THE B-LIST: From magical girls to monsters: Shojo series to fall in love with

It's funny how something can shift from obscure to mainstream.

Growing up, I witnessed firsthand how anime — Japanese animated television/movies — and manga — Japanese comic books — made just such a transition.

I remember having to explain to friends and family just what anime even was; and, sometimes, having to defend it thanks to preconceived notions.

Sure, some anime and manga is "full of naked ladies and weird things" — but then so are a lot of American-made shows and comics. There's plenty of anime that's cute, sweet and family friendly, too.

Thankfully, due to the global rise of popular franchises like "Pokemon," anime is no longer an automatically dirty word. Nowadays, fans can openly talk about their favorite shows without suffering suspicious looks.

And it's sure easier to find merchandise now that anime and manga are so widespread and accepted. My poor Mum's struggle to find anything from "Sailor Moon" for tiny Angie's Christmasses and birthdays is firmly a thing of the past (though I still treasure my slightly inaccurate Sailor Uranus piggy bank and XXL T-shirt featuring the original Scouts).

There are as many genres of anime as there are genres of film: mecha (giant robot), kaiju (giant monster), cyberpunk ("Ghost in the Shell," "Akira"), shonen (fighting/adventure). This week, I'm recommending some of my very favorite shojo series: stories focused on ladies that often feature magic and romance.

5. "CARDCAPTOR SAKURA" by CLAMP. When ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto finds a strange book in her father's library, she releases magical cards created by the sorcerer Clow Reed. It's up to her to recover them using her new witchy staff and winged lion sidekick Cerberus. Sakura's quest is complicated by a rival and descendant of Reed's, Syaoran Li, and her very observant big brother Toya.

One of CLAMP's greatest series, "Cardcaptor Sakura" is a "magical girl" anime/manga that has a little bit of everything. Sakura has to rescue friends and fight the personifications of the cards in order to capture them while her relationship with Syaoran shifts into a romantic one. There are colorful side characters with their own story arcs/secret identities and some really gorgeous outfits and magical effects. It's overall a sweet (even bittersweet) adventure with a likable heroine and a satisfying conclusion. The anime is significantly different from the manga, but both are great.

4. "INUYASHA" by Rumiko Takahashi. Modern-day teenager Kagome falls into the well at her family's shrine and is transported to feudal Japan, where she learns she's the reincarnation of a powerful priestess who had unfinished business with a boy named Inuyasha, a half dog-demon. When the Shikon Jewel embedded in Kagome's body is shattered and spread across Japan, she joins forces with Inuyasha to reclaim the shards before the evil demon Naraku does.

Don't let the size of this series — 56 volumes of manga, 193 episodes of anime and four films — deter you: it's a classic for a reason. There's action, monsters, wacky characters, romantic entanglements and lots of goofy comedy to leaven the angst and war.

3. "THE ANCIENT MAGUS' BRIDE" by Kore Yamazaki. Hopeless Chise is sold at a sorcerous auction to the skull-headed Thorn Mage, Elias Ainsworth. Little does she know she's a sleigh beggy, a human who can generate magic, and little does she expect to find a family with Elias and his paranormal community as she becomes his apprentice and befriends dragons, faeries, alchemists and a tragic Church Grim.

As always, I'm a sucker for found family stories. "Bride" is as much about Chise finding a place to belong and a reason to live as it is about the alternating whimsy and horror of magic. This is a series that constantly sways between tragedy/the monstrous and heart-warming/adorable. No mean feat, and all of it is beautifully illustrated (and, in the case of the anime, beautifully scored). A new series that quickly carved a place in my heart.

2. "FRUITS BASKET" by Natsuki Takaya. High-schooler Tohru Honda may be an orphan, but she refuses to despair. A good thing, because it's her kind, open nature that allows her to befriend the Sohma family, whose members are cursed by the Chinese Zodiac. When those cursed are embraced by someone of the opposite gender, they transform into their Zodiac animal (rat, ox, rabbit, etc.)

While the premise is often played for comedic effect, the Sohma curse is actually a terrible burden and many of the characters have suffered great trauma and abuse, making this an emotional rollercoaster of a story. But through it all Tohru's unfailing goodness and love transforms everyone's life — and the curse, too. It's a poignant series that focuses on friendship and romance as much as the mythological magic, and a new, more accurate anime is set for release this April.

1. "SAILOR MOON" by Naoko Takeuchi. The magical girl series to rule them all. Clutzy crybaby Usagi Tsukino discovers she's a reincarnated moon princess when she dons the mantle of Sailor Moon to fight monsters, witches and intergalactic threats alongside her best friends and fellow Scouts (Mars, Mercury, etc.).

There are talking cats! Magical weapons! Reincarnated soulmates! Hilarious object-themed monsters in the vein of "Power Rangers" and epic cataclysmic battles for the fate of the universe! For a lot of anime fans —yours truly included — "Sailor Moon" was a gateway series. "Moon" emphasizes powerful female friendships and the fact that there's no wrong way to be a lady (everyone has their fave Scout; Mars is my forever girl) and remains the gold standard of shojo anime/manga.

• ANGIE BARRY is a page designer and columnist for The Times. To suggest future topics for The B-List, which covers pop culture, history and literature, contact her at abarry@shawmedia.com.