Page "Shōjo manga" Paragraph 13

Between roughly 1969 and 1971 a flood of young female manga artists transformed the genre again.

Some, including Hagio Moto, Yumiko Oshima, and Keiko Takemiya, became known as the hana no nijū yon nen gumi ( 花の24年組, Year 24 Group, so named from the approximate year of birth many of them shared: Shōwa 24, or 1949 ).

This loosely-defined group experimented with content and form, inventing such new sub-genres as Shōnen-ai, and earning the long-maligned shōjo manga unprecedented critical praise.

Other female artists of the same generation, such as Riyoko Ikeda, Yukari Ichijo, and Sumika Yamamoto, garnered unprecedented popular support with such hits ( respectively ) as Berusaiyu no bara ( ベルサイユのばら, " The Rose of Versailles "), Dezainaa ( デザイナー, " Designer "), and Eesu wo nerae!

( エースをねらえ !, " Aim for the Ace !").

Since the mid-1970s, women have created the vast majority of shōjo manga ; notable exceptions include Mineo Maya and Shinji Wada ).