We’re currently in what feels like a shoujo series renaissance. Kimi Ni Todoke is about to get its third season, A Condition Called Love showed that not all red flag male leads are actually terrible, and A Sign of Affection had everybody talking about the most gorgeous white-haired guy since Jujutsu Kaisen’s Gojo Satoru.
There are so many shoujo and josei series – the latter geared towards more mature audiences via series like the upcoming anime adaptation of Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii – that have either gotten picked up for anime adaptations or have gained new fans thanks to the rise of passionate fans online.
One set of amazing fans are the lovely hosts of the shoujo anime podcast Shoujo Sundae. I sat down with hosts Giana Luna and Chika Supreme to talk about what got them into the podcast arena, their favorite series, what they’ve learned about themselves while working on this podcast together, and the future of their team-up.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Stitch: I love an origin story, so what got y’all into anime?
Giana Luna: When I was a kid, I would watch Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Pokémon Indigo League after school. Those were like core shows for me growing up, I loved them so much. And then I kind of fell off of anime and found other interests as a kid. I watched my first Ghibli film junior year of high school, Howl’s Moving Castle, and I got obsessed but I didn’t realize it was anime. I was just like “these are great movies by this one studio.” I had a partner introduce me to Death Note in college and for some reason that was what hooked me.
Chika Supreme: Similarly, my entry to anime was Sailor Moon. I would also watch Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball Z, but I wasn’t a Dragonball Z girly for real. I would go to Blockbuster with my family and would try to find anime even though I didn’t know the name of any. One of my sisters got me into Inuyasha and I just ended up falling into shoujo stuff.
Stitch: What made y’all start Shoujo Sundae and what do you think helps your podcast stand out amidst what is a pretty dense podcast landscape?
Chika: Giana was like “I want to start a shoujo podcast.” We didn’t even know each other, but she had a little ad out and I saw it. And I think what sets us apart is that the majority of anime podcasts are mostly shonen. So, the times they talk about shoujo, it’s as an exception. But shoujo doesn’t have to be the exception at all. Media that specifically targets women is just as important as media that specifically targets men.
And there have been other shoujo podcasts like Shoujo Treehouse, Shoujo Trash Showdown, Into the Shoujo Verse. The one that I think was kind of one of our main inspirations is Shojo & Tell. We’re very close with Ashley, who hosts it, and she specifically talks about manga. And so it was like, ‘okay, Ashley talks about manga, so we can have our focus can be anime.’ So we’re bringing something different and new, but also honing in on what’s important to us.
Stitch: Now this will probably be the hardest question I’ll ask, but what is your favorite shoujo series?
Giana Luna: I feel like it sounds so cliché, but it might have to be Fruits Basket. There’s something so deeply profound in Fruits Basket. You learn something new about yourself, or maybe someone around you, every time you watch it. There’s a wealth of information and emotional intelligence that I think you can get from watching Fruits Basket, and the story alone is just so beautiful. There’s a Zodiac everybody can connect with and of course, I like the romance elements of it as well. It’s like a 10 out of 10 love story underneath all of it.
Chika: I think I will go with Sailor Moon, because I have a Sailor Moon tattoo. And I feel like I was able to just learn a lot about myself by seeing all of the scouts come together and fight against evil. It’s always in me to just have Sailor Moon there. My favorite shoujo manga is Basara by Yumi Tamura. It’s the perfect enemies to lovers story.
Stitch: As you think of your past year working on this podcast, what have you learned about yourselves, about fandom, or about your relationship with shoujo fans?
Giana: I know Chika and I have both had a rough year. Producing this podcast has been like an anchor for me, to keep me grounded. It’s definitely reminded me that stories are something that humans have created to escape the troubles of life and just be immersed in something different for a little while. And we’ve watched shows this year that have really helped me get away from the troubling things going on around me. Like I discovered a new favorite show when we watched Sasaki and Miyano. It’s a new comfort show for me.
[This podcast] has been a reminder that I do love working on this thing and that despite everything else going on, this one thing has been so nice. And you know, me and Chika’s friendship has gotten stronger through continuing to podcast through the trauma.
Chika: I think we’re more resilient than people realize. We might not talk about it on social media, but to podcast through this trauma, stay dedicated to the schedule and thinking about what our next slate could be like – I think that’s really helped us in staying resilient in spite of all of the things happening behind the scenes.
And when it comes to shoujo, I can’t fully say that Shoujo Sundae should be credited for the shoujo renaissance in anime, but it felt damn good to to talk about things and then they started dropping. People are loving My Happy Marriage. They’re talking about A Sign of Affection, which we’re reviewing. People are even getting into Hana Kimi in the year of our lord 2024. It’s just nice to see everybody coming into the fold. It’s very validating.
Stitch: What do you want new listeners – the people potentially coming from my site – to look forward to across the future of Shoujo Sundae?
Giana: We’re hoping to get into titles that people are really excited about. Obviously, we don’t don’t want to say what we have in mind, but we do have some really fun plans not just for the rest of 2024, but also for a portion of 2025.
Chika: I think we’re essentially just competing with ourselves and so the more that we push ourselves, the more people will look forward to [our episodes]. I feel like your readers could look forward to how we’re going to be pushing ourselves and trying to put out more diversified content. We’ll also go for fan favorites as well. Oh, and look forward to the types of guests that we’ll have on!
Stitch: Finally, what’s your one shoujo rec for someone that doesn’t have that experience and wants to dive in?
Chika: Whisper of the Heart. It’s very good. It teaches you a lot about yourself, and how you can dream and how you can support someone else’s dream at the same time
Giana: It’s hard to give a blanket recommendation, but I was really digging Snow White with the Red Hair. It’s fantasy, there’s a romance element. It’s a wonderful little starting point.
You can catch Giana and Chika on Shoujo Sundae wherever you listen to podcasts. They have a juicy backlog of over 60 episodes and feature a wide range of incredible shoujo series and the occasional amazing guest! They host their podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and they’re active on both Twitter and BlueSky.
It was such a delight talking to them and I hope that this little interview makes you want to dive into their podcast and the wonderful world of shoujo!
Stitch's Media Mix 