

I was checking out the new season of anime and came across a self-described
shojo [anime](https://myanimelist.net/anime/36649/Banana_Fish), but judging by
the cover art, name, and description, I assumed a Bishonen anime. As I was
making a joke to a friend, I realized that shojo and bishonen weren't the
exact same thing. Somehow I had conflated the two.

Are the two terms overlapping genres, or is one a genre and the other a
subgenre? I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins.


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question
terminology
Do Shojo and Bishonen overlap, or are they separate?


Shoujo is a genre of manga/anime targeted at girls. [There's an explanation
here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2328/what-are-the-differences-
between-types-of-anime/2341#2341) that covers it, but basically, it's
manga/anime where the target demographic is 8-17-year-old girls.

Bishonen is an aesthetic/style that refers to pretty boys, who generally have
feminine and delicate features. It most often shows up in shoujo and yaoi
manga/anime, but it isn't exclusive to them. An entire manga/anime can be
drawn in the bishonen style or individuals can be.
([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bish%C5%8Dnen))


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answer