There are many different genres of manga, much more then you would probably expect. Of course, you have your common genres such as action, adventure and comedy, drama, fantasy, historical, horror, martial arts, mystery, psychological, romance, sci-fi, supernatural and tragedy. But you also have other types that you might not expect or know about, and I will explain all below.
The following main manga genres have been discussed in a previous blog (15.02.19 – HERE), so I will give a really brief explanation. Please note that these terms are generalisations of the target audiences, often girls will read shounen and vice versa!
Shounen: for boys
Seinen: for young men
Shoujo: for girls
Josei: for young women
But there are other genres which you might not be familiar with, so I will give you some more information about them.
School Life: Follows pupils in school, often focuses on clubs, student council or relationships between pupils and even teachers.
Slice of Life: Manga that is often about a character that has a boring everyday job or pattern of existence until something dramatic happens.
Sports: Sport manga is not just about matches and races. It is about the character interaction around the sport. The relationships between the teammates and competitors.
Isekai: The character gets transported to another world unknown to them. Sometimes related to VR computer games.
One Shot: A manga that tells a whole story in very few pages. Usually about 15 – 60 pages. One shot manga are often created for competitions.
Mecha: Giant robots, often piloted by a human inside.
Shounen Ai: Boys Love. It is about romance between two or more males. Once again these tend not to be sexual.
Yaoi: Boys Love. These will include more physical and possibly sexual relationships between the characters.
Shoujo Ai: Girls Love. It is about lesbian relationships that tend not to be sexual.
Yuri: Girls Love. These will include more physical and possibly sexual relationships between the characters.
Gender Bender: About a character that ‘bends’ the stereotype of gender. Often wearing the clothing of, and behaving like the opposite sex.
Harem: The protagonist is surrounded by 3 or more characters of the opposite sex. Often the characters in the harem are very protective of their ‘master’ or ‘mistress’ and will protect them at all cost. Fighting over the master/mistress within the harem is also common.
There are also other genres which are more adult and mature – aimed at over 18 readers. But those discussed here should all be suitable for teenage or older teen readers.
Published: 2019-03-22