A lot of fuss has been made over anime genres. In most cases, the ruckus starts because someone somewhere didn't quite categorize a certain anime in the right section (i.e. Hello Dragon Ball, where are your pants?). Admittedly, most of the controversies occur because of folks involved in the matter don't know much about these Japanese media forms. Sometimes it is because there is still a prevailing notion that comics and animated series are aimed at children. Well, whatever the case, it is probably a good idea to touch upon the various anime genres and subgenres.

 

Shoujo

First, let's talk about the shoujo genre. This generally means that an anime is catering to a female audience, typically ones who are teenagers. One of the defining features of this genre is the focus on romance. Of course, each and every romance-based anime doesn't necessarily fall into this slot. Rather, stories with boy-meets-girl moments possibly sprinkled with doses of teenage angst where characters are also fretting about dating and friendship can be defined as shoujo. And let's not forget the feel-good factor that comes with this genre!

Examples of shoujo include the “Nabs School Hunk while Cross-Dressing” tale a.k.a Ouran High School Host Club and Vampire Knight, that rather troubling tale of a girl who loves two vampires. D.N.Angel is another perfect example with its cozy story about childhood crushes and school life set against a main plot about … a jewel thief?

 

Shonen

Next comes shonen. Offering lots of fighting bits, faster story telling pace and generally more kitted out male leads, this one's for the boys. You know, the younger brats as well as the teenagers. You almost expect the female leads in such series to be ditzy damsels who need to be rescued. Alright, so you get the occasional character who pulls a Princess Zelda but in a lot of series you will find assertive fighter characters who can hold their own against an enemy.

Anime listed under shonen include the action-heavy Bleach, the fighting-crazy Naruto and of course, Soul Eater, another anime with a battle against evil theme. Hardly surprising to see that featuring a large variety of weaponry and fighting maneuvers are central to these shows.

 

Bishoujo

Then there is bishoujo. This category is more about the content of the anime than the target audience (as is the case of the two genres mentioned above). Thus, this refers to certain type of female character in the show i.e. attractive, younger-looking girls. Think of it as characters straight out of male fantasies. In a lot of cases, there will be a large number of such female characters (and thus, if you get bored of rooting for one character, you pick another?).

Hmm, can you think of any examples? I'm pretty sure Rosario + Vampire counts as one. Have you seen the horde of females in that series? Then there is Suzumiya Haruhi. Yea, the main character dons a school girl uniform and can be cutesy when she embarks on her adventures.

 

Bishonen

There is a male equivalent of the above notion and it is called bishonen. Just like bishoujo, this definition also refers to the overall look and behavior of one or more characters in a series. In this case, the term is pointing at androgynous males and how their personalities contribute to plot or story's appeal. Same as with bishoujo, a lot of folks will view certain shows because they love what these characters bring to the plot.

Ouran Host Club must be mentioned here as it has more than its share of bishonen fellows. What about the boy and his delicious demon butler from Kuroshitsuji? And I know the anime is probably best described as shonen but … isn't Abel Nightroad from Trinity Blood one?

 

Seinen

There has to be something for the older guys and thus, you get the seinen genre. Such anime will throw in themes and narration styles for 20 something (or older) guys. Hence, there will be a bit more gore, the plot line is more intense and yes, your favorite character will probably die … permanently. None of these fake deaths you get in the shojo, shonen genres.

What would you find in this genre? Elfen Lied? The gore, whilst implied in most cases, befits an older audience and the story does ask a bizarre questions about the whole man vs mutant issue. And how about Hellsing? That somewhat gory show about vampires?

 

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