Princess Mononoke - Anime

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?

Shoujo （少女）or as it is commonly known due to romanization issues, “shojo” is a demographic indicator for both anime and manga. It contains the kanji for little and girl and literally means “little girl” or “young lady”. The main protagonist of shoujo anime or manga are usually pre-teen girls, who on a metaphorical level, refers to girls who are in transition between infancy and maturity (Cavallaro, 2006). Shoujo also contains its own subgenres.

Cavallaro (2006) describes one of these subgenres as being extremely dreamy and bathed in an atmosphere of magic and wonder. This type of shoujo is mainly referred to as 「魔法少女」or “magical girl”. Cavallaro cites Prindle (1998) on why the Japanese find this subgenre fascinating and entertaining because it is about the transition between “adulthood and childhood, power and powerlessness, awareness and innocence as well as masculinity and femininity” (p. 35).

In regards to Princess Mononoke and other Miyazaki anime, the protagonists fall under the shoujo demographic because of their age and general appearance. However, where most shoujo protagonists are seen as passive and in a timeless dreamland, Miyazaki’s protagonists are strong, active, independent, tough and courageous. They are often described as “youths wearing shoujo masks” (Panoramic Miyazaki, 1997, p. 2), this means that they look the part but certainly do not act the part.

Miyazaki (1988a) wanted to portray his characters as being more than just attractive females who he describes as mere “play toys for Lolita complex guys” or “pets”. I think that he was successful as Princess Mononoke can be seen as anything but a typical shoujo character. She is independent, feral and wild, also her personality and actions could very well be mistaken for a boy, unlike the typical soft and passive shoujo characters.

Reference

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

Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2006). Princess Mononoke. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli Productions.

Panoramic Miyazaki. (1997). Eureka (Special Issue), 29:11.

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.