Short Shoujo Anime Glossary:
BISHOUNEN: A male character who appears to be feminine or androgynous or to have very very delicate, refined, cute features. Mostly in shoujo anime (Weathering Continent, Fushigi Yuugi), but can appear in Shounen anime too (Mahou-tsukai Tai), usually in a comic manner. Can also appear in crossover anime (Vision of Escaflowne, Five Star Stories). Bishounen characters may crossdress or behave in a feminine manner, or be portrayed as gay. They are by no means always gay, but if a gay character is represented, they are usually bishounen. (Rare exceptions -- the best one is Video Girl Ai, a shounen feature, with a "probably gay" character who is not bishounen. The author and producers are to be praised for their non-stereotypical treatment there.)

CROSSOVER: Manga or anime which attempts to address both a shoujo and shounen market (at the SAME time) -- a relatively new development in Japan. Escaflowne is an example.

HENSHIN: a transformation scene.

SEIYUU: voice actor. An actor/actress who does the voices of anime characters.

SHOUNENAI: A shoujo feature in which the plot concerns a romance between two males, one of which is often, but not always, bishounen. May have little or no sex at all. Yaoi features are always shounenai, but not the reverse.

SHOUJO: Manga or Anime which was originally marketed to girls or ladies. The content is superfluous -- it is the marketing intent, not the content, which determines whether a feature is shoujo or shounen.

SHOUNEN: Manga or anime which was originally marketed to boys or men. As above, only the marketing intent matters, not the content.

SHOUNEN-AI: literally means "boy's love". This means that it contains material in which two very attractive males are attracted to each other. There may be romantic or intimate moments between the two. One or both males may appear to be feminine or androgynous. Such subject matters are common material in shoujo (for girls) anime. They are not necessarily viewed as immoral at all, just "very interesting." They deepen the characterization and provide a bridge between male characters and feminine emotional subjects, thus creating a scenario with much story potential yet remaining essentially a story for women, concentrating on feminine interests. Virtually all shoujo anime contains some kind of shounenai or bishounen or androgynous material.

YAOI: shounenai anime (or manga), always of the shoujo classification, in which there is little plot or action except for a sexual encounter between two males, at least one of which is usually bishounen.

100 MOST ESSENTIAL WORDS IN ANIME

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