This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 207.253.140.103 (talk) at 12:03, 5 June 2002. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 12:03, 5 June 2002 by 207.253.140.103 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)'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 is strictly speaking imprecise.