Fujoshi is a Japanese term popular with anime fan lovers. Fujoshi refers to women who enjoy imagining unintended romantic relationships between two male characters in anime, manga, and video games. There are lots of women who have fallen into the category of fujoshi. This article will look at what fujoshi means, its history, and how to tell if you are a fujoshi.
What is fujoshi
Fujoshi is a derogatory term that means “rotten girl”. It was derived from initially meaning respectable women, with ‘fu’ meaning married women with character. It is actually pun intended.
It mainly describes or refers to female anime fans who enjoy imagining gay relationships between male characters in stories without gay themes. Fujoshi cuts across fans of Yaoi, Boy Love, and Bara genres in manga, anime, and video games.
It also essentially implies that the female fan lovers are not only nuts about hot male characters; they also go nuts fantasizing about the romantic involvement of male characters in a male-dominated story. Fujoshi also implies that these women have dirty minds.
If a man likes fujoshi, he is referred to as a fudanshi which means spoiled or rotten man. This means fujoshi is to a woman what fudanshi is to a man.
History of Fujoshi.
We can trace the history of fujoshi back to the early 2000s. Then, it was used as a misogynistic insult in a popular Japan’s online message board known as 2ch. This was common in the anime and gaming communities in Japan.
After this, the name was adopted to mean women who read romantic subtexts, in-between men. They imagine a male-male relationship that the creator did not initially intend. In popular anime fandom, these fujoshi are called male/male shippers.
The first time fujoshi appeared in mass media was in 2005. Then a Japanese magazine known as Aera used fujoshi to refer to the female equivalent of male otaku. This sparked the media’s interest, and in 2006, fujoshi rose to popular media and was used primarily as a word.
Since the term became popular, publications and manga comics like Tonari no 80 chan by Ajiko Kojima, Eureka’s fujoshi manga compendium, and BL studies compiled several critiques and essays on BL fujoshi as fans of this genre.
These essays also mentioned fudanshi as the male version of the fujoshi. Fundoshi was introduced to indicate that enjoying male/male relationships is not gender-based. Fujoshis are often seen as unsuitable for marriage since they imagine and fantasize BL (boys love) in non-BL works.
In modern Japan, fujoshi is commonly used as an internet slang and generally indicates BL.
How to know if you’re a fujoshi – 8 signs
Some signs will help ascertain if you are slowly becoming a fujoshi. To know if you’re a fujoshi or are turning into one, these seven will help you ascertain if you’re one or not.
1. You’re a fan of tokusatsu shows.
We are not sure why, but most people who are fans of fujoshi love tokusatsu shows. Some of these shows are the popular Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and some super sentai shows. Somehow, fujoshi lovers try to ship or pair the leader with a male teammate.
So if you’re a fan of tokusatsu and you imagine that some of these male characters are in love with each other, then you are a fujoshi or are fast becoming one. See The Top Must Watch Tokusatsu TV Shows.
2. You read Takayoshi manga magazines.
Another way to know if you’re a fujoshi is when you are more interested in Takayoshi manga magazines than in any other fun stuff. Nakayoshi is one of Japan’s premier shoujo manga. Many readers who are fan lovers of Takayoshi identify as fujoshi.
Many Takayoshi mangas have romantic series and scenes that they imagine and find nuts. They produce some of the most popular mangas, like Sailor Moon. Stories like the Takayoshi manga often trigger fujoshi tendencies.
3. You have a younger brother.
This may sound absurd and untrue, but most people disagree with this idea. Many people who have become lovers of manga and anime began by stumbling on some of these mangas and anime like Kuroko’s basketball or haiku.
When they constantly contact these stories, they begin to imagine and fantasize about certain characters. If you are experiencing this, then you are likely one of those “rotten girls’
4. You read CoroCoro comics
Much like the tokusatsu, you may also be a big-time fan of CoroCoro. Corocoro features a lot of children’s hobby games from mangas. Some of these games could be Pokemon, Yo-Kai Watch and Let’s Go.
Much like the tokusatsu, there is no evidence as to why Japan’s fujoshi love Coro Coro comics but, it is also a sign that they have high fujoshi tendencies.
5. You are a good student.
Likely, fujoshi women are typically nerds who love to read, are good in their studies and excel in class. However, they think about boys kissing other boys a lot of times. They may even do so as much as they read their books.
If you are a good student with good grades and all, and you love fantasizing about male manga characters, then you might be a fujoshi.
6. You attend an all girl’s school.
According to Kei, when girls don’t get to spend enough time with guys, there is a possibility that they might have fujoshi tendencies. This could make it easy for them to associate a male-male romantic relationship in a manga or anime with a non-homosexual theme.
If you attend all-girls, this may be a sign that you have high tendencies of being a fujoshi.
7. Prefer shoujo mangas and shonen instead of a fashion magazine
It is usual for many young women to be interested in fashion, like fashion tips for dresses and styles and fashion-related events. For people like the fujoshi, fashion isn’t one of their strong points. They prefer to read shoujo manga, shounen and watch anime instead. If this is you, then maybe you are a fujoshi.
8. You can easily ship two male manga characters.
For someone who is a fujoshi or has the tendency, shipping two male characters aren’t all that difficult. In fact, you are all for the BL (Boys Love), and you fantasize about those hot males that have become your favorite characters. You’re also a fan of shounen Ai and yaoi. If you are experiencing this, then you are a fujoshi.
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Types of a fujoshi
There are different types of fujoshi. Some are extreme, and others are normal. So here are five types of fujoshi;
Normal – this type or stage of fujoshi isn’t loud about her fan love. She does not carelessly show off her BL-themed collections such as bags and pins publicly. She may have it as wallpaper for her phone or a keychain by her bag side. She is more concerned about playing her games alone at home and prefers to go somewhere other than her house when hanging out with her friends.
Weeaboo – a weeaboo is someone obsessed with Japanese culture, especially anime. It is sort of derogatory slang. A fujoshi weeaboo is pretty much obsessed with her anime and is an ardent BL shipper. Her fan love is stronger than that of the normal type.
Elegant princess – this type of fujoshi shipper is the one you never exactly expect. She looks more like the kind of girl that loves fashion. She models, dresses pretty well, and has that innocent look. She also has other hobbies that hide her “rotten mind”. With this type of fujoshi, you can hardly tell if she’s one until she says so.
Shut-in – this type of fujoshi does not only enjoy imagining BL; she further illustrates and writes her imagination. She writes and shares with doujins that are pretty popular on otome sites.
BL enthusiast – this fujoshi is an expert on BL titles. She is more of a strict teacher but on a yaoi level.
Common terms associated with Fujoshi
Bara – Bara is a gay relationship between two pretty muscular guys. It drives more on relationships between men and young male teens. The men usually have bigger bodies and are taller.
Shota – this Japanese term refers to an attraction for young boys. It is also used to refer to the young boy that attracts the older person. Shotacon refers to the pedophile that feels the attraction for the shota.
Doujinshi – doujinshi is a short fan-made manga about a BL shipping from an already existing series. This is usually done by a type of fujoshi known as the shut-in. Most doujinshi are light and cute. Some are very graphic, but there is usually no sexual intercourse. These mangas usually involve both straight and homosexual character pairing.
Conclusion
There are lots of women in Japan who openly identify as fujoshi. They even write it boldly on their socials and have it printed on T-shirts. Others still hide their interest in the present day. You should know that being a fujoshi does not make one less attracted to men.