Recently,the isekai anime genre, which tells stories of characters who are reincarnated into brand-new worlds, has become highly successful among anime and manga series.Hits likeRe:Zero − Starting Life in Another WorldandThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slimehave exploded in popularity, opening up the intriguing genre to new audiences.
Isekai’s time in the spotlight seems to be drawing to a close though, according toa new report by Oricon News, a Japanese entertainment company. Even more than isekai, an emerging anime and manga genre known as “reijo” is doing tremendously well, guiding the industry’s focus in a new direction.
An Emerging Anime and Manga Genre Called Reijo Is Surpassing Isekai in Popularity
Reijo Stories Highlight Strong Female Characters, Focusing on Noble Daughters and Villainesses
The Japanese term “reijo” translates to “noble daughter” in Japanese, and stories in the genre center on female characters who are noblewomen, or sometimes villainesses. In the Oricon News article, Mr. Daichi Katsuki, the sales manager at MangaPlaza, commented on the growing love for series that fit into the reijo genre.
Specifically, Katsuki mentioned how the company is gearing more manga towards women to keep up with this rising demand. Series within the reijo genre highlightstrong women as main characters, which understandably appeals to female audiences who can identify with these heroines and feel inspired by the admirable examples they set.
Katsuki states that there is “an emerging, passionate fandom around a certain genre of female-oriented manga that previously didn’t exist in the U.S. market,” urging companies like MangaPlaza to focus more on titles that are popular among women, like those in the reijo genre. One such series,Dear Stranger, I Must Get a Divorce,was the catalyst for this shift.
The Rising Fame of Reijo Indicates the Popularity of Anime Among Female Audiences
Companies Like MangaPlaza Are Creating More “Female-Oriented” Series as a Result
Dear Stranger, I Must Get a Divorcewas “the turning point” for MangaPlaza, as Katsuki called it, inspiring the online manga platform to spotlight similar series that attract a predominately female fanbase. This new emphasis on reijo and other manga genres with strong female leads marks an exciting change in the industry as a whole.
A lot of the most popular anime and manga series,likeJujutsu KaisenandMy Hero Academia,to name a couple, feature predominantly male leads. This trend is evidentamong the shonen genre in particular, which was designed to be marketed primarily towards teenage boys but began to garner more mainstream popularity among diverse audiences.
An increasing number of series do include strong,remarkable female anime characters, but many do not. Thankfully, as genres like reijo rise in fame, this issue is being gradually rectified and women are seeing positive portrayals of other women like themselves within anime and manga more often.
MangaPlaza is currently publishing more reijo series, with “around 250 titles in this genre” currently. Anime and manga are extremely beloved among female audiences, now more than ever before, and the fact that reijo is one of the most sought-after tags on MangaPlaza is a testament to this exciting change.
