Bishōnen
“That chick is a man, baby!”
“Bishōaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanen!”
“In other news, the chick in the Crying Game is really a man”
Bishōnen is a wapanese word (derived from "shōnen," boy, and English loanword "bi") that loosely translates into either "puny wimpy little girly man" or "goddammit, what the hell gender is this character supposed to be anyway!?!" depending on which fansub translator you rely on. It's commonly used to refer to any character that's a man but looks like a pretty woman.
As Wapanese are slowly replacing their own culture with horrible misunderstood and poorly translated versions of Japanese pop-culture, the Bishōnen character is getting more and more frequent.
Apperance[edit]
There are typically five types of characters in anime and manga. Pretty girls, Bishōnen, cute pets, tentacle monsters, and everybody else. Due to their almost identical appearance to pretty girls and the fact that they can also secretly be tentacle monsters, bishōnen characters are almost impossible for the untrained eye to spot in manga and anime.
There are several ways to tell them apart from the other characters however. The easiest is that unlike female characters, their bare chests aren't censored when shown. However as Japan is full of sick perverts anyway, this isn't always reliable. The more common method is to pay attention to the dialog and see which girl is referred to solely with masculine pronouns. However as manga and anime is all horribly translated, this is also unreliable[1].
Sexuality[edit]
Bishōnen characters are commonly regarded as sex symbols by wapanese fangirls. As Bishōnen are commonly depicted as looking like (and in some cases dressing like and acting like) women, they make it easier for females to identify with and still allow them to claim that they aren't homosexual (and if porn has taught me anything, it's that all women are at least bisexual) because the character does in fact have a penis (and in some cases breasts.) It's worth noting however that despite their fantasies, no bishōnen character would ever be interested in them for two primary reasons. First off, they're gay. Every single one of them. In the same manner that mules can't have offspring, bishōnen characters are only interested in other bishōnen characters. It's believed that they were designed that way in order to control the population. Secondly and most importantly, they're fictional and don't exist.
Non bishōnen characters[edit]
To Japanese girls any character showing the slightest hint of masculinity is considered ugly and repulsive. As such, they are ignored or widely mocked by those who fancy their men to look more like women.
While mostly unofficial, a further method for dealing with these repulsive manly characters exists and is frequently used by fanartist. Simply take the male character and redrawn him to resemble more of a "her". The quickest way to do so is rid the character of any muscle mass, facial hair, and give them a softer jawline, minimizing as much of their manhood as possible[2].
Proper spelling and the Bishie[edit]
The proper spelling of Bishōnen* is with that funny little symbol over the o. However as nobody can figure out how to type that, "bishonen" is a commonly accepted substitute. However, in no situation should the term "bishie" ever be used, as it actually translates to the Japanese phrase "constipated rapist." Should you see anyone referring to their favorite "bishie," it's best to get far away from them and seek help[3].
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ It's further worth noting that there is no way to get an accurate translation of Japanese to English as the Japanese are notorious liars and frequently play tricks on other nations. How else do you explain how they convinced everybody that eating raw fish was a good idea?
- ↑ Of course without eliminating it completely. The character has to be able to have hot butt-sex later, after all.
- ↑ You can spell it bishounen, in fact, but no one does.
- ↑ Has nothing to do with his article, but it's generally just a good idea.