Buyer's Guide to Anime Genres and Themes

Like any kind of entertainment, anime is broken down into a number of genres, demographics and themes. Finding the right anime shows for you then, is just a matter of picking the genres that you like best.

In general, anime can fall into one of five main genres:

• Action - Includes martial arts, fighting and "battle anime." Adventure is also typically lumped in with this genre since most adventure animes involve some type of war or battle.
• Drama - Includes romantic animes, as well as series that center around relationships, growing up, self-discovery, etc.
• Science Fiction - Includes futuristic storylines, as well as technology related animes and robot/mecha series.
• Horror - Includes true horror storylines (yes, anime has some pretty intense ones), as well as supernatural and occult series.
• Game-Based - The basic storyline focuses around some type of game - usually a card or board game, such as in Yu-Gi-Oh! or even .hack.

These genres are not exclusive and you'll likely find that any given anime will include influences from several genres and sub-genres. An action anime, for example, may also have a prominent love story sub-plot, as well as a little robot action or a darker, supernatural character.

Within these main genres are sub-genres or "themes":

• Mecha - This refers to robot anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam and The Transformers.
• Magical Girlfriend - Anime shows with this theme typically center around a relationship between a normal human guy and a not-so-normal girl. She might be an alien, witch, goddess, demon or some other supernatural or superhuman being.
• Post-Apocalyptic - Deals with futuristic worlds after an apocalypse.
• Harem - A common theme where one guy is pursued by many females, as in Love Hina and Shuffle!. Incidentally, a Reverse Harem theme would be the genders reversed with one female pursued by many guys.
• Maho Shojo - Also called "Magical Girl," this type of anime features main female characters who possess supernatural powers of some sort.
• Maho Shonen - The male version of "magical girl" anime. This type of series features one or more main male characters with supernatural abilities.
• Samurai - Just what it sounds like: anime that centers around the infamous Japanese warriors known as samurai.
• Shojo-ai - Also called "girl love," this anime theme includes shows that deal with romantic relationships between girls without delving into explicit sexual content.
• Yuri - For some, Yuri anime is the same thing as Shojo-ai, but it's more often used to describe girl/girl anime containing more mature content.
• Shonen-ai - The male equivalent of Shojo-ai, i.e. romantic relationships between male characters.
• Yaoi - Yaoi is the more mature version of Shonen-ai and often contains mature sexual content.
• Hentai - This is basically anime pornography and contains explicit sexual content.

And like your favorite movies, anime is typically targeted to a specific demographic:

• Shojo - anime for young girls
• Shonen - anime for young boys
• Josei - anime for women
• Seinen - anime for men
• Kodomo - anime for children of both genders

So, what does all this mean for you - the buyer? Well, knowing your anime genres and themes can help you select anime that you're more likely to enjoy. Again, remember that most anime can fall into a number of different genres and sub-genres, so just because it's classified as "action" doesn't mean that there isn't also a love story sub-plot or an underlying futuristic theme.

The key is to read up on new anime before you buy and you'll have a much better chance of finding anime that's just right for you.