| Revision as of 00:49, 30 June 2003 editEmperorbma (talk | contribs)13,855 edits bishoujo needs to be mentioned← Previous edit | Revision as of 04:07, 1 August 2003 edit undoMontrealais (talk | contribs)Administrators23,058 edits bishounen in general aren't gender ambiguous (i.e. we know they're boys) - they're just androgynous in appearanceNext edit → | ||
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| Some western anime and manga fans use the term bishounen to refer to any handsome male character, although this usage is, strictly speaking, imprecise. | Some western anime and manga fans use the term bishounen to refer to any handsome male character, although this usage is, strictly speaking, imprecise. | ||
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The equivalent term for a very beautiful girl is ]. | ||
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Revision as of 04:07, 1 August 2003
Bishounen (literally, "beautiful boy") refers to a specific Japanese aesthetic concept of the ideally beautiful young man. The prefix bi- specifically refers to feminine beauty (bijin, lit. "beautiful person", refers to a beautiful woman.)
The bishounen is typically quite slender and not very muscular, with a tapered chin and effeminate or androgynous appearance.
The aesthetic of the bishounen began as an ideal of a young homosexual lover. It is perpetuated today in anime and manga, especially shoujo (girl) anime, shounen-ai, and yaoi.
Some western anime and manga fans use the term bishounen to refer to any handsome male character, although this usage is, strictly speaking, imprecise.
The equivalent term for a very beautiful girl is bishoujo.
See also the film Bishonen.