In general, however, anime includes many of the same genres that people are familiar with such as: Action Adventure Romance Comedy Science Fiction Drama Fantasy
Honorable Mentions
The 13 Most Popular Anime Genres & The Titles That Defined Them
The Complete Guide To All Anime Types, Explained
The five types are shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, and kodomomuke. Each kind of anime is focused on a specific target population of viewers. These kinds of anime are not genres. One particular anime is called shonen.
The shonen genre is by far the most popular brand of anime and the majority of breakout hits and major successes like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and One Piece all fit into the shonen brand.
Shonen mangaSuperheroComedyAdventureComedy dramaScience fantasyMy Hero Academia/Genres
Anime Top 10Top 10 Best Rated (bayesian estimate) (Top 50)#titlerating1Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV)9.082Steins;Gate (TV)9.043Clannad After Story (TV)9.028 more rows
The genre shonen can be considered the most popular form of anime. Although aimed at boys, many girls are also interested in this segment. What makes it even more popular is the fact that your audience is not aged, it can fit the preferences of children and adults. As we can see, this genre is the opposite of shoujo.
This genre is one that in its plot there is the presence of comic elements, or popularly known as funny. Basically it can contain jokes either directly or indirectly, actions and reactions that result in a comic surprise, situations of the same nature, etc. In short, everything that is funny and that can make someone laugh.
Basically, this genre is distinguished from the others because in its plot there is some kind of relationship with music. That is, a music band or someone who works with music as the main theme.
By literal definition, harem is a word derived from the Arabic harãm, which means a group of women who live and share a house, living under the rules of a polygamous marriage. That is, in this genre there are several women married to a single person. The reverse can also happen.
Anime with Super Powers. This despite being well known, is not as popular as genres of magic, fantasy, ecchi or action. This genre encompasses only the types of plots that some people have supernatural powers that are not common in society.
The latter is not uncommon, there are a lot of anime that deal exclusively with romance between girls who sometimes reach the end.
Space Anime. Well, any anime that references or develops its plot in space, is included in this genre. Despite not being as hot as fantasy, the space genre is one with a lot of fans. If it were to quote a film with this genre it would undoubtedly be star wars.
Examples: Revolutionary Girl Utena or Kannazuki no Miko. Shōnen-ai or Yaoi is Japanese for 'boy-love'. These focus on love and romance between male characters. The term "Shōnen-ai" is being phased out in Japan due to its other meaning of pederasty, and is being replaced by the term "Boys Love" (BL).
Shotacon ("Shōtarō Complex") is the sexualization of under-aged male characters, the name coming from the lead child actor from Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō. Example: Boku no Pico. Harem is a genre which focuses on a male character surrounded by the romance of multiple female characters.
This iconic anime from the late 70s is one of the most popular, well-known, and continued anime in Japan. There was even a life-sized Gundam created in Yokohama! Mobile Suit Gundam was the biggest show to boost viewers' interest in Mecha anime.
The manga it is based on began in 1997 and is still being written and animated to this day, making it one of the longest-running anime of all time. The manga is also leading as the best-selling manga series in history!
The Clannad anime was based on a visual novel of the same name . The show follows the main character Tomoya Okazaki, a high school delinquent who has his life flipped upside down when he becomes friends with a girl named Nagisa Furukawa.
Haikyuu!! is definitely the most popular and well-received sports anime that defined the genre, with its hilarious and relatable characters, nail-biting competitions, and budding friendships. It's a classic that will go down in anime history.
6 Horror - Elfen Lied. This dark, horror anime went viral back at its release in 2004 and continues to be one of the creepiest and most famous horror shows in the genre. Elfen Lied is set in a world where a newly mutated species similar but stronger than humans are threatening to wipe out the Earth's population to replace it with their own.
It shouldn't be a surprise that Dragon Ball is the defining anime that shaped shonen anime as we know it today. The original manga and show were created back in the 80s and new series based on the classic are still being animated to this day.
Death Note continues to reign as one of the best anime series of all time. It is a common show that people not familiar with anime watch to get into the animated film scene, since it avoids any of the weirder, funkier, and sometimes perverted tropes that other anime tend to have.
Seinei anime can be translated to “young man or youth” in English, but the targeted audience of this type of anime are men older than 18 years old. Seinen anime is similar to Shounen, but with more violent action, horror, and addressing more psychological aspects of the stories.
Josei, as you might expect, is anime targeted at women older than 18 years old. If Shoujo anime ends at the main couple’s first kiss, Josei shows what comes next. This type of anime will focus on adult relationships, with a lot of drama, breakups, cheating, disappointment, and a more complex idea of love.
Kodomuke is targeted at very young children, so the episodes usually have a moral at the end trying to teach the audience to be good people. The art style tends to be colorful and simple, with cute, fun, and playful elements.
Mecha anime is one of the genres that can be Shounen, Shoujo, or Seinen. The stars of this one are giants robots! Any anime that feature giant and powerful humanoids robots piloted by humans are Mecha anime. Some might explore the military side of the robots, apply a magical system, or analyze the limits between humanity and robots.
This genre is very specific to common people being taken away from their normal reality to a fantasy world. They can be familiar with this different world or not. And by being transported to this new fantasy world, they become extraordinary people.
This genre is similar to the Western meaning of showing a storyline focused on everyday events. In Slice of Life anime, simple events represent great plot devices in the story, bringing drama and meaning to situations that would be ignored in other genres.
Different from the other genres, Iyashikei anime doesn’t have any specific elements or tropes, but it focuses on the emotion that the anime passes to the viewer. The highlight of this genre stands on the calming scenery, soothing soundtrack, and slow-paced story. It’s similar to Slice of Life, but there isn’t anything over the top.
There's elements of action, adventure, fighting, drama, comedy, and coming of age. Some of the most popular/well known Shonen anime include: Naruto. One Piece.
Anime shares genres with manga, because about 40 percent of anime is adapted from an original manga series. With all of the classifications and names of the different types of anime and manga worldwide, we here at Comicbook want to help you make sense of it all.
Shonen can be translated to mean few years in English, and refers to a younger male audience. Shonen anime usually look to meet all the interests of younger males. Most of the series feature a young male protagonist.
Some of the most popular kodomomuke anime include: Pokemon. Doraemon. Digimon Adventure.
Long time anime fans know the difference between Shonen and Shoujo off the top of their head, but it can be hard to keep up with it all for new fans.
As shoujo is the counterpart of shonen, josei is the opposite of seinen. Seinen shows are targeted towards adult female viewers and focus more on romance than anything. They usually have a more realistic feel than shoujo and feature adult woman. There are more erotic, intense, and dark subjects than other genres. They are based around everyday normal life, but also have dramatic heavy scenes.