The ‘shojo’
according to Cavallaro (2006) is a term that literally means “little female”
and “is used to designate girls aged 12 or 13” (p. 11). This type of character
is common among anime and appeals largely to Japanese males because they offer
a dramatic shift and excitement which is not available to them in their
demanding work life.
Its function in
anime is one that depicts the transitional age between childhood and adulthood,
youth and maturity, sexlessness and eroticism, powerlessness and power,
inexperience and understanding, masculinity and femininity. The ‘shojo’ stories
are usually light-hearted and “bathed in an atmosphere of magic and wonder”
(p.11). This is a stark contrast to the protagonists of Miyazaki who fit the
shojo bill in terms of their physical appearance but are more self-sufficient,
brave, curious and proactive (for example San in Mononoke).
Refernces:
Cavallaro, D.
(2006). Introduction. In The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki (pp.5-13).
London: McFarland & Company.
Very short and simple. It's good! One thing I noticed is that you said Shojo appeals more to the male demographic. It's true that the Shojo sub-genre has a male audience, but they're not the majority. The majority would be what the sub-genre's intended for; girls aged from their adolescents to 20 years old. There's another sub-genre like Shojo, but it is called Shonen. The market for Shonen would be male-dominated. Still, I like how straight-to-the-point you are in this post.
ReplyDeleteHi Nazia,
ReplyDeleteYour post about Shojo is short and simple, and provides a general meaning as to what shojo is. I agree with Olivia when you say that the shojo appeals to more of a male demographic, in that do men only watch anime in order to gain the pleasure from what their work life doesn't offer? I think that this insight is good and gives an idea as to what Shojo is, even when I don't understand or is not knowledgable of what it is. Thanks for the post :)