- 1 hour 52 minutesRed River Manga Discussion Part 1 (with Asher Sofman)
Red River by Chie Shinohara has finally gotten an anime adaptation, so, just as everyone else is talking about it right now, we, too, are entering the fray of the ancient Hittite Empire. Shojo & Tell host Ashley is persuaded by her husband, Asher, that he's the guy fit for discussing this iconic series, because his rabbinic studies give him an informational edge. The Ashes debate what the relentlessness of sexual assault against Yuri culturally signifies, wonder at the limits of historical fiction, and get wistful about isekai of yore. On sillier notes, Ashley fawns over Yuri and praises Prince Kail for being so corny. This episode covers the first third of the series.
REFERENCES
- Red River is available from Viz Media's Shojo Beat line
- The Red River anime is streaming on Crunchyroll
- Other anime/manga series mentioned
- The Prince of Egypt is the source of all truth
- Books mentioned:
- Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
- Songs mentioned:
- Ishtar
- Syrian civil war
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
9 August 2026, 10:00 am - 2 hours 38 minutesPlease Save My Earth Manga Discussion Part 2 (with Autumn)
We pick up right where we left off, and... It's not what you expect. At all. Rin is up to Rin machinations. Shion did exactly what you thought he did. Jinpachi is suddenly kinda sinister. Alice is struggling with her memories, in more ways than one. Daisuke exists. Tamura is still the best (Mikuro is a close second). Shojo & Tell host Ashley and special guest Autumn talk their overall thoughts on the ending of this slow-burn mystery/drama, delve into the worldbuilding presented by Mokuren's past (so you DID have cool flying spaceship jawns!), poke gentle fun at some new back-half characters, and of course, wonder "WHY?" about a slew of ridiculous ships.
REFERENCES
- Please Save My Earth is available digitally from Viz Media
- Other anime/manga series mentioned
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT
- Autumn's blog: https://notanotakunao.blogspot.com/
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
19 June 2026, 9:00 am - 2 hours 20 minutesPlease Save My Earth Manga Discussion Part 1 (with Autumn)
It's 1980s Japan. Saki Hiwatari is telling a story set in the extremely near future, in 1990s Tokyo (now nostalgic past). A group of teens start to meet up because they all have dreams of a past life where they were people who were the size of human pinkies and they lived on the moon. Why do they have these dreams? What happened in their past life? It's an epic drama and drawn-out science fiction mystery for the times! Shojo & Tell host Ashley and shojo manga superfan Autumn get into themes of fate and cyclical wrongs with this singular series. The discussion mostly centers around how punchable Rin/Shion is, but hey, we swear there's other fun stuff packed in here, too.
REFERENCES
- Please Save My Earth is available digitally from Viz Media
- Other anime/manga series mentioned
- Rocky is rated PG when it probably shouldn't be (it should be PG-13)
- "This is a work of fiction" disclaimer history: Started in the 1930s in novels as a result of a defamation lawsuit
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT
- Autumn's blog: https://notanotakunao.blogspot.com/
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
27 May 2026, 10:00 am - 2 hours 16 minutesFull Moon o Sagashite Manga Discussion (with Laura Spicer)
There are few authors more synonymous with "shojo" than Arina Tanemura. We've done Tanemura works before. But Full Moon is peak Tanemura. Which is not to say it's a masterwork.
For those who don't idolize Tanemura and are wondering what Full Moon is about, the series follows a 12-year-old girl named Mitsuki who wants to be a singer so she can reconnect with her childhood crush, whom she met when they both lived at an orphanage, but she can't become a singer because she has throat cancer that, if left untreated, will kill her. Some shinigami show up telling her she only has one year left to live, and she somehow convinces the shinigami to turn her into a 16-year-old so she can become the idol of her dreams before she dies. Are you keeping up? Tanemura fan Laura Spicer joins Shojo & Tell host Ashley once again to go through the whirlwind of a manga to, first, figure out what even all happened here, and second, to determine what the good emotional beats are.
REFERENCES
- Full Moon is available digitally from Viz Media's Shojo Beat line
- The Full Moon anime is available on blu-ray
- Tanemura's other projects
- Music mentioned
- +44
- Linkin Park
- Evanescence
- Within Temptation
- t.A.T.u.
- Maaya Sakamoto
- Yui Horie
- AKB48
- Morning Musume
- Ayumi Hamasaki
- Other anime/manga series mentioned
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT
3 May 2026, 9:00 pm - 1 hour 11 minutesMixed Vegetables Manga Discussion (with Asher Sofman)
Hanayu wants to be a sushi chef, but her father expects her to take over the family pastry shop. Hayato wants to be a pastry chef, but is expected to take over his family's sushi restaurant. Uh, you can see where this is going, right? Shojo & Tell host Ashley and her husband Asher discuss this romantic comedy series in which these 15 year old children place the weight of the world on their shoulders. Mixed Vegetables may be a mixed bag, but hey, maybe that's your cup of tea (to mix metaphors).
REFERENCES
- Read Mixed Vegetables digitally on the Viz Media app
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- Maid-Sama
- Kimi ni Todoke
- Full Moon o Sagashite
- Yuu Watase
- Locations in Japan mentioned
- How Japan’s Female Sushi Chefs Are Claiming a Seat at the Counter (Conde Nast Traveler 2022)
- Koseki
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
3 March 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 7 minutesHorimiya Manga Discussion, Part 2 (with Caitlin Moore) [Shonen Exception #6]
Caitlin and Ashley are back to discuss the second half of Horimiya, aka, all the bits that don't matter. Like, it's a miracle this episode is over an hour long, because the two spend most of the time talking about *checks notes*: Sawada, Iura, and Watabe. And they're definitely the most interesting characters in this whole series, right? Especially Iura.
Jokes aside, Caitlin and Ashley spend time going over the chapters they did like (and some they really didn't), plus there's a shipping corner with an 11th hour bombshell dropped. Just like the second season of the Horimiya anime, this episode isn't boring, but it might also not be necessary. Tune in to hear for yourself.
REFERENCES
- Horimiya is published by Yen Press
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Caitlin's writings at Anime Feminist and Anime News Network
- Caitlin on Bluesky
- Ashley on Bluesky
21 January 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 22 minutesHorimiya Manga Discussion, Part 1 (with Caitlin Moore) [Shonen Exception #6]
Finally, we're here to talk about the shonen elephant in the shojo room: Horimiya. Look at almost any list of "best shojo anime," and you're bound to see Horimiya near the top of it. But, just so we're all clear: Horimiya isn't a shojo series. It is, however, a very good shonen romance series.
Shojo & Tell host Ashley and Anime News Network and Anime Feminist writer Caitlin dig into why people often mistake Horimiya for a shojo series and how the series lovingly subverts a lot of stereotypical romance tropes through the main couple, Hori and Miyamura, and many of the B couples, especially Remi and Sengoku. There's a lot of gushing over how relatable Hori is (seriously, so relatable). But most importantly (regrettably?): Ashley and Caitlin delve into what makes the sex scene so touching and how nice it is to see an authentic teenage exploration of kink.
REFERENCES
- Buy Horimiya from MangaMart, a family-run manga store offering some of the most competitive prices around (affiliate link)
- Horimiya is published by Yen Press
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Caitlin's writings at Anime Feminist and Anime News Network
- Caitlin on Bluesky
- Ashley on Bluesky
10 October 2025, 4:25 am - 51 minutes 52 secondsMermaid Scales and the Town of Sand Manga Discussion (with Asher Sofman)
Get ready to go to the beach in this emotionally affecting, short josei series. Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand by Yoko Komori follows Tokiko, a sixth grader whose parents are recently separated; as a result, she moves with her dad from Tokyo to the small beach town where her mother grew up where legends of merfolk are still honored. As she grapples with her new normal, Tokiko is also looking for a particular merman for saving her from drowning. Shojo & Tell host Ashley and her husband Asher dive deep into Tokiko's family dynamics, whether or not one citizen of the town is actually real, and the consequences of pathological lying.
REFERENCES
- Buy Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand from MangaMart, a family-run manga store offering some of the most competitive prices around (affiliate link)
- Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand is published by Viz Media's Signature line
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode 3 dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
16 July 2025, 9:00 am - 2 hours 13 minutesSnow White with the Red Hair Manga Discussion Part 2 (with Asher Sofman)
Ashley and Asher are back to discuss volumes 11 through 20 of Snow White with the Red Hair, and they have a lot more to say this time (most of it is still some variation of "they're so cute!"). The Ashes talk about new characters (Hisame, the Bergat brothers, Lilias folks), the overarching plots (Izana's coronation, Lilias part 2, Sereg assassination plots, Kiki's marriage machinations), the official character poll (lol Mitsuhide), and of course, all the ships (yes, Zen and Shirayuki are cute, but why not Kiki and Shirayuki?). Let the fangirling and fanboying commence.
REFERENCES
- Buy Snow White with the Red Hair from MangaMart, a family-run manga store offering some of the most competitive prices around (affiliate link)
- Snow White with the Red Hair is published by Viz Media's Shojo Beat line
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- Bleach
- Fushigi Yugi
- Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden
- Jesse and James from Pokemon
- WHYY: "How experiments with gila monster venom led to blockbuster weight loss drugs like Ozempic"
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode three dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
22 June 2025, 1:00 pm - 2 hours 14 minutesJosee, the Tiger and the Fish Discussion (crossover with Shoujo Sundae)
Welcome to the special collaboration episode between Ashley of Shojo & Tell and Chika and Giana of Shoujo Sundae (hereby dubbed the "shojo trio"). In this episode, we talk everything Josee, the Tiger and the Fish: the animated movie version (amazing!), the manga (basically the same as the movie but taking things at your own pace can be helpful!), the live-action movie (oh no!), and the original short story (very Japanese!). Josee, the Tiger and the Fish follows Josee, a sheltered, curmudgeonly wheelchair user, and Tsuneo, a try-hard college boy who loves diving, as they both come out of their shells to meet each other and the sometimes scary, sometimes harsh, occasionally beautiful outside world. Let's dive!
REFERENCES
- You can watch the animated movie on Crunchyroll
- You can read the manga version, published by Yen Press
- You can read the original short story, also published by Yen Press
- You can watch the live-action version on RetroCrush
STAY IN TOUCH
23 March 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 33 minutesSnow White with the Red Hair Manga Discussion Part 1 (with Asher Sofman)
There are few contemporary shojo manga that are more popular and beloved that Sorata Akizuki's wholesome fairy-tale-inspired story Snow White with the Red Hair. The protagonist, Shirayuki, has apple-red hair that attracts attention from unsavory characters and noble princes alike, and the story follows her as she becomes a court herbalist and a worthy bride-to-be for Prince Zen Wisteria. Shojo & Tell host Ashley and her husband Asher delve into why this story is so special, while walking through the highs (and the lows) of the first 10 volumes. Asher expresses his undying love for Obi, while Ashley pledges allegiance to Prince Izana. But in the end, it's all about the best ZenYuki moments.
REFERENCES
- Buy Snow White with the Red Hair from MangaMart, a family-run manga store offering some of the most competitive prices around (affiliate link)
- Snow White with the Red Hair is published by Viz Media's Shojo Beat line
- Other manga/anime mentioned
- WHYY: "How experiments with gila monster venom led to blockbuster weight loss drugs like Ozempic"
- Outro: "Tokimeki no Doukasen" (Fushigi Yuugi ending theme) + Fruits Basket (2019) episode three dialogue
CONTACT US
- Shojo & Tell on Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter
- Ashley on Bluesky
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