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

'Shojo' in Japanese terms refers to ‘young girl’. With regards to anime, its function pertains to aiming the content at a female demographic (Treat, 2009).

There are a few elements that habitually resonates with the concept of shojo - The plotline usually puts a strong focus on aspects such as character development and the prominence of relationships on a rather broad and complex scale (Napier, 2001).

The distinctive features of a typical shojo girl is illustrated and presented in a way that depicts dynamics that represent femininity, fragility, innocence, passiveness and attractiveness (Napier, 2001).

However, if we look at Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Princess Mononoke’ for instance, it introduces a different perspective into the typical shojo representation. True, it can be said that the dominant female characters San, Lady Eboshi and Moro depicts the mentioned generalised characteristics to some extent – Nevertheless, it is virtually impossible to assume and state that these characters do not deviate from the stereotype (Napier, 2005). In fact, perhaps it is fair to state that they illustrated what majority assumes as typical male hero model – They are made of strong focal characteristics of aggression, ambition and action that creates a certain level of intrigue and thoughtfulness towards these them because they are women (Napier, 2001).

It is probably important to look into the possible reasons as to why there is such a distinction in character presentation.

Perhaps one of the biggest contributors to this is the fact that ‘Princess Mononoke’ targeted to provide a counter account to some of the central historical myths and traditions addressed with regard to Japanese culture and society (Napier, 2005). According to Napier (2005), the audience is acquainted to the concept of defamiliarisation with regard to explaining the myth of Japanese society consisting of long-term feminine struggle.

Let us for instance take the character of San’s wolf mother, Moro as an example. Despite her general dislike and distrust for humans, her motherly instincts were able to take over when it came to raising San as one of her own. However, it is important to note that although she appears to be nurturing toward San in some ways, majority of the time she remains somewhat distant. Moro seems to be unpredictable in nature as she resorts to outbursts of rage from time to time while sporting an angry facial expression throughout the movie. Moro, declaring herself as the protector prevails her hatred even in death as she bites off Lady Eboshi’s arm in aggression.

Thus, this alone shows the film’s ability to portray females as the strong initiators but at the same time is able to integrate a sense of feminine appeal makes for a reasonably engaging plot (Napier, 2005).

Another relevance to ‘shojo’ genre could be the implementation of the themes of spirituality, purity and respect for nature in the film – all of which help in showing Miyazaki’s purpose of illustrating “transformation and transfusion” within the plot (Wright, 2005).

In conclusion, it is my opinion that Miyazaki was able to justify Princess Mononoke as being of the ‘shojo’ genre, mostly because of the significance of the symbolism he utilised throughout the storyline.

References:

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

Napier, Susan J. (2001) “Confronting Master Narratives: History As Vision in Miyazaki Hayao’s Cinema of De-assurance.” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique. 9.2: 467-493. Print.

Treat, J. W. (2009). Yoshimoto Banana Writes Home: Shojo Culture and the Nostalgic Subject. The Society for Japanese Studies, 19(2), 353-387.

Wright, L. (2005). Nature Spirits, Giant Insects and World Trees: the nature vision of Hayao Miyazaki. In the Journal of Religion of Popular Culture. Volume X: Summer 2005.