page_title: Bishōnen
section_title: Art
hierarchical_section_title: Bishōnen / Art
caption_attribution_description: Photo sur le tournage de "Mort à Venise" (Détail) (1970) Björn Andrésen (Tadzio).
context_page_description: Bishōnen is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth" and describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man of androgynous beauty. This word originated from the Tang dynasty poem Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup by Du Fu. It has always shown the strongest manifestation in Japanese pop culture, gaining in popularity due to the androgynous glam rock bands of the 1970s, but it has roots in ancient Japanese literature, the homosocial and homoerotic ideals of the medieval Chinese imperial court and intellectuals, and Indian aesthetic concepts carried over from Hinduism, imported with Buddhism to China.
  Today, bishōnen are very popular among girls and women in Japan. Reasons for this social phenomenon may include the unique male and female social relationships found within the genre. Some have theorized that bishōnen provide a non-traditional outlet for gender relations. Moreover, it breaks down stereotypes surrounding feminine male characters. These are often depicted with very strong martial arts abilities, sports talent, high intelligence, dandy fashion, or comedic flair, traits that are usually assigned to the hero/protagonist.
context_section_description: Besides being a character type, bishōnen is also a distinct art style not usually forgotten in books about drawing manga. In art, bishōnen are usually drawn delicately, with long limbs, silky or flowing hair, and slender eyes with long eyelashes that can sometimes extend beyond the face.  The character's "sex appeal" is highlighted through introducing the character by using an "eroticized" full page spread. Characters with "bulging muscles" are rarely considered bishōnen, as they are too masculine.
  It is said that Björn Andrésen's appearance as Tadzio in the film Death in Venice inspired many Japanese anime artists, such as Keiko Takemiya, who became known for their depictions of young, effeminate men.
  Bishōnen characters are fairly common in manga and anime. Many of the male characters show subtle signs of the bishōnen style, such as slender eyes or a feminine face.
  Some manga are completely drawn in the bishōnen style, such as Saint Seiya. bishōnen manga are generally shōjo manga (girls' comics) or yaoi (girls' comics focused on homosexual relationships between beautiful boys), however shōnen manga (boy's comics) may use casts of bishōnen characters for crossover appeal to female readers. Mainstream shounen and seinen fare also often uses such characters as rivals for a traditional masculine protagonist, with some degree of comic relief, or for the blander everyman, whether as the embodiment of his insecurities in a grittier realism, or as a more lighthearted constant reminder of his less than advantageous social status and the constraints thereof. Comics for younger boys tend to use arrogant bishōnen in the role of the recurring minor rivals readers love to hate, though their effeminate good looks there will often appear older, bigger, stronger, and thus in fact more masculine than the commonly shorter and less mature protagonists.
caption: 16-year-old Swedish actor Björn Andrésen's role in the 1971 film Death in Venice proved influential for many Japanese illustrators' depictions of bishōnen characters.[15]
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