Shojo manga, sometimes written as shoujo, are manga that target a particular female age group. Shojo is most often defined as 'girl', but can more accurately be translated as 'young woman'. While there is no definite age range, shojo is targeted to girls as young as seven to ten years old to those as old as eighteen. For this reason, they can include anything from innocent girls' stories to those containing stronger material advised for more mature readers. Manga written for older females are called josei, redisu¸ or redikomi, and the male counterpart of shojo manga is shonen (boys') manga. Nonetheless, shojo manga does not only appeal to female readers, but is also often read by boys and men.
The creation of shojo manga began during the late nineteenth century, when manga was first published in magazines (zasshi). At that time, there was no separation between manga for boys and those for girls. These magazines typically had cartoons that were only a few pages in length, which were written by apprentices who wished to gain experience in order to later draw political cartoons for newspapers.
It was later on, in 1902, that a clear division in gender for manga appeared, when a magazine known as Shojo Kai, "Girls' World", was published. The wars that soon followed created changes in manga, ultimately resulting in the longer, more detailed stories that we have today. Finally Kodansha Publishing released Shojo Friend in 1963, while Shueisha Publishing released Margaret; both magazines dedicated to shojo manga.
One of the first mangaka to draw a manga with a female, teenage main character was Nishitani Yoshiko. The theme of romance was also prominent in her work; a feature that had been unthinkable for children's magazines at the time. Today, the drawings and stories of Nishitani Yoshiko are considered to have created the basis of what are now popular high-school romance shojo manga.
For many, shojo manga have come to represent manga that are based upon romance and contain little adventure or action, this is not necessarily the case. Shojo manga can cover a broad range of genres and is not limited to those that may be considered more feminine, such as fantasy or romance. Moreover, there are many popular shojo manga that contain just as much adventure or action as other genres.
There are a few key stylistic details that differentiate shojo manga from other types. One of these is the presence of bishonen characters, literally 'beautiful boy' characters. Bishonen may be characterized by a male with an effeminate appearance, sometimes causing them to be mistaken for females, though this is not always the case.
The designs and layouts of shojo manga are also distinctive. Often times, the backgrounds in a given panel within the manga are filled with abstract shapes and designs, used to accentuate the emotions of the scene. For example, backgrounds mimicking flowers create a light atmosphere, those that can be viewed as 'shining' or 'glittery' are used when speaking of romantic details, or those composed of darker lines can represent pain or sadness.
The settings of shojo manga can also be quite diverse. Some shojo manga may have a setting outside of Japan, most commonly in Europe. There are, nonetheless, many shojo manga that take place within Japan, and a foreign setting is not a necessary requirement for a manga to be considered to a shojo. In fact, there are no set requirements for shojo manga, and they have diversified over the years to cover a broad range of stories; therefore, there are shojo manga that have only one or even none of the aforementioned stylistic traits. There is, however, one trait that is a key part of almost all shojo manga: the emphasis on portraying feelings and emotions of the characters.
The characters' emotions and interpersonal relations are key aspects. For some, a particular shojo manga may be able to evoke strong emotion due to the reader's ability to associate with the characters. However, in the end, there is only one true way to know whether a manga is shojo, and that is by knowing what magazine it was originally published in. Simply put, a manga is a shojo manga when it is published by a shojo magazine.
Today, shojo manga are abundant not only within Japan, but the number of English shojo manga has increased over the years. The Ribon magazine, published by Shueisha, is currently the most popular magazine for shojo stories, with a circulation of over one million subscribers per month. Shojo Beat, released by VIZ media, is yet another such magazine that is distributed monthly. Shojo manga released in the form of tankoubons, paperback versions of series that have been serialized, are also increasing in numbers. The past few years have also seen a large number of manga translated into English, as manga became more and more popular in the Western world. Today, popular series that have been licensed and published in English include Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya and Fushigi Yugi by Yuu Watase.
