What is the ‘shojo’
and how does it often function in anime?
“Shojo stories are serenely dreamy and bathed in an
atmosphere of magic and wonder.” (Cavallaro, D.)
The term ‘Shojo’ first appeared in 1903. What is Shojo?
Firstly it is one of anime’s many subgenres, shojo is a demographic indicator
for anime and manga (Japanese comic book) aimed at young girl’s readership.
Shojo is associated with visuals and set in a storytelling style rather than
with a demographic.
As Cavallaro said in his book the animé art of Hayao Miyazaki; according to Tamae Prindle “what
fascinates the Japanese is that the Shoujo nestle in a shallow lucent between
adulthood and childhood, power and powerlessness, awareness and innocence as
well as masculinity and femininity.” (p.11)
Miyazaki I feel uses the function of shojo in some films by
presenting very strong heroine characters; giving young girls a sense of
leadership or viewing of how strong females can really be.
In relation to my opinion on Miyazaki’s female characters
Cavallaro believes Miyazaki’s characters are unquestionably shojo in terms of
their age and general appearance. (p.11)
“Perhaps many of anime’s most important characters are
female because it is so often the female subject who most clearly emblematizes
the dizzying changes occurring in modern society.” (Napier, S. (2005).
As Freda Freiberg discusses in an article named Miyazaki’s Heroine’s, most of
Miyazaki’s heroine characters show classical shojo aspects in their age, cuteness,
love of animals and pets, and sexual innocence. However, as Susan Napier
argues, they are also endowed with the characteristics of the conventional
masculine hero: they are active, assertive, adventurous and courageous.
An example of a character that believed to be a strong
hearted heroine was San in Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke but she didn’t
show the traits like being cute – no definitely not. She was portrayed to be wild and fearsome
standing up for what he believes in and abruptly showing her love for animals
and protection of the forest. If the character San appealed to me when I only
found out this movie existed last week, I can’t help but imagine what the hype
for this character would have had when the movie premiered in Japan in 1997 –
The movie itself however as Susan Napier stated; broke box office records, and
was said to be the highest grossing Japanese film ever.
References
Cavallaro, D. (2006). The animé art of Hayao Miyazaki (p.
11). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
Chan, K. (2015). Shōjo - Anime News Network.
Animenewsnetwork.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015, from http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/lexicon.php?id=3
Freiberg, F. (2006). Miyazaki’s Heroines. Senses of Cinema.
Retrieved 1 September 2015, from http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/feature-articles/miyazaki-heroines/
Napier, S. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl's moving castle
(pp. 11,12). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Good. Thanks Laine. You have engaged with the Cavallaro and your opinion is well voiced. There are some language-clarity issues creeping in here. The second half of your post seemed a little rushed and unedited. Oh and just being picky here - but your in-text citations are a little random in this post. Use surname and year - or just a page number for a subsequent reference to the same work.
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