Beyond the genres of Shojo and Shonen. Tracing representations of gender in popular Japanese anime, Attack on Titan (2013) and Fruits Basket (2019)

The exponential growth and accessibility of the anime industry to people outside of Japan in the last couple of decades has opened up avenues of discussion in media research. One of the main focuses of anime scholarship has been on the genres of anime and manga, Shojo and Shonen. The gendered categorization of these genres – Shojo targeting girls and Shonen targeting boys – has been argued to home problematic depictions of gender. For instance, male Shonen characters are seen to be aggressive and female Shojo characters are said to be passive. The study questions and investigates this viewpoint. To make generalizations about these categories is to see anime through a narrow and simplistic lens. In this regard, the paper revolves around the central research question: How is gender represented in the two genres of Shojo and Shonen in popular anime series Attack on Titan (2013) and Fruits Basket (2019)? Using limited scholarship that hint at the potential of anime to create alternate realities, the focus of the paper is to use these popular shows to inspect anime’s treatment of gender. Interrogation of these transnational cultural products is valuable because media has the power to influence the socio-political landscape and shape the ways in which we build our unique perspective of the world. Furthermore, media is also a space of contention; meaning that media representations can not only reflect societal norms and values but can also reject them. In our case, anime can be argued to portray traditional gender roles by reflecting societal structures. However, they can also distance themselves from them by countering hegemonic gender ideals. In order to inspect the manner in which the chosen anime shows build their gender narratives, Multimodal Analysis, comprising of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Visual Discourse Analysis (VDA), has been chosen. Taking account of both the visuals and the language used in the shows, this methodological approach allowed the paper to thoroughly study anime’s treatment of gender. Furthermore, referring to the theoretical framework, additional guiding questions were built before conducting the analysis. In total, 30 episodes were analyzed; 15 from each anime. In utilizing this methodological approach, the study recognizes that, indeed, the genres of Shojo and Shonen cannot be ascribed to a predetermined set of characteristics and gender roles. There were nuances, overlaps, and alternate representations across the genres – hinting at the potential of anime to go beyond simple categorization.