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Shōjo Across Media pp 181–206Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Shōjo in Anime: Beyond the Object of Men’s Desire

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Part of the book series: East Asian Popular Culture ((EAPC))

Abstract

Since the first domestic TV anime, Astro Boy (1963–1966), girl characters have often been represented either as vulnerable creatures, who need to be protected by the male protagonists, or as hyper-sexualized objects of heterosexual male desires. However, anime for little girls have featured powerful girl protagonists that could encourage female audiences. Especially in a popular genre, mahō shōjo (magical girls) anime, magical heroines often challenge and negotiate with Japanese normative femininity. This chapter discusses the shifting images of anime’s mahō shōjo in the Japanese feminist context from the 1960s to the 2010s, and also analyzes representations of mahō shōjo and their parodies in late-night anime to discuss the socio-cultural meanings of mahō shōjo.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Graduate School of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan

    Akiko Sugawa-Shimada

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  1. Akiko Sugawa-Shimada
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Correspondence to Akiko Sugawa-Shimada .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden

    Jaqueline Berndt

  2. Oita University, Oita, Japan

    Kazumi Nagaike

  3. Chikushi Jogakuen University, Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan

    Fusami Ogi

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Sugawa-Shimada, A. (2019). Shōjo in Anime: Beyond the Object of Men’s Desire. In: Berndt, J., Nagaike, K., Ogi, F. (eds) Shōjo Across Media. East Asian Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01485-8_8

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