History Main / WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls

On works with cast of other side of gender spectrum, sometimes female-oriented works with {{Bishonen}} characters and bright and flowery setting can be confused as {{Shojo}} genre works for young girls, where in reality, some of these works are classed as either {{Josei}} or BoysLove made for adult female ([[PeripheryDemographic or male]], in case of Boys' Love) audiences. Even an OtomeGame that has all the trappings of content for younger girls can make you wonder why are they made for older female demographic.

* ''Toys/LivingDeadDolls'' is a brand of horror dolls aimed at a 15+ audience. The dolls have been banned in Greek and were almost banned in both Ireland and Singapore because people thought they were aimed at kids.

** ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' is a comfy, relaxing series about a group of friends going camping around the country. There is pretty much nothing overtly objectionable about the series (aside from perhaps the antics of minor character [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Minami]]), but it runs in a seinen magazine.

* In the 2000s, several UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 games in the ''Simple 2000'' series of Japanese budget games were exported to Europe. Among these titles was ''Party Girls''[[note]]originally titled ''Mogitate Mizugi! Onna Mamire no THE Suiei Taikai'' (''Fresh-Picked Swimsuits! The Swim Meet Packed with Women'')[[/note]], featuring a bright pink cover that looks like a generic UltraSuperHappyCuteBabyFestFarmer3000 UsefulNotes/{{shovelware}} game. [[CoversAlwaysLie This cover says absolutely nothing about the actual gameplay]], in which women dressed only in bikinis compete in various minigames, including one where they push each other off a platform and into a pool using only their buttocks, and another in which they suggestively rub a thermometer to increase its temperature until they manage to launch a rocket placed on top of the thermometer. Each minigame is followed by a replay during which the camera angles often focus on the women's breasts and crotches, and there's actually a setting that controls how much their breasts will jiggle during gameplay. The European cover also stands in stark contrast to the original cover for the Japanese market, featuring a group shot of the bikini-clad cast and a CERO 18 rating, [[SameContentDifferentRating whereas the game somehow managed to receive both a]] '''''3''''' rating from PEGI in most of Europe and the equivalent '''''0''''' rating from the German USK.

* The ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' franchise may look like a typical MagicalGirl series for young girls at first glance, but its primary target audience has always been adult men. Its promotional materials and [[ComicBookAdaptation manga adaptations]] are printed in seinen magazines and it [[BleachedUnderpants began its life]] as a SpinOff of the HGame ''VideoGame/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever''. The first season even has some fanservice; the next ones less so. In some countries they removed the fanservice and marketed it as a shonen show. They still left all the cases of child abuse by the villains, though. Even though it's a MagicalGirl series it's very heavy on the sci-fi and seems more like a Franchise/{{Gundam}} series--intentionally, after one of the writers noticed that Nanoha's Barrier Jacket made her look like a moe Gundam. Later installments take away the MagicalGirl elements and put more emphasis on the sci-fi and action elements, making it much more obviously aimed at men.

* ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'' is a mobile game featuring {{Bishonen}} cast of characters with strong associations with the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, but it is a Joseimuke work made for women over the age of 17 with the amount of {{Fanservice}} and dark themes such as child abuse and mental illness. However, this hasn't stopped Disney itself from promoting it in child and family-friendly spaces such as Disney magazines and social media.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a VideoGame series ''about'' little (looking) girls firing colourful dots, arrows and lasers at each other, with many of the characters wearing frilly ElegantGothicLolita outfits (though characters in later games tend to wear outfits in other kinds of fashion). However, the games are one of the most famous examples of BulletHell ShootEmUp, even if CuteEmUp is in full swing. Suffice to say, despite their bright and cheery appearance, the games have loads of characters to keep track of, comparatively difficult plots and are just NintendoHard throughout, so while there's nothing in the games that's ''inappropriate'' for children (there's [[NoHuggingNoKiss no sex or romance whatsoever]], the combat is bloodless fantasy violence, and none of the girls are dressed in skimpy clothing), most of the games' content would still be hard for children to follow or understand. The various manga and other related literature also tend to be darker and more depressing compared to the games, sometimes even going as far as being outright scary or visibly violent. That said, despite all this, the series has a huge PeripheryDemographic of children (both boys and girls), although many of them don't actually play the games. Many kids attend Reitaisei (an annual FanConvention dedicated solely to the ''Touhou'' series) with their parents, and the franchise's creator ZUN once received a hearfelt fan letter from an elementary school girl.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a VideoGame series ''about'' little (looking) girls firing colourful dots, arrows and lasers at each other, with almost the whole cast being some kind of ElegantGothicLolita (if only as far as clothes go in most cases). Except the games are one of the most famous examples of BulletHell ShootEmUp, even if CuteEmUp is in full swing. Suffice to say, despite the bright and cheery appearance, the games have loads of complex characters, comparatively difficult plots and are just NintendoHard through-out, so while there's nothing in the games that's ''inappropriate'' for children (there's nothing even related to sex or romance, the combat is bloodless fantasy violence, and none of the girls are dressed in skimpy clothing), it's not something a kid could understand. Even the various manga and other literature tend to be rather dark and depressing despite the initial appearance, sometimes even going as far as being outright scary or visibly violent. That said, despite all this, the series has a huge PeripheryDemographic of children (both boys and girls), although many of them don't play the games. Many kids attend Reitaisei with their parents and ZUN once received a hearfelt fan letter from an elementary school girl.

* Most ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' games have teenage female protagonists in a SliceOfLife story with a {{moe}} aesthetic. This contrasts greatly with the gameplay, which is that of a hardcore JRPG with a brutal difficulty curve if you fail to master the deep and complex ItemCrafting mechanics, which might leave younger players frustrated, bored and/or confused. And that's not getting into the large amount of {{Fanservice}} (of both the male and female characters) in the later games DLC which lets you change the characters into bathing suits, and a {{Beach|Episode}} or HotSpringsEpisode in most games, which should be enough to prove that the target audience is much older than you'd think, and surveys held in Japan revealed most of the players are women.

* It's popular to make videos involving ''Toys/LittlestPetShop'' toys however just because the toys are aimed at little girls doesn't mean the fan-vids are. ''WebVideo/LPSPopular'' is explictly aimed at the middle school and high school crowd more than it is eight year olds.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a VideoGame series ''about'' little (looking) girls firing colourful dots, arrows and lasers at each other, with almost the whole cast being some kind of ElegantGothicLolita (if only as far as clothes go in most cases). Except the games are one of the most famous examples of BulletHell ShootEmUp, even if CuteEmUp is in full swing. Suffice to say, despite the bright and cheery appearance the games have loads of complex characters, comparatively difficult plots and are just NintendoHard through-out, so they are definitely not for little girls. Even the various manga and other literature tend to be rather dark and depressing despite the initial appearance, sometimes even going as far as being outright scary or visibly violent. That said, despite all this, the series has a huge PeripheryDemographic of children (both boys and girls), although many of them don't play the games. Many kids attend Reitaisei with their parents and ZUN once received a hearfelt fan letter from an elementary school girl.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

[[{{ThatCameOutWrong}} Well, it's because men like cute girls.]]

That's not to say that such shows necessarily contain things that would be inappropriate for your little sister, it's just that they're not specifically intended for little girls to watch. Some of these shows do manage a [[PeripheryDemographic female]] [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer fanbase]] on the side. Relatedly, entertainment actually targeted to young girls, especially in the field of music, has become increasingly sexualized, blurring the lines further. The classic examples are {{idol singer}}s and {{girl group}}s such as Music/BritneySpears, the Music/SpiceGirls, and Music/DestinysChild (While Main/KoreanPopMusic is much less sexualized, it is still intended for older girls above the age of 14 instead of young girls). Just take a look at any ''Series/ToddlersAndTiaras''-type show.

And then you discover that the show [[OtakuOClock airs at three AM]] and has [[TestosteroneBrigade a fandom]] that's mostly [[SeinenDemographic 16 to 40 year-old males]]. After the initial shock is over you start to wonder why any man would even consider watching a show like this, or why your male buds that like it even have such interests in a series about feminine shenanigans or are invested in [[YuriGenre flowery romance between girls that can't even express attraction to guys]]. Alternatively, you might be a woman or girl wondering why this series you and your fellows enjoy wasn't even primarily made for them, as it would have all the trappings of a perfect girls' show. Or, you might even be a lesbian yourself wondering why this perfect YuriGenre show was made for the opposite older straight male demographic.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat'', being influenced heavily by the aesthetic of {{shojo}} and SliceOfLife anime, along with its cute, pastel colors, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids isn't demographically aimed at children so much as young adults around the age of Bee herself]]. That said, it's not vulgar, crude, or even inappropriate for the standards of a kids' cartoon: if you don't mind a cartoon cat saying the word "ass" every few episodes, it's perfectly safe for kids.

* ''Manga/GirlFriends'' focuses a lot on fashion, cosmetics, and other typically girly things, giving people the impression that it's a {{Shoujo|Demographic}} manga. Even the fact that it's a YuriGenre series doesn't prevent this, since yuri manga aimed specifically at girls does exist, so people just assume that it's meant for a LGBT conscious young adult audience considering how realistically it handles the issues of a budding sexuality. Thus, people tend to be surprised when they discover that it ran in ''Comic High'', a seinen magazine.

** [[https://highimpactclassification.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/that-time-japanese-softcore-porn-games-got-a-3-rating-by-pegi-and-almost-no-one-noticed/ This blog post]] discusses ''Party Girls'' and two less egregious examples from the same series, ''Demolition Girl'' and ''Paparazzi''. While the former, in which the player battles a bikini model who [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever has been transformed into a giant]] after being bitten by a strange creature, is described as the tamest of these examples overall, the very first mission involves examining her breasts and buttocks for research purposes, and the cover features a shot of the aforementioned bikini model from behind, which the article describes as "going directly against the PEGI rating, which I’m sure hurt sales some both for bewildered parents and perverts." The latter focuses on photographing the same model, who the player can actually make "adopt a sexy pose"; it also contains at least two uses of "damn". Both games were also rated PEGI 3, in addition to respectively getting 6 and 0 ratings from USK (in contrast, ''Demolition Girl'' was rated 12 by CERO).

* You'd be surprised at how many clueless parents get ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' games for their young daughters. You'd think the {{Cleavage Window}}s front and center and the T (M in the case of ''mk2'') rating would be enough... Though it's much more understandable with ''re;birth 1'' and ''Producing Perfection'', which feature modest costumes and very bright colors on the box.
** What makes ''Producing Perfection'' all the more troubling is that alphabetically it is placed right next to the still T-rated ([[ValuesDissonance 3+ in Europe]]) but more family friendly ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDiva'' games in store displays. Considering [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Hatsune Miku]] has a lot of young fans, all it takes is a confused parent who has a child that's into Vocaloid and difficulty remembering long game names seeing two Vita games with an anime [[TeenIdol Pop Idol]] on it, pick the wrong one and give their ten-year-old girl a game that gives you points for upskirt shots, has risque dialog pushing the envelope, and even has nude scenes. Not to mention, a lot of parents dismiss T ratings in rhythm games due to "family" games like ''VideoGame/RockBand'' having the same rating. [[note]] Typically this is due to either language/suggestive themes as opposed to violence, though. [[/note]] That's not to say that the ten-year-old wouldn't enjoy the game.