shounen, shoujo, seinen, josei 少年, 少女, 青年, 女性

What's a shounen manga? A shounen anime, or even just "a shounen"? What's the difference between shounen, shoujo, seinen, and josei? What's the meaning of these words in Japanese?

They are demographics: shounen 少年, "boys," shoujo 少女, "girls," seinen 青年, "young men," and josei 女性, "women." A shounen anime is so-called because it adapts a shounen manga, which is so-called because it's serialized in a shounen magazine, which is so-called because it targets a "boys" demographic, its primary audience are underage boys, it's marketed toward them.

By the way, "a shounen protagonist" is the protagonist "of" a shounen manga/anime, not a protagonist who "is" a shounen, i.e. not a boy protagonist, a protagonist of a series for boys.

Note: not to be confused with shounen-ai and shoujo-ai, which, in English, refers to gay and lesbian genres of manga and anime.

Source: various

• How to Tell Apart
  • Being the Wrong Audience
• Definition
  • 少年
  • 少女
  • 青年
  • 女性
• 向け
• Easiness to Read

How to Tell Apart

If you want to know whether an anime is shounen or shoujo, check what manga it's adapted from, and what magazine the manga was serialized on.

For example, Naruto ナルト is a shounen anime, because its manga was serialized on Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ, which is a shounen magazine.

The content of the anime doesn't matter. The terms aren't genres, they're demographics.

Source: japanesewithanime.com (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The magazine has its target demographic, so its editors will prefer content that its demographic will like. If a manga is published on Shounen Jump, it's because the editors of the magazine think it's suited for a shounen demographic.

Naturally, the editors whose job is literally to figure this out probably know what they're doing, so there's no point in arguing a manga isn't shounen when it's published in a shounen magazine.

I want to emphasize that if Naruto got published in a shoujo magazine instead, it would have been called a shoujo manga, EVEN IF THE CONTENT WAS THE SAME.

The content doesn't matter at all, it's whom it's marketed to that matters. It just happens that one thing influences the other.

Being the Wrong Audience

Sometimes people ask if it's okay for them to like shounen manga if they aren't children, or shoujo manga if they aren't girls. Of course it's okay.

This is just the audience the magazine is aiming for. If more girls than boys bought a shounen magazine, the magazine would gladly take their money.

In some cases, a manga published in a shounen magazine is more popular with its female readership than with its male readership.

This is specially the case if it's a series that has very few female characters in it, which occurs with sports series like Haikyuu ハイキュー, that has volleyball teams full of male characters, and almost no girls around.

Definition

少年

The word shounen 少年 means "boy," as in an underage male person, so it includes male teenagers. In legal contexts, shounen means anyone underage, e.g.:

• shounen-hou
  少年法
  Juvenile law.

The kanji of shounen mean literally:

• sukunai
  少ない
  Few.
• toshi
  年
  Year.

Typically, a shounen series has an underage male protagonist, and they're most about fighting and action.

Often, there's a focus on learning new things, exploring, connecting to new people, and growing as a person, in other words, adventure, bravery, making friends, protecting your nakama 仲間, making rivals, and so on.

The Shounen Jump motto is even:

1. yuujou
   友情
   Friendship.
2. doryoku
   努力
   Effort.
3. shouri
   勝利
   Victory.

Many shounen series are about starting a new life in a new town, or starting high school, or embarking in an adventure, and so on, placing the protagonist in a situation where he will be alone.

There, he makes new friends. He meets obstacles and enemies that he is able to overcome and defeat with effort.

The whole idea is that effort pays off and friends are great to have.

Unfortunately, the shounen adventure combination tends to yield child protagonists who are orphans because they're supposed to start alone, or whose parents are missing for one reason or another.

Besides this genre, gag manga, comedies, romcoms, are found targeted at a shounen audience.

In particular, the ecchi エッチ genre, which features somewhat erotic drawings, including tropes like panty shots (panchira パンチラ) and lots of fanservice, is also often targeted at a shounen audience, and published in a shounen magazine.

Pornography is obviously restricted to adult audiences, but shounen is any boy under 18, so we aren't talking about little kids here. A series in a shounen magazine could be target a high school audience, for example.

For reference, some examples of shounen manga:

Series	Genre	Lead	Notes	Serialization
One Piece ワンピース	Adventure.	Boy.	Parents missing.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Hunter x Hunter	Adventure.	Boys.	Parents missing.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Naruto ナルト	Action.	Boy.	Parents dead. School setting.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Fullmetal Alchemist Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 鋼の錬金術師	Action.	Boys.	Parents dead.	Shounen Gangan 少年ガンガン
Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba 鬼滅の刃	Action.	Boy.	Parents dead.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Bleach	Action	Boy.	Mother dead.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Soul Eater	Action.	Girl.	Mother dead. School setting.	Shounen Gangan 少年ガンガン
Attack on Titan Shingeki no Kyojin 進撃の巨人	Action.	Boy.	Parents dead.	(Kodansha's) Shounen Magazine 少年マガジン
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken ジョジョの奇妙な冒険	Bizarre.	Man.		Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Fist of North Star Hokuto no Ken 北斗の拳	Action.	Man.		Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Gintama 銀魂	Comedy.	Man.		Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Mahou Sensei Negima! 魔法先生ネギま！	Comedy.	Boy.	School setting.	Shounen Magazine 少年マガジン
Nichijou 日常	Comedy.	Girls.	School setting.	Shounen Ace 少年エース
Rosario to Vampire ロザリオとバンパイア	Ecchi.	Boy.	School setting.	Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
To LOVE-Ru To LOVEる	Ecchi.	Boy.		Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Death Note	Psychological.	Boy.		Shounen Jump 少年ジャンプ
Future Diary Mirai Nikki 未来日記	Psychological.	Boy.		Shounen Ace 少年エース

少女

The word shoujo 少女 means "girl." It's the female counterpart of shounen, so any underage girl, no matter how old, is a shoujo, including high school girls.

As one would expect, shoujo series tend to have a female protagonist where a shounen series would have a male protagonist.

In particular, the harem genre, in which a guy is surrounded by potential girlfriends, is even reversed into a so-called reverse harem genre, in which a girl is surrounded by potential boyfriends.

The shoujo manga are known for their pretty drawings. Girls are drawn like princesses, guys are drawn like princes. Clothes are detailed, eyes are sparkling, and backgrounds are full of flowers.

They're often more emotional, with heavier focus on romance and intrigue.

The "magical girl," mahou shoujo 魔法少女, genre, traditionally targets a shoujo audience, and in this genre some pretty normal and average girl transforms with magic into a cute outfit, much like a Japanese Cinderella.

Some shoujo series target a niche audience called fujoshi 腐女子, "rotten girls," who ship male characters with other male characters. They're in a gay genre called BL in Japanese, and they'll feature pretty boys in fashionable outfits, and the sort.

There are much fewer shoujo anime than shounen anime.

For reference, some examples of shoujo manga:

Series	Genre	Lead	Serialization
Cardcaptor Sakura カードキャプターさくら	Magical girl.	Girl.	Nakayoshi なかよし
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon 美少女戦士セーラームーン	Magical girl.	Girl.	Nakayoshi なかよし
Tokyo Mew Mew 東京ミュウミュウ	Magical girl.	Girl.	Nakayoshi なかよし
Magic Knight Rayearth 魔法騎士マジックナイトレイアース	isekai 異世界.	Girls.	Nakayoshi なかよし
Ouran Koukou Host Club Ouran Koukou Host-bu 桜蘭高校ホスト部刃	Reverse harem.	Girl.	LaLa
Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 会長はメイド様！	Romcom.	Girl.	LaLa
Sabage-bu! さばげぶっ！	Comedy.	Girl.	Nakayoshi なかよし
Nana	Drama.	Girl.	Cookie
The Rose of Versailles Versailles no Bara ベルサイユのばら	Drama.	Girl.	Margaret マーガレット
Glass no Kamen ガラスの仮面	Drama.	Girl.	Hana to Yume 花とゆめ
Patalliro! パタリロ！	BL.	Boy.	Hana to Yume 花とゆめ

青年

The word seinen 青年 means "young adult," but it's typically used to refer to a "young man," rather than to a woman. Not to be confused with the homonymous seinen 成年, which just means "adult," in the sense of not underage.

There are various reasons for a series to be seinen instead of shounen, mainly the fact that it handles more adult themes, which tend to be dark and depressing.

Plot-centered shounen tends to be simple, such that any issue can be solved with perseverance, effort, or power. It's good versus evil. Black and white. While in a seinen the plot tends to be about concession. There will be tragedy, loss, defeat, and no easy solution.

It focuses on the complexities of life and on moving on, about living in society, about having a job, having a family, etc.

A shounen typically feature a high school student or younger as protagonist, while seinen is more likely to feature adults, college age characters.

If a comedy is seinen, it's likely to feature adult jokes.

Sometimes, a series is seinen simply because its themes aren't suitable for minors, like crime, drug abuse, suicide, and so on.

Some seinen series are simply chill and relaxing, the slice of life genre, which may be considered boring for younger readers. In particular, these tend to feature a main cast full of girls, leading them to be called Cute Girls Doing Cute Things in English.

Some of such series can take place on a workplace, or focus on a specific job.

In general, a moe 萌え series is targeted at an older audience that buys blu-rays, which its fans, the otaku オタク, will buy paying with their own money, but children wouldn't afford. Series targeted at younger audiences prefer to sell children toys instead.

There are also several series that are considered seinen because they were originally published as light novels full of text that target an older audience.

An ecchi seinen series is likely to feature some sort of fetishism that a shounen series wouldn't have, and it's likely to have a character trying to get into a sexual relationship with someone, where a shounen would be mostly random nude shots in weird, accidental situations.

For reference, some examples of seinen manga:

Series	Genre	Lead	Notes.	Serialization
Minami-ke みなみけ	Comedy.	Girls.		Young Magazine ヤングマガジン
Asobi Asobase あそびあそばせ	Comedy.	Girls.		Young Animal ヤングアニマル
Saki 咲	Mahjong.	Girls.		Young Gangan ヤングガンガン
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasuna! 映像研には手を出すな！	Comedy.	Girls.		Spirits スピリッツ
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai かぐや様は告らせたい	Romcom.	Couple.		Young Jump ヤングジャンプ
Detroit Metal City デトロイト・メタル・シティ	Comedy.	Man.	Language.	Young Animal ヤングアニマル
Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. よんでますよ、アザゼルさん。	Comedy.	Woman.	Language.	Evening イブニング
Prison School 監獄学園	Ecchi.	Boy.	Fetishism.	Young Magazine ヤングマガジン
Nana to Kaoru ナナとカオル	Ecchi.	Boy.	Fetishism.	Young Animal ヤングアニマル
Initial D 頭文字Ｄ	Racing.	Boy.	Prostitution.	Young Magazine ヤングマガジン
Tobaku Mokujiroku Kaiji 賭博黙示録カイジ	Drama.	Man.	Gambling.	Young Magazine ヤングマガジン
AKIRA	Drama.	Boy.	Violence.	Young Magazine ヤングマガジン
Inuyashiki いぬやしき	Drama.	Man.	Violence.	Evening イブニング
Tokyo Ghoul 東京喰種	Drama.	Man.	Violence.	Young Jump ヤングジャンプ
Holy Land ホーリーランド	Drama.	Boy.	Violence.	Young Animal ヤングアニマル
Berserk ベルセルク	Suffering.	Man.	Suffering.	Young Animal ヤングアニマル

女性

The word josei 女性 means a "woman," or the "female gender."

The opposite is dansei 男性, a "man," or the "male gender."

There are exceedingly few josei anime, so it's hard to say what it typically contains, but the basic idea is that it's the more mature variant of shoujo, so it's more likely to have an adult woman as the protagonist.

In Japanese, josei magazines are classified as yangu redhiisu ヤング・レディース, "Young Ladies'," if they target an 18–30 year old audience. A magazine like Flowers, which targets an older than 30 female audience, would be josei but not Young Ladies'.

Just like some seinen series are about cute anime girls, some josei series are about cute anime boys.

They aren't strictly BL if the protagonists don't actually get into a homosexual romantic relationship, but the series may portray more emotional relationships between male characters that one might say "looks pretty gay" compared to how male characters are normally portrayed in anime.

Some examples of josei manga include:

Series	Genre	Lead	Notes.	Serialization
Kids on the Slope Sakamichi no Apollon 坂道のアポロン	Drama.	Boys.	Love triangles.	Flowers
Chihayafuru ちはやふる	Romance.	Girl.	Love triangle.	BE・LOVE
Usagi Drop うさぎドロップ	Drama.	Man.	Parenthood.	FEEL YOUNG
Kuragehime 海月姫	Romcom.	Woman.	Female otaku.	Kiss
Gokusen ごくせん	Comedy.	Woman.	Female teacher.	YOU
LOVELESS	Drama.	Boy.	Practically BL.	ZERO-SUM
Jingai-san no Yome 人外さんの嫁	Comedy.	Boy.	Boys as brides.	ZERO-SUM

向け

To say to whom a thing is marketed in Japanese, the word muke 向け is used. For example:

• shounen-muke
  少年向け
  Targeted at boys.
• shoujo-muke
  少女向け
  Targeted at girls.
• seinen-muke
  青年向け
  Targeted at young adults.
• josei-muke
  女性向け
  Targeted at women.

It's the noun form of the verb mukeru 向ける, which means "to point at" or "to face" something.

• nakama ni ken wo mukeru tsumori ka?
  仲間に剣を向けるつもりか？
  Are [you] going to point [your] sword at [your] friends?

Easiness to Read

For those learning Japanese, it's a better idea to read shounen and shoujo manga instead of seinen and josei manga.

The manga targeted at children have furigana ふりがな in almost every word, that is, they include how the kanji are supposed to be read, so you don't have to guess or look it up. The manga meant for adults only have furigana in kanji that rarely show up, like those for names of animals.

By the way, if you're searching for your first manga to read in Japanese, try Yotsubato! よつばと！ It's very easy to read with big letters, easy words and easy dialogue.