Hey guys,
i have been trying to find out what josei manga is, but haven't been making much headway. Would be thankfull if somebody could mention a series or two they think is sort of representative for josei, or just good josei.

Oooh I didn't know until recently either . But josei is basically the female equivalent of seinen. Geared for older women. It's much less shallow than shoujo. A good one that I know (only one ) is Nodame Cantabile and i'm in a group that's scanlating it so i've sen it and it looks completely different from shoujo. You should try reading it

________________
~~~the world it is a dyin'~~ so let's just enjoy the view~~~

Yoshihara Yuki is a good josei mangaka. Her Itadakimasu! is great. And all the other series she's made as well, for that matter.

________________
"I'm up for anything... as long as it involves handcuffs"

“It's never too late for stalking.â€

Infinity RP - Where we're infinitely trying to get more members: InfinityRP

A josei is a manga with less sparkling eyes, and usually not in high school, it's for women who got fed up with high school romance but men can like it too, the collection of josei is small, I love Nodame Cantabile, there's also one called Clover ------ not the clamp one.

P.S. reading a lot of josei can give you stomachache, also if you notice my avi is Nodame herself

________________

Yoshihara Yuki, haha. Yeap, try reading her works. Frankly the plots are all similar to each other... Darling wa Namamono ni Tsuki, Itadakimasu, Haa Haa but I would say it's a light read and just plain fun.

Hmm... Kimi wa Petto is also a good one, Honey and Clover, Mars and definitely Nana!

Josei, well yeah it's geared for older women, and the characters are sometimes office ladies, so it discusses work issues... although this point is pretty debatable. There's josei set with university settings, high school etc so it isn't all about the adult world. I would define it as less illusion, more reality.

Example: Kimi wa Petto
It's about a woman who takes in a younger guy as a pet, so it discusses the issue of older women dating younger men and society's view of them. I find several other things available are the views of women in the workforce still bound by tradition (in the sense that even though they're independent etc but there's still the whole 'getting married and becoming a housewife'), backstabbing as in how people would step on others to gain a promotion. <-- Kind of issues not discussed in any shoujo you'll ever find.

It's quite easy to tell josei from shoujo, cuz the art is less glittery, the boys less pretty, and everything's not sugar-coated. Sexual themes are also more apparent then shoujo (Yoshihara Yuki, I still remember the seaweed and sake scene )

________________
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,
They kill us for their sport
- King Lear, Shakespeare

Psst, warning, long post! Gomen.


Maybe "cutesy" would also distinguish shoujo from josei as shoujo has "cutesy" art. But I believe "shoujo" is suppose to cover up to the age of 14-15 years old. But I watched Kodomo no Omocha for about 20 episodes and when Sana learns Hayama's troubles and that he wants to

well, that sounds pretty serious to me. It's not like "mommy died of a disease" but suicide is more serious than natural or accidental death. Then again I recall hearing and a bit just "seeing" by observation that the Japanese and their feelings about manga and anime are more relaxed with how they treat it just as entertainment (usually), and yaoi and all the bizarre parts of anime and manga are seen as a fantasy. And what is this about seaweed and sake? Which manga of hers is it in? ;) But even though josei may be more serious because it's for an older audience, the girls can be just as in-the-clouds as a shoujo character since I wouldn't even think that Shinjo Mayu's manga other than Akuma na Eros are "realistic".

I think it might be more how fans or the English/Western manga part of the world catergorized them. The "light and fluffy" girl manga that boards from almost childish and ones that are slightly more serious and even ones with smut are grouped under "shoujo" while the more serious works are put into "josei". And maybe people that read or deal with josei are a bit more serious because most shoujo gets more attention than shoujo because that becomes anime (sell merchandise to pay for the anime plus make money, and shoujo probably brings in a bigger audience since it will include the young and the old and not just the older group), and that's what ends up coming to the USA-market, and the more popular famous manga are shoujo, such as Sailor Moon and Fushigi Yuugi.

But then again, with some serious matters in Fushigi Yuugi, with Miaka being "attacked" (yep, I don't mean her getting beat up, I mean the other thing that girl's have to worry about that guys don't) several times, how comes it ends up shoujo still? Because of the intended audience and the female lead's age (15 years old), and that the story is still fairly "fluffy"?

I guess that's why the line between shoujo and josei is so blurry except for when josei is darker or more serious. I guess this shows that josei is much harder to put into a box than shoujo since with "josei" it seems more like "this isn't shoujo so maybe it's josei". xD

________________
My avatar was Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Evening Dress (with big bow) first shown in 1983, photographed from his 2002 retrospective and final show. [color=#CC0066]Check out some of his collections for free (pre-2008) HERE[/color] courtesy of FirstView.

Does Wikipedia's definition help any?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josei
Well, alot's been said already

I'm fuzzy on the distinction between Shoujo and Josei, too.

What about Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou? Listed as Sienen, but maybe ...
I really liked this manga.

Are there any manga geared toward women that are late 20s or older? Or are they all High School/College/young adult?

Hey Guys,
thanks for all the tips, I'll look into it. It seems that josei is by far the smallest manga section of the four on the net, does anybody know how popular it is in japan?
see you round

Well, josei is like a subspecies of shoujo and the main thing you gotta remember is that it is only intended for young women, and that's all to it. There's no real definition for it, so all that can be said are merely observations. One manga I think gives a good portrayal is Nana. At first glance it might seem like shoujo, but as you read on further it delves into the darker sides of the characters, and it addresses the uglier traits of characters, humanizing them very much, and not those silly ideas of jealousy etc. These are truly things that you feel you can relate to, if you come to terms with yourself. I can't really explain it properly, it's something that you have to read for yourself.

I'm not saying shoujo doesn't address such issues, but it isn't really the main issue... or if it is, it's kinda trivialized; not per se, but you get the feeling that it's something easily brushed aside or something that can be overcomed as easily as a snap of the fingers (Hana Yori Dango where Tsukushi was almost raped). I haven't read Fushigi Yuugi so I'm not sure how the raping scene is like (assuming that "attack" here means rape), but I personally feel that it's based on the importance of the issue and how it's addressed. Rape I find is quite prominent in shoujo manga simply because it ties in with how women are weak and such victims, and a knight in shining armor comes riding in (or when he saves her after she's raped and she recovers because of him etc)

Manga is essentially entertainment, and not so much a form of discussing social issues so you have artists like Yoshihara Yuki who is really all about fun and sex. Comparing Shinjo Mayu to Yoshihara Yuki, the only similarity I find is that they both produce manga that are sexual. Yoshihara talks about women in them embracing the sexual nature (where you can see the heroine turning monster-like when she's horny). Shinjo Mayu usually victimizes her heroines and you notice that it's as if they're forced to enjoy sex, or refuse to acknowledge their enjoyment of it consciously. It's kinda the traditional view that women aren't supposed to enjoy the act of sex itself, and the women in Shinjo's stories are virginal, gets raped, and ends up enjoying sex, but it's more like a body thing rather than both body and mind (once again, you have to read both artists to truly understand what I mean).


Agreed.

The braided seaweed sake trick is seen in Itadakimasu! Volume 2.


________________
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,
They kill us for their sport
- King Lear, Shakespeare

It's things like this that makes me think Bully is an old woman............


Itadakimasu is pretty good.

________________
Life, what would it be without so much wrongs and rights?


Star Trek XI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZiR-NETDr0

I have been found out at last

Last edited by lambchopsil at 7:42 am, Jun 5 2007

Josei is my favourite genre and even I didn`t know so many josei mangas, so thanks from me too. I suggest Girlfriend too, though it is not that josei, but I liked it.

I liked girlfriend too even though it wasn't Josei. After a while we out grow the "I like yous" confession and puppy loves. Josei is a minority but I have a feeling that's going to change soon. ;)

________________
J-SiS.NET - Feed your Josei addiction.

Yeah personally josei's are my favorite genres. Its too bad that there aren't many out there. I'm so tired of the high school crush, puppy love, sparkling eyes, trivial emotions and such. Joesi gives such a realistic crush to real life, and its so much more deeper and meaningful...more for older women....even men if they like stories like that. I loved Paradise Kiss and Nana and Nodame Cantabile XD

________________
Cry freedom,cry- from deep inside, where we are all confined--

Josei can also be defined (like shoujo) by the magazine it's running in - I think Cookie is still called shoujo. Sometimes josei is called Lady's Comics, though that also denotes porn manga for women as well, and sometimes publishers avoid calling it josei or shoujo - and some shoujo magazines have stuff that we'd definitely think is for adults (sexuality-wise). The easiest way to tell is usually the imprint though - the following are josei imprints (with some series):

Office You Comics
Do Da Dancin! by MAKIMURA Satoru
Oshii Ginza by ARISUGAWA Ikuko

You Comics
Gokusen by MORIMOTO Kozueko

Queens Comics
Clover by CHIYA Toriko (this actually is published under Margaret Comics, but runs in Chorus, which is a josei magazine)
Pride by ICHIJOU Yukari

KC Be Love Comics
Seito Shokun! by SHOUJI Youko
Happy!

KC Kiss Comics
Nodame Cantabile by NINOMIYA Kazuko
Hotaru no Hikari by HIURA Satoru

Judy Comics
Shichou Touyama Kyouko by AKAISHI Michiyo
Ojousama Shachou ga Yuku! by INOUE Emiko

Hakusensha Ladies' Comics
Kiss and Fight by MIYAGAWA Masayo
Jewelry Box Days by NOMA Miyuki

Hope this gives you some ideas!


________________
Shoujo and Otome Game Addict:
http://lijaka.tripod.com
http://blogs.ign.com/lijakaca