Josei Tag?

quirkywolf said:
Perhaps I’m being ignorant, but why is there a josei tag with no female mc? Is it because of the ikemen overload, which would attract a female demographic? Just a quick question before I try watching the series/read the manga.

Apollo18 said:
Yeah, I was wondering this, too.

I know anime get the 'josei'/'shonen/seinen/shoju' label from the magazine the manga was published in (although I'm far from an expert on manga), but I've seen a fair few 'josei' anime (ParaKIss, Kids on the Slope, Honey & Clover, Princess Jellyfish, Nodame Canatabile, etc), and this seems tonally completely different to all of them.

This just seems fairly typical shonen, or maybe seinen, to me; Almost all-male leads, fight-focussed episodes, little-to-no romance, or even 'sensitive, introspective' emo moments. The vibe 'of gritty, ironic-realism' (priest wielding a revolver, gods riding around in a WW2 Willy's Jeep, etc)- None of the stuff I'd typically expect from a josei show- ie At least a few female characters out front. Emphasis on freindships/relationships. Themes of romance, or 'character developing as a person'. Emphasis on fashion, or stylish hipster characters. Angsty, romantacised, emo characters. Maybe a 'wacky gang of friends having light-hearted fun' storyline.

Are there many other josei shows like this? Am I wrong that Saiyuuki seems pretty anachronistic and out-of-place, for this demographic?

Every time I think I have a handle on these 'josei/seinen/shonen/shoju' catagories, I run into a show like this, which seems to completely defy it's demographic; At this stage, I'm starting to think those labels are pretty much arbitrary, and meaningless.