Knowing the all anime genres increases the enjoyment of watching anime because you know which anime you should watch.

There are many different genres of anime, we have explained 15 different genres in this article. There are 5 main types of anime and there are many more different genres of anime, they are all available in our article!

Do the words Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, Josei, Kodomomuke sound familiar to you? It may not sound like these are all Japanese words, here are the 5 main anime genres, let’s explain their meanings!

Shonen

The word Shonen means ‘boy‘ or ‘young‘ in English. This anime genre is aimed at youth male audiences aged 8-18.

Although female protagonists have been gaining popularity lately, most Shonen anime’s protagonists are male, so the protagonists in this genre are usually men.

Shonen covers all interests of young men, all categories that young men will want to watch. The Shonen genre has plenty of anime in the categories of action, drama, fighting, adventure, comedy, science fiction, and horror.

Although the Shonen genre covers men between the ages of 8-18, an anime in the Shonen genre can be between the ages of 15-18 or between the ages of 8-15, etc. It may differ according to these animes.

Examples of Popular Shonen Anime Series:

• Naruto
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Broterhood
• Dragon Ball
• One Piece
• Bleach
• Fairy Tail
• Attack On Titan

Seinen

It would not be wrong to say that Seinen is a higher level of Shonen. It covers the same categories as Shonen. It is aimed at young people like Shonen, but with only one difference;

It is aimed at young men aged 15-24, but some Seinen animes are recommended for 18+ people only. Just like in Shonen, the word Seinen means ‘young‘ in English.

Seinen animes cover many categories such as action, drama, fighting, adventure, comedy, science fiction, and horror, but contain much blood, violence and sexuality although this is not the focus of this genre.

It may contain scenes that sensitive people would not want to watch, and if you are under 15, do not watch Seinen anime!! If you are over the age of 15, only watch Seinen anime that suits you!!

Examples of Popular Seinen Anime Series:

• Hellsing
• Cowboy Bebop
• Erased
• Ghost In The Shell
• Fate/Zero
• Parasyte
• Steins Gate

Shoujo / Shojo

 

Shoujo is generally aimed at young girls between the ages of 10-18. Shoujo means ‘virgin’ in English.

Shoujo is seen as the opposite of Shonen. Shonen focuses on action and fighting, while Shoujo generally focuses on romance, love and relationships.

Even if the protagonist isn’t a world-saving superhero, Shoujo can contain action, adventure, and horror animes.

Shoujo anime is for all genders who like emotional, romance-themed animes that many men can enjoy watching too.

(Don’t get me wrong, this is also true for Shonen. All genders who love action, adventure and fighting can watch the Shonen genre, but of course, men generally like this kind of anime more)

Examples of Popular Shoujo Anime Series:

• Sailor Moon
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Vampire Knight
• Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You)
• Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (My Little Monster)
• Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
• Fushigi Yuugi

Josei

Just like Shoujo, Josei is aimed at young girls/women, but with one difference, it appeals to a slightly older age group than Shoujo. It is usually written by female mangakas.

Shoujo usually paints a wonderful picture of relationships, friendships, but that’s not how things work with Josei. According to Shoujo, Josei is more involved in life, he presents us with more slices of life.

Shoujo animes portray a romance that is too great to be true, but Josei animes reveal more realistic relationships with deeper and psychological problems such as sexual assaults, disappointments, infidelities. And Josei has more sexual and erotic elements. (not much because the main story isn’t sex.)

And of course, some men like women can enjoy Josei animes, if you’re interested in what I’ve told you, your gender is male or female (no other genders:)) You can enjoy Josei animes.

Examples of Popular Josei Anime Series:

• Yuri!!! on Ice
• Paradise Kiss
• Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover)
• Loveless
• Chihayafuru
• Nana
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Kodomomuke

Most of us watched Kodomomuke when we were kids. For example, you may have watched Pokemon, Doremon etc animes.

Describes animes for kids in the Kodomomuke genre. But of course, adults can still love and watch Kodomomuke anime.

Such animes develop children’s imaginations. Since they teach children to be a good person, to be considerate of others, etc., if you have children, instead of new generation war-themed cartoons, you can make them watch Kodomomuke anime.

The graphics and illustrations of the Kodomomuke anime attract children and are quite simple.

The protagonists of this type of anime can be male, female, animal or a monster (a cute monster suitable for children)

Everything in this genre is suitable for children to watch and is designed for children. Although it is aimed at children, adults can also enjoy these animes.

Examples of Popular Kodomomuke Anime Series:

• Pokemon
• Doraemon
• Anpanman
• Digimon Advanture
• Astro Boy
• Captain Tsubasa
• Cardcaptor Sakura

What are the main genres of anime?

Shounen, shoujo, seinen, josei, and kodomomuke, these are the 5 main anime genres and indicate which audience the anime is aimed at.

Ecchi

Ecchi anime is about sex but does not contain sex footage. *There are plenty of scenes where the female breast appears.

Ecchi anime may be about sexuality but it can also have good plot and character development, don’t confuse Ecchi with hentai. Ecchi is less sexual than hentai.

Feel free to watch Ecchi anime at least once!

Harem

There are more than 2 women/girls around our male protagonist who desire him. Harem anime is extremely popular in the 15-30 age group.

* Harem anime can contain nudity with Ecchi (Ecchi-harem)

*Animations in which more than 2 men hang around a female protagonist are called ‘reverse harem’.

Slice Of Life

As the name suggests, it deals with small problems, details, etc. similar to those in daily life, the Slice Of Life anime does not deal with the invasion of the universe by aliens, but instead focuses on small details in life.

Slice of Life anime is not an exact copy of the life we live in, for example Saiki Kusuo, the protagonist in Saiki anime, has superpowers and the subject of the anime is the problems that superpowers cause to the character.

Mecha

• In the mecha genre, battles revolve around giant (homonaid) robots.

‘Code Geass’ is a good example of this genre, in this anime people get inside robots and fight each other using robots.

Lolicon Anime

• Anime featuring sexualized young girl/child.

Shotacon

• Anime featuring sexualized young boy/child. The boy version of Lolicon.

Isekai

• Isekai anime is anime in which the character is suddenly transported to another universe.

The universe the character moves into is a fantasy world, such as a universe made only of chocolate and candy, or a universe inhabited only by creatures, perhaps vampires or just another world.

Iyashikei

• Iyashikei are anime that have a simple plot and have an idyllic and relaxing theme, and also contain soothing nature sounds, etc.

For a better understanding, take a look at the following description, albeit a partially wrong definition; Iyashikei is the name given to the anime of the Slice Of Life anime genre prepared to relax you.

Yuri or Shojo-ai

• It’s about girls who fall in love with other girls. In short, girls love.

Yaoi or Shonen-ai

• It’s about men falling in love with other men. In short, men love.

The article we explained about the anime genres is over here, if you want to receive e-mail notifications about our articles from our site, you can subscribe to our e-mail newsletter.