Anime and manga are Japanese art forms that quickly gained popularity around the world. Nowadays, anime series are often shown even on central channels, and manga can be easily found in any bookstore. The popularization of Japanese art led to its development, evolution. New genres began to appear that were designed for a narrow audience and touched on the most subtle aspects of human life. One of these genres is shojo-ah. What is shojo-ah? You can find the answer to this question by reading this article.
What is shojo-ah?
Anime and manga are famous for their abundance of genres. There are such genres as Kodomo, Shoeen, Otaku, Dobutsu, fur, etc. To understand what this all means, it’s quite difficult for a person who is far from the Asian world. After reading this article, you will learn what shoji-ah is, what are its features, history of origin and much more.
Shojo-ah: genre features
Many fans of manga and anime are familiar with Japanese culture quite superficially. Because of this, questions often arise: “What is shoji-ah? How is it different from yuri? What are the most interesting works of this genre? ” Understand all these difficult issues you will help this article. But first things first.
As already mentioned above, shoji-ai (from the Japanese "shojo" - "girl", "ah" - "love") is one of the many genres of manga and anime. The main feature is that shoji-ai shows and reveals homosexual relationships between girls. Many people think that the target audience of this genre is guys, but this is not so. It is designed for girls aged 14 years. This is proved, at least, by the fact that shoji manga is often published in various women's magazines (like Mist, Anise, etc.).
Another characteristic feature of this genre is the characters. The main characters in the Shoji-ah genre are schoolgirls from 12 to 17 years old. Also, most characters are bisexual and do not have vivid signs of orientation.
Yuri and shojo-ah
Many people believe that yuri and shoji-ai are one and the same. However, this opinion is fundamentally wrong. What is the difference between these two genres of Japanese art?
"Yuri" is a Japanese word that quickly came into use and began to be used in everyday life. Translated literally, “yuri” means “lily”. Previously, this was a fairly common female name, which was often found in the vastness of Japan. But in 1971, Bungaku Ito, editor-in-chief of the then-popular Barazoku magazine, gave the word a new meaning. He designated lesbians with the word "Yurizoku." An amateur manga was created a little later, which told about love between two girls - Kay and Yuri. Manga found many fans, and the word "yuri" began to denote a whole genre of Japanese art. Nowadays, in Japan, the term "yuri" is used to refer to any kind of relationship between girls. That is, in the jury works show both romantic and sexual relationships between women.
As for shojo-ah, then everything is a little different. This term is used to mean that the work completely lacks coital relations. The genre shows exclusively romantic relationships between girls. Essentially, shoji-ai is a subgenre of yuri.
Origin
The genre originated in the 1970s. It was then that the first works began to be released. The first shoji-ai manga is Shiroi Heya no Futari, which was drawn by Yamagishi Reko. The work told about the love between two students of the female elite French school. The story ended rather tragically, one of the main characters died. Shiroi Heya no Futari became quite popular, and this genre began to spread.
Already in the 70s, shoji-ai began to actively develop. The Rose of Versailles manga was released, which introduced concepts like transvestism and transgender into the genre. These terms meant female characters who possessed characteristic male qualities. This manga inspired women, thanks to which it was warmly received in feminist circles.
Closer to the 90s, the shoji-ai genre became more acceptable to a Japanese audience. Surely this was influenced by the so-called sexual revolution. The genre was actively flourishing. The first Shoujo-ah anime series began to be released, which were very popular among girls of puberty age. Also a huge role in the popularization of the genre was played by doujinshi (non-profit authors). They wrote successful fan fiction on such works as Sailor Moon, Young Revolutionary Utena, etc.
In the 2000s, the first magazines containing manga of a similar genre began to appear. The most popular of them are Yuri Shimai, Comic Yuri Hime. The plots of shoji-ai manga have become more diverse and multifaceted, because elements of science fiction, comedy, etc. have begun to be used in it.
Shojo-ah: a list of the best manga and anime
So, let's begin. Aoi Hana is a typical representative of Shojo-ah. Manga is fully consistent with all the canons of the genre. The work tells of two friends inseparable from childhood, who now, by coincidence, were forced to leave. After 10 years, enrolling in school, they met again. During this time, both girls have changed a lot and at first they don’t even recognize each other. But, despite this, their characters and feelings remained the same. Manga is fully focused on the disclosure of characters, love relationships between girls.
"Girlfriends" is another decent shojo-ah manga. The story tells of a schoolgirl Mariko Kumakura, who, with the help of her best friend Akiko Ohashi, became the most popular girl in school. But the problem is that Mariko does not notice that her relationship with Akiko is gradually becoming romantic. It is noteworthy that the story is based on real events that happened with the author of the manga.
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san is a shoji-ay anime that tells the love of two completely different girls. Suzu is a timid, soft and reserved nature. Yachi, on the contrary, is a very cheerful, courageous and open personality. Once the fates of two girls intertwine, and they begin to converge. Between them the flame of love begins to flare up. But how do you confess to each other your feelings?
Yuri Kuma Arashi is a pretty interesting and atypical shojo-ay anime. The story tells of the student lovers of the Academy of Arashigaoka. Girls, by an unfortunate coincidence, were at the epicenter of the war between people and half-bears. Our heroines have to find out the essence of this conflict and test their feelings for strength.
Total
Shojo-ai is a special genre of manga and anime that tells about the romantic relationship between girls. This genre is very popular among girls of puberty and feminists. The formation and development of shoji-ai was influenced by the sexual revolution.