All I Want For Christmas Is More Classic Shōjo Anime!

When Discotek Media announced that they had licensed the 1983 shojo series Lady Georgie, I was ecstatic. This was a shōjo series that I saw a few episodes of way back in the days of anime fans trading and selling VHS recordings—and as was often the case back then, the episodes I had seen weren't subtitled or translated in any way. I'd always been curious about the rest of it. Still, with it being an older series with 45 episodes (not to mention it being a romantic period drama), I'd lost hope for years that it'd ever get an official release in English. But thanks to fans' renewed interest in releases like Rose of Versailles, Dear Brother, and Aim For The Ace!, fans of classic shojo are finally starting to see English releases they only dreamed about.

Lady Georgie should be next on your shopping list if you're a fan of any (or all three!) of those previously mentioned titles. Set in the Colonial-era Australian prairies, the series follows the life of a young, energetic girl named Georgie Buttman (yes, you read that correctly). Growing up on her parents' farm with her two older brothers, Georgie always had a feeling there was something different about herself: from being the only blonde in the family to her mother being much harsher on her than her brothers—not to mention having seemingly inherited a mysterious, large gold bracelet. While the series starts light-hearted, as she grows and has adventures in the Outback, a tragic event triggers Georgie to learn about the secrets of her lineage. Older now, she'll not only become entangled in a love….square? But she'll embark on an emotional journey to learn more about her past and what she truly wants for her future. Based on the manga illustrated by shojo icon Yumiko Igarashi, Lady Georgie features the dreamy, starry-eyed shojo look that we often associate with the classics.

With Lady Georgie's release just around the corner, it got me thinking of other classic shōjo titles waiting for an English release. So, in the vein of Lady Georgie's rollercoaster of laughs, fun, high drama, and romance, here are three other classic shojo titles I'd love to put on my shelves.

If the title sounds familiar, it might be because this series got a modern retelling two-part movie in 2017 and 2018 that was screened in the U.S. Originally aired in the late '70s and set in Taisho-era Japan, the story revolves around Benio, a young lady who wants to embrace all the modern, Western influence that Japan is experiencing. And as a modern lady, she'll do as she pleases, including questioning her teachers' opinions, occasionally getting drunk, picking a fight, and, of course, going against an arranged marriage to a wealthy military man…Or will she change her mind once she discovers he's the handsome guy she bumped into before their meeting? A whirlwind historical shojo with lots of charming characters, travel, comedy, and romantic drama, the only official release we've seen in English on home video is just part one of the two-part modern reboot. I'd love to see the original Haikara-san anime get its time to shine and find its way to a new generation of shōjo fans.

Based on the manga by Hideko Mizuno, one of the first successful women to do shōjo manga, the story starts in 1907 in Vienna. A lovable (but slightly bumbling) orphan working as a waitress, Honey is all alone until she meets her adorable cat, Lily. But when Lily unknowingly eats a fish containing a rare and expensive jeweled ring owned by Princess Flora, it leads to the Princess' suitors (including a handsome international jewel thief) all in a mad dash after Honey and Lily to get it back. In their haste to escape the people after them, Honey and Lily hide in a hot air balloon...which ends up lifting off, beginning an adventure that will take them all around the world. And that's just the beginning of the story! Part slapstick comedy, part international adventure with a dash of romance, the series has plenty of twists and turns right alongside all the hallmarks of shōjo we love—including a masked love interest who likes swinging in at the last minute to help our heroine, à la Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon. In the '80s, the show was dubbed in English and aired on cable as Honey Honey, making this a great candidate for a North American home video release. Especially for folks who got to watch some of it growing up!

And last but certainly not least:

Ah, Candy Candy…my white whale of classic shojo. The iconic '70s series not only helped launch the career of previously mentioned manga artist Yumiko Igarashi but inspired a whole generation of shōjo writers and artists hoping to make the next big shojo hit. Like Lady Georgie, this series follows an energetic blonde girl and her adventures in life and love—this time in the fanciful and exotic world of the early 20th-century American Midwest! But that's where most of the similarities end, as adopted orphan Candice "Candy" White faces one highly emotional, harrowing experience after another. Everything from dealing with the cruel, wealthy elite to facing the harsh realities of war while training to be a nurse. Candy's life is far from easy…but she hopes to find the sweet boy who once played bagpipes for her, whom she fondly calls "Prince on the Hill." Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to own a full English release of Candy Candy, I'm not betting on it anytime soon. The series is mired in some pretty messy legal issues, meaning that even though this title was shown in various countries in multiple languages, with fans all over the world who would love to be able to watch it again, no one can seemingly license a new home video release without navigating through years of legal red tape. Because of this, even Japan hasn't seen a decent home video release! But stranger things have happened. A proper Kodocha release finally happened after all these years, so who knows? Maybe in a few more decades, we'll have better luck.

Older shojo often gets overlooked in modern American fandom, even though historically, it's a very important and influential part of anime and manga. But with more and more older anime finally making its way onto North American fans' shelves, here's hoping for even more classic shōjo to get an English release. Until then, I'll pick up a copy of Lady Georgie for myself and finally watch the entire thing.