Anime Types

 When doing an anime, it is needed to find what type of anime it will be. Different from cartoons, there are many types of anime and each one serves its purpose. Many people think anime itself is a genre when it actually isn’t. Anime is a subcategory of animation, this particular animation style originated from Japan, and they represent a big part of the Japanese culture.

The Types are:

• Shonen: Literally meaning "few years", "shonen" usually refers to boys under the age of fifteen, in this case, teens. Thus, shonen anime and manga are aimed at this audience. Many of these anime and manga have a young male hero and are focused on action, adventure and fighting. However, comedies and series with female protagonists are becoming more and more common. Shonen's works also tend to have more than a fair share of fanservice. Some popular examples of anime and manga shonen are Dragon Ball, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Watamote, and Attack on Titan.

• Seinen: “Seinen” refers to young people aged 15 to 24. Anime and seinen manga tend to be more violent and/or psychological in nature than the shonen series. They may also contain content of a pornographic nature (although this is not the focus of the work). The famous seinen anime and manga include titles like Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Hellsing, and Gantz.

• Shojo: often translated as "girl", it is the female counterpart of shonen, and anime and manga of this type are aimed at girls between ten and eighteen years old. They tend to focus on romance and interpersonal relationships - although that does not mean that they are necessary without action or adventure. Shojo's works almost always have a female protagonist; however, many male homosexual love stories also fall into the shojo category. Shojo's popular works include NANA, Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Fushigi Yuugi, and Ouran HighSchool Host Club.

• Josei: Anime and “josei” manga are aimed at adult women. Josei's series are often stories of life or romantic tales with adult women, although shonen-style action-adventures have also become popular in recent years. In general, these jobs tend to contain more realistic interpersonal relationships (as opposed to those often idealized by shojo) and can cover darker subjects like rape and infidelity. While many anime and manga josei have female main characters, many others have male characters. Male protagonists are usually the type of handsome boys, and the stories that present them tend to have homosexual connotations. Josie's popular series include Loveless, Paradise Kiss, Honey and Clover, 07-Ghost, and Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist.

• Kodomomuke: Literally meaning "aimed at children", anime and manga "Kodomomuke" is just that. Kodomomuke's works tend to be simple and imaginative stories that teach morals and other fundamental values to young readers. Sometimes they are original stories, while other times they are adaptations of classical western literature. Popular children's series include Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Chibi Maruko-chan, Heidi, Girl from the Alps, Anne from Green Gables, and Anpanman. (Eisenbeis,2014)

These are the most well-known types of Manga/ Anime. Of course, there are many more, but I will present all of them with a shorter explanation.

• Kodomo/Kodomuke: Aimed at children

• Shónen: Young teen boys

• Shójo: Young teen girls

• Seinen: Young adult men

• Josei: Young adult women

• Harem: Boy surrounded by girls

• Reverse Harem: Girl surrounded by boys

• Hentai: Anime with erotic and pornographic themes

• Ecchi: Sexual content, but less than in Hentai

• Mecha: Anime about robots, cyborgs, also people piloting them

• Lolicon: Anime about young girls around 8 to 15 years old

• Shotacon: Attraction to young boys

• Isekai: Set in a different world, not based on reality

• Yaoi or Shounen-Ai: Anime about boys who are in love with other boys

• Yuri or Shójo-ai: Anime about girls who are in love with other girls

• Slice Of Life: Anime that contains moe (a word that refers to feelings of strong affection mainly towards characters (usually females)). (Okuha, n.d.)

With all of these, I had to put my Anime in one of these categories. After some thinking, I decided that my animation would fit well in the Shonen category. I’ve said in the past that my animation was aimed at everyone, but teens would enjoy it more than adults and/or children. It also says that female protagonists are starting to appear in this category, which is a great opportunity to test this out. 

References:

Okuha (n.d.) Types Of Anime – The Complete Guide [online] Available from: Types Of Anime - The Complete Guide (okuha.com) [accessed on:08/05/21]

Eisenbeis, R (2014) How to Identify the Basic Types of Anime and Manga [Online] Available from: How to Identify the Basic Types of Anime and Manga (kotaku.com) [accessed on: 08/05/21]

Looper (n.d.) The Best Anime Of The Past Decade [online] Available from: Anime Genres Explained (looper.com) [accessed on:08/05/21]