Your comment that you can almost always find something interesting in shojo manga made me laugh — I think a character in Megatokyo said something sort of like that once, how they learned all about relationships from shojo manga. I think I did too, actually.

Dang I like manga. Sure there’s a lot of drek — but much of it can be IDd with a casual inspection. I have to wonder what’s it like to review stuff that really isn’t up your ally. For myself, I find that shonen quality varies a lot more than shojo. A greater share of shonen are on my rave-faves list, but there’s also a great deal more that I have no interest in. Even if the shojo title is mediocre, I find that at least I can gather a little insight into the appeals of the opposing gender. Females may have a different experience.