THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO SHOUJO ROMANCE
The Basics
Title Formula: _ no _
Please be aware that every character should only care about love. They must have no other interests. None.
Optional additions include: demons, vampires, rich boy, or tragic backstory (the tragic backstory comes with white hair, obviously)
Mandatory additions include: female love rival, childhood friend, male (at first he mocks you but he falls in love later) classmate, and rude classmates.
Sparkles and textures are mandatory on every page. Sakura petals should be abundant. No backgrounds are required. For some reason, everyone is white (and cis and heterosexual), and every frame should be an extreme closeup of their faces.
Your story MUST be set in high school, because there is obviously nothing worthwhile after you graduate from high school.
2. The Characters
Developing the correct stereotypes for characters is a must. There are strict rules for your characters.
Females-
Protagonist: She must be idealistic and righteous. She believes in the good of others and earnestly defends anyone in need. Besides that she has no defining characteristics. In everything else she must be underwhelmingly average.
Childhood Friend: The childhood friend of the male lead, she claims divine right to love of the male lead. She threatens the heroine. However, when she realizes the strength of the heroine' and hero's love she will back off.
Popular Girl: Another rival option, she uses underhanded tactics to threaten our pure lead. She should have narrowed eyes, and have her hair done up in an extravagant fashion.
Friend: The heroine's friend. She is currently in a relationship and will gush about how wonderful her boyfriend is.
Males-
Protagonist: He is always kindhearted, and typically the senpai, however his outward appearance may vary. One popular option is the school bishounen. He is well liked but he keeps a dark secret. Another option is the bad-boy. Rumours circulate school about his violence, while the truth is that he is an ally of justice.
other options include- quiet megane classmate who is a bishounen underneath, handsome sensei with troubled past, oblivious childhood friend
Male Rival: He must make fun of the protagonist, and the heroine, at first. However, he will fall in love with the heroines belief that he is a good person. His dark past is that he once loved a girl, but she betrayed him. He no longer believes in love, but the heroine changes his mind.
Childhood Friend: He is the heroines friend and has harboured feelings for her since childhood. He is extremely overbearing and will tell the heroine to leave the male protagonist.
Little Brother: May be used as a plot device to bring our hero and heroine together because who doesn't love little children? Optionally is a little sister. Shouts "Nii-chan!" or "Nee-chan!" incessantly.
Random Thugs: Serve the sole purpose of adding tension to the plot. They must be weak, have shaved heads, or perhaps Mondo corn hair, and carry clubs. Their catchphrase is "Nandato?!" and they threaten the male protagonist repeatedly.
Random Flirts: They roam the streets at night and will approach our heroine. They must surround her and offer to take her somewhere nice, a good addition is having her pinned up against a brick wall. They are easily deterred by the male protagonist and scowl as they walk away.
Perverted White Collar Man: He finds the heroine in the night and will attempt to drag her into a love hotel. Everyone around them must ignore the obvious sexual assault except for the male protagonist.
We begin with the essential examples that should serve as guides for all shoujos:
#1
You are the distant bishoujo in the back left corner of the room next to the window. You have glasses and twin braids that almost touch the floor. They wave dramatically in the wind (the waving must be constant, even indoors). You are quiet and always hide behind a book, but in reality, you yearn for human closeness...perhaps even Love.
Secretly, you are a manga artist...but you are too quiet to tell others, and having a job is against the stringent school rules. One day, the school heartthrob finds out your secret. He blackmails you and in exchange you have to do as he says.
You found out his secret, also. He is a sadist. You hate him at first, but one day your classmates see some of your doodles. They make fun of you, and you, being uneducated in the ways of social contact and the human kokoro, begin to cry large ghibli tears.
But then! He appears like a wild pokemon, and saves you! He tells them to back off, and of course they do, because he is popular. Your feelings for him change, because obviously this one vague act of kindness makes him a goddamn saint. Your thoughts are consumed by him. Assimilated.
But then, a love rival appears! It is the most popular girl in school. She uses underhanded tactics and pushes you around. She calls male protagonist a playboy who only seeks out girls. You defend him as a heroine should. Unbeknownst to you, he was listening in the whole time. His kokoro goes doki doki.
After school, he pins you against the wall. He is in love with you. Cue sparkles and sakura petals. You kiss.
The end.
#2
You are the childish female protagonist who has never fallen in love. In fact, you are naïve on all things pertaining to love. Everyday, your friends discuss their significant others, and overtime you notice the gap in your existence. You constantly feel left out and alone. It's almost as though, without a man by your side, there is no meaning in life.
You earnestly wish to someday fall in love, and your first encounter happens after school one day. You are on cleaning duty and you are taking out the trash behind the school. While returning to the classroom you notice a prone figure leaned against the school building.
Curiously you approach the body and lean in closer. It is the school bad-boy! His face is quite handsome, and you can't help but think that is he was less violent, than maybe he could be popular. However, on closer inspection you notice bruises on his body.
Fearfully, you are about to lean back when his eyes bolt open, and his hand grips your wrist, preventing escape.
His eyes are alluring as his cold stare meets your flustered blush. As quick as it happened he lets go and you step back, apologizing profusely. It isn't until later that evening when you meet again.
You are on your way home from cram school when you notice in an alley, him beating up a group of men. You quickly jump to conclusions, which are founded on the rumours which circulate school about the male protagonist,
He glances at you, and you notice a small child behind his leg. The child thanks the male protagonist, and you realize he had been defending a young child. Doubts form in your mind and you can't help but think he isn't actually that bad. You spend the rest of the walk home together talking. As you enter your home you can't help but be consumed (assimilated) with thought of him.
The next day at school, new rumours of him beating up a group of boys have sprung up. It was the group he beat up yesterday! Male protagonist scowls as he enters the room, and plops down into his desk. He pretends not to hear, but you know that he is hurting inside, in his fragile and sensitive kokoro.
You yell at your insensitive classmates and run out of the room. They are shocked because you had always been known as a person who got along with everyone.
He chases after you and you end up where you first met, and it is raining. He pins you against a wall and tries to talk to you. But you run away. You run all the way to the park, but his long shounen legs let him catch up to you. He grabs you from behind and pulls you into his chest. You both confess your love and you kiss.
The end.
3. The Ending
The last scene is always a kiss. Nothing else will do, because everyone knows that once two people kiss, it automatically means they will love each other till the end of time. The very last page should include some dialogue that pretty much sums up the uniqueness of the story, of course in the heroine's voice. Ellipses are mandatory.
Some examples include
-"And I realized that… even if I can't see him… we will be together in our hearts."
-"I hope that everyday… I can see that sparkling smile."
-"I never realized… these feelings have always been… only for you."
(after she is pinned up against a wall, of course.)
4. Releasing Your Story
When releasing your story, keep in mind your audience. Heterosexual. Therefore, putting the male protagonist and female protagonist on the cover lets the reader know that, yes, this will be a story about two heterosexual teenagers in love. And there should be sparkles, lots of sparkles. No background either.
Also keep in mind that your summary must be enticing. Use words such as "Normal girl" and "Mysterious guy". It allows the reader to connect with the protagonist and imagine themselves in their situation.