It seems that a lot of girls read more shounen than shoujo

[MisaoFan]

It's a bit old (7 months ago), but I wonder why girls like more shounen than shoujo.

According to the “wonderful” site that is Sankaku Complex, more and more girls in Japan are interested in reading shonen manga than shoujo manga. This relates to what I discussed in an interview by Fanboy.com.
I spoke about how there are series like Reborn! & Blach Butler filled with very attractive-looking male characters. There’s also the fact that shonen manga seems to have a fair share of teenage characters that appeal to a wide audience. Another supposed reason for girls reading shonen manga are that they are less concerned about being feminine when compared to boys trying to be manly.

Though it could just come down to this: shonen plots are just plain better than shoujo plots. Most shoujo manga these days typically seems to be all the same : high school girls trying to date a guy they like & the emotional drama that ensues. Shonen plots can be pretty diverse compared to shoujo plots. At times, there may be too much fighting in shonen manga, but they’re usually more exciting to most fans. Look at a series like Bleach, which has a huge number of both male & female fans. Shoujo JUMP, here we come!

To female shonen readers, why do you read shonen manga ?

It seems that nowadays, many females read shounen manga just to see attractive-looking male characters (bishounen) who looked hot. Another reason why girls read shounen manga is because females are less concerned for being feminine compared to males who are trying to be hot and manly. To female readers, why do you read shounen manga (there's a poll for this) ?

Spoiler for Other subgenres of shounen:

For those who didn't know other subgenres of shounen than nekketsu, here :
-spocon (sport-themed stories)
-pantsu (harem-flavoured romantic comedies containing more or less fanservice)
-suiri (mystery stories involving middle school/high school detectives)
-slice of life

[ahelo]

Bishounens have entered the shounen world after all + the fujoshi's Yaoi goggles have been getting stronger and stronger by the years.

I mean just look at Reborn or Gintama. Its not girly but it has a strong legion of female viewers.

[LC]

For me, it's simple. Most shounen stories seem to capture my attention more than shoujo do. Maybe I've just read bad shoujo, but no cast has captured my heart like say the cast of Bleach or Toradora. The focus on the attractiveness and overall "perfection" of the male lead leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Jealousy and possessiveness are idealized a lot. I often find the relationships in shounen and seinen to be more well-crafted and interesting than shoujo relationships. But obviously, not all shounen are awesome and not all shoujo are crap. In my experiences, shounen and seinen just draw me in more.

EDIT: "Main male heroine." orz Yeahh...I'm just going to rewrite this..

[Vexx]

Why should anyone restrict their reading based on how a publishing house labels a title? All the label really tells you is what demographic audience the publisher guesses it is targeting. All the publishers, however, have long records of picking up titles they think will sell no matter what the content or to whom it is sold to (which is why you'll see titles that "look shoujo" in shounen magazines or vice versa... or titles more suited to adults (seinen/josei) in shounen or shoujo rags.

Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, whatever.... if it entertains a reader, they should read it.

[Kirarakim]

I am a female fan who likes shounen but then I also enjoy shoujo, seinen, and josei.

I don't care about the target demographic what I care about is how well written the story and characters are.

[Kameruka]

While it isn't a manga to begin with but look at Hetalia. Is it a shoujo? No but look at its fans are. I believe 90% of its fanbase were made up of teenage girls and some young adult women. They just want to see cute guys doing cute things and most of them just don't care any political satire that ACTUALLY its main attraction.

[Coldlight]

Originally Posted by Kameruka

political satire that ACTUALLY its main attraction.

You mean intended attraction, yes?

Anyway, I do think that the rising appreciation of shounen type stories by girls are due to the increasing number of bishounen type characters in those, not to mention the proliferation of "cool guys" doing "cool things" in such stories. I'm not a girl though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[Master_Yoma]

All they went to see are buff males

[Last Sinner]

That's kind of over-simplifying the matter.

I think there's underlying effects of gender revolution in place. The 'glass ceiling' in Japan took until around 2000 to be somewhat broken. The option of being a careerwoman, more creative and social freedom. Women in Japan are fairly different to what they were a decade or two ago. Kawaii and glamorous are still valued but it's not the only way to live and dress for females now. There has been somewhat of a cultural shift.

And I don't think shoujo has evolved with it. It seems to still be pitching to the audience it was at the peak of manga sales in the 90s. But things have changed since then. When you look at what sells in shoujo these days, Kimi ni Todoke and NANA (okay, it's probably more josei, but it was printed in Shoujo Beat for quite some time) are the two that are able to match numbers with most of the bigger shounen titles. After those two, it's a considerable drop. What's unique to those two titles is that they offer something different from what's stock standard is that they offer a variety of female character types, treats them with respect overall and put them in situations people can identify with. There will always be cliches/tropes associated with them, but they have adapted to the times. Shiino and Yazawa have adapted to the times.

I help run an anime club and more females have started appearing since a friend and I took over. We asked them what things were appealing to them most on the list. Shoujo wasn't in any of there answers. Some wanted bishes/yaoi. Some wanted hot females. Some wanted action, some 4-koma/slice-of-life comedy. And in the West, female tastes have also changed. Heck, in my state, I asked the main manga store what females were buying most. He said that for one year, Gantz was the most bought title by females in his store! And I've seen a lot of cases where young women take a look/watch of once very popular shoujo titles like Fruits Basket and laugh.

In a nutshell, women are different now. Sure, they still like style and beauty. But that doesn't mean they crave things more socially associated with men. Genre and gender labels shouldn't define what a person should want to read.

[gebleg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirarakim
I don't care about the target demographic what I care about is how well written the story and characters are.

I second that^-^ I'm also female but I also loves reading/watching any genre(shounen,shoujo,seinen,josei) as long as it's a good/well written story&characters, even the sh-ai(BL)/shojo-ai(yuri) ones like super lovers, zankoku na kami, aoi hana,etc. I have lots of fav from each genre anyway, like historie, 20th century boys, sangatsu no lion, cesare, himitsu, berserk, vinland saga, shingeki no kyojin, piano no mori, nodame, natsume yuujinchou, and many more.

[Kameruka]

Want to know about Black Butler?(I decided not to mention its Japanese name since it has word "s**t" in it) It actually a shounen manga but at same time it also quite obvious it is marketed towards female readers over male ones. Maybe it sell better as shounen rather shoujo perhaps.

[wontaek]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Why should anyone restrict their reading based on how a publishing house labels a title? All the label really tells you is what demographic audience the publisher guesses it is targeting. All the publishers, however, have long records of picking up titles they think will sell no matter what the content or to whom it is sold to (which is why you'll see titles that "look shoujo" in shounen magazines or vice versa... or titles more suited to adults (seinen/josei) in shounen or shoujo rags.

Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, whatever.... if it entertains a reader, they should read it.

Again, Vexx speaks the word of truth and wisdom.

[Chiibi]

shonen plots are just plain better than shoujo plots.

I would have to say no to that.

I will basically read anything that has a good story, good characters and good art. That's all there is to it. But I certainly have more favorites in shoujo than shounen.

Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, whatever.... if it entertains a reader, they should read it.

Amen to that, bro.

[Amorok]

Er. So let me get this straight: the only appeal that shounen anime has for females is the eye-candy? In my experience, females are MUCH less concerned with pretty-looking people as they are with quality -- art, plot, characters, what-have-you. This is obviously an over-generalization, so don't flame me for saying so, but it's the GUYS who are attracted to skimpily-dressed characters and blatant fanservice. In general.

Personally, I prefer shounen anime, because shoujo tends to be fluffy and lack any real gravity or significance. It's all about frilly dresses, shallow romances, and the occasional DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST (t.m.), which doesn't appeal to me. I need depth in my anime, and for whatever reason, those animes tend to be labeled as shounen.

However, there are plenty of shounen anime that I find to be absolute drivel -- just non-stop fight scenes, overly-muscular badasses, and ridiculous manly posturing (e.g. DBZ. Ugh.).

In short, both shounen and shoujo are associated with stereotypes that I find unattractive, BUT for some reason, the few good animes that do exist are shunted into the "shounen" category. Hence my preference for shounen anime.

[NoemiChan]

I don't see anything wrong when many girls are going more to shounens than shoujos.
That's a good vibes.

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by Amorok

shoujo tends to be fluffy and lack any real gravity or significance. It's all about frilly dresses, shallow romances, and the occasional DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST (t.m.), which doesn't appeal to me. I need depth in my anime,

That's not friggin true at all. Shoujo romances are MUCH deeper than ones in shounen, overall. They don't go "OMG I SUDDENLY LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE GROPED MY BOOBS SO MANY TIMES!!" or "OMG, I SUDDENLY LOVE HIM BECAUSE I AM HIS SLAVE NOW" or "OMG I SUDDENLY LOVE HIM BECAUSE...BECAUSE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO CREATE PROBLEMS WITH HIS FIRST GIRLFRIEND BECAUSE........BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S IN THE SCRIPT LOL!!"

That's what lots of shounen romances do. I dare say, shounen love-comedies are shameless when it comes to being "shallow" with their "romance". Shoujo romances are anything BUT shallow-they are much closer of the two on displaying the idea of "true love" over "true lust". They're all about HEART instead of sexual tension built from fanservice and awkward touching.

Sorry, if you state something as outrageous as "shoujo is about shallow romances", be prepared to get a rant back, especially from someone who takes romantic writing VERY seriously.

There are plenty of shoujo series with a ton of depth, character growth, and gripping plots. You're just not watching the right ones.

[Vexx]

Heh, have some tea and watch the snow fall.... but you're right. Shoujo is often much more subtle and about how the *girl* feels. It also often covers what happens AFTER the confession.

One of my favorite ones manages to combine elements of shounen and shoujo (sold as shoujo) -- Love Complex. I also like Kimi ni Todoke (though the leisurely plot does have me twitching at times, I just want to pick her up and throw her at her guy ).

OTOH... Toradora! is shounen/seinen (depending on the publisher) and it is one of my favorite romances....

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by Amorok

Er. So let me get this straight: the only appeal that shounen anime has for females is the eye-candy? In my experience, females are MUCH less concerned with pretty-looking people as they are with quality -- art, plot, characters, what-have-you. This is obviously an over-generalization, so don't flame me for saying so, but it's the GUYS who are attracted to skimpily-dressed characters and blatant fanservice. In general.

Personally, I prefer shounen anime, because shoujo tends to be fluffy and lack any real gravity or significance. It's all about frilly dresses, shallow romances, and the occasional DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST (t.m.), which doesn't appeal to me. I need depth in my anime, and for whatever reason, those animes tend to be labeled as shounen.

However, there are plenty of shounen anime that I find to be absolute drivel -- just non-stop fight scenes, overly-muscular badasses, and ridiculous manly posturing (e.g. DBZ. Ugh.).

In short, both shounen and shoujo are associated with stereotypes that I find unattractive, BUT for some reason, the few good animes that do exist are shunted into the "shounen" category. Hence my preference for shounen anime.

eh, you might have missed up you definition between Seinen and Shounen. You don't like DBZ but DB is the definition of shounen action if there is one and its very peak before OP comes around.


But back to topic, a lot of female attract to shonen is definitely either the male characters or cute characters. Take out OP(it's selling to every demographic) just look at the series that are traditionally strong with female support. Naruto, Bleach, Reborn, Conan, Prince of Tennis, the all features some sort eye candies along with potential BL-shipping materials.

[LC]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

That's what lots of shounen romances do. I dare say, shounen love-comedies are shameless when it comes to being "shallow" with their "romance".

Not all are shallow. In fact, not even most, imo. It seems to me that you're referring more to the "he's nice so I throw myself at him" harem shounen. Toradora (a shounen) isn't shallow, for example. Heck, even Haganai isn't shallow, though I wouldn't recommend it for its romance. Some relationships in action manga like Naruto and Bleach are very well developed, even if they aren't explicitly considered romantic yet.

[BaKaBaKaOtaKu]

Yaoi, BL, Shounen-Ai etc..etc..

Naruto is the worst case of this