Impact of Shojo and Josei Manga

The world of manga is a big one. There are four main categories: shonen for young boys, shojo for young girls, seinen for adult men, and josei for adult women. Shonen and seinen are usually centered around action and comedy, while shojo and josei are usually centered around romance and drama. Under these categories are multiple genres like fantasy, sci-fi, sports, mystery, horror, and more. These give you an idea of how extensive this media is. However, I will be speaking of the two categories of shojo and josei and the female demographic they target. Historically, romance manga has affected the conversation on gender and sexuality in Japan, has become a safe space for readers, and has had a big economic and cultural impact on Japanese society like the establishment of Lolita and Kawaii culture. 

Despite shojo manga being significantly younger than its counterpart, shonen, shojo has forged a path to speak on topics larger than just children’s entertainment. Shojo manga came from a combination of the illustrations of girls’ novels at the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912) and post-war Shonen manga (Takeuchi p.81). In 1953, the manga Princess Knight by the “Father of Manga,” Tezuka Osamu, was published and became one of the most prolific works at the time and even to this day. This manga became the first to be for girls and not just for boys or children in general. With this, shojo manga began to flourish, and many male authors started to publish their own works meant for girls. At this point, there were little to no female manga artists. This, however, changed in the 1970s with the birth of the famous 24 nen gumi or the year 24 group (Takeuchi p.82). The group consisted of many female manga authors who, by releasing various shojo manga made up of many different genres, diversified and changed the genre from then on. Rather than just being about cutesy, one-dimensional characters, they built stories with complex storylines and characters, all with the common theme of love. The most prolific works from the 24 nen-gumi are the widely popular The Rose of Versailles (1972) and The Poe Clan (1972).

When speaking about Princess Knight and The Rose of Versailles, we must discuss their gender non-conformance. In both works, the protagonists are both women but, in a sense, also male. The protagonist of Princess Knight was born with both the mind of a girl and a boy. She was an excellent swordsman and looked sexually ambiguous with both feminine and masculine features. In The Rose of Versailles, the protagonist, Oscar, born as a girl and raised as a man, was the commander of the guards during the time of the French revolution. These two very early works were at the forefront of the topic of sexuality and gender at a time when the patriarchy still ruled Japan. They raised the issues of what a woman is supposed to look like or if women can fulfill men’s roles. This shows how powerful and influential the medium was even back when the genre was still beginning to pick up steam.

As mentioned above, shojo manga is an umbrella that houses many genres underneath it. One of the most known and most researched subgenres is Shonen-ai. Shonen-ai are works about boys falling in love with each other. These stories exploded in popularity when Moto Hagio’s The Poe Clan was released. The Poe Clan is about the adventures of a vampire boy, Edgar, and his companions in 18th-century Europe. Edgar’s relationship with one of his companions, Alan, had romantic undernotes, but due to the unacceptance of same-gender relationships in 1970s Japan, was never explicitly stated. However, despite the homophobia of the time, female readers immersed themselves in the genre completely. According to critics, girl readers projected themselves onto those characters out of a desire to be free of the oppressive patriarchal society they lived in (Takeuchi p.92). In Shonen-ai, the protagonists were referred to as bishonen (beautiful boys). These bishonen, due to their feminine qualities, seemed like otherworldly figures, both male and female, but not quite. They were female readers’ “perfect ego” free from the female body and its functions while still looking feminine. They had the acknowledgment from others in their fictional world that women in the real world did not have. “Shonen-ai is a shelter from society and family- imposed restrictions on acceptable female behavior but also a realm that oppresses male-dominated visual culture” (Takeuchi p.90). From then on, Shonen-ai expanded into what is now known as BL (boys’ love) and yaoi. A clear difference between these is the amount of sexual content it portrays. While Shonen-ai is tamer with its content, BL and Yaoi are for more mature audiences. The sexual nature of these works became yet another drawing point for readers. When authors openly sexualize fictional figures, they give girls and women an outlet to confront sexual fantasies and become more liberated (Fraser and Monden p.549). From the intense attachment to this genre came the birth of the fujoshi. It was a term coined for female BL manga fanatics. It was seen as shameful to proclaim yourself one and was looked down upon by society. The word fujoshi most directly translates to “corrupted/tainted woman” and most often got called delusional or out-of-touch. Kayo Takeuchi quotes the critic Fujimoto Junko saying, “the inclination toward yaoi is more than an escape from reality, but it is rather a recreation grounded in the severe recognition of reality” (Takeuchi p.94). However, women who were proudly in the fujoshi community had a special bond with each other, like a sisterhood. They prided themselves in withstanding the pressure of the patriarchal principle of heterosexuality in Japanese society. The different mindset they had, which caused them to be shunned by society, helped them find a home in the manga and BL community where they could be themselves and be with others like them. 

Outside of the realm of BL/yaoi/Shonen-ai, there exists more to the shojo genre. Shojo manga is originally targeted to the demographic of schoolgirls who attend elementary through high school, which is why the most popular subgenre is otome-chikku stories. These are stories about ordinary girls falling in love. Specifically, the most popular otome-chikku stories take place in middle school or high school, and these stories are known as Gakuen-mono. Many believe that otome-chikku stories are the heart of shojo manga (Takeuchi p.85). Since they do not possess superpowers, a tragic backstory, or exceptional looks that make flowers bloom in the background, regular schoolgirls can put themselves into a character’s shoes and form a close bond with these works. They touch upon real-life issues that are a part of growing up, such as graduation, college exams, and career planning. Literary critic Fujimoto Megumi (2012) argues that otome-chikku works use “girls’ innocence and girly aesthetics” to let readers relate love and marriage with professional ambition in a way that does not make them “overtly challenge conventional gender ideologies” (Fraser and Monden p.552). These stories are the sweet spot of realism and fantasy and do not necessarily challenge an idea but rather serve as a break from the outside world for a minute or two. 

Since the beginning of the shojo era, there has always been a common thread other than love: cuteness. From Princess Knight to the present-day works, cuteness or kawaii has always been present. Big eyes, curly hair, girly and fluffy dresses, flowers, bows, pink, and sparkles are some of the staples of a typical shojo manga. From these said staples, what is known as Lolita fashion, was born. Lolita fashion and Kawaii culture have not only had a big cultural impact on Japanese society but an economic one as well. An object that is seen in a manga can be made real and obtained by female readers, which is how in many instances, the age demographic expands from young schoolgirls that cannot afford merchandise on their own to college students that may have their own source of income. Manufacturers of a variety of items benefit from the making of merchandise of popular manga, mainly romance. “From the decline of otome chikku in the early 1980s, the affinity between shojo manga and the everyday lives of older fans was sustained by fashion magazines [Japanese fashion magazines offer gifts inside] and hence is embedded in the real lives of young Japanese individuals” (Fraser and Monden p.553). However, since otome-chikku often depicts unrealistic love stories aimed at schoolgirls, the readers who are now adults and crave something they can relate to, have nowhere else to turn… or do they? 

           Josei manga or Ladies’ comics became popularized in the 1980s when shojo manga readers became adults and wanted something more realistic to fit with their now-adult experiences. Since the times were changing, manga changed right along with them. After Japan passed the Gender Equality in Employment Act of 1986, more female office employees started to appear in manga, which reflected many readers’ life as well (University). Like otome-chikku, Josei manga mirrored a lot of the normal life of its readers and gave them a break or escape from the heavy work culture of Japan. Josei manga, also due to its more mature target audience, touched upon delicate subjects that younger audiences would not have been able to understand. An example of this is the manga With the Light by Keiko Tobe (2000). This is a story of a mother raising an autistic son in a society that did not know much about autism. While categorized as Josei, rather than focusing on romantic love, it focuses on motherly love. This groundbreaking work became the first of its kind to shed light on a rarely discussed topic in Japan. “It visualized the issue of autism that would otherwise remain marginal, if not, invisible” (Lamerichs). With the Light went on to win an Excellence prize in the Japan Media Arts Festival awards of 2004. With such a manga receiving so much attention, it gave a voice to those going through similar situations and opened the discussion with the public to become more informed and spread awareness. Josei manga is the most unpopular of the four main categories thanks to its unclear separation from shojo (D). One can usually tell them apart because of the magazine they were published in, but they often still overlap. Some manga can have mature content but still be published in shojo magazines and vice-versa. Both shojo and josei are romance-centered and targeted towards the female demographic, which is why many group them together (Carney). However, that does not change the impact both categories have had on their respective demographics and beyond. 

While many critics and researchers agree on the impact romance manga has had on its readers, some think otherwise. Shojo manga scholar and museum curator Mizuki Takahashi (2008) argues that critics overestimate the influence of shojo manga on readers based on their individual experiences. These interpretations may not be relatable to those who did not share the same reading experience and may be more like individual “case studies” (Fraser and Monden p.549). If a group of people reads the same work, everyone would perceive it differently since everyone is an individual with different experiences and lives. While shojo and josei manga may not resonate with everyone, no one can deny their impact on those who do. With the Light may not have resonated with those who did not understand autism, but it did give a voice to the autistic community at a time when no one was aware of them. Princess Knight and The Rose of Versailles may not have impacted every reader, but it did impact the overall shojo genre and an entire generation of young manga authors. The typical shojo aesthetic may not have marked every shojo reader out there, but it did create the immensely popular Lolita fashion and kawaii culture, both of which have influenced Japanese culture and have spread to many countries outside of Japan. Shojo and Josei manga are not just fictional love stories but are stories with heart, centering around topics many can sympathize with, learn from, and find a haven in. 

Works Cited

Fraser, Lucy, and Masafumi Monden. “The Maiden Switch: New Possibilities for Understanding Japanese Shōjo Manga (Girls’ Comics).” Asian Studies Review, vol. 41, no. 4, Dec. 2017, pp. 544–61. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1080/10357823.2017.1370436.

University, Jappleng. “Everything You Need to Know about the Josei Genre.” Jappleng, https://www.jappleng.com/culture/articles/anime-manga/156/josei-genre.

Lamerichs, Nicolle. “International Perspectives on Shojo and Shojo Manga.” Transformative Works & Cultures, vol. 24, May 2017, p. 10. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.3983/twc.2017.1038.

D, Megan. “The Josei Renaissance.” Anime Feminist, 23 Jan. 2020, https://www.animefeminist.com/feature-josei-renaissance/.

“What Is Josei Manga?” Performance by Colleen Carney, YouTube, 1 Oct. 2022, https://youtu.be/qPuggKHZ-G8. Accessed 16 Oct. 2022.

Takeuchi, Kayo. “The Genealogy of Japanese ‘Shōjo Manga’ (Girls’ Comics) Studies.” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal, no. 38, 2010, pp. 81–112. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772011. Accessed 15 Oct. 2022.

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