In all movies, you have types, or genres of movies. You have horror, thriller, action, romance, adventure, and all the like. Japanese people also divide their movies into different genres of course. They also have many different kinds of terms, one popular example is Otaku, but I would save it for a later post. Right now, I would want to delve into the most common genres in Japanese stories, be it for manga or anime. If you are an avid manga/anime reader/watcher then these terms/genres/words would at LEAST seem familiar to you. If they don't, then go on, have a read :D
JAPANESE GENRES
One thing you all should know. Japanese people are very detailed with genres. Like, for example, we have the genre 'Romance'. What comes into mind once you see that word? A love story between a boy and a girl? Is it from the girls' point of view, or the boy's? Or could it not even be between a boy and a girl? Japanese people are pretty specific at times. They do not just simply title a love story 'Romance'. They specify it further to attract certain audiences. But as you know, Japanese people tend to include many mature topics, so I'll just describe some which are fit for anyone to read.
SHONEN (Sometimes spelled SHOUNEN)
Now these types of stories are aimed primarily towards the male audience. It contains elements which would attract most boys- but Shonen stories are not exclusive to males only. These kinds of stories usually contain heroics, action/fighting scenes, adventures, and things fit for a grown up to watch, like violence, and for mature audiences, romance bordering on things fit only for certain age groups, but of course, not all Shonen stories are so. An example is Naruto, which contains quite a number for Shonen elements with its action and heroics, fit for all-age consumption.
SHOUJO
If Shonen was directed towards the male audience, here we have Shoujo, which are stories directed towards the female audience. Unlike Shonen, Shoujo would of course have many 'Kawaii' (cute) elements, lots of romance and friendship, and much better character development. Though what I said for Shonen stories go the same for Shoujo stories, they are not exclusively for young girls to enjoy. An example of a very Shoujo story is Sailor Moon. Just look at the picture I've provided. One look at the characters, and you'd agree it's something that only girls would normally watch.
HAREM
This looks more like a sub for the Shonen genre, for the most part. Harem here means a story involving few, or even just a single male main character, with many female characters, which are usually depicted being attracted to the male character. It's viewer rating is usually around PG-13, so it very often has romances which young girls would usually love to watch. An example of this is the R+-rated anime, 'Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai', but frankly, in our own country, it might not be something people would turn a good eye to, as the anime utilizes rather 'good looking'- if you know what I mean- girls to attract young men.
SEINEN
This is quite an uncommon term, because people usually (and accidentally) substitute this genre with Shonen, though they are rather different. Seinen means 'young man', and target young adult males usually from ages 18-25. In Seinen stories, Gakuen (meaning school, in this case, University life) themes are often used, as well as stories of young people in the working world. The story lines typically deal with adulthood issues, with rather mature and realistic points of view. I myself am not too particularly interested in them, so I have no examples.
JOSEI
If young men have Seinen, young women have Josei, which is the female equivalent to Seinen, targeting young women from ages 18-30. In here, the difference between Shoujo and Josei are much more prevalent, as the romances are no longer 'puppy love' romances or 'lovestruck' scenes. The romances are more realistic, and less idealized. The women are also more mature, and often less emotional compared to Shoujo with their lovestruck teens. The storytelling is also more explicit and mature. I'm not too particularly interested in them as well, so I have no examples.
MECHA
In Mecha stories, the works of it usually concentrate on all kinds of mech, or machines. For those who don't know, no, they are not one of those Science Facts kind of movies majority of people find boring to watch. Mecha stories mostly star humanoid machines, either as main characters, or as major key characters in the game. An excellent example of this, as all boys know, is Gundam, and even the old Astroboy anime.
KODOMO
So, everything you've read above are mostly what you would identify as stories fit for teens and older people to watch. Is that all? Oh no it isn't! Kodomo is the Japanese word for Children. And yeah, you can guess, these stories are aimed for kids. They usually teach morals and certain traits and behaviour for children. I would not try research far and wide for an example of Kodomo stories because they are pretty rare, and besides, there is one example, rather old, yes, but I'm sure everyone has ever heard of Doraemon.
That's all about the genres I'm going to talk about for now. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you found several things you might have not known previously. I didn't even know there's a real genre specified for mechs (slang for machines) before I started my research previously for the benefit of this website. Well, that is all for now. So long, readers, domo arigatou~
