Shonen, seinen, shojo, josei: these four words are written on the spine or back of almost every manga sold in France, yet most readers confuse them. It is believed that a shonen is "a fighting manga", a seinen is "a violent manga", and a shojo is "a manga for girls". This is half true, therefore half false. These words do not describe what happens in the story: they describe to whom the Japanese publisher originally intended it. This guide explains what each term means, how to recognize a genre at first glance, why so many series are put in the wrong category, and which ones to read in each category.
The essentials in brief
- Shonen, seinen, shojo, and josei are not themes but target audiences: adolescent boys, adult men, adolescent girls, adult women. The genre of a manga is determined by the Japanese magazine that pre-publishes it, not by its content.
- Shonen (One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen…) alone accounts for more than seven out of ten mangas sold in France. It is read by all ages and by everyone.
- Seinen (Berserk, Vinland Saga, Tokyo Ghoul, One Punch Man…) targets young adults: longer stories, more ambiguous, often more realistic drawings. It does not necessarily rhyme with violence.
- Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, Frieren, and Tokyo Revengers are shonen, despite what is widely read. Conversely, One Punch Man and Oshi no Ko are seinen.
- An isekai, a nekketsu, or a romance are not genres in the Japanese sense: they are themes that cut across all categories.
- To choose: the person's age and tastes matter more than the label. An adult can read a shonen, an adolescent a seinen. Only the mention seijin (adults only) is a real limit.
Table of Contents
- Shonen, seinen, shojo, josei: what these words really mean
- Shonen: manga for teens, read by everyone
- Seinen: manga for young adults
- Shojo: manga for teen girls
- Josei: manga for adult women
- Kodomo, and the label that really matters: seijin
- Shonen or seinen: the difference in 5 points
- These mangas that are put in the wrong category
- Genre is not theme: isekai, nekketsu, romance, slice of life
- What the French read: the weight of each genre
- Which manga genre to choose, for yourself or as a gift
- The 20 shonen you absolutely must read
- The 15 seinen you absolutely must read
- The 10 shojo and josei you absolutely must read
- Small lexicon to find your way around
- Frequently Asked Questions
- To go further
Shonen, seinen, shojo, josei: what these words really mean
In Japan, a manga almost never comes out directly in a volume. It is first pre-published chapter by chapter in a magazine, weekly or monthly, and each magazine is aimed at a specific audience. It is this audience that gives its name to the genre: the Japanese word simply designates the target reader.
- Shonen (少年, shōnen) means "young boy". Shonen magazines target boys from late elementary school to high school, roughly from 10 to 18 years old.
- Seinen (青年) means "young man". Seinen magazines target men from about 18 to 40 years old: students, young professionals, readers who grew up with shonen.
- Shojo (少女, shōjo) means "young girl". Shojo magazines target girls from 10 to 18 years old.
- Josei (女性) means "woman". Josei magazines target adult women.
- Kodomo (子供) means "child": magazines for children under 10, girls and boys combined.
The consequence is important: the genre says nothing about the subject. A sports manga can be shonen (Haikyu!!), seinen (Slam Dunk was published as shonen, but Ping Pong is a seinen) or shojo. A love story can be shojo, josei, or shonen (Kaguya-sama is even a seinen). And above all, the label says nothing about who actually reads the series: in Japan as in France, One Piece is read by adults and by women in large numbers, even though it is pre-published in a magazine for boys.
In France, publishers have kept these four words on the volumes because they are practical for guiding a reader, and this is how bookstore shelves are often organized. But they should be read as an indication of origin, not as a warning or a promise of content.
| Genre | Meaning of the word | Target audience in Japan | Known examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shonen | "young boy" | Boys aged 10 to 18 | One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen |
| Seinen | "young man" | Men aged 18 to 40 | Berserk, Vinland Saga, Tokyo Ghoul, One Punch Man, Monster |
| Shojo | "young girl" | Girls aged 10 to 18 | Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket, Nana, Cardcaptor Sakura |
| Josei | "woman" | Adult women | Chihayafuru, Princess Jellyfish, Nodame Cantabile |
| Kodomo | "child" | Under 10 years old | Doraemon, Pokémon, Yo-kai Watch |
Shonen: manga for teens, read by everyone
Shonen is the genre that made manga known in France, and the one that still fills most of the shelves. Three Japanese weekly magazines share almost all the major titles: Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, launched in 1968, from which come Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen and Haikyu!!; Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, born in 1959, which published Fairy Tail, Tokyo Revengers and Blue Lock; and Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday, also born in 1959, home to Detective Conan, Inu-Yasha and Frieren. The Jump has since had an online spin-off, Shonen Jump+, which launched Spy x Family, Dandadan, Kaiju No. 8 and the second part of Chainsaw Man.
What these magazines have in common is an editorial line that has become famous under the Jump's motto: "friendship, effort, victory". A young hero, often an orphan or an outsider, a huge goal he announces from the first chapter, rivals who become allies, battles in which he progresses in stages, and a simple moral lesson in each arc. The rhythm is that of weekly pre-publication: a twist per chapter, chapter endings that make you want to buy the next one. This is the mechanism that French readers often call nekketsu, literally "hot blood": the word is not a Japanese category, it is the name given here to action shonen and self-improvement.
However, shonen is not limited to combat. Haikyu!! and Blue Lock are sports shonen, Detective Conan and Death Note are detective shonen, Dr. Stone is a science shonen, Frieren is a contemplative shonen where almost nothing happens for entire chapters, Spy x Family is a family comedy. What unites them is not the subject but the way of telling the story: accessible without being simplistic, clear in its stakes, carried by characters easy to love. This is exactly why shonen are read far beyond fifteen-year-old boys, and why it is almost always their heroes that are found in collector's figures.
In our catalog, shonen is everywhere: One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, Haikyu!!, Blue Lock, Chainsaw Man, Frieren and Attack on Titan are all, without exception, shonen.
Seinen: manga for young adults
Seinen was born when the first shonen readers grew up. In the late 1960s, publishers understood that a twenty-year-old reader didn't want to abandon comics, but expected something else: stories that took their time, heroes who doubted, endings that didn't always reward the good guys. The major seinen magazines are Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump, launched in 1979 (Kingdom, Tokyo Ghoul, Golden Kamuy, Kaguya-sama, Oshi no Ko), Big Comic and its spin-offs at Shogakukan (Monster, 20th Century Boys), Morning and Afternoon at Kodansha (Vagabond, Vinland Saga, Blame!), Hakusensha's Young Animal (Berserk), and Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine (Akira, Ghost in the Shell).
The difference with shonen is not primarily a question of violence or nudity, contrary to popular belief. Some seinen are tamer than a fighting shonen; Kaguya-sama is a high school romantic comedy, Witch Hat Atelier is a coming-of-age fairy tale, Yotsuba&! depicts the daily life of a five-year-old girl. What changes is the contract with the reader: seinen allows for moral ambiguity, slowness, the realism of consequences, themes such as war, illness, work, or solitude, and often more detailed drawings, closer to illustration than to the sharp lines of shonen. When it is violent, it is frontal, without the heroic filter: Berserk, Gantz, or Tokyo Ghoul do not ask the reader to admire violence, they ask them to endure it.
It is also the genre where manga has produced its most respected works outside of Japan: Akira, Monster, Vagabond, Goodnight Punpun, Vinland Saga, Berserk. A reader who finds shonen too repetitive almost always finds something to their liking here. In our catalog, it is the figures of Berserk, One Punch Man, Tokyo Ghoul and Mushoku Tensei that represent seinen, with Guts and his Mark of Sacrifice, Saitama in a white cape, and Ken Kaneki at the forefront.
Shojo: manga for teen girls
Shojo is, historically, the oldest genre alongside shonen: Kodansha's Nakayoshi (1954) and Shueisha's Ribon (1955) magazines existed before Jump. They were joined by Margaret and Bessatsu Margaret at Shueisha, Hana to Yume and LaLa at Hakusensha, Sho-Comi and Bessatsu Shojo Comic at Shogakukan. This is where Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura (Nakayoshi) come from, Fruits Basket, Yona of the Dawn and Skip Beat! (Hana to Yume), Ouran High School Host Club and Vampire Knight (LaLa), Kimi ni Todoke and Blue Spring Ride (Bessatsu Margaret), Nana (Cookie, at Shueisha) and Banana Fish (Bessatsu Shojo Comic).
The cliché states that shojo is "high school romance with big eyes." Romance is indeed central, but the genre is much broader: Banana Fish is a New York crime thriller about mafia and drugs, Sailor Moon is a magical girl battle story that inspired a generation of shonen, Yona of the Dawn is a political fresco, Fruits Basket is a family drama about abuse. What defines shojo is rather the point of view: the story is told from the inside, through the emotions and thoughts of the heroine, and the page layout translates this with open panels, backgrounds of flowers and light, and faces that fill the entire page. Where shonen shows the action, shojo shows what it feels like.
Shojo is also the genre that has changed the most in recent years. Long the poor relation of the French market, it has been gaining ground since 2022 and attracting a wider readership, as streaming platforms adapt its titles. However, it remains almost absent from the figurine shelves: manufacturers prioritize shonen heroes, and our catalog follows this reality. Shojo readers who collect most often turn to chibi figurines, whose round and expressive style is closest to the aesthetic of the genre.
Josei: manga for adult women
Josei is to shojo what seinen is to shonen: the genre for readers who have grown up. It emerged in the 1980s with magazines like Kodansha's Be-Love and Kiss, Shodensha's Feel Young, or Hakusensha's Melody, and tells stories of adult life: work, relationships, motherhood, loneliness, ambition. Chihayafuru (Be-Love) follows a competitive karuta player from adolescence to adulthood, Nodame Cantabile and Princess Jellyfish (Kiss) deal with musical vocations and shared living, Paradise Kiss with fashion and first love, Usagi Drop with a single man adopting a little girl, Wotakoi with an otaku couple who love each other between two office days.
Josei is the least known genre in France because it has long been the least translated, and because French publishers often classify it as seinen or shojo depending on the cover. It is gaining ground with recent animated adaptations and with an adult female readership that no longer wants to read about high school. If you are looking for a manga for an adult who has never read manga, this is almost always where you should look.
Kodomo, and the label that really matters: seijin
Two categories complete the picture. Kodomo refers to manga for children under ten: Doraemon, Pokémon, Yo-kai Watch, or Beyblade, almost all from Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic magazine. They are short, very readable, often linked to a game or a toy, and these are the ones that are given first to a six or seven-year-old child, long before the first shonen.
At the other end of the spectrum, seijin (成人, "adult") refers to manga restricted to over 18s due to their sexual content or explicit violence. This is the only label that represents a true age limit. A seinen is not a seijin: the vast majority of seinen sold in France are read from the age of 15 or 16, and French publishers indicate the rare adult-only titles with a banner or plastic film. In other words, when someone says a manga is "for adults," ask them if they're referring to the target audience (seinen, josei) or a genuine restriction (seijin). They are not at all the same thing.
Shonen vs. Seinen: The 5 Key Differences
This is the most common question because these two genres appear most similar from the outside: same formats, same sections in stores, often the same themes of combat, war, or adventure. Here's how to distinguish them without even reading the cover.
| Criterion | Shonen | Seinen |
|---|---|---|
| The hero | Young, often a teenager who grows over the volumes; their values are clear from the start. | Often an adult, or a young person who loses their illusions; their values evolve, sometimes for the worse. |
| The pace | A twist per chapter, tiered fights, arcs that end in victory. | Chapters that set the scene, rare or bitter victories, arcs that can end in defeat. |
| The morality | Good and evil are identifiable; the villain can be redeemed. | No one is entirely right; consequences are lasting. |
| The art style | Vivid, clear, expressive lines; backgrounds serve the action. | Denser, more realistic lines; highly detailed backgrounds and anatomy. |
| The target reader | Boys aged 10 to 18, but read by all. | Men aged 18 to 40, but read by anyone tired of shonen. |
A quick way to decide when the cover tells you nothing: look at the original magazine, almost always indicated in the first pages of the volume or on the publisher's description. Jump, Magazine, Sunday, Champion, or Gangan mean shonen; Young Jump, Young Magazine, Morning, Afternoon, Big Comic, Young Animal, Ultra Jump, or Comic Beam mean seinen. This is the only criterion without exception.
Manga that are often miscategorized
Because the genre is determined by the magazine and not by the content, mistakes are common, including in the press and on retail websites. Here are the most frequent cases, with the original magazine being the decisive factor.
| Series | What people think | What it is | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack on Titan | Seinen, due to violence | Shonen | Serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine |
| Chainsaw Man | Seinen | Shonen | Weekly Shonen Jump, then Shonen Jump+ for the second part |
| Tokyo Revengers | Seinen, due to gangs | Shonen | Weekly Shonen Magazine |
| Frieren | Seinen, due to slowness and melancholy | Shonen | Weekly Shonen Sunday |
| Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer | Seinen, due to blood | Shonen | Both in Weekly Shonen Jump |
| One Punch Man | Shonen, due to superhero parody | Seinen | Tonari no Young Jump, Shueisha's seinen platform |
| Oshi no Ko, Kaguya-sama | Shonen or shojo | Seinen | Weekly Young Jump |
| Berserk, Tokyo Ghoul, Vinland Saga | Shonen, because people discover them young | Seinen | Young Animal, Young Jump, Afternoon |
| Witch Hat Atelier | Shojo, due to the art style | Seinen | Morning Two, from Kodansha |
| Nana, Banana Fish | Josei or seinen, due to adult themes | Shojo | Cookie and Bessatsu Shojo Comic, two magazines for teenage girls |
| Solo Leveling | Shonen | Neither | It's a Korean webtoon: Japanese categories don't apply |
The lesson from this table: violence does not make a seinen, and gentleness does not make a shojo. Attack on Titan was conceived for middle schoolers, Kaguya-sama for university students. If you want to know who a series is for, look for its magazine, not its death count.
Genre is not theme: isekai, nekketsu, romance, slice of life
Many words encountered alongside shonen and seinen are not genres in the Japanese sense but rather themes that cross all categories. Confusing them is the source of most misunderstandings.
- Nekketsu ("hot blood"): action shonen where the hero pushes their limits through willpower. It's a sub-genre of shonen, and a word mainly used in France.
- Isekai ("another world"): a character is transported or reincarnated into a fantasy world. The theme exists in shonen (Tensura), seinen (Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero, Overlord) and shojo (Yona is not one, but Fushigi Yûgi is). We have a complete guide dedicated to it.
- Slice of life: everyday life without major stakes, found in shonen, seinen, and josei.
- Romance: present everywhere, including in the most action-packed shonen.
- Dark fantasy, horror, sports, cooking, investigation: these are all themes that do not predetermine the genre. Haikyu!! is a sports shonen, Ping Pong is a sports seinen.
- Shonen-ai and shojo-ai: older terms for romances between boys or between girls, without explicit scenes. These are themes, not genres, and they are not exclusive to magazines of the same name.
Remember the simple rule: genre tells you for whom, theme tells you what it's about. "A dark fantasy seinen" (Berserk) or "a sports shonen" (Blue Lock) are complete descriptions; "an isekai manga" tells you nothing about the target audience.
What the French read: the weight of each genre
France is the world's second-largest manga market after Japan, and figures from the GfK panel, reported annually by industry specialists, provide a precise idea of the weight of each genre. In 2022, a record year, 48 million manga volumes were sold in France, representing 57% of comic books sold by volume; the market then dropped to 39.6 million copies in 2023, then to 35.9 million in 2024, which still means one in two comic books sold is a manga.
The genre distribution, however, is slowly shifting. According to reports published by Journal du Japon based on GfK data, shonen represented 76% of volumes sold in 2022, 74% in 2023, and 71.5% in 2024. Seinen remains stable at around a fifth of the market (about 20% in 2023, 21.1% in 2024), and shojo, long around 5%, is gaining ground (6.1% in 2024). In other words, more than seven out of ten manga sold in France are shonen, and the gap is slowly closing as the readership ages and animated adaptations of seinen and shojo multiply.
These figures also explain the supply of figurines and merchandise: manufacturers follow manga sales, thus shonen. That's why a figurine section resembles a shonen section, and seinen and shojo, even if well-loved, are rare there.
Which manga genre to choose, for yourself or as a gift
The right question isn't "which genre is best" but "for whom, and for what desire." The genre gives a direction, age and tastes do the rest. Here are the guidelines we give in store.
| For whom | Where to look first | Starter titles |
|---|---|---|
| A child aged 6 to 9 | Kodomo, then the gentler shonen | Doraemon, Pokémon, Yo-kai Watch, then Dragon Ball |
| A middle school student | Shonen, shojo | One Piece, Naruto, My Hero Academia, Spy x Family, Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon |
| A high school student | Shonen, shojo, early seinen | Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyu!!, Nana, Attack on Titan, then Tokyo Ghoul or Vinland Saga |
| An adult who has never read manga | Seinen, josei, or an "adult" shonen | Monster, Vinland Saga, Chihayafuru, Frieren, Witch Hat Atelier |
| An adult who grew up with shonen | Seinen | Berserk, Vagabond, Kingdom, Golden Kamuy, One Punch Man |
| An adult woman who likes series and novels | Josei, shojo | Princess Jellyfish, Nodame Cantabile, Banana Fish, Nana |
Three common mistakes
- Giving a seinen to a child because "it's a manga." Check the genre on the back of the volume, and especially for the absence of a seijin mention.
- Refusing a shonen to an adult because "it's for teenagers." One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, or Frieren are among the most read manga by people in their thirties, and that's no coincidence.
- Believing that genre limits theme. Someone who enjoys sports stories can read Haikyu!! (shonen) and Chihayafuru (josei) on the same weekend.
If the gift is an item rather than a book, the logic is the same: start with the character the person likes, not the genre. Our manga gift guide details choices by age and budget.
The 20 Must-Read Shonen
A selection that mixes classics everyone should have read and recent series that define the genre today. The order is not a ranking: each title is there for a different reason.
- One Piece, by Eiichiro Oda. The best-selling shonen in history, a pirate adventure running since 1997 and never dropping in quality. Our One Piece figures reflect this, with Shanks entrusting his straw hat to Luffy at the forefront.
- Dragon Ball, by Akira Toriyama. The matrix of all modern shonen: tournaments, transformations, rivals turned friends. Dragon Ball figures remain among the most collected worldwide.
- Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto. The orphaned ninja who wants to become his village's leader: the most comprehensive coming-of-age story in the genre, whose Naruto figures hold a special place.
- Demon Slayer, by Koyoharu Gotouge. Short, dense, moving, and the success that relaunched manga in France after 2019. See our Demon Slayer figures.
- Jujutsu Kaisen, by Gege Akutami. The battle shonen of the current generation, darker and faster than its predecessors. Sukuna in flames sums up its tone.
- Hunter x Hunter, by Yoshihiro Togashi. The smartest shonen, one that reinvents its rules with each arc. Gon Freecss and our Hunter x Hunter figures.
- Fullmetal Alchemist, by Hiromu Arakawa. Twenty-seven volumes without a single dull moment, and a perfect ending: the shonen to recommend to those short on time.
- Bleach, by Tite Kubo. Style above all, iconic swords and costumes, and a conclusion finally adapted into an anime. See Ichigo in shihakusho and our Bleach figures.
- My Hero Academia, by Kohei Horikoshi. The superhero shonen, ending in 2024, and one of the most generous in supporting characters. Deku is its face.
- Attack on Titan, by Hajime Isayama. Yes, it's a shonen, and one of the most ambitious ever published. Levi Ackerman and our Attack on Titan figures.
- Haikyu!!, by Haruichi Furudate. The best sports manga of its kind, volleyball being the focus, and a masterclass in staging. Hinata mid-jump.
- Blue Lock, by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura. Football reinvented as an ego battle royale: the sports shonen of the decade. Isagi and our Blue Lock figures.
- Chainsaw Man, by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The shonen like no other: brutal, funny, melancholic, and published in Jump despite everything. Our Chainsaw Man figures.
- Frieren, by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe. A shonen that begins after the adventure ends and talks about the passage of time. Frieren and Fern and our Frieren figures.
- Spy x Family, by Tatsuya Endo. The most successful family comedy from Jump+, with Yor Forger as a figure.
- Dandadan, by Yukinobu Tatsu. Ghosts, aliens, and teenage romance, at a crazy pace. Transformed Okarun in chibi version.
- Death Note, by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The shonen without combat, only a battle of wits, and one of the best entry points for an adult.
- Slam Dunk, by Takehiko Inoue. The basketball manga that preceded Haikyu!! and was rediscovered with the 2022 movie.
- Dr. Stone, by Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi. The science shonen: rebuilding civilization from scratch, with real experiments in each volume.
- Detective Conan, by Gosho Aoyama. Over a hundred volumes of investigations, the longest-running shonen in Sunday.
- Sakamoto Days, by Yuto Suzuki. The most inventive action shonen in the current Jump, adapted into an anime in 2025.
The 15 seinen you absolutely must read
- Berserk, by Kentaro Miura. The benchmark dark fantasy, with unparalleled dense artwork, a work continued after its author's death by his studio, under the supervision of his friend Kouji Mori. Our Berserk figures pay homage to it.
- Vinland Saga, by Makoto Yukimura. Started as a shonen, finished as a seinen: the most mature Viking saga in manga.
- Monster, by Naoki Urasawa. A psychological thriller set in Germany, without combat, without powers, and impossible to put down.
- Vagabond, by Takehiko Inoue. The life of swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, drawn like a woodblock print.
- Tokyo Ghoul, by Sui Ishida. A student who becomes a ghoul against his will, between horror and tragedy. Ken Kaneki and our Tokyo Ghoul figures.
- One Punch Man, by ONE and Yusuke Murata. The best-drawn shonen parody in the world, and a true seinen. Saitama and our One Punch Man figures.
- Kingdom, by Yasuhisa Hara. The unification of China by an orphan who became a general: the greatest war epic in seinen.
- Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo. The manga that opened the West to the genre, and a science fiction masterpiece.
- Goodnight Punpun, by Inio Asano. The story of an ordinary youth, drawn with a gentle cruelty. Reserved for adult readers.
- Golden Kamuy, by Satoru Noda. A treasure hunt in early 20th century Hokkaido, combining adventure, cuisine, and Ainu culture.
- Made in Abyss, by Akihito Tsukushi. Children's book artwork for a descent into horror: the very essence of seinen contrast.
- Oshi no Ko, by Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari. The idol industry seen from the inside, with a cover that misleads about the genre.
- Kaguya-sama: Love is War, by Aka Akasaka. The finest romantic comedy in seinen, where two geniuses refuse to confess their feelings.
- Witch Hat Atelier, by Kamome Shirahama. A magical apprenticeship tale with sumptuous artwork, published in Morning Two.
- Mushoku Tensei, adapted by Yuka Fujikawa from Rifujin na Magonote's novel. The benchmark isekai, whose manga is published in a seinen magazine. Our Mushoku Tensei figures, including Roxy Migurdia.
The 10 shojo and josei you absolutely must read
- Nana, by Ai Yazawa (shojo). Two young women named Nana share an apartment in Tokyo: the most mature shojo, never finished, and still iconic.
- Fruits Basket, by Natsuki Takaya (shojo). A family struck by a curse, and one of the most moving stories in manga.
- Sailor Moon, by Naoko Takeuchi (shojo). The magical girl who marked a whole generation, and a true combat manga.
- Banana Fish, by Akimi Yoshida (shojo). A gritty New York detective story, published in a magazine for teenage girls.
- Cardcaptor Sakura, by CLAMP (shojo). The most elegant magical shojo, suitable for middle schoolers and up.
- Yona of the Dawn, by Mizuho Kusanagi (shojo). A fallen princess who learns to fight: adventure and politics.
- Kimi ni Todoke, by Karuho Shiina (shojo). High school romance at its most authentic.
- Chihayafuru, by Yuki Suetsugu (josei). Karuta as a high-level sport, and an unforgettable heroine.
- Princess Jellyfish, by Akiko Higashimura (josei). A shared house of otaku, fashion, and self-esteem: funny and tender.
- Nodame Cantabile, by Tomoko Ninomiya (josei). Two classical music students: the josei that made the genre loved beyond its usual audience.
Small glossary to find your way around
- Mangaka: the author of a manga, who most often draws their own scenario.
- Pre-publication: chapter-by-chapter release in a magazine, before volume publication. This determines the genre.
- Tankobon: the bound volume bought in bookstores, usually around ten chapters.
- One-shot: a complete story in a single chapter or a single volume.
- Light novel: an illustrated Japanese novel, source of many anime and manga (Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero, Sword Art Online).
- Manhwa and manhua: Korean and Chinese comics. Webtoon: the digital format with vertical scrolling, often Korean (Solo Leveling, Tower of God).
- Nekketsu: "hot blood," an action shonen about self-improvement, a term primarily French.
- Isekai: "another world," the theme of a character transported or reincarnated into a fantasy universe.
- Seijin: "adult," the only category reserved for those over 18.
- Kodomo: "child," manga for children under ten.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a shonen?
A shonen is a manga pre-published in a Japanese magazine aimed at boys aged 10 to 18, such as Weekly Shonen Jump. The word means "young boy." It doesn't define a theme: One Piece, Death Note, Haikyu!!, and Spy x Family are all shonen. In practice, shonen are read by all ages and both sexes.
What is the difference between shonen and seinen?
The target audience: adolescent boys for shonen, adult men for seinen. Concretely, seinen allows for more ambiguous heroes, a slower pace, more bitter endings, and more realistic artwork. Violence is not the criterion: Attack on Titan is a shonen, Kaguya-sama is a seinen. The only exceptionless criterion is the original magazine.
Is One Piece a shonen or a seinen?
A shonen. One Piece has been pre-published since 1997 in Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha's magazine for boys. It is even the best-selling shonen in history, which doesn't prevent a large part of its readers from being adults.
Is Attack on Titan a seinen?
No. Despite its violence and darkness, Attack on Titan was pre-published in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, a monthly magazine for teenagers by Kodansha. It is the most frequent example of a manga wrongly classified as seinen.
Can an adult read shonen?
Of course. The genre indicates the target audience intended by the publisher initially, not an age limit. One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Frieren, or Fullmetal Alchemist are among the most read manga by adults. In Japan, Weekly Shonen Jump is bought by readers of all ages.
From what age can one read a seinen?
There is no single rule, because seinen is not a prohibition. Many seinen can be read from 15 or 16 years old (Vinland Saga, Monster, Witch Hat Atelier), while others are harder (Berserk, Gantz, Goodnight Punpun). Only the mention seijin, reserved for those over 18, constitutes a true limit; French publishers indicate it on the volume.
Is shojo manga for girls?
It is manga primarily aimed at Japanese teenage girls. But like shonen, it is read far beyond its target audience: Banana Fish, Nana, or Fruits Basket have many male readers. Shojo is defined by its point of view, centered on the heroine's emotions, not by a reserved subject.
What is nekketsu?
A Japanese word meaning "hot blood," used mainly in France to refer to action shonen where the hero progresses through willpower and self-transcendence: Dragon Ball, Naruto, My Hero Academia. It is not a Japanese editorial category, but a sub-genre of shonen.
What is an isekai?
A theme, not a genre: a character is transported or reincarnated into another world, often a fantasy one. Isekai can be found in shonen, seinen (Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero), and shojo. The word means "another world."
What is Shonen Jump?
Weekly Shonen Jump is the weekly manga magazine from the publisher Shueisha, launched in 1968. It is the best-selling magazine in Japan and the source of Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, and Hunter x Hunter. Its online version, Shonen Jump+, publishes Spy x Family, Dandadan, and Kaiju No. 8.
What manga genre should I choose for a child?
Before age 10, kodomo (Doraemon, Pokémon) then softer shonen like Dragon Ball. In middle school, major shonen (One Piece, Naruto, My Hero Academia) and shojo (Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket). Always check for the absence of a seijin mention, and for a seinen, read a few pages before offering it.
To go further
- All our manga figures, classified by license, and our chibi and kawaii figures.
- Major shonen licenses in figures: One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen.
- Seinen in figures: Berserk, One Punch Man, Tokyo Ghoul, Mushoku Tensei.
- For decoration: our manga posters and kakemonos and our manga phone cases.
- Our other guides: the history of manga, the top anime of 2026, the best combat anime, the manga gift guide, Naruto without filler, and the One Piece arcs in order.
- The most produced theme of the decade, explained: isekai, what it is, and the best isekai to watch and read.
