InJapanese popular culture, abishōjo (美少女;lit. "beautiful girl"), also romanized asbishojo orbishoujo, is a character who is typically an attractive young girl or woman.Bishōjo characters are ubiquitous in media includingmanga,anime, and computerized games (especially in thebishojo game genre), and also appear in advertising and as mascots, such as formaid cafés. An attraction tobishōjo characters is a key element ofotaku (manga and anime fan) culture.
The development of thebishōjo aesthetic in manga of the early 1980s marked a departure from previous realistic styles and the emergence of the aesthetic of "cute eroticism" (kawaii ero) andmoe.
Thebishōjo character type emerged during thelolicon boom of the early 1980s, particularly in the works of manga artistHideo Azuma.[1] Azuma's characters combined the round bodies characteristic ofOsamu Tezuka characters with the emotive, rounded faces ofshōjo manga. At the time, the dominant style in seinen and pornographic manga wasgekiga, a realistic style marked by sharp angles, heavy hatching, and gritty linework. In contrast, Azuma's artwork featured light shading and clean, circular lines.[2] Azuma developed a style called "cute eroticism" (kawaii ero), centered on manga-style characters.[1]
Lolicon (derived from "Lolita complex") was one of several terms used to describe the rise of cute characters in manga and anime, and a corresponding attraction to or affection for such characters. Related terms include "two-dimensional complex" (nijigen konpurekkusu), "two-dimensional fetishism" (nijikon fechi), "two-dimensional syndrome" (nijikon shōkōgun), "cute girl syndrome" (bishōjo shōkōgun), and "sickness" (byōki).[3]
Several characters created byHayao Miyazaki are considered icons of thebishōjo boom, particularly Clarisse fromLupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Lana from the TV seriesFuture Boy Conan (1978), andNausicaä fromhis manga and filmNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).[4] Another creator strongly associated with the boom isRumiko Takahashi, whose characterLum from her mangaUrusei Yatsura (1978–1987) gained immense popularity.[5] Cultural criticHiroki Azuma identifies Lum as a key development in fan interaction and response tobishōjo characters:[6]
I first visited Tokyo's gathering for producers of fanzines, the Comic Market, in 1984 or 1985, and fanzines devoted to characters from manga and anime series such asUrusei Yatsura ... were everywhere. The fans were responding to characters, without a doubt. Actually, to me,Urusei Yatsura is really an ancestor ofbishōjo games andmoe media—a completely useless male character is surrounded by all these cute girl characters, including Lum, an alien girl who wears a bikini and is in love with this male character.
Bishōjo characters are typified by design elements (such as personality archetypes, clothing, and accessories) that are known and acknowledged by the audience.[7]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: Not enough information or examples in general, especially for anime and manga. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2020) |
Bishōjo characters appear in almost all genres ofanime andmanga and in many video games, especially indating sims andvisual novels, sometimes to get more players or simply just to make a game look good.Bishōjo characters tend to attract male viewers.Bishōjo characters sometimes are the most popular female characters as most people like anime, manga, dating sims, and visual novels more when the art stands out, looks pretty, and has beautiful girls.
Games that featurebishōjo characters are known asbishōjo games. Becausevisual novels are also considered games,bishōjo games also encapsulate visual novels that featurebishōjo characters. Althoughbishōjo games are made with a male audience in mind, they can extend to a female audience as well, such as theTouhou Project.
Althoughbishōjo is not a genre but a character design, series that predominantly feature such characters, such as harem anime andvisual novels, are sometimes informally calledbishōjo series. The characters and works referred to by the termbishōjo are typically intended to appeal to men.[8] Since one of the main draws of these series is the art and attractive female characters, the term is occasionally perceived unfavorably, as a genre dependent on the marketability of beautiful characters rather than content or plot.
The wordbishōjo is sometimes confused with the similar-soundingshōjo ("girl") demographic, butbishōjo refers to the gender and traits of thecharacters it describes, whereasshōjo refers to the gender and age of anaudience demographic; manga publications, and sometimes anime, described as "shōjo", are aimed at young female audiences.
Bishōjo is not to be confused withbishōnen – a beautiful boy. It is also not to be confused withmoe, a genre of entertainment that features cute/adorable girls rather than "sexy" girls. But elements of moe andBishōjo are often blended, so the two elements are closely entwined and cannot be completely separated.
