What is the “Shojo” and how does it often function in anime?

What is the “Shojo” and how does it often function in anime?

The Japanese word “Shojo” (“Shoujo”/ “Shōjo”) literally means “little female” and this term is usually used to refer to girls approximately aged 12 or 13. On a metaphorical level, it also alludes to girls who are in their transitional stage between infancy and maturity. (Cavallaro, 2006). Whilst, Tamae Prindle stated that why Japanese think it is fascinating because the word “Shojo” act as a shallow lacuna between adulthood and childhood, power and powerlessness, awareness and innocence as well as masculinity and femininity. (Prindle, 1998).

What is anime? Japanese animation is a very well-known cultural and is widely appreciated. Anime can be simply defined as “Japanese cartoons” and anime may be the perfect medium to capture what is perhaps the overriding issue of our day, the shifting nature of identity in a constantly changing society. (Napier, 2005). The function of “Shojo” has changed over time and now became a subgenre in anime. Miyazaki depicts the female character (“Shojo”) differently from expected. He mentioned that he does not want his female characters leads to be as mere “play toys for Lolita complex guys” or “pets”. (Cavallaro, 2006 [cited from Miyazaki,1988a] ). Hence, Miyazaki used a different approach to present the image of “Shojo”, for instance: the character “San” in Princess Mononoke- an independent, wild and strong-willed female character. San was raised by wolves and then became a brave warrior to protect the forest. Miyazaki has made the character “San” in Princess Mononoke different from other female characters, San is more associated to a masculine character.

I personally think that Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a great piece of work as it inspired me in terms of the character setting and to deliver awareness on gender inequality, appealing various range of audience to view and enjoy the anime.

References:

Cavallaro, D. (2006). The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki. London: McFarland & Company.

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

Prindle, T. K. (1998). A Cocooned Identity: Japanese Girl Films: Nobuhiko Oobayashi’s Chizuko’s Younger Sister and Jun Ichikawa’s Tsugumi. Post Script, 18(1), 24-37.