Before their names became synonymous with the breakout hits that put them on the map, many shojo mangaka had other series that are equally deserving of praise. Some manga artists, such as Clamp, are even highly recognized for their contributions to the shonen genre.
Though some mangaka are well known for their more popular series, it's not uncommon for fans not to recognize other works from even the most beloved artists. Such artists include the likes of Yuu Watase, creator of Fushigi Yuugi, or even Natsuki Takaya, the mangaka best known for the shojo classic Fruits Basket. Here's a list of 10 hidden gems by beloved mangaka.
10 Codename Sailor V By Naoko Takeuchi - Known For Sailor Moon
Before Minako Aino became the full-fledged sailor guardian Sailor Venus, as she is known in the magical girl genre-defining Sailor Moon, she was the protagonist of Codename Sailor V. The series serves as a prequel to Sailor Moon.
In Codename Sailor V, Minako is awoken by the magical cat Artemis to confront her destiny as a champion of justice. With the help of Artemis, she takes on enemies and falls in love quite frequently, often with the enemy she must later defeat. By the end of the series, Minako has regained her past life memories as Sailor Venus. As a result, she starts her search for the other sailor guardians and the moon princess.
9 Tokyo Crazy Paradise By Yoshiki Nakamura - Known For Skip Beat!
Kyoko's goal of revenge against childhood friend Sho in Skip Beat! might be what mangaka Yoshiki Nakamura is known for, but before Skip Beat! there was Tokyo Crazy Paradise. The setting is a futuristic 2020 where Tokyo is particularly crime-ridden and violent. It stars Tsukasa Kozuki as the 14-year-old bodyguard to childhood friend and classmate Ryuji Shirogami, the new Yakuza boss of the Kuryugumi group.
Since women are often victimized in their world, Tsukasa's parents, who were police, raised her as a boy with the hopes of protecting her. When both Ryuji's parents and Tsukasa's are killed, the two become orphans. Tsukasa becomes Ryuji's bodyguard when her brothers run up a ridiculous amount of debt in Ryuji's name. Ryuji is in love with Tsukasa and finds any excuse to add to her debt to keep her by his side.
8 Millennium Snow By Bisco Hatori - Known For Ouran High School Host Club
Tamaki and the host club's hijinks came just after Bisco Hatori's vampire romance Millennium Snow began. The series took approximately a ten-year hiatus due to the popularity of Ouran High School Host Club before concluding at four volumes. Millennium Snow tells the love story of Chiyuki Matsuoka, a sickly high school girl with a heart condition, and Toya Kano, a teenage vampire who acts so averse to drinking blood that he's anemic.
Chiyuki offers to become Toya's partner so that she may live longer. After curing Chiyuki of her illness, Toya tries to refuse forming a thousand-year bond with her because he believes he would be burdening Chiyuki by sharing his long lifespan. The pair eventually fall in love despite Toya's initial misgivings and the occasional flirtations of a werewolf named Satsuki.
7 Time Stranger Kyoko By Arina Tanemura - Known For The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross
Time Stranger Kyoko is a tale of two sisters. In the 30th century, Princess Kyoko Suomi of the Earth Nation longs to live a normal, more carefree life. One day, Kyoko learns from her father that she can have the life she dreams of if she awakens her slumbering twin sister, Ui, who has been trapped in time since birth.
To save her sister, Kyoko must find the eleven other Strangers, keepers of holy stones, which grant them all special powers. After Kyoko herself is shown to be the Time Stranger and leader of them all, the Strangers come together to operate a magical clock that awakens Ui and reveals that Kyoko is a goddess and daughter of Chronos, god of time.
6 Alice 19th By Yuu Watase - Known For Fushigi Yuugi
From the creator of Fushigi Yuugi and Absolute Boyfriend comes Alice 19th. In Alice 19th, when fifteen-year-old Alice Seno saves a rabbit from being run over, it sparks her destiny. The rabbit, Nyozeka, tells Alice that she is destined to be a Lotis Master. Lotis Masters can use the power of Lotis Words to access the inner heart of others.
Alice must learn to use her powers when her older sister, Mayura, accidentally disappears after the two argue over Kyo, a boy they both have feelings for. When Kyo discovers that he too is a Lotis Master, he and another Lotis Master named Frey help Alice rescue her sister from the darkness of the Maram Words, the evil equivalent of the Lotis Words.
5 Kobato By Clamp - Known For Cardcaptor Sakura
Clamp is a four-woman team of manga artists known for the shojo series Cardcaptor Sakura and multiple shonen series, including Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Kobato follows the story of a mysterious young woman named Kobato who is tasked with filling a small flask with proof of the hearts she has helped to heal to make her dream come true.
Guiding Kobato is Ioryogi, a creature from another world stuck in the form of a dog plush as punishment for falling in love with an angel named Suishou. It is revealed that Kobato had died as a result of the war between Ioryogi and the gods. The angel Suishou took pity on Kobato, and now the two share the same soul in different worlds as Ioryogi tries desperately to save them both.
4 Beast Master By Kyousuke Motomi -Known for Dengeki Daisy
Perhaps best known for Dengeki Daisy, Kyousuke Motomi has an earlier work called Beast Master. In Beast Master, Yuiko Kubozuka is a 17-year-old who loves animals. Unfortunately for Yuiko, her overzealous loving nature typically causes animals to flee from her. One day when trying to help a cat, she meets classmate Leo Aoi, who animals adore but people typically avoid because of his scary face and his tendency toward animalistic behavior at the sight of blood.
Yuiko and Leo quickly become friends and fall in love, as Leo is cute and kind despite his looks. Leo's family constantly targets him because he is set to inherit a large sum of money. Yuiko is the only person who can tame him when he sees blood, so they call her the "Beast Master."
3 MeruPuri By Matsuri Hino - Known For Vampire Knight
MeruPuri tells the story of high school freshmen Airi Hoshina who dreams of having an ordinary life with a loving husband someday. Airi's life becomes anything but ordinary when a young prince from another world emerges from the special mirror she inherited.
7-year-old Prince Aram has been cursed by his older brother to become a 17-year-old whenever darkness falls. The only way to break the spell? A kiss from Aram's "most beloved maiden." The young prince declares this maiden to be none other than Airi. Could Aram grow up to be the love Airi has always dreamed of?
2 Twinkle Stars By Natsuki Takaya - Known For Fruits Basket
In Twinkle Stars, Sakuya Shiina is a high schooler who finds solace in stargazing and is the president of the school's stargazing club. On her 18th birthday, a mysterious, kind boy shows up at her party uninvited, gifting her a dress and kind words. Thinking he was a friend of her cousin and guardian Kanade, the pair are shocked to discover he was a stranger. Knowing only that the boy's name is Chihiro, Sakuya becomes determined to find him. When Chihiro enrolls at Sakuya's school, he suddenly rejects her, but could the stars bring the two closer together?
1 Captive Hearts By Matsuri Hino - Known For Vampire Knight Memories
In Captive Hearts, Suzuka Kogami is the only surviving member of the Kogami family. Megumi Kuroishi finds himself obligated to serve her due to a curse that has bound their two families together for a hundred generations. When Megumi and Suzuka fall in love, they are each determined to break the curse so they can be together freely.