Manga like Saiunkoku Monogatari

Akatsuki no Yona

Also known as Yona of the Dawn.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Yona reels from the shock of witnessing a loved one’s murder and having to fight for her life. With Hak’s help, she flees the palace and struggles to survive while evading her enemy’s forces. But where will this displaced princess go when all the paths before her are uncertain?



Tags: Female Protagonist , Travel , Shoujo , Historical , Found Family , Dragons , Politics , Fugitive , Gods , Mythology , Reincarnation , War , Tragedy , Royal Affairs , Heterosexual , Foreign , Coming of Age , Primarily Male Cast , Archery , Super Power , Survival , Orphan , Kuudere , Drugs , Pirates

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Also known as The Apothecary Diaries.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn’t long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a “curse” afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and…solving mysteries?!



Note: Won the Grand Prize in the Printed Manga category at the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Award 2019.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Medicine , Detective , Historical , Ancient China , Foreign , Primarily Female Cast , Seinen , Drugs , Tragedy , Royal Affairs , Work , Politics , Crime , Episodic , Maids , Asexual , Adoption , Heterosexual , Conspiracy , Suicide , Chibi , Ojou-sama

Kaze Hikaru

Also known as Kaze Hikaru.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Romance

In the year 1863, a time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining the Mibu-Roshi—a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. In time, this group would become one of the greatest (and most famous) movements in Japanese history... the Shinsengumi!

Into this fierce milieu steps Kamiya Seizaburo, a young would-be warrior who, though lacking in combat experience, possesses a fiery enthusiasm to both aid the Mibu-Roshi in their mission and to avenge his wrongfully murdered family. One of the Mibu-Roshi's most gifted (and immature) swordsmen, the legendary Okita Soji, agrees to take Seizaburo under his wing. What no one suspects, least of all Soji, is that Seizaburo is actually a girl named Tominaga Sei in disguise!



Note: Volume 45 includes the one-shot "Oo-Edo Shinsengumi! Kaze Hikaru Another World".

Tags: Samurai , Swordplay , Shoujo , Historical , Coming of Age , Primarily Male Cast , Episodic , Gender Bending , Female Protagonist , Crime , Crossdressing , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Adult Cast , Revenge , Assassins , Suicide

Niehime to Kemono no Ou

Also known as Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

A young girl has resigned herself to being he next sacrificial meal for the Beast King...but the king is no mere monster! Love is more than skin-deep in this gorgeous fantasy manga.



Note: Chapter count includes 15 extras.

Tags: Shoujo , Politics , Monster Boy , Animals , Female Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Coming of Age , Shapeshifting , Demons , Magic , Mythology , War , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Revenge , Anthropomorphism , Bullying , Primarily Animal Cast , Royal Affairs , Monster Girl , Love Triangle , Yandere , Historical

Oooku

Also known as Ôoku: The Inner Chambers.

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

In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun's Inner Chamber...



Note: Won an Excellence Prize at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival and a special prize at The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy's fifth annual Sense of Gender Awards in 2005. Won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural the Grand Prize in 2009 and the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award in Girls' Category in 2011. Was nominated for the first annual Manga Taishou in 2008.

Tags: Tragedy , Pandemic , Matriarchy , Historical , Heterosexual , Politics , Shoujo , Male Harem , Primarily Adult Cast , Suicide , Ensemble Cast , Incest , Samurai , LGBTQ+ Themes , Royal Affairs , Swordplay , Military , Bisexual , Religion , Espionage , Boys' Love

Joou no Hana

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Romance

Long ago, there existed a land divided into four countries: Sou, Kou, Do, and Ah. The King of Ah took on a wife from Kou and soon thereafter one from Do, creating a shaky alliance between the three nations. When the Second Queen gave birth to a son, the King cast aside the sickly First Queen and her daughter Aki into the depths of the Palace. But as Fate would have it, Princess Aki encounters a slave named Hakusei, who has peculiar golden hair and sky blue eyes. He promises his life to her and helps her train in the Six Arts under the guidance of the enigmatic merchant Seitetsu; however, when Aki outshines the Prince during a hunt in an attempt to gain her father's acknowledgement, she sparks a war by besmirching Do's honor and drives the Second Queen to poison her mother.

With nothing left but her faithful Hakusei, Aki is banished to the small country of Kou with a vow to return to Ah one day for revenge. But in the face of the mighty allied nations of Do and Ah, will the two survive long enough to carry out Aki's vow?



Note: Won the 60th (2014) Shogakukan Manga Award for best shoujo manga in 2015.

Tags: Shoujo , Historical , Female Protagonist , Politics , Tragedy , Slavery , War , Revenge , Conspiracy , Royal Affairs , Heterosexual

BASARA

Also known as Basara.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Basara is a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure series and one of the most popular shoujo manga of the 90s in Japan. It is the story of how a young girl becomes "the child of destiny" and finds the strength to free her people and seek revenge for the death of her brother.



Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shoujo category in 1992.

Tags: War , Twins , Shoujo , Politics , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Coming of Age , Revenge , Fugitive , Slavery , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Travel , Class Struggle , Royal Affairs , Lost Civilization , Disability , Desert , Archery , Pirates , Tomboy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Astronomy , Animals , Bisexual , Prison , Boys' Love ,

Reimei no Arcana

Also known as Dawn of the Arcana.

Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Romance

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!



Note: Includes 12 extra chapters.

Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Kemonomimi , Foreign , Super Power , Politics , Time Manipulation , Tragedy , Travel , Royal Affairs , Class Struggle , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Desert , Male Harem , Time Skip , Arranged Marriage , Unrequited Love , War

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

Also known as Snow White with the Red Hair.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Shirayuki is famous for her naturally bright-red hair, and the prince of Tanbarun wants her all to himself! But when she escapes into the woods of the neighboring kingdom, a young man named Zen and his two friends come to her aid. But who is Zen really…?



Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Hachigatsu no Shikisai (Four-season Color of August)
Volume 2: Bokura wo Tsunaide. (Bind Us.)
Volume 14: Natsuyasumi 00-Nichime (00 Day of Summer Holiday)

Tags: Heterosexual , Shoujo , Medicine , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Politics , Royal Affairs , Historical , Love Triangle , Swordplay , Unrequited Love , Assassins , Bisexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Fairy Tale , Male Harem , Twins

Gekkakoku Kiiden

Also known as The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Romance

A beautifully illustrated shoujo manga tale of medicine, royal intrigue, and romance in a setting inspired by historical China!

Whether it be for illness or injury, the preferred healing method in Moon Flower Kingdom has always been the country’s special medicinal baths. However, after his party is attacked by a mysterious figure during a regional inspection, Prince Keiun witnesses a never-before-seen lifesaving medical technique. Even more shocking still, the one who performed this feat is a young girl named Koyo! And while luck may have been on their side this time, questions remain. Just who is this girl, and who is after the prince’s life? Shadowy conspiracies, mysterious religions, and deep-rooted beliefs all collide in this beautifully drawn manga series!



Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Historical , Medicine , Foreign , Royal Affairs , Ancient China , Religion