Characteristics of Shōjo Manga

Shōjo Manga in 1970s

In 1970s, shōjo manga featured love romance as its main subject. A famous example is “The Rose of Versailles.” The setting of this manga takes place in Versailles, France, before French Revolution. A magnificent scale of love romance is depicted. People were not expected to romantically fall in love with someone, and arranged marriage was an ordinary custom in this time period. Thus, such love romance attracted many women in this time period. Shōjo manga was one of the extraordinary entertainments that allowed women to dream romantic love in 1970s. [1]

Shōjo Manga in 1980s

Since people have become more familiar with romantic love in their real lives, shōjo manga in this time period features love in more familiar settings, such as school love. Moreover, a figure of “working women” emerged in 1980s, which shows social advances of women.[2] Furthermore, shōjo manga started to feature a wider range of topics, including science fiction and history. Thus, it can be said that the readers, especially women, found their interests in various subjects other than love in this time period. Many changes can be seen in shōjo manga in 1980s. [3]

Shōjo Manga in 1990s

In 1990s, “strong female figures” were often depicted with the increase of social advances of women. For example, “Hana yori dango” (花より男子) is well-known for featuring a strong girl. In fact, there is a scene where the girl, who is financially poor, punches a rich boy who takes control in their school. Moreover, a figure of “working women” became a more familiar and ordinary topic in this time period. Furthermore, since the range of audience vertically expanded, shōjo manga started to target a wider audience.[4]

Shōjo Manga in 2000s

Women’s sense of values was renewed in 2000s, so this time period of manga focuses more on other elements besides love. For instance, career, friendship, and family. Moreover, more and more women started to read shōnen manga as well. This implicitly suggests that women were not expected to pursue womanliness as much as before, and started to enjoy reading books for boys in this time period. [5]

[1] Sugimoto Shogo, “Historical Analysis of Discourse on Shojo Manga,” pp.128-130

[2] Ogi, Fusami, “Female subjectivity and shoujo (girls) manga (Japanese comics): shoujo in ladies' comics and young ladies' comics,” p.780

[3] Sugimoto Shogo, “Historical Analysis of Discourse on Shojo Manga,” p.135, p.136

[4] 「1990年代の少女漫画、等身大ヒロインが闘う傾向化の背景」, NEWSポストセブン

[5] 「1990年代の少女漫画、等身大ヒロインが闘う傾向化の背景」, NEWSポストセブン

Riyoko Ikeda, The Rose of Versailles

(Shuei-sha, 1972), Volume1

Yoko Kamio, Hana yori Dango

(Shuei-sha, 1992), Volume1