| Since this is something that's come up in discussion.. and it seems we all have some pretty strong views on the subject.. I was thinking, we should post it here. Shadowcat has posed some very interesting points.. and hopefully, she'll find a few minutes to copy her post to this thread. I've always been of the opinion, that Shota doesn't really mean it's a 'uke' persona.. so much as a very cute boy that looks to be under the age of 13. Honey-senpai is a classic example of being tagged as 'older' by the artist, yet still maintaining his shota persona. On top of which, he puts on the airs of being the 'seme' in his relationship with Mori-senpai. (I can't wait to scanlate this really juicy doujinshi I bought of the two of them.. *squee!*) Another popular example is Pico. He's the eternal uke in that he loves it from behind.. yet Chico is *also* shota.. even though he's the seme in their relationship. Hunter X Hunter, Digimon, Pokemon are good examples of this as well. A lot of the shota manga I own depicts two boys.. it doesn't mean that one is shota and the other bishounen though.. they're both shota, for sure. So the tag of always being the uke type that you just want to bend over and stick it to.. doesn't always apply with shota.. same as it doesn't always apply to bishounen. Katekyo Hitman Reborn, a huge example for me anyways, shows off a bunch of very sexy bishounen boys.. (and a few shota-esque ones too :3 ) I would have to say that both Mukuro and Hibari are bishounen in looks.. but Hibari puts off a very seme attitude in the anime/manga.. yet, I rarely ever see him in that position within doujinshi. He's the eternal uke in most of the manga I read. (And boy do I like it that way.. *heaving breaths* Another way I've seen artists discern between the shota character and the bishounen character, is by drawing the penis in the state before the skin pulls back. (uncircumcised) However, this isn't always the case. Po-Ju is a prime example of an artist who draws her shota boys with huge, fully developed cocks. Anyhow.. I'd really like to hear the thoughts everyone else has on distinguishing between shota and bishounen. |
shadowcat2323 said: Personally I have problems with the term "bishounen". Honestly it seems to be applied to everybody from FFVII's Cloud, to Furaba's Ayame, to xxxHolic's Watanuki. Tell me what those three characters have in common other than being attractive to somebody?(...) (...)The distinction btween shota and bishounen for me is largely how the character is handled. Stereotypically, a bishie is worshipped from afar by romantic interests, is rather tall compared to other characters, and when it comes to het relationships are almost always a gentle but clear seme. For me, a shota is a character that doesn't fit two or three of those, and looks on the younger side of bishounen. Yes, the main thing is that "shota" and "bishounen" are two concepts really wide. It's not easy to make a clear distinction. Personally I think a boy must have at least these characteristics to be considered a shota: 1) Young (under 16-17) or looking younger than he is 2) Cute (take-him-home mode) 3) He must be the uke type; doesn't matter if he has a shy, sweet personality or a stronger one (like Hitsugaya's for example), you can't imagine him as a seme. 4) Being often teased from a older guy or girl (this goes with the previous point :-P) |
LehaAug 5, 2008 10:37 AM
 watching, waiting, commiserating |
| Wow, you make some very good points. I think you are right that uke is not always a good indicator of shota, especially within a yaoi relationship (I hold firm that it is a must in a het however). I suppose this comes once again down to appeared age, and I'd say my rule would have to be: A character is shota if they are uke and appear under the age of 15 or if they are cute and cleary under the age of 13. How do people feel about that definition. Lol ::blush:: and go figure the one of us that likes het shota is too prudish to categorize shota by penis. @_@ Guess this is why I will always like non-H yuri best. |
 |
| And on Leha's request (although some of my opinions have changed in the post above): Personally I have problems with the term "bishounen". Honestly it seems to be applied to everybody from FFVII's Cloud, to Furaba's Ayame, to xxxHolic's Watanuki. Tell me what those three characters have in common other than being attractive to somebody? From my understanding of the term, bishounen was origionally used to describe only a certain type of character (ie Furuba's Yuki) which could also be described as "older shota" but has since been clouded by generations of fan-girls both here and in Japan. Shota on the other hand, I can give you a really solid description of my definition. Taking a page from loli fans, I tend to figure "who the hell cares what age the creators slapped onto a character". I mean seriously, we could write a whole list of characters that are loli but technically over 16. The distinction btween shota and bishounen for me is largely how the character is handled. Stereotypically, a bishie is worshipped from afar by romantic interests, is rather tall compared to other characters, and when it comes to het relationships are almost always a gentle but clear seme. For me, a shota is a character that doesn't fit two or three of those, and looks on the younger side of bishounen. XD I guess this is why I sometimes get characters like Hayate and Raki mixed up in my list. What does everybody else think? Any questions? And oooh, if you did that I might have to try to make it to the panel XD |
| |
More topics from this board
» Any STRAIGHT-SHOTA anime/manga I could find?ZeroR321 - Sep 24, 2016 |
1 |
by Leha
»»
Sep 25, 2016 12:46 PM |
|
Poll: » Male-only Shota pollSick_Bastard - Feb 8, 2009 |
17 |
by myShota-list
»»
Sep 10, 2014 1:37 PM |
|
Poll: » Shota Relation ships?myShota-list - May 24, 2014 |
0 |
by myShota-list
»»
May 24, 2014 7:09 AM |
|
» Your Favorite Shota MangakaLeha - Aug 7, 2007 |
13 |
by myShota-list
»»
May 24, 2014 6:46 AM |
|
Poll: » Favorite type of shota?RenaPsychoKiller - Aug 1, 2008 |
27 |
by myShota-list
»»
May 24, 2014 6:43 AM |