Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi is one of my absolute favorite shoujo manga. Honestly, it's probably the series that brought me back to reading shoujo manga. Dengeki translates to "electric shock," which likely refers to the fact that the series is fairly tech involved.
When Teru Kurebayashi's brother died she was left with a cell phone with the text-address of someone using the handle DAISY. She talks to DAISY every day via texting and relies on his kindness to help her through her struggles-- from school and mourning her brother. She is bullied often at school and one day when she breaks a window on accident she finds herself in the servitude of the irritable school janitor-- Kurosaki. Throughout the series Teru develops friendships with classmates, the janitor, and others and begins to unfurl the mysteries that surround her late brother and the secret identity of DAISY.
Teru is an extremely likable character. She is an ordinary girl, though a bit of a space-case (let's be honest-- who isn't). She is independent and positive. Unlike some shoujo manga protagonists her focus isn't finding love or school drama. After her brother's death she is sought by hackers to find some piece of data he may have had. They are convinced that she has it, and DAISY always comes to her rescue. Teru learns to become strong because she wants to make her brother-- and DAISY-- proud, and her friends and allies help her along the way, letting her discover more about her brother than she had ever known before.
Dengeki Daisy is full of action and interesting characters. Each volume is enjoyable and new-- never predictable or filler. For girls reading graphic novels about girls that isn't just about romance is sometimes a struggle, but Dengeki Daisy manages to have action and a quality plot AND still include aspects of romance and friendships to make it a shoujo manga.
This is an ongoing series with 10 volumes released in the US right now.
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