Yojouhan no Ibarahime

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Yojouhan no Ibara Hime Is one of the most frustrating yet realistic and enjoyable shoujo mangas I have read, and I’ll explain why with its themes later on. I didn’t have any expectations going in as I planned to read a chapter or two, but it far exceeded the usual threshold I have for messed up backstories.

Our main girl Shinra Kobayashi is quite a handful and often has inconsistent convictions, but with the abuse she has suffered at home it makes you feel for her and understand her mindset. I usually drop manga where poor character writing is covered with a tragic backstory but that ... wasn’t done here.
WARNING: this series has several sexual harassment and abuse elements that will make you uncomfortable or straight up pissed, there’s no getting around it. Thankfully, in traditional fashion but not unwanted, she now has three male celebrity bodyguards who are there for her when she needs them. What I like most about the trio is their personalities are not over the top like typical shoujo tropes and feel like real people who actually have Shinra’s best interests at heart, whatever disagreements they may have.
Everyone who interacts with our main girl have their own issues but rarely do they project onto others. It’s a nice change of pace that depicts the inner struggles you don’t see on the surface usually.
The best thing this manga does in my opinion is detailing just how vile family can be. For me shoujo usually amplifies this for drama or entertainment but here it just felt real, like I was reading a real situation play out.
There are great scenes in between though. I don’t use the word “wholesome” like most will but there are definitely moments that are nice to see considering the story can be grim at the best of times.

I won’t lie I read shoujo but this one shocked me. Wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. Give it a try.