How can you spot a retro shoujo girl? What are the characteristics? By the end of this list, you will be an expert.

Fluffy, delicate blond hair. The curlier and more exotic, the better. Even if the heroine does not have blond hair, she may still be depicted that way on the cover. This was most likely done to cash in on the "exotic" trend.

They tend to live in an exotic setting, be it on a farm in Iowa or a waterside estate in France. Foreign girls ruled the roost in old school shoujo, it seems. They were everywhere, and their stories were dominated by passionate romance and dramatic tragedies. Many of them lost at least one of their parents, and finding somebody to be their special someone was never, ever simple; their pillows had seen their share of tears, that is for certain. Nowadays I see a shift to fictional, magical worlds as opposed to simply outside Japan (not that girls from magic lands didn't exist then, either). Mayme Angel (1979), right, depicts stories of love on the treacherous American pioneer trail.

Of course, we can't forget about the gooey, starry eyes that plague so many of the girls. While very pretty, I have to wonder just why the artists chose to do it that way. Perhaps to represent the "spark" of youth?





Poses with flowers. It's probably supposed to represent youth, sweetness and innocence.

Defined lips. Meaning, the mouth is not simply one solid line. Sometimes the girl will touch these defined lips with the tip of one of her fingers.

MORE COMING SOON!