Shoujo Manga/Anime

Every Otaku of just about any degree knows that there are different styles of manga and anime. Each style is noticeably different when one is placed next to the other. Bishoujo and Shonen are both examples.

However, the one I'm going to discuss isn't a style so much as it's a targeted demographic. The "style" is Shoujo and it's target audience are young ladies aged 10 to 18. As a matter of fact, this audience is where Shoujo derives it's name. Originally, it comes from the Chinese characters meaning "young/few/or little" and "Girl." The first magazine to target this audience in Japan was called "Shoujo" and was printed in the early 20th century.

It encompasses everything that school-age girls find interesting, such as fashion, hobbies, reading material, etc. Focusing on many subjects such as school, home, and romantic situations that characters get into. It even has a male fan following in Japan and wherever it is sold.

So, if your a young lady in America, and you would like to see what young ladies in Japan are reading, doing, wearing, you should check these magazines out. If for no other reason than some fun education!

What's your fave?

When many people see anime, they think it all looks the same and it's all about giant robots, girls with MASSIVE eyes, scanty clothing, school girls, etc. As we all know, there are diffrent styles (Shojo, Bishoujo, etc.) But Anime can also be categorized by trends of the time the anime was released, artist, production company, etc. This world is to comment on the differing styles of anime coming out of the Land of the Rising Sun and which is your favorite.

I'll start it by saying that , being a guy, I have to like Bishoujo (I think that's how you spell it). To me it's no diffrent from Betty Boop: she was considered sexy, and she was also a cartoon. Nothing wrong with looking at it, just so long as you know it's fantasy. One great example is Shunya Yamashita. Look at his drawings and you'll see that he's waaay different than most Manga/Anime artists since his women are more "organic." Meaning that although his women could NEVER exist in real life, they look more lifelike than most anime/manga out there. The eyes have a more conservative shape and size to them, they have a bit of feminine roundess to them, most pronounced when wearing stockings or bras, the "chunk" gathers at the top just like it would on a real woman. I attribute him to a Japanese version of Vargas, the (in)famous illustrator of pin-up girls throught he 40s and 50s. His women are the same way: sexy, without being distasteful. It's funny how one can draw a parallel to these two different men who have the same general interest. Not to mention, I bought Pocco Fraulein and I love her! She's so Kewl!