Shoujou, the demographic genre with as many layers as there is to spell the word. Call it shojo, shoujo or shojou, the genre is a big chunk of the anime community. The word shojo means ‘young woman’ and the anime and manga is aimed at the teen female market. Shojo, like seinen, shounen and josei cover many subgenres and narratives like historical drama, isekai, science fiction, fantasy and even light horror, and often focuses on romance and emotion.
Magazines of the shoujou genre first appeared in 1902, when Shojo-kai (Girls’ World) started its publications, soon followed by other magazines such as Shojo Sekai (Girls’ World) and Shojo no Tomo (Girls’ Friend). It is said that Tezuka Osamu, the father of shounen manga also was an important part of pioneering the shoujo genre. Ribon no Kishi (Knight of the Ribbon), written in 1953 is most definitely not the first manga series aimed at girls but it is regarded by shoujo experts as the first title that unquestionably incorporated many of the standard shoujo elements. Ribon no Kishi focussed on sophisticated tales of fantasy, love and drama, and a lot of series thereafter followed that narrative.
The 1950s and 60s is the next big step for shoujou, large audiences for manga rose with the rise of two genres: Shonen manga for boys and Shoujo for girls. Shoujo at the time was heavily influenced by American TV dramas, what is more, that teenage mangaka Machiko Satonaka debuted in 1964, proving that becoming a female mangaka is something young women can dream into reality. The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo also inspired a series of shoujo sports manga. Shoujo was now becoming a genre for girls, made by girls. Women artists broke into the field of manga with a bang.
The decades thereafter brought great titles to further set the tone for shoujo manga and anime, titles such as Red River, Basara, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Sailor Moon. Many shoujo today are also enjoyed by older women, men as well as boys. It is a strong influence in the manga and anime entertainment scene and it is here to say.