My intention was to continue with the Brief History of Anime posts today, but unexpected matters at my day job require my attention so my time to write is limited. We’ll get back to the brief history that keeps on getting less brief tomorrow.
Today’s vocabulary will include general information on various anime genres. I’m not going to retread ground we’ve already covered in previous posts, and I’m not going to spend time on broad genres that are immediately familiar to anyone who has ever watched a movie (fantasy, sci-fi, romance, horror).
All of these genres, including the broad ones I’m not covering, are subject to be made into later articles. Readers should also note that any of the genres in anime are prone to being mixed and matched in surprising ways.
Unit 3: Genres
Harem: As the name implies, harem anime focus on a single person, usually a guy, who has captured the interest of several other people, usually all girls. Harem anime is the epitome of wish fulfillment. Often set in high schools, our guy is decent, average but awkward, and the girls who make up his harem usually each fulfill a specific archetypal slot like the tsundere, the girl who acts like she doesn’t like you until you break through and get to know her.
Magical Girlfriend: No relation to magical girls (ok, probably some relation), magical girlfriend shows are another big wish fulfillment genre. These are shows were a girl with some superhuman abilities begins trying to help an average dude, usually with romantic overtones. The girl’s use of her powers leads to complications. Think I Dream of Jeannie.
Shonen Fighter: Our protagonist is a plucky young man with some sort of super power and a heart of gold. He may be a little annoying, but he’s usually out to help his friends and save the day. This genre is one of the biggest and most common to overlap with other shows. There’s usually an escalation of power overtime if it’s a long running show. They often feature tournament arcs.
Sports: Sports anime typically follow high school athletes. They share a lot of tropes with shonen fighter shows. You can expect the sport at hand to portrayed as if it were the single most important thing in the world. Imagine if Dragon Ball Z and Remember the Titans had a baby. That’s sports anime.
I basically followed a list I found on TV Tropes, but I left a couple of things out that I didn’t feel were really genres. Jidai Geki is term used to refer to historical fiction, typically about samurai, but in the case of anime, I think this is more of a setting than a genre. I also left out “Mind Screw” because that’s more of a feature of a story than the genre of it. If a show revolves around mind screws it’s probably a comedy or a horror of some sort.
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