'Hate' is such a strong word.
I probably read shounen the least, but not because I hate it. I just find more stories less appealing.

I hate insensible vote options where one of the answers is not to cast a vote. The one you often get at MU.

Calling it "Hate" would be exaggeration...
But, if you ask for something close, it would be Shoujo demographic...because I never read them and never will...the drawing style, and all the shitty sparkling annoys me...simply speaking, It's just not for me...! So, my vote goes on Shoujo!
Now, I don't have much problem with Josei...though, I haven't read much of them either!
If you are a little experienced on this subject, you probably already know that, people often mistake Joshi manga like 07 Ghost for a Shounen make...so, yeah...time to times they're CooL...

Okay...my favourite demographic is Seinen...I love the reality of it and at times' the blood rushing moments...
Shounen is the demographic, I'm most familiar with, and have most of the experience with...I really enjoy it...^^
Well, Seinen's level is many times higher than Shounen...one of the reason would be that, most of the Shounen follows some similar pattern and many similarities like Protagonist types, most of the Shounen protagonist babble Justice, love blah blah blah crap...well that's good for teaching kids good things, but, doesn't contains that much really...while Seinen tends to be unique...
If you are still wondering about the difference, you just need to go and compare the crime levels, and you're on!!

P.S. I didn't said things written above on any specific series, but, the specific demographic ~!

One of the female-oriented demographics is going to lose this one, I'm pretty sure. Probably shoujo, because the most active members on this forum seem to be guys (and there'll be quite a few girls who'll vote for shoujo, too). But then again, josei still might lose, because most scanlated josei are boring, from what I've seen so far. (Not to say there aren't awesome ones out there, just that there aren't many josei scanlators who've the good taste to pick out those titles)

Of course, I'm not voting in this poll. There are manga I absolutely adore in every major demographic. (That ought to have been an option, you know: "I don't hate any of the 4 major demographics," or something along those lines)

Hate is too strong a word and as such I won't be voting in this poll. Anyone who does should broaden their reading choices a little. Also this poll is stupid.

I don't really hate any, but if i had to choose one it would be shounen, mostly just because shounen manga have the highest amount of kind of characters i find annoying.

How about none? I read and like a lot of them. Can't vote in this poll as I don't hate any.

It was a hard choice because I read all those demograpics, in the end I went with Shoujo because there is so much overblown and sparkly stuff in it ;p.

For me this poll is kinda pointless because I do not really hate any genre it's more that I do not like some art styles or story types. Also demographic hate is weird to me because it aims at a group of readers. It would be like saying sports book suck just because I'm female, while it aims more to guys but I'm sure some females read them.

There's none I hate, only ones I read less than others (in this case Shoujo). There's good stuff in every demographic, it doesn't feel right to vote anything here.

What kind of answers are that? I like all 4...

I'd really like to propose to change the poll into "Which demographic do you read the least?" because as I believe, most people won't really hate specific demographic, they just don't read much of it because they like the other type more appealing mmm...

I don't "hate" any of them. What happened to things like "Like the least"? Why does it have to be so polarized?

I probably read shounen the least, but that's because a lot of them are sports manga and I don't like sports that much.

I don't exclusively hate any genre, really, although I'm aware that most people do (especially the ones that were not included in this poll). From experience, though, I like shoujo the least, mainly because of the art (women drawn like chibis), the childish and often weak female characters, and generic storylines. That said, I know that not all shoujo is like that.

I don't hate demographics just content. It just happens that most shoujo has content I don't care for. It's also started to be that I don't like any shonen either. Oh well. I actually like every josei I've read.

whaaat? how can I hate a whole demographic?

Was there really no 5th option for simply "I don't hate any of em?" Cause I haven't read any shojou nor josei yet, so I couldn't just say that I hate one of em that I've never even gotten to touch upon yet.

@Philip72 actually they're pretty equal between Shounen and Shoujo, with Shoujo leading by about one for comments before you, saying they like the least, so I'm not sure how that contributes to your theory. Also at least one of the people who said they like Shoujo the least is female so again...And women can't really be ambivalent towards seinen and shounen when the largest demographic that reads Bleach is females...

Anyway, I don't hate any demographic especially with how manga for different demographics are now branching more into different genres. I have to say though, that I've really outgrown Shoujo and don't read it much anymore (I still really enjoy shounen e.g. One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, etc) and like Calstine I think scanlators need to scanlate some better quality Josei since personally most of them feel like Shoujo 2.0. So if it was vote for least favorite, I would have voted for Shoujo.

Ugh, terrible poll. As several have said before, "hate" is a loaded word. If I were to list my top 10 favorite manga, it would have representation from all four of the choices listed. Glad to know many of the users here aren't totally biased against a whole demographic.

I believe "most hesitant to read" or "contains the most annoying cliches" would have been better questions.

I'm female and the genre I read the least is probably seinen and shoujo. I do read manga from both genres, though.

The shoujo manga I dislike are romance with the cutesy art and cliche plots (what most people think when they hear "shoujo"). However, works like Natsume Yuujinchou are awesome.

The seinen manga I really dislike are...boobs. Just boobs everywhere (especially the ridiculously large ones that somehow defy gravity) and other stupid body depictions like gigantor muscles and stuff. I'm not against violence and blood, but the over-the-top crap done for the sole sake of making a work "more manly" is annoying. However, there are some decent seinen manga out there (like Ouroboros, though Ouroboros still uses the "useless female" trope).

That said, there are things I dislike and like in every genre.

How about an option for "I read all of them"

The term "hate" aside, I think this will be more interesting if we factored in the respondents' genders.

I prefer to read mostly seinen these days but end up reading more shounen since the updates are more frequent.

Josei can be very enjoyable reads, if I find something good, which is rare for me. It becomes more of a search than just jumping straight into as soon as I see it, unlike seinen and shounen.

Shoujo... I just can't, the art, the stories... ugh. I mean shounen can be much the same most of the time, but at least they appeal to me as a guy.

The poll may be called stupid/polarizing but "dislike" is a synonym for hate and even the 3rd addition hasn´t changed it as even the headline stayed. Some comments even prove that not all demographics are built equal or share a similar amount of respect and the communities provoked lack of prejudice against a major form of publications isn´t a given on otaku sites. Reddit, ANN or 4chan come to mind and my libraries new manga/comic lector further dislikes it if such tell a story. and if I got an Euro every time I heard that medium X (or even better fictitious writing) has no value...
Half the reason I came up with the question was to provoke a reaction and i further took my wording from the prequel on March 9th 2013 where the female targeted Yaoi won with 40% and hentai came next with 20%. Yaoi though also won the "Favorite Demographic?" poll from October 18th 2008 with 21%. "Demographic you read the most?" from April 25th 2014 had Yaoi as a runner up with 21% after Shonen with 27%. Fascinating but the respective forum is also a traffic tycoon.
Our downright schizophrenic poll mausoleum is certainly worth a look.

I suspect that the site has more female then male users (the margin could be small) or the Manga Fu Genre Filter / Highlight settings would look different amongst other hints which have been pointed out. Imercenary´s to the point breakdown of genres is spot on.

I mean the poll results over the years in general but the user base has been changing too. (I wonder if the poll data can be monetized.)

Violence is more controversial in big parts if western Europe as Blue Is the Warmest Color (the comic is superior) or Nymphomaniacis are 16+ over here. The Passion of the Christ though proved to be a flop in the very Christian Germany while America soaked it up.
All 3 are respectable film though.
Japan on the other hand started to turn away from both forms of extreme of content in the mass (that part is important) market and especially 80s manga are more wild then the ones of today. Hard content is further unheard off on nighttime tv (2/3+ of today´s anime) as Psycho-Pass 2 met with backlash when the new team decided to commit to the violent nature the story that predecessor didn´t show on screen and was even forbidden by the sponsors. The fact that the identical in story Psycho Pass anime (josei), manga (shonen) and novels (seinen) shows how pointless our categorizing monikers can be. Or should... but pleas do it right dear updaters.

US comics started to changed their tune as the 3rd biggest publisher Image now has 15+ rated books as East of West with non sexualised breasts, dismemberment and swearing. Their or Avatars 17+ books can´t even be published in Japan as is and the last 2 Eisner winners Saga and Sex Criminals are exceptionally sexual but both now have more female then male readers. Both are LGBT community darlings too.
Digital publishing should be the way to solve the inherent hypocrisy of the current state of manga as especially politic statements are nearly unheard of now but that is another topic and European comics have always embraced the sexual and violent (or homosexual / pornographic) content due to Frances rather liberal stance on such matters who are the driving force of that market. Back to manga.

I have a bit of an axe to grind with one of the 4 members of the manga god hand but that will come later as i have zero interest to derail my own discussion piece.
The notion that a target audience in inherently unhateable is already a good think piece and the way the percentages are staring to shake out is getting interesting.

i don't hate any of those. not even close. terrible poll.

Can't choose. I like all of them.

I voted seinen just because it's the demographic I read the least of. Not really by choice -- it just kind of happened that way. I actually only started reading josei and seinen a few years ago, having already read a bunch of shounen and shoujo, and then I discovered Comic Zero-Sum (the general style of whose stories is very much up my alley), so josei went up a lot from that. But I definitely don't "hate" any demographic, since with really good series, who they're geared toward honestly says nothing about them. In general, I tend to stay away from the formulaic, regardless of demo, and many series I read, though categorized as one or the other, don't fit into a particular mold (i.e. josei-like shounen like Pandora Hearts, very neutral shoujo like Natsume's Book of Friends, family-friendly seinen like Chi's Sweet Home, and so on).

Definitely shounen and shoujo although I still read more shoujo than shounen. As an older reader, I prefer to read about stories happening somewhere other than school grounds...

I vote Josei off the island as it is the red headed stepchild of the market and the lack of strong fleeings on it during the discussion is already interesting.

Helter Skelter and Maihime Terepsikola won the Tezuka Grand Prize and A Cruel God Reigns the runner up award but this low amount of such wins for the highest critical honor a manga can get (yes Shoujo is underrepresented too) is telling.
Enough Josei works even win Shoujo awards or random essay/special prizes so the critics can´t care that much. A higher honor is to get an anime (long and during the day if possible) but Josei ones barely exist anymore (and most modern Shoujo shows are night time only ~sigh). Even Noitamina which was supposed to give us/me such has gone astray. They can very well get life action adaptions but my respect for these is rather low due to the no budget nature and none can get rich that way.
The clear goal for at least the publisher is to become a bestseller but best-selling manga only shows me Sazae-san that became a family targeted anime franchise and is thus Josei in the same way Shin Chan is Seinen, Nana (i tried fixing but wiki don´t care) and Nodame Cantabile that got a full anime by Noitamina so i will take it as an exception to the rule and crown it king even if Tomoko now joined the Seinen club.
Chihayafuru is currently having a good go at it too but both also won a Shoujo award. See how little this makes sense? As if the market doesn't care about putting publications into boxes that stop after one turns 30-ish. I am already too old to be targeted by traditional Seinen (it means youth) if i go by our definition alone but the older shewing Weekly Manga Times / Gorakudo exist, so does Like Shooting Stars in the Twilight (the Bande dessinée market is flooded with such tales) and the king of the mountain Golgo 13 is even read by high ranking politicians. Pointing out the reverse for Josei is way harder and recent major trend are all males casts and series that come of as Shonen so what is the point again?

Emma, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, Working Man or magazines as Fellow! could/should be Josei and who knows how the readership shakes out but the publishers will have a reason for the marketing decision. I further gave perfect scores to Honey and Clover where the author is now a Seinen girl (a lot of quality female writers tend to go for the male market after establishing themselves) and Kids on the Slope but the manga still hasn´t come to America and only the rushed Watanabe anime.
Josei magazines tend to further be niche (have fun listing a few without a database) and manga as Paradise Kiss can even be published in lifestyle or fashion magazines which is fine but that brings me to my last and most severe reason. Josei is the demographic that covers the least amount of topics with the male publications winning with a landslide here. Content limitations differences between Shoujo and Josei tend to be less severe when compared to male ones due to the lesser amount of themes covered (e.g. Death Note refused to get political and sociological) and girls get enough Smut and Shonen-ai instead of Yaoi. The perfect Mars or Please Save My Earth wouldn?t have improved if they got to run in a more grown up magazine and Nana straight out breaks the system.
The difference between both is that they are placed in different corners in book stores (remember those?) and one is predominantly about high school freshmen finding the love of their life while the other is about OL´s below the age of 27 finding the husband of their dreams if one is honest. I may understand that Japan considers comics and games a children?s hobby that one is supposed to outgrow but i frankly expect more.
Variety isn´t quality too but the much derailed girls manga have more reach of genre content despite the obvious negative contractions and they are a gateway drug in a way that the older sister isn´t. Josei is even the least represented amongst my reading list as it is statistically the rarest one. Agree or not but Mikako17 gave it the moniker Shoujo 2.0 and math doesn´t lie as scanlators can´t be "blamed" alone here.

Thus i dislike, nay hate that the demographic isn´t getting a time to shine but these are a sham anyway (please note my job and i have been a comic/anime guy since the 90s) and i highly suggest to look at the respective magazine when you next consider a manga´s demographic as Seinen by Young Animal isn´t the one even Young Animal Arashi will give you to keep it simple. Printed magazines are furthermore Dinosaurs and not a good format to begin with so I, For One, Welcome Our New Digital Overlords.
Bleach was mentioned so i will note that One Piece is now technically a Seinen manga with healthy amount of female readers. Even at my library and our Madoka manga are in constant rotation by girl between 12-16 but aren´t these for serious adult men only?
NBC´s ultra-gory Hannibal gained more female then male viewers which now influenced the show runner´s decision to not go into the sexual violence aspect of the source material and how many porn sites use My Little Pony as mascots as modern day Meo is more of a Seinen phenomenon than anything. Even veterans of the I'm Looking For board don´t take demographic only requests that strictly.
Berserk was lastly envisioned as Shonen once upon a time . Thank god Hakusensha snapped him up and not Akita Shoten but Vinland Saga was published as a boys manga for a bit in 2005 too. Of course! I wouldn´t even call male targeted manga that much more sexist as the one´s for women but that is another topic.
I just know that female targeted publication are easier to spot then male ones and my respect for girls manga as a medium is only marginally lower the the ones for boys if i had to line up all 4 in order of quality. Japan also takes the girl comic market way more serious then any other nation currently so that one has my respect overall.

Josei
Shoujo
Seinen
Shounen

I have nothing against Shounen but it just so happens to be the type I read the least of.

Clarification: I cannot translate non-committal grunts. However, like you, I am capable of making assumptions. If I was false in doing so, feel free to tell me.



Not ones about people's views on manga demographics on a global perspective. Did you not read the part that says, "that could explain the way demographics, in general, are viewed"?



You seem to be avoiding several of my direct questions - even though I have tried to pose them as bluntly as possible, as per your request. Still waiting for your own experiences on gender expectations, and what you define as "eastern" or "western". But I'll try again, 'cause I'm curious.

What makes you so confident that the MU community's opinion on the matter is null and void? Have you lived in, or are you currently living in Japan? Or have you extensively studied Japanese culture? Sure, manga was originally intended for a Japanese audience, but as far as I'm aware we're all humans in a highly globalized world, with exposure to media and entertainment from all sorts of countries. Many of us responded that we don't hate any of the genres. Personally, I don't dislike any of them; I just read shoujo the least because I mostly follow long, ongoing series, and all the shoujo I really like tend to be max 50 chapters.

I'm not saying you're wrong; I just want to know your reasons, and the source of your confidence.