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Shirou Kamui from CLAMP's X/1999

Bishōnen (美少年, Bishōnen^? also transliterated bishounen, is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth." It describes an aesthetic widely shared in Asia—a young man whose beauty (and sexual appeal) transcends the boundary of sex. Recently, it has shown strongest manifestation in Japanese and Korean pop culture, but it has roots in ancient Japanese literature, the homosocial and homoerotic ideals of the medieval Chinese imperial court and intellectuals, and Indian aesthetic concepts carried over from Hinduism, imported with Buddhism from China, and Korea.

Today, bishōnen is very popular among girls in Japan. Reasons for this social phenomenon may include the unique male/female social relationships found within the genre. Some have theorized that bishōnen provides a non-traditional outlet for gender relations. Moreover, it breaks down stereotypes surrounding effete characters. These are often depicted with very strong martial arts abilities, sports talent, high intelligence, or comedic flare, traits that are usually assigned to the hero/protagonist. Although they were depicted as homosexual in manga, most of them in reality are heterosexual.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Usage 3 Examples 4 See also

Origin

The prefix bi (美) specifically refers to feminine beauty, and bijin, literally "beautiful person", is used to refer to a beautiful woman. The bishōnen is typically slender, with a tapered chin, stylish hair, and a facial structure likened to that of a woman, while retaining a male body. (His androgynous appearance is akin to the depiction of angels in Western renaissance art, with similar social roots for this aesthetic.) Occasionally biseinen (literally beautiful man) is seen as a synonym, but biseinen usually refers to a handsome man older than a bishōnen, with bishota referring to a beautiful, pre-pubescent male child. These terms do not appear in Japanese, but are conjunctions created by Western fans from Japanese loan-words. In the west, bishōnen is the most popular of the three terms, and has become the generic term for all beautiful boys and young men.

The aesthetic of the bishonen is first recorded in Lady Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, written in about the year 1000 C.E. Genji concerns the exploits and romances of a young prince, the son of an emperor and beloved concubine, who is not in line to inherit the throne, and follows his intrigues through the court as he comes of age. It is a classic novel, typifying the Heian age of Japanese history - a period when culture's obsession with romance, and a sense of refined aesthetics pervaded society. Prince Genji's beauty is described as transcendental, so much so that "one could have wished him a woman", with a bewitching attraction that is acknowledged by men and women alike; however, with one brief, comical exception, Genji's sexuality is only manifested towards women.

The aesthetic of the bishōnen began as an ideal of a young homosexual lover, likely arising from the effeminate male actors who played female characters in Kabuki theater. It is perpetuated today in anime and manga, especially shōjo manga and anime, shōnen-ai, and yaoi.

Usage

Some western anime and manga fans use the term to refer to any handsome male character regardless of age, or any homosexual character. In the place of bishōnen, some fans prefer to use the slightly more sexually neutral bishie or bijin, but these terms remain less common. The term binanshi was popular in the 1980s. Bishōnen is occasionally used to describe some androgynous female characters (such as Lady Oscar in The Rose of Versailles, Karou no Kimi and Hana no Saint Juste in Oniisama e), or any women with traits stereotypical to bishōnen.

Bishōnen is sometimes also depicted as an anime or manga character that is drawn as if a female, but has male components. This would make it easier for the artist to create a feminine male, rather than drawing a male character regularly.

Examples

Examples of Bishōnen drawing styles are included in Castlevania, Gravitation, Peach Girl, Yami no Matsuei (or Descendants of Darkness), Loveless, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Sukisho, and Kyo Kara Maoh!.

See also

• Bishōjo
• Yaoi