A Certain Kind of Friendship

[faintsmile]

Okay! So I am looking for a manga or anime that is based around the friendship of two characters. You might be thinking "Duh, look at the title", but I want these two characters to have a specific relationship:

1. It must be two girls or women. There can be guys as side characters, but try to have more women then men.

2. They must be of different classes. And I do not mean the way it is in Nana. I mean like "a worker and her boss" sort of a thing. It could be Master/Servant, or Worker/Boss, or Star/Normal person, or Rich/Poor.

3. It is preferable that they did not know each other at the start and are forced together for some reason, like they are roommates in college or whatever.

4. The two should not get along in the beginning and their friendship should grow.


Other things to consider:

It can be shounen or shojo. It does not really matter.
It can have fighting or adventure if need be.
Try to have the least amount of romance as is possible.
And finally, try to keep it more on the intellectual side and away from the goofy.

Thank you for your help!

[deathreape98]

Although there are four girls, there are essentially no guys in Lucky Star, nor any romance. I would suggest that, although it can get pretty goofy.

[mit7059]

Originally Posted by deathreape98

Although there are four girls, there are essentially no guys in Lucky Star, nor any romance. I would suggest that, although it can get pretty goofy.

Thats what I thought first as well but I don't think it really fits because it fails all the criteria in that:
1. It has 4 girls not 2
2. They're all pretty much the same class
3. They know each at the start
4. They are all friends at the start

But honestly I can't think of any series that even comes close to fitting this critera. Hell other than Nana, Lucky Star and K-On! (which fails for pretty much the same reasons as Lucky Star) I can't even really think of a series that focuses on the friendship between girls. The closest thing I can actually think of is Ookiku Furikabutte which totally fails because its about guys but it fits the last two criteria plus it doesn't have any romance. That being said it is a great series and really does focus on friendship but once again probably not what the OP is looking for.

[Ichihara Asako]

El Cazador comes to mind. Two girls, fairly different lives, and due to the way they met you can't really say they got along. So that's the last two covered.

I personally found it a little disappointing, however it has a great score by Yuki, and the voicework was good. Story was just kind of too episodic and the story felt rushed to me personally.

[KholdStare]

Tough criteria. The first thing I thought of was Sakura x Tomoyo in Cardcaptor Sakura. Tomoyo is technically a side character but she is present in pretty much all episodes. Her family is rich while Sakura's dad is a single parent. However, they do get along from the first episode.

My second thought was the Yoshika x Perrine relationship in Strike Witches, but it wasn't the main focus. I also thought of Mahoro x Minawa in Mahoromatic second season, although that series is more action than character development.

The last of my serious recommendations is Saki x Nodoka in Saki. I don't know about their "class," but Saki is technically someone who never plays mahjong competitively and Nodoka is a champion at her middle school. Their relationship was rough at the beginning, so that fits your criterion. However, their relationship developed very...fast, so you won't see much growing. It is certainly not an "intellectual" relationship; however, there are lots of other female friendships in the series that could be considered as such, even if those friendships do not include main characters. This series might be your best bet if you can get past some goofy parts.

But when all fails, try Kanamemo, but that is also a weird comedy of some sort.

[Irenicus]

That's a...strange and extremely restrictive criteria. I don't think this fits exactly to your request, but I would nonetheless recommend Michiko to Hatchin.

About your criteria:

1) They're two girls. A woman and a girl to be more exact.

2) I'm not sure what you mean here, but one can't really define these characters into social classes. "Bombshell criminal" and "lost child" work I guess, but they're a lot more than their classes, whatever that means. Regardless, the relationship is not an "equal" one among the "same people" that you seem to dislike.

The problem is that one is an adult and the other a child, so the dynamics might be *too* different to what you're looking for. Friendship? Probably. Mother-daughter love? Maybe that too. Partners-in-crime? Could be. It's not easy to shoehorn a unique relationship into a simple criteria.

3) They didn't know each other at all before the start of their grand adventure across Brazil.

4) That fits alright, though it's stormy almost to the end. Hatchin's at a rebellious age. XD

Other points:

- It kicks ass. Ever heard of Samurai Champloo? Manglobe did that. Manglobe does this. Its style is closer to Bebop and Champloo than "mainstream otaku" anime, complete with brilliant music.

- It's wonderfully colorful, in a deep sense of the word. It's set in Brazil (you don't see that everyday) and has a realistic, hard-boiled world where slum children are murderers and people throw away petty dignities to survive. This isn't a world where bad guys are always punished and good people (that is, nobody) win. Yet at the same time the series doesn't shy away from goofy and silly fun when it wants to. Instead of dampening its "intellectualism," I think that makes for a much more authentic world. Life sucks; but the sky is blue no matter what you do. Your mileage may vary. I actually was bugged as hell about the ending, but the ride was worth it anyway.

- There's a lot of adventuring involved and not much of traditional romance. This is a story about a breakaway criminal and a runaway child as they chase an elusive shadow of a man all across Brazil while crossing paths with gangsters, prostitutes, circus performers, assassins, unexpected loves, and of course the police.

- The main pair has a unique and interesting relationship all the way to the end. "A certain kind of friendship," as you say.

[Shadow Kira01]

Is this some sort of challenge? By the time I find animes that matches at least 3 out of the 4 points, it fails some of the things to consider...

I can only think of one anime:

K-ON!: It has the first 3 points and 2 of the 4 things to consider.

[mit7059]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

Is this some sort of challenge? By the time I find animes that matches at least 3 out of the 4 points, it fails some of the things to consider...

I can only think of one anime:

K-ON!: It has the first 3 points and 2 of the 4 things to consider.

How does K-On have the first three points?
1. It has more than 2 women
2. They are not of different classes, they are peers
3. While they didn't really know each other intially, they weren't really forced together, they chose to be together
4. They liked each other pretty much from the start

Yeah it doesn't have romance but it is in no way serious, most definitely goofy.

[GreatTeacherKen]

Maria sama ga miteru franchise is the only one I can think of that comes close. The show has a large ensemble cast, but Yumi and Sachiko are the main characters (especially the former). They're both high school students, but they're due to the school's soeur system (basically an older student picks a younger student to be her soeur or sister and eventually establish a close friendship), they're of a different class. They're not exactly forced together, since Sachiko chooses Yumi to be her soeur, but they are initially strangers.

As for their relationship, they more or less like each other from the start, but there's still drama/tension cause by misunderstandings/miscommunication, although this eventually subsides as the two grow closer.

I wouldn't say the show's intellectual, but I'll say that it is a calm, elegant, and heartwarming series. And it's actually pretty light on drama, with only a few moments where things get more emotionally intense i.e. episode 11 from the 1st season.

[Ash Falls Town]

Pretty Cure
One of the girls is rich while the other is normal and they are forced together by magical girl duty. They go to the same school but they never really interacted before becoming cures.

The show isn't terribly intellectual though and they get along together pretty quickly. Plus there is some romance. (Not that much though.)

[Fate21]

How about Tomodachi manga. It's a shoujo manga about school life, when they're still a kid they were friend and after separated the other become aloof. They're in the same class though
Here's the description :
After being overseas for five years, 16-year-old Yamato comes back to Japan to find that her geeky best friend, Ai, has turned into a delinquent, and wants nothing to do with her! Yamato tries to revive her relationship with Ai while finding out about her troubled past without Yamato, and why she changed.

But there's still have a romance with a guy though
I agree with Ash Falls Town, I think Pretty Cure anime fits the description.

[Slick_rick]

Sisters of Wellber fits perfectly.

1. About two girls.
2. They are of a different class. Princess and a thief.
3. They don't know each other at start and are forced together due to events.
4. Their friendship definitely grows throughout the show.

[cerrian]

Gunbuster and Gunbuster 2 - meets all criteria.

Kaleido Star - meets all criteria.

Michiko to Hatchin - meets all criteria.

Simoun - has romance elements

Twin Spica - meets all criteria but the friendship is more of a side story than being part of the core plot.

Toradora - The friendship is not the major focus of the storyline. Has romance elements.

Noir - meets all criteria.

Aria - meets all but the 4th criteria where "The two should not get along in the beginning and their friendship should grow". There are multiple vertical relationships that are explored in this series. The only drawback for you is that the friendships have already been established, but the series does take the time to visit the beginning of most of the relationships.

edit - Revolutionary Girl Utena - almost forgot about this one. Meets all requirements, can be a bit of a mind screw.

[RadiantBeam]

Mentioned already, but I believe Noir fits your request perfectly. It's a small cast with mainly women. Kirika and Mireille have the kind of relationship you're looking for, and the plot is very good in terms of intellect.

[-chii-]

Originally Posted by Ash Falls Town

Pretty Cure
One of the girls is rich while the other is normal and they are forced together by magical girl duty.

BWHAHAHHAAHHA that is the best thing i've read online in a while XD

anywho i'm suprised no one has meantioned Revolutionary Girl Utena there gets to be some romance in there but i didn't notice it a lot imo and it fits your wants list

[Fate21]

Umi Monogatari if I'm not mistaken fits all the criteria and it's still new.
Here's the description :
Genres: magic
Themes: Magical Girl
Plot Summary: The story centers on Marin and Urin, two “pure” sisters who live alongside the fish in the sea, but yearn to be in the world beyond the water and above ground. One day, a beautiful ring falls in the middle of the sea, and Marin and Urin retrieve it. The two decide to leave their waterbound world for the first time to deliver the ring. After an arduous journey, they come across an isolated island where a high school girl named Kanon lives. The encounter between Marin and Kanon — the maiden of the sea and the maiden of the skies — awakens a hidden power as the world is threatened by an enveloping darkness.
Number of episodes: 12

And it's cute, really really too cute XD the colour is nice too(there are so many colour) and has comedy too