The List

7 Women Who Changed Manga History

Few manga artists are lucky enough to leave an indelible stamp on the industry to the point where their names are synonymous with changing the medium, like shōjo, yuri, and shōnen-ai wouldn't be what they are today without The Year 24 Group. The name refers to the approximate birth year of most of the participants, referring to Shōwa-era 24, or 1949. Unlike their male counterparts, many of the ' works are barely known to Western audiences, some having never been published stateside at all. This is unfortunate because, for their time, these women were introducing topics for female readers that hadn't been published before.

Otherworld Barbara. Thomas, published in 1974, is an early example of aristocratic boys at a boarding school developing romantic, albeit tragic, feelings for one another. The characters and plotting are soap opera levels of dramatic (as is almost all shōjo manga of the time) making for an emotional marathon read.

fanservice, you can thank Ikeda for that.

Shiroi Heya no Futari (The Couple of the White Room) is one of the earliest examples of yuri manga for girls, starring the femininely serene Resine and the dark and dangerous Simone. It takes place at a French boarding school where the two's budding romance becomes the subject of terrible gossip.

boys-love readers would be used to today; Dorian has hair like a 1980s rock god (Robert Plant to be exact), and Klaus would also fit in with a British pop-rock group. Characters also have pronounced, rounded chins and angled noses fit for a Roman coin.

The Star of Cottonland) debuted in 1978 with an adorable kitten who believes she's a human and falls in love with her owner. She searches for the magical Cottonland so she can really become a human girl.

Kyoto Seika University.

Mari to Shingo, about two schoolmates attending an all-boys school in the early Shōwa period (mid-1920s) who gradually fall in love with each other over the course of 13 volumes. She would also take her readers to the Middle East, ancient Japan, and the French court to showcase forbidden romances, like a samurai and a cross-dressing pickpocket, or an Arabian prince and his kidnapper.

The new poll: Which Winter 2017 anime are you looking forward to the most?

The old poll: Which of these characters do you think would be suitable for a country's highest office?

1. Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) 24.6%
2. Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass) 9.6%
3. Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) 4.8%
4. Karma Akabane (Assassination Classroom) 4.5%
5. Tomoyo Daidouji (Cardcaptor Sakura) 4.5%
6. Yona (Yona of the Dawn) 3.3%
7. Legend of the Galactic Heroes) 2.9%
8. Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) 2.8%
9. Daichi Sawamura (Haikyu!!) 2.7%
10. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) 2.5%
11. Light Yagami (Death Note) 2.5%
12. Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) 2.5%

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When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as the Managing Interest Editor for Anime News Network and posts pictures of her sons on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.