Manga and anime are both dominated by shonen, and to a lesser extent, shojo titles when it comes to mainstream popularity. Such titles include the likes of Dragon Ball, Naruto, Sailor Moon and other big hits, making these demographics the face of the two mediums. However, there's one demographic of manga and anime that gets comparatively little time in the limelight.
Josei anime and manga is dedicated to young adults and older women, with these titles typically eschewing fantastical concepts for more grounded drama and romance. Although they're not as easily marketable as more colorful shojo and shonen works, josei titles have grown to achieve their own success. Here's a look at what this demographic frequently entails and some of its most popular examples.
What is Josei?
As mentioned, josei works typically target an older female audience (late teens to adults), focusing on more realistic situations and concepts as opposed to supernatural or paranormal elements. However, this doesn't have to be the case, as some josei titles are known for featuring a good bit of high-octane action and stakes. Nonetheless, the relationships and characterizations tend to be many times more realistic than other anime, capturing real-life drama in a way that avoids some of the tropes and outlandish nature of other anime and manga.
These books were originally more general audience "ladies' comics" and were set about by their more realistic storytelling. Eventually, however, they began to more exclusively target older audiences and feature more sexually explicit content. As many of the readers of these books are in the later years of high school as well as entering or finishing college, the casts are usually in these same age ranges and have to navigate the increasing complexities of life. This can include romantic relationships, parenthood and even harsher topics like addiction and abuse.
Josei is much less of a catch-all term than shonen and shojo, so when combined with the much less marketable material, it makes the pseudo-genre harder to pinpoint. It can occasionally even include crossovers with yaoi, yuri and the sometimes equally as amorphous shonen-ai titles. More flowery art reminiscent of shojo manga is commonly used, with the bombastic eyes and lashes featured in many josei stories being a blend of the realistic and the heavily stylized.
The Best Josei Manga and Anime
Despite the terminology sometimes falling by the wayside, several josei manga and anime titles are actually quite popular and well-known. Examples include Nana and Paradise Kiss, both of which were created by Ai Yazawa. Nana is about two young women with the same name who become roommates and attempt to find their own success in the big city of Tokyo. Paradise Kiss is about a high school senior who's discovered and made into a model, and it's become relatively popular in several countries outside of Japan. Both series' received not only an anime but also live-action movies, with the Nana series being available to stream on HiDive.
The popular series Eden of the East showcases a more action and mystery-oriented take on josei, featuring a girl who's saved by an amnesiac man who may be behind a recent terrorist attack. It can be found on Crunchyroll and Hulu, with individual episodes available for purchase through Amazon Prime. Other josei shows and manga that have come somewhat into the mainstream include Princess Jellyfish, Usagi Drop and the card-game series Chihayafuru.
With anime and manga becoming bigger than ever, josei could and should be much more of a thing both in and outside of Japan. The stakes and tone of these stories offer more realistic character studies, as well as looks at underappreciated parts of Japanese culture in the case of Chihayafuru. This title brought more popularity to the game of karuta in Japan, showing the huge influence of anime and manga.
In being less stereotypically "anime," josei works offer a way into the fandom for people who might not ordinarily check out anime and manga. These stories also appeal to the casual viewer a lot more, offering a more organically feminine source of storytelling. Ironically, the rise of Webtoon and some of the stories seen there could also lead to josei getting a bigger push, especially with female readers. Hopefully, more examples of josei hitting it big through streaming services could help the demographic to finally grow out of the shadow of its more youthful counterparts.
