Line #28 Main/BishoujoSeries


1	[[quoteright:316:[[Literature/StrawberryPanic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strawberry_panic_cast.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:316:Something for everyone.]]
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4	"{{Bishoujo}}" simply means "pretty girl" in Japanese.
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6	A ''bishoujo series'', however, is a more loaded term. They are {{Fanservice}} series [[{{Shonen}} aimed towards]] [[{{Seinen}} male audiences]]. These series will use highly attractive female characters (often of TheBeautifulElite variety, although this is not necessary) up to [[OldMaid about twenty-five years old]] whenever possible. This is especially noticeable in a series where male characters and older women make unusually few to no appearances, [[ImprobablyFemaleCast even if the story's setting and premise would suggest otherwise]].
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8	Lately, among fans, it often takes a self-derogatory tone. Many bishoujo series blatantly appeal to male audiences with pandering tropes, causing large amounts of ValuesDissonance that help cement the {{otaku}} stereotype. Adding a guy to the mix ironically just gets it labeled as a HaremGenre story.
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10	When a series of this kind does attract {{Fangirl}}s, the series often loses this term. Compare and contrast ShoujoDemographic and MagicalGirl, in which there are cute girls, but the target audience is female. Also contrast PuniPlush, {{Gonk}}, {{Hunk}}, {{Bishonen}}. Often overlaps with CuteGirlsDoingCuteThings.
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12	ImprobablyFemaleCast is a SubTrope.
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14	----
15
16	'' This is an East Asian media only trope. Please do not put Western examples here.''
17
18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
23	* ''Manga/{{ARIA}}'', where only beautiful young girls appear to be allowed to steer sight-seeing gondolas.
24	* Pretty much every girl in ''Manga/ElfenLied'', Diclonius and human alike, is very beautiful. Because of this, the opening scene is particularly memorable, what with Lucy going on a killing spree [[FullFrontalAssault while wearing nothing but a mask]].
25	* Naturally sent up in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'', which featured a {{bishoujo}} episode in which the art became noticeably more shiny and all of the male regulars except Pedro were deliberately excluded. Pedro's BigNo comes when the male cast finally comes to exact punishment for his appearance -- and we still don't get a good look at any of them.
26	* ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' is a bishoujo series; the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' gameverse has the same characters as a HaremGenre, but the anime removes the central male.
27	* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' has an especially jarring dichotomy between the age of the girls in question and their occupation.
28	* ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel''
29	* ''Anime/KoihimeMusou'' is notable for its sheer volume of bishoujo. There are literally dozens of all shapes and sizes.
30	* ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry''.
31	* ''Anime/StrikeWitches''.
32	* ''Manga/ToLoveRu''.
33	* Parodied in ''Anime/AnimeGataris'', where the entire anime club (including [[CatGirl Neko-sensei]]) inexplicably becomes full of cute girls [[spoiler:thanks to the RealityBleed of 2D tropes into real life.]]
34	* ''Anime/AzurLane'': While the [[VideoGame/AzurLane source material]] falls into the HaremGenre, the anime does away with the Commander as the protagonist, leading to the Shipgirls making up the entire, quite varied cast.
35	[[/folder]]
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37	[[folder:Literature]]
38	* ''Literature/StrawberryPanic'' is a YuriGenre example, as the entire cast is made up of cute schoolgirls who have romantic feelings for each other.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Video Games]]
42	* ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart''
43	* ''VideoGame/RumbleRoses''
44	* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Beach Volleyball'', complete with revolutionary JigglePhysics.
45	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
46	* ''VideoGame/VanguardPrincess''
47	* ''Tokidensho Angel Eyes''
48	* ''Franchise/{{Neptunia}}'' is nothing but this.
49	* ''Getter Love!!''
50	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. An astounding grand total of two males appear in the official works, and one of them is a magical cloud. The females? About 80+ of them, not counting pre-Windows versions.
51	* ''VideoGame/KanColle'' was intentionally designed like this, but then it suddenly got popular, getting the non-otakus and many female players mixed in as well. At its heart, however, it is still a bishoujo series ''franchise''.
52	* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''. A VisualNovel made by an international team in the style of a Japanese {{Dating Sim}}. This fact gets {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d in-game too.
53	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BishoujoSeries