The term shojo is defined, literally, as "young girl", and when put into the context of anime or manga, shojo can mean that the anime/manga has a young female main character, or that the anime/manga is intended for young girls. In the case of Princess Mononoke, it is the former, as the story can get very mature at times, along with a lot of blood and gore. Definitely not a young girl's anime.
Usually, the 'shojo' (when looking at anime) is a young girl with whom the viewers can relate to on a very broad scale. This, in turn, brings in a select audience that may enjoy watching something like this, or those who can easily relate to the character. In Princess Mononoke, San is classified as the female lead character, and as such is classified as a 'shojo' character, as she looks to be no older or no younger than Ashitaka. However, she does seem to have a wild streak, akin to her wolf 'family', which gives her a sort of feral look and attitude towards people. This is not exactly typical of normal shojo characters, as they are frequently portrayed as being the ideal good girl character: nice to everyone they meet, kind-hearted, and slightly naive. Then again, that is what she briefly turns into once she rescues Ashitaka.
Compare this to western movies and TV shows, and there are only a select few shojo characters, examples of which are Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons), Gabrielle (Xena) and Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), just to name a few. Young female leads are still somewhat hard to find, but they can still be found within very niche TV series'. Nowadays, western media is concentrating on the gritty and realistic, and none of what was mostly shown earlier on (examples being Life with Loopy, Clarissa, Full House etc), which was mostly just boys and girls having fun and overcoming barriers in the world they live in and not necessarily fighting against it.
Hey Oliver,
ReplyDeleteNice post :) I definitely agree that Princess Mononoke wouldn't really be suited for a young girl's anime. I've only seen two other films from Hayao Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away. Have you seen them?
From reading your post I think that the female lead characters of those films would best fit the term "shojo". If you've seen those two other movies, would you agree?
I think that if a young girl would watch Princess Mononoke they would be able to follow the movie but probably not think much in depth of the themes that are presented in the movie. For example, how the curse on Ashitaka represents anger and greed. I could be wrong though.
Hey Clarice
ReplyDeleteI have indeed seen Howl's Moving Castle, but not Spirited Away. I do agree with the fact that they would fit the term "shojo" as they all have female lead characters. In Princess Mononoke though, it could also be classified as "shonen" as the central character in the movie is Ashitaka, and San only takes over as main character when she is first shown. Therefore, it could be both "shojo" and "shonen" which seems slightly awkward to me, personally.
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ReplyDeletethe young girl hovering between childhood and adolescence. It may be about the uncertainty in Japan about where they stand vis-a-vis the world. Cuteness represents a real comfort zone for them.
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