Josei is an academic and Western-fan term for twodemographic categories of manga, anime, and other entertainment aimed at female audiences aged 18 to 40. The equivalent terms that are in general use in Japan are ヤングレディース (older-teen and young-women) and Redikomi (women who are older than the ヤングレディース demographic). It isnot a genre.

Like itsmale counterpart, it's notable for more realistic, less idealized portrayals of romance and life than inworks for young girls.

It typically uses a more realistic artistic style. Most are written by women, and feature in magazines or anthology collections directly sold for the demographic. Stories typically portray everyday life for young Japanese women—usually adults, but occasionally high school age.

Fuji TV'sNoitaminA anime block is notable for focusing on this demographic.

CompareSeinen, which is aimed at young men of the same age; andShoujo, which is aimed at younger females.

Series sometimes mistaken for josei

• Nana, which is really close to a josei, but it's aShojo.
• Kuroshitsuji (known as Black Butler in English) seems to be a mix ofShojo, more so in the anime, andSeinen, more so in the manga. As such it is often thought of as a Josei but it's actually aShounen.
• Comic Zero Sum is a magazine targeted at women of all ages. This often leads to confusion as to whether a work is shoujo or josei. These includeAmatsuki,Loveless,07-Ghost,Karneval andHatenkou Yuugi.
• Works byMayu Shinjo likeSensual Phrase,Haou Airen orAkuma na Eros, due to the extremely highsexual content that often includesRape Tropes. The melodramatic storytelling, however, is more shoujo-like; the only one whichmight qualify as jousei would beLove Celeb.

Actual examples of Josei follow below:

• Trope
• Pages with Sidemenus
• Anime Fan Speak
• Trope Names from Japanese