The Genres of Anime and Manga Defined: Shoujo

When it comes to Japanese comics and animation, many of the genres are the same ones commonly used throughout the rest of the world. Action, adventure, drama, comedy, suspense, mystery, horror, and romance are all genres everyone is familiar with, and one doesn't have to look far to find these themes creating the foundation for several Japanese series.

Due to their overwhelming popularity, there are a few genres that most people tend to be familiar with, whether they are fans of them or not. The Magical Girl genre (mahou shoujo) is one of these. Typically, these series are targeted at young girls, making them part of the shoujo demographic. The characters in these titles tend to be very young--often prepubescent--and faced with issues such as romance, friendship, and rivals (as is typical of shoujo manga).

Some are made to appeal to teenage boys--older, shapely female protagonists and more violent content usually indicate a title of this shounen demographic. When made for the seinen demographic, Magical Girl series often appear very similar to shoujo ones, with hints of fanservice here and there. Ironically, titles that are targeted at young girls tend to also appeal greatly to older men. As lolicon tends to be part of the seinen demographic, comics starring several young girls may appeal to men who are a fan of that genre. Characters of Magical Girl series are often featured in fan comics, fanart, and fanfictions that appeal to the seinen demographic.

One typical storyline for a Magical Girl title is as follows: an average or below average girl either in late elementary school or early middle school comes across an object that happens to be far from typical. As a result, she then encounters a being who informs her that she has been chosen to gather the rest of the related objects, which have been scattered in one way or another. She is bestowed with powers and sometimes she is joined by teammates, sometimes she is not. In a common variation said girl(s) are bestowed with said powers in order to battle opponents rather than gather objects. Flashy costumes and transformation scenes are almost always a must, along with a crush who is destined to become a boyfriend and the occasional enemy who develops feelings for the protagonist.

Examples: Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon by CLAMP--shoujo; Cutey Honey--shounen; Uta-Kata--seinen.

Dead Giveaways: Battle outfits; transformation/special attack scenes; attacks with the word "love" in the title.

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