Otaku Lounge: Manga and Anime Demographics

By Christy Gibbs

Happy new year, FOG! I’d like to dive into 2013 by going back to the roots of manga and anime and taking a look at the five core audience demographics of the medium – namely kodomo (children’s), shounen (boys), shoujo(girls), seinen(men’s), and josei (women’s) works. While manga as we understand it today came about during Japan’s Occupation and post-Occupation years (1945-1952 and onwards), it was not until the 1950s that the solidification of these main demographics began to occur – and although they do not necessarily adhere to one particular style of artwork, the obvious physical similarities within each of them speak for themselves.

Of course, there are certainly plenty of girls and women who read and watch shounen and seinen manga and anime, just as there are a number of males who read and watch shoujo or josei manga and anime (albeit, perhaps in private). However, the basic distinctions between these demographics have remained strong and largely unchallenged within the industry over the years.

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