Time to Define the First of Many

 

  So I wanted to make something clear before I start going off on my crazy ass rants, and that is genres in manga and anime. First and foremost there are a lot of genres and sub genres, so many so that I could take pages to just describe them all. SO I'm only going to cover the big names and what they mean as well as give examples.

The main genres in manga and anime can be boiled down to about four or five genres that umbrella the rest. Those genres are;

• Shounen - literally means "few years" and generally refers to a typical boy from elementary school through high school age. Examples are Naruto, Bleach, One Piece...
• Shoujo - literally "young woman" and is made to appeal to young to teenage women with themes of romance usually. Examples are Hiyokoi, Say I Love You, Ao Haru Ride...
• Seinen - Literally means "youth" but the target audience of this is teenagers to old men, generally anybody who is old enough to read kanji as well as handle more adult themes. Examples are Berserk, Vinland Saga, Nana to Karou...
• Josei - means simply "woman", "female", "feminine",  or "womanhood" and much like Seinen this genre covers a more adult demographic usually where Shoujo leaves off. While Shoujo gives a lighter or more idealistic romance, Josei will usually depict more realistic romance or more adult themes. Examples are Karneval, 07 Ghost, Are You Alice...