What are the differences between types of anime?

Question

The terms "shoujo", "shounen", "seinen", and "josei" are used to classify anime/manga. I know that the general meanings are as follows:

Shoujou: for girls
Shounen: for boys
Seinen: for men
Josei: for women

What are the more technical definitions of those terms?

By "technical definitions," are you asking for the target demographic classifications like age ranges or how they came to be named such? — кяαzєя, Feb 02 '13 at 19:45
I always thought that it referred to the age/gender of the main protagonist! Good to know! — Madara's Ghost, Feb 04 '13 at 13:21

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 03 '13 at 21:00

There isn't much to add to your concise classification, really.

Shōjo

The word itself (少女) is used to refer to a young woman, approximately 8-17 years old. Right as you might think, Shōjo manga and anime have them as target audience. Shōjo isn't limited to any particular style or styles, it's only defined by the target demographic.
Shōnen

This kanji (少年) is used to refer to boys from elementary school to grade school age. Shōnen manga and anime are obviously designed for them as target audience.
Seinen

Seinen manga and anime are designed for male audience too, but this subset of manga and anime is made for people of older age, usually from 18 to 30, but the real audience can be even older than this with some manga. Such manga and amine usually emphasise the story and the character's personalities instead of action.
Josei

Josei manga and anime are for women aged between ~15 and ~45. They tend to be about everyday experiences of women living in Japan.

There are also sub-types of anime/manga, which tend to be more specific, for example, mahō shōjo is a sub-type of shōjo that focuses on young girl heroes with supernatural abilities (magic girls, right...).

Source: various wiki articles.

One fun thing is that the target is one thing, but who actually reads the manga is another thing... — nhahtdh, Feb 03 '13 at 11:11
Are there any other genres? (e.g. targeting audiences older than 40+?) — Amelio Vazquez-Reina, Jul 21 '13 at 19:37

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 02 '13 at 23:22

3

The answer isn't really more technical than that. It's just the target demographic. The difference between a shonen manga and a seinen manga, for example, is often just a matter of which magazine it's published in.

answered Feb 02 '13 at 23:22

user1408

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What are the differences between types of anime?

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