Anime and manga are types of Japanese art,which very quickly gained popularity around the world. Nowadays, anime series are often shown even through central channels, and manga can be easily found in any bookstore. The popularization of Japanese art led to its development, evolution. New genres began to emerge that were designed for a narrow audience and touched upon the most subtle aspects of human life. One of these genres is szej-ah. What is shoze-ah? You can find the answer to this question by reading this article.
What is shoze-ah?
Anime and manga are famous for their abundance of genres.There are genres such as kodo, syöneen, otaku, dobutsu, furs, etc. It is rather difficult to understand what all this means to a person remote from the Asian world. After reading this article, you will learn what Shoji-ai is, what are its features, history of origin and much more.
Sedze-ai: genre features
Many manga and anime fans are familiar withJapanese culture is rather superficial. Because of this, there are often questions: “What is shoze-ah? How is it different from yuri? What are the most interesting works of this genre? ”This article will help you understand all these difficult issues. But first things first.
As already stated above, shoze-ah (from Japanese"Södze" - "girl", "ai" - "love") is one of the many genres of manga and anime. The main feature is that Sedze-ai shows and reveals homosexual relations between girls. Many people think that the target audience of this genre is guys, but this is not so. It is designed for girls aged 14 years. This proves at least the fact that Sjo-ai manga is often published in various women's magazines (like Mist, Anise, etc.).
Another characteristic feature of this genre ischaracters The main heroines of works in the genre of Szej-ai are schoolgirls aged from 12 to 17 years. Also, most of the characters are bisexual and do not have bright signs of orientation.
Yuri and shozhe-ah
Many people believe that yuri and shoze-ai are one and the same. However, this opinion is fundamentally wrong. What is the difference between these two genres of Japanese art?
"Yuri" is a Japanese word that quickly entered.in everyday life and began to be used in everyday life. Literally translated, “yuri” means “lily”. Previously, it was quite common female name, which is often found in the open spaces of Japan. But in 1971, Bungaku Ito, the editor-in-chief of the then-popular Barazoku magazine, gave this word a new meaning. He marked the lesbians with the word "Legalzoku". A little later, an amateur manga was created, which narrated about love between two girls - Kay and Urey. Manga found many admirers, and the word "yuri" began to denote a whole genre of Japanese art. Nowadays in Japan the term “yuri” is used to denote any kind of relationship between girls. That is, in legal works, both romantic and sexual relations between women are shown.
As for Sodze-ah, then everything is a bitdifferently. This term is used to denote that there are no coital relations in the work. The genre shows only romantic relationships between girls. Essentially, Cesze-ai is a subgenre of yuri.
Origin
Genre originated in the 1970s.It was then that began to produce the first works. The first Sodze-ai manga is Shiroi Heya no Futari, which Yamagishi Reko painted. The work told about love between two female students of the elite French school. The story ended rather tragically, one of the main heroines died. Shiroi Heya no Futari became quite popular, and this genre began to spread.
Already in the 70s, szej-ah began to activelydevelop. The Rose of Versailles manga was released, which introduced concepts like “transvestism” and “transsexuality” into the genre. Under these terms, female characters who possessed characteristic male qualities were thought out. Such a manga inspired women, so that was warmly received in feminist circles.
Closer to the 90s, the Sodze-ai genre became moreacceptable to the Japanese audience. Probably influenced by the so-called sexual revolution. Genre actively flourished. Began to release the first Ced-ai anime series, which enjoyed tremendous success in girls of puberty. Also a huge role in the popularization of the genre was played by doujinshi (non-commercial authors). They wrote successful fan fiction on such works as Sailor Moon, Young Revolutionary Utena, etc.
In the 2000s, the first magazines began to appear,containing manga of a similar genre. The most popular ones are Yuri Shimai, Comic Yuri Hime. The plots of Ceso-ai manga have become more diverse and many-sided, because elements of fiction, comedy, etc. have begun to be used in it.
Sjo-ai: the list of the best manga and anime
So, let's begin.Aoi Hana is a typical representative of shoze-ai. Manga is fully consistent with all the canons of the genre. The work tells of two inseparable childhood friends, who now, by coincidence, were forced to leave. After 10 years, having entered the school, they met again. During this time, both girls have changed a lot and at first do not even recognize each other. But despite this, their characters and feelings remained the same. Manga is fully focused on revealing characters, love relationships between girls.
"Girlfriends" is another worthy shojo-ai manga.The story tells about the schoolgirl Mariko Kumakura, who with the help of her best friend Akiko Ohashi became the most popular girl in school. But the problem is that Mariko does not notice that her relationship with Akiko is gradually turning into a romantic channel. It is noteworthy that the story is based on real events that occurred with the author of the manga.
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san - Sodze-ai anime,telling about the love of two completely different girls. Suzu is a timid, soft and closed nature. The balls, on the contrary, are a very cheerful, courageous and open personality. One day the fates of the two girls intertwine and they begin to draw closer. Between them the flame of love begins to flare up. But how to confess to each other their feelings?
Yuri Kuma Arashi — довольно интересное и atypical Sedze-ah anime. The story tells about the student mistresses of the Academy Arashigaoka. The girls by an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances were at the epicenter of the war between people and half bears. Our heroines have to figure out the essence of this conflict and test their feelings for strength.
The result
Седзе-ай — это особый жанр манги и аниме, который tells of the romantic relationship between girls. This genre is very popular among girls of puberty and feminists. The sexual revolution has influenced the formation and development of Szejo-ai.