Beautiful stories, captivating with their sincere innocence, enchanting fairy tale reality and often acting as experienced mentors in difficult life situations. Probably, this is how one can briefly characterize the entire genre of shojo. But still, in order to fully understand and find out how much this particular direction stores in itself, you need to dig a little deeper and become more familiar with its meaning and history.
Sedze - what is it and why is it attracting so much attention?
This word, so unusual and mysterious for most people who are in no way or very remotely connected with the Asian world, actually has a very definite and characteristic meaning. To be more precise, in the literal translation from Japanese, the word "shojo", borrowed from the Chinese language in the 7th century, means "girl, maiden." But if in China this term was applied to more adult and mature women and their age ranged from 17 to 29 years, then in Japan this indicator was much lower, from 7 to 18 years. Although now this word has begun to refer to all the girls who have not yet reached the age of 20.
What does the shojo genre carry and who will be interested in it?
As it was written earlier, the word "shojo" means "girl", and, based on this, anime and manga, written and created in this genre, are intended for young girls of 12-18 years old.
If we talk about the plot, then it will be a full-fledged multi-part animated series or a one-volume drawn manga, in the center of the story of which there is always a young girl or young girl, a student of secondary or high school. Fighting with our own complexes, resolving family conflicts, wanting to make real friends, growing up, and also searching for our beautiful and unique prince - this is perhaps the main problems and hopes of all the charming heroines of manga and anime shojo.
Central characters. Who are they?
The main character most often appears before the audience (readers) in the image of a cute, inexperienced and good princess. Embarrassment and constant torment of the heart are integral allies of almost every girl. Guys here in most cases are the opposite of their lovers and girlfriends. They are popular, impudent, sometimes perverse and insanely charismatic. Heroes, as a rule, are more beautiful than heroines, and some even have such a effeminate and charming appearance that they attract much more male attention than the girls themselves. But, despite all this, each of them is always ready to come to the aid of his beloved and, without fear, protect her from any misfortunes.
Of course, this is only part of everything that the main characters of the shojo actually represent. Many other stories may have heroes completely different from these. Therefore, in order to know what else they are and how they differ from each other, you need to independently watch and read the works.
History of occurrence
For the first time, shojo manga became known due to the fact that the magazine “Girl World”, popular at the beginning of the 20th century, began to print in its publications a simple story (manga) of one page. Such an experiment turned out to be very successful, and by the thirties a substantial majority of the magazines published at that time could not do without permanent pages devoted to humorous and light comics.
True, very soon, when the world was stunned by a new wave of cruelty and the Second World War began, almost all comics were removed from print, as they were considered too frivolous and open. But, fortunately, some time after such difficult events, the manga began to appear on the pages of many printed publications in the same form as before the war. Although it did not last very long. Soon, thanks to the zeal and skill of the talented creator Osama Tezuki, small stories of the same type and simple acquired a full-fledged plot and their own special characteristics. Also, this man made a lot of efforts in the subsequent creation of anime directions.
The period when the beloved girlish genre, shojo, romance was fully manifested
Despite the fact that this type of comics was created for girls, the authors of all stories written before the 60s were exclusively men. True, many of them regarded this work as temporary and wished to move from this direction to a shonen intended for guys. But, despite all this, the authors wrote good and interesting stories that were designed for readers of a very young age who had not yet reached adolescence. And since the age of the girls did not allow anything too adult, in their works mangaki talked about simple and understandable family problems, school, friends. Of course, there were beautiful good princes here, but there was no special romance.
Everything began to change with the advent of women’s manga. The first of those who took a chance and changed the style of presentation, familiar to everyone, and then opened new horizons filled with love motives, was Yoshiko Nishitani. After her debut, most of the manga for girls acquired a more adult and romantic tone and became very popular among older girls. It was a turning point in the shojo. What does this mean personally for the authors of this genre? The opportunity for women to realize their potential and pushing men into a different, youthful style.
Shojo boom and start of animation
1966 was the year when all fans of the manga were able to see some of their favorite characters no longer on paper, in black and white, but in a bright palette, movement and life. Because it was then that the first in the history of anime was released, which was shot according to the comic book for girls of the same name - "The Witch Sally." In addition, it was not just an ordinary cartoon for girls, but a peculiar and fascinating picture, which was based on a genre such as the Macho Shojo. Comics of this plan, like the usual manga, were designed for a girl audience, but they did not tell about ordinary schoolgirls and girls, but about sorceresses endowed with unique abilities and fighting for good and justice.
And while the creators introduce the audience a new kind of cartoon called anime, shojo-romance in the manga continues to gain momentum. Female authors by that time became very popular and some of them even formed their own “Union of 24 years” (the name is associated with the dates of their birth). Each time, more and more stories appeared with different storylines and forms. It was this union that was able to bring shojo the greatest popularity and create completely new, unlike other genres.
The beginning of more frankness
Soyuz 24 made a significant contribution and laid the foundation for the development of this type of comic book as shonen-ai. These are stories about romantic relationships between guys. Despite the rather specific subjects, this genre managed to win the sympathy of so many.
Also, after some time in the world for girls, there were such novelties as manga and anime of the shojo-ah genre. This kind of story basically had the same theme of same-sex love, which was revealed in shonen-ai, but instead of young men in love with each other, here in the center of the plot are relations between girls. Since then, the popularity of such topics every year is only gaining momentum. They have long become an integral part of shojo. What does this mean for readers other than getting more and more interesting new stories? For each, the answer will be different.
Shojo's special appeal
Even after many years, although more frank and adult genres have appeared, this type of comics and anime remains beloved and dear to many. Indeed, despite all the plainness and childish simplicity, these stories carry a lot of positive, beauty and even a significant share of important morality. And if you ask yourself why the Shojo genre appeared (what it is, you now know), the answer is simple - because it is real, interesting and instructive.