Joseimuke
Description
Joseimuke ( 女性向け) meaning “for women” is a Japanese term for modern women’s manga and anime related content.
Background
Joseimuke started as a kind of shojo manga for grown women instead of children in the 90’s. It was referred to as “ladies’ comics” or redikomi. Video games for women in Joseimuke is mostly split into two categories “Otome” or games for maidens and “BL”, fantasy content between two bishonen-type male characters where the female player embodies a male role vs the typical female one found in regular Otome games.
Art Style
Joseimuke often utilizes a type of style associated with tanbi which is the pursuit of aesthetic beauty. TL (Teens Love), BL (Boys Love) and GL (Girls Love) for women often uses this aesthetic. It is categorized by its angelic, soft pastel or bright colors, extremely feminine gaze and sparkly and flowery decorations utilizing illustration tools such as digital or regular airbrush and screentones.