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Typically, "pure shojo" manga revolves around love stories and strong female protagonists, however, some "shojo anime/manga" are more plot/action oriented to attract a wider audience. For instance a lot of older salarymen were drawn to a manga called Banana Fish for its hard edged yakuza action (which is more often found in seinen manga). What kept female audiences interested in this work was a gentle relationship between two gay bishonen lovers amongst all the violence.
Shojo anime and manga often contain elements of shonen-ai or even yaoi (sexual relationship between male characters) not to mention shojo-ai and, recently, yuri (sexual relationship between female characters). The aesthetic of the bishonen is very prominent. Another very popular genre is Magical Girl of which the famous series Sailor Moon is part of.
Shojo should be distinguished from bishojo (pretty young girls); the latter term refers, somewhat confusingly, to content rather than target market. Shojo is manga/anime for girls; bishojo is manga/anime that has pretty girls, usually targeted towards a male audience.
Many shojo titles are often described as dark and moody rather, which is sometimes counterintuitive from a Western viewpoint.
See also shonenShonen , commonly spelled shounen is a Japanese word usually translated as "young boy", although it is commonly used to refer to males of up to high-school age as well. The word is composed of the characters meaning "few" and "year[s]". The word can also, anime and manga intended for boys; joseiJosei ( Japanese: , lit. woman", SAMPA /dZosei/; also redikomi lit. lady's comics") is a subset of manga or anime created mostly by women, for late teenage/ adult female audiences. The stories tend to be about everyday experiences of women living in Japan, anime and manga intended for adult women; and seinen, anime and manga intended for adult men.