Bishōjo 643220 225528778 2008-07-14T04:17:01Z 72.208.228.158 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225528516 by [[Special:Contributions/72.208.228.158|72.208.228.158]] ([[User talk:72.208.228.158|talk]]) [[Image:Mahuri.svg|thumb|[[Moe drawing|Moe-style]] illustration of a bishōjo character combining design elements of Mahoro Andou from ''[[Mahoromatic]]'' and [[Haruhi Suzumiya]] from ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (anime)|The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.]]'']] {{nihongo|'''''Bishōjo'''''|美少女||literally, "beautiful young girl", also spelled '''''bishoujo'''''}} is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] term used to refer to young and pretty girls, usually below university age. ''Bishōjo'' is not listed as a word in the prominent Japanese dictionary [[Kōjien]]. A variant named {{Nihongo|''biyōjo''|美幼女}} refers to a girl before the age of [[adolescence]]. ==Bishōjo in manga and anime== {{see also|Moe drawing}} ''Bishōjo'' characters are seen in almost all genres of [[anime]] and [[manga]], especially in [[dating sim]]s and [[visual novel]]s, known as [[bishōjo game]]s, and so-called [[Harem (genre)|harem]] anime and manga. It is distinguished from the similar sounding ''[[shōjo]]'' demographic by referring to the gender and traits of the characters, not the intended audience of an anime or manga: ''shōjo'' is anime and manga ''for'' girls; ''bishōjo'' is a pretty-girl type character. Although ''bishōjo'' is not a genre but a character design, series predominantly featuring such characters are sometimes called "''bishōjo'' series". Since one of the main draws of these series are typically the art and the attractive female characters, the term is sometimes itself perceived negatively as a "genre" solely depending on its marketability of cute characters. ==Bishōjo contests== A beauty pageant, the [[Japan Bishojo Contest]], has been run since 1985. Singing star [[Aya Ueto]] first became famous through this contest televised at the age of twelve. Model and actress [[Ryoko Yonekura]] also won a ''bishōjo'' contest in 1992. ==See also== {{wiktionary}} *[[Bishōjo game]] *[[Bishōnen]] (pretty boys) *[[Cuteness in Japanese culture]] *[[Moe (slang)|Moe]] *[[Emotion]] [[Category:Female stock characters in anime and manga]] [[ca:Bishojo]] [[de:Bishōjo]] [[et:Bishōjo]] [[es:Bishōjo]] [[fr:Bishōjo]] [[zh-classical:美少女]] [[ko:미소녀]] [[it:Bishōjo]] [[ja:美少女]] [[no:Bishōjo]] [[pl:Bishōjo]] [[ru:Бисёдзё]] [[th:บิโชโจะ]] [[zh:美少女]]