, after being in Tokyo and claiming to know the two beautiful models Miri and Hikaru, she decided to become a stylist! Her passion for fashion grows even more, and all her "inspiration" becomes hostile visions and are often bizarre...

Tags: Shoujo , Fashion , Female Protagonist

Tokyo Girls Bravo

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Music , Slice of Life

The story takes place in the 80's. Kaneda Sakae, a high school girl living in Sapporo, suddenly moves to Tokyo with her mother...

Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Urban , Primarily Teen Cast , Coming of Age , Primarily Female Cast , Nudity , School , Rock Music , Bullying , LGBTQ+ Themes , Love Triangle , Psychosexual , Suicide

Kodomo no Omocha

Also known as Kodocha: Sana's Stage.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Sana Kurata is a cheerful, energetic child actress in 6th grade who appears on a popular TV show. With her mother, Misako, and her manager, Rei, at her side, life is full of happiness. But her class at school, led by Akito Hayama, is plagued by chaos. In the face of such conflict, what will Sana do?!



Tags: Primarily Child Cast , Coming of Age , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , School , Acting , Tragedy , Love Triangle , Adoption , Suicide , Heterosexual , Family Life , Slapstick , Orphan , Tsundere

Living Game

Also known as Living Game.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Raizo Fuwa is a 25-year-old salaryman living in a cramped home and working in a crowded office in Tokyo. His hopes for improved conditions are dashed when the new office building his company is supposed to move into is condemned as unsafe because the construction company has been cutting corners. Since the old building is already being demolished, they have no choice but to "temporarily" move the office into Fuwa's new flat. The final complication arrives in the form of the new employee Izumi Hiyama, a high school dropout the boss has promised to take care of as a favour to her family. No landlords are willing to rent to a 15-year-old girl, so she too has to move into Fuwa's home/office.



Tags: Age Gap , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Ensemble Cast