<p>Shoujo is a genre of manga/anime targeted at girls. <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2328/what-are-the-differences-between-types-of-anime/2341#2341">There's an explanation here</a> that covers it, but basically, it's manga/anime where the target demographic is 8-17-year-old girls.</p>

<p>Bishonen is an aesthetic/style that refers to pretty boys, who generally have feminine and delicate features. It most often shows up in shoujo and yaoi manga/anime, but it isn't exclusive to them. An entire manga/anime can be drawn in the bishonen style or individuals can be. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bish%C5%8Dnen" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-05T22:59:31.453Z
2018-07-05T22:59:31.453Z
kuwaly
<p>I was checking out the new season of anime and came across a self-described shojo <a href="https://myanimelist.net/anime/36649/Banana_Fish" rel="nofollow noreferrer">anime</a>, but judging by the cover art, name, and description, I assumed a Bishonen anime.  As I was making a joke to a friend, I realized that shojo and bishonen weren't the exact same thing.  Somehow I had conflated the two.</p>

<p>Are the two terms overlapping genres, or is one a genre and the other a subgenre?  I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins.</p>

<terminology>
Do Shojo and Bishonen overlap, or are they separate?
# Do Shojo and Bishonen overlap, or are they separate?
Posted by: username_0 on 2018-07-05
I was checking out the new season of anime and came across a self-described shojo [anime](https://myanimelist.net/anime/36649/Banana_Fish), but judging by the cover art, name, and description, I assumed a Bishonen anime. As I was making a joke to a friend, I realized that shojo and bishonen weren't the exact same thing. Somehow I had conflated the two.

Are the two terms overlapping genres, or is one a genre and the other a subgenre? I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins.
**Tags:** terminology
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-05. Score: 4
Shoujo is a genre of manga/anime targeted at girls. [There's an explanation here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2328/what-are-the-differences-between-types-of-anime/2341#2341) that covers it, but basically, it's manga/anime where the target demographic is 8-17-year-old girls.

Bishonen is an aesthetic/style that refers to pretty boys, who generally have feminine and delicate features. It most often shows up in shoujo and yaoi manga/anime, but it isn't exclusive to them. An entire manga/anime can be drawn in the bishonen style or individuals can be. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bish%C5%8Dnen))
---
