Ask John: What is Shoujo?

Question:
What is shoujo anime/manga? I have heard that most of the anime and manga series that I love are known as “shoujo” (Fushigi Yuugi, Card Captor Sakura, Escaflowne, Boys Be, Onegai Teacher) but then I also keep hearing that some others that what I thought might be shoujo aren’t. (Tenchi Muyo!, Love Hina, Ranma 1/2, Oh My Goddess!). So I ask you, John, what defines shoujo?

Answer:
“Shoujo” is the Japanese word for “young girl.” It’s a word that’s often used among anime fans to refer to anime and manga intended for female readers and viewers. Especially die-hard fans of manga frequently argue that the classification “shoujo” is not a genre term, but a reference to intended target market. Using this basis, the classification of “shoujo” is based upon which manga magazine a story was originally published in. For example, Sailormoon, published in Nakayoshi Magazine, a manga magazine for girls, is considered shoujo, but the romantic comedy Kimagure Orange Road, which was published in the boys’ magazine Shonen Jump, is not a shoujo title.

Unfortunately, this strict classification scheme becomes useless when faced with titles like Magical Stage Fancy Lala and Princess Tutu, which seem to be unquestionably shoujo, but did not originate in manga. Furthermore, anime titles including Chobits and Escaflowne have elements of shoujo or shoujo influence, but likewise are not technically shoujo titles or did not originate in manga. Shoujo is broadly defined as manga or anime for girls. That entails a primary focus on character development, character interactions and relationships, and introspective emotions, unlike typical mainstream or shonen (boys’) anime which prioritizes action, excitement, conflict and adventure. I may (and have, numerous times in the past) take criticism for sticking to a broad, amorphous definition of “shoujo” as a genre distinction instead of a formal classification, but in my opinion, using the term in any strict, formal sense is just too restrictive and isolated to be really useful or effective.

In my subjective opinion, which stands in contradiction to the established formal definition of “shoujo” as an intended target audience classification based on manga origins, the term “shoujo” is a tool used to identify anime or manga exhibiting characteristics associated with mainstream literature for female audiences: from stylized and melodramatic romance to fantasy adventure to transforming magical heroines and magic using girls. By strict definition, titles like Ah! My Goddess and Kimagure Orange Road are not shoujo because they premiered in manga magazines that also published stories including Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Blade of the Immortal and the post-apocalyptic action story Blame. But it seems illogical and inappropriate to argue that Orange Road and Ah! My Goddess have more in common with Dragonball than they do with acknowledged shoujo titles like Marmalade Boy and Fushigi Yuugi. A broader, more encompassing definition of shoujo would acknowledge the differences between the magical cat girl Taruto and the bloody and violent Hakaima Sadamitsu, which both happen to be published in Ultra Jump magazine. Furthermore, a loose definition of “shoujo” is far more efficient in expressing relevant characteristics of a particular title to the uninitiated than the strict, academic definition of the term which does little to assist conversation or identification of particular anime titles or types of titles to new or novice fans.

In summation, my personal definition of “shoujo” is anime or manga that primarily utilize characteristics or conventions of contemporary Japanese storytelling aimed at females. The strict, academic definition of “shoujo,” to quote John C. Watson of the World Otakunization Project, is not a genre, but a publication target demographic determined by which magazine a manga title is originally published in.