View source for Shotacon

{{Short description|Genre of sexualized young or young-looking male characters}}
{{Distinguish|Shotokan}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2013}}
[[File:Hitaku and Mayumi.png|thumb|A manga-style illustration of an adult woman with a young boy.]]
{{Anime and manga}}
{{Nihongo |'''Shotacon'''|ショタコン|shotakon}}, abbreviated from {{Nihongo|'''Shōtarō complex'''|正太郎コンプレックス|shōtarō konpurekkusu}}, is, in Japanese contexts, the attraction to young (or young-looking) boy characters, or media centered around this attraction. The term refers to a genre of [[manga]] and [[anime]] wherein [[prepubescent]] or [[Puberty|pubescent]] male characters are depicted in a suggestive or erotic manner, whether in the obvious role of object of attraction, or the less apparent role of "subject" (the character the reader is designed to associate with).

In some stories, the boy character is paired with an older boy or man, usually in a homoerotic manner, which is most common in [[yaoi]] works meant for female readers, but some of these works are male-oriented, such as ''[[Boku no Pico]]''. In others, he is paired with a female, which the general community would call "straight shota." In some works, the ''shota'' character is paired with an older girl or woman, which is known as ''oneshota'' (おねショタ), a blend of ''onē-san'' (お姉さん, older sister) and ''shota''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kimi|first=Rito|title=The History of Hentai Manga: An Expressionist Examination of Eromanga|publisher=[[FAKKU]]|year=2021|isbn=978-1-63442-253-6|pages=242}}</ref> It can also apply to post-pubescent (adolescent or adult) characters with [[neoteny|neotenic]] features that would make them appear to be younger than they are.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Jason|title=[[Manga: The Complete Guide]]|publisher=Del Rey|year=2007|page=501|isbn=978-0-345-48590-8}}</ref> The phrase is a reference to the young male character {{Nihongo|Shōtarō|正太郎}} from ''[[Tetsujin 28-go]]''<ref name="Otaku Sexuality p.236" /> (reworked in English as ''[[Gigantor]]''). The equivalent term for attraction to (or art pertaining to erotic portrayal of) young girls is [[lolicon]].

The usage of the term in both Western and Japanese fan cultures includes works ranging from [[Hentai|explicitly pornographic]] to mildly suggestive, romantic, or in rare cases, entirely nonsexual, in which case it is not usually classified as "true" shotacon. As with lolicon, shotacon is related to the concepts of ''[[kawaii]]'' (cuteness) and ''[[Moe (slang)|moe]]'' (in which characters are presented as young, cute or helpless in order to increase reader identification and inspire protective feelings). As such, shotacon themes and characters are used in a variety of children's media. Elements of shotacon, like [[yaoi]], are comparatively common in [[shōjo manga]], such as the popular translated manga ''[[Loveless (manga)|Loveless]]'', which features an eroticized but unconsummated relationship between the 12-year-old male protagonist and a twenty-year-old male, or the young-appearing character [[List of Ouran High School Host Club characters#Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka|Honey]] in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''. [[Seinen manga]], primarily aimed at [[otaku]], also occasionally presents eroticized adolescent males in a non-pornographic context, such as [[Yubisaki_Milk_Tea#Characters|Yoshinori "Yuki" Ikeda]], the cross-dressing 14-year-old boy in ''[[Yubisaki Milk Tea]]''.

Some critics claim that the shotacon genre contributes to actual [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse of children]],<ref name="comic relief">{{cite news |author=Tony McNicol |date=2004-04-27 |title=Does comic relief hurt kids? |work=[[The Japan Times]] |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20040427zg.html |access-date=2008-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107143128/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2004/04/27/issues/does-comic-relief-hurt-kids/ |archive-date=2014-11-07}}</ref> while others claim that there is no evidence for this,<ref name="comic relief" /> or that there is evidence to the contrary.<ref name="Diamond and Uchiyama">{{cite journal|url=http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/1961to1999/1999-pornography-rape-sex-crimes-japan.html|title=Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan|author=[[Milton Diamond]] and Ayako Uchiyama|journal=International Journal of Law and Psychiatry|volume=22|issue=1|pages=1–22|year=1999|access-date=2008-01-06|doi=10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00035-1|pmid=10086287|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Explicit Shotacon Imagery is illegal in various countries, and in a legal grey zone in various others. (See [[Shotacon#Legal_Aspects|''Legal Aspects'']] section.)

==Origins==
The term "shotacon" is a [[Japanese abbreviated and contracted words|Japanese contraction]] of {{Nihongo|''Shōtarō complex''|正太郎コンプレックス|Shōtarō konpurekkusu}}, a reference to the young male character Shōtarō ({{lang|ja|正太郎}}) from ''[[Tetsujin 28-go]]''.<ref name="Otaku Sexuality p.236">Saitō Tamaki (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and [[Takayuki Tatsumi]] ed., page 236 ''[http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605115230/http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html |date=2011-06-05 }}'' University of Minnesota Press {{ISBN|978-0-8166-4974-7}} "Shota is an abbreviation for “Shotaro complex,” from Kaneda Shotaro, the boy who pilots the robot in the manga and anime Tetsujin 28 go (what became Gigantor in English). Originally an offshoot of yaoi, the origins of this genre are said to begin in the early 1980s."</ref> In the [[anime]] and [[manga]] series, Shōtarō is a bold, self-assertive detective who frequently outwits his adversaries and helps to solve cases. Throughout the series, Shōtarō develops close friends within the world. His {{Lang|ja-latn|[[bishōnen]]}} cuteness embodied and formed the term "shotacon", putting a name to an old sexual subculture. The word ''shotacon'' itself was coined in the magazine ''Fan Road'' in 1981.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nagaike |first=Kazumi |date=2022-12-16 |title=Male Love for BL, Shota, and Otokonoko Characters: Japanese Alternative Masculinities Mediating Different Modes of Existence |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/873026 |journal=Mechademia |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=150 |issn=2152-6648}}</ref>

Where the shotacon concept developed is hard to pinpoint, but some of its earliest roots are in reader responses to detective series written by [[Edogawa Rampo]]. In his works, a character named Yoshio Kobayashi of "Shōnentanteidan" (Junior Detective Group, similar to the Baker Street Irregulars of [[Sherlock Holmes]]) forms a deep dependency with adult protagonist [[Kogoro Akechi]]. Kobayashi, a beautiful teenager, constantly concerns himself with Kogoro's cases and well-being, and for a time [[cohabitation|moves in]] with the unmarried man. This nonsexual but intimate adult-boy relationship in part inspired the evolution of the shotacon community.

[[Tamaki Saitō]] writes that although the modern shotacon audience has a roughly even split between males and females, the genre is rumored to have roots in early 1980s dōjinshi as an offshoot of [[yaoi]].<ref name="Otaku Sexuality p.236"/> Saitō suggests that shotacon was adopted by male readers who were influenced by [[lolicon]]; thus, he claims "''shota'' texts by female ''yaoi'' authors are structurally identical to ''yaoi'' texts, while ''shota'' by male ''otaku'' clearly position these little boys as young girls with penises".<ref>Saitō Tamaki (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and [[Takayuki Tatsumi]] ed., pages 236–237, ''[http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams]''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605115230/http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/bolton_robot.html|date=2011-06-05}}''. University of Minnesota Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8166-4974-7}}.</ref> Kaoru Nagayama writes that the 1995 manga anthology ''U.C. BOYS: Under Cover Boys'' started a boom in commercial shotacon in the second half of the 1990s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Nagayama|first=Kaoru|title=[[Erotic Comics in Japan: An Introduction to Eromanga]]|date=2020|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-94-6372-712-9|location=Amsterdam|pages=228–230|translator-last=Galbraith|translator-first=Patrick W.|oclc=1160012499|translator-last2=Bauwens-Sugimoto|translator-first2=Jessica}}</ref> During this time, male-oriented shotacon emerged and mixed with female-oriented shotacon: "the situation was such that shota works targeting women, men and a combination of both were all in close proximity."<ref name=":0" /> The boom collapsed at the end of the 1990s, but male-targeted shotacon saw a small resurgence starting in 2002.<ref name=":0" />

==Shotacon publications==
[[File:2022台灣原創匯 瑞讀Mizuyomi.jpg|thumb|''Shotacon'' artworks being sold at the 2022 Original Character Exhibition in Taiwan]]
Shotacon stories are commonly released in semi-monthly anthologies. Sometimes, however, manga artist will publish individual manga volumes. Many shotacon stories are published as [[dōjinshi]]; {{Nihongo|'''Shotaket'''|ショタケット}},{{#tag:ref|Also given in English as ''Shotaketto'', although it is officially romanized as ''Syotaket'' on the convention homepage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/syotaket/index.html|title=Syotaket|date=n.d.|publisher=Syotaket|language=ja|access-date=2009-07-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511180116/http://homepage3.nifty.com/syotaket/index.html|archive-date=2009-05-11}}</ref>|group="nb"}} an annual convention to sell shotacon doujin material, was founded in 1995,<ref name="Syotaket_history">{{cite web|url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/syotaket/history.html|title=History of Syotaket|date=n.d.|publisher=Syotaket|language=ja|access-date=2009-07-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727072232/http://homepage3.nifty.com/syotaket/history.html|archive-date=2009-07-27}}</ref> by a group of male creators.<ref name="Otaku Sexuality p.236"/> The 2008 Shotaket had over 1000 attendees and offered work from nearly 200 circles.<ref name="Syotaket_history"/>

Shotacon for women is almost exclusively [[yaoi]], and may be published in general yaoi anthology magazines or in one of the few exclusively shotacon yaoi anthologies, such as ''Shōnen Romance''. Because of the possible [[Legal status of drawn pornography depicting minors|legal issues]], US publishers of yaoi have avoided material depicting notably underage characters.<ref name="Pagliassotti BL West">[[Dru Pagliassotti|Pagliassotti, Dru]] (November 2008) [http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%202/5_02_pagliassotti.htm "Reading Boys' Love in the West"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801134251/http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%202/5_02_pagliassotti.htm |date=2012-08-01 }}. ''Particip@tions'' Volume 5, Issue 2 Special Edition</ref> In 2006, [[Digital Manga Publishing|Juné]] released an English translation of Mako Takahashi's {{Nihongo|''Naichaisouyo''|泣いちゃいそうよ}} under the title "Almost Crying",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.junemanga.com/books/360/|title=Juné Manga - Almost Crying|publisher=Juné Manga|access-date=2009-07-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731160257/http://www.junemanga.com/books/360/|archive-date=2009-07-31}}</ref> a non-erotic shotacon manga; the book contains several stories featuring pubescent male characters, but their relationships are nonsexual.

Shotacon for male readers may feature either homosexual or heterosexual relationships.{{#tag:ref|Male-male seijin shotacon is not properly considered [[yaoi]], and is published and marketed separately in Japan, but these genres are often conflated in Western terminology.|group="nb"}} Both gay and straight shotacon typically involve escapades between smaller, often pubescent males and young adults (older brother/sister figures), sexually frustrated authority figures (teacher/boss), significantly older "uncle/aunt" figures (neighborhood acquaintances, actual family members), or outright father or mother figures (adopted, step, or full blood relation). Outside of these tropes, stories that involve only young boys (with no older characters) are not rare, with the most common recurring theme being a classmate relation.

Shota stories may be published in (a subset of) general [[Hentai#Demographics|seijin]] (men's pornographic) manga anthologies or in the few seijin shota manga anthologies, such as ''[[Shōnen Ai no Bigaku]]'', which specializes in male-male stories. Some gay men's magazines which offer a particularly broad mix of pornographic material occasionally run stories or manga featuring peri-pubescent characters.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = McLelland
  | first = Mark
  | title = Male homosexuality in modern Japan
  | publisher = Routledge
  | year = 2000
  | pages = 134, 138
  | isbn = 0-7007-1300-X}}</ref>

In 2006, the seijin shotacon [[OVA]] anime {{Nihongo|''[[Boku no Pico]]''|ぼくのぴこ||{{lit|''My Pico''}}}}, which the producer has described as the first shotacon anime,<ref>{{cite web
 |last         = Michael
 |first        = Christopher
 |date         = May 2007
 |title        = Animated Discussion
 |work         = The Walrus Magazine
 |url          = http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2007.05-boku-no-pico/
 |access-date  = June 4, 2009
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012103114/http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2007.05-boku-no-pico/
 |archive-date = October 12, 2007
}}</ref> was released. It was later followed by two sequels and an edited version of the first OVA, with content more suitable for viewers under 18, as well as a video game starring Pico and Chico, the main characters of the anime. However, an OVA based on the [[eroge]] ''[[Enzai: Falsely Accused|Enzai]]'' was created in 2004, featuring explicit sexual acts involving young boys, and the OVA for Akira Gotō's ''A Forbidden Time'' dates back to 2000.

==See also==
* [[Hentai]]
* [[List of manga magazines]] – includes shotacon magazines
* [[Lolicon]]
* [[Yaoi]]

===Legal aspects===
* [[Cartoon pornography]]
* [[Child pornography|Pornography depicting minors]]
* [[Legal status of cartoon pornography]]
* [[Legal status of fictional pornography depicting minors]]
* [[Legal status of Internet pornography]]
* [[Pornography in Japan]]
* [[Simulated child pornography]]

== Explanatory notes ==
<references group="nb"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|35em}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons-inline}}

{{Animation industry in Japan}}
{{Film genres}}
{{Japanese erotic cinema}}

[[Category:Animation controversies]]
[[Category:Anime and manga controversies]]
[[Category:Anime and manga genres]]
[[Category:Anime and manga terminology]]
[[Category:Boys]]
[[Category:Hentai]]
[[Category:Japanese sex terms]]
[[Category:Lolicon]]
[[Category:Male stock characters in anime and manga]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in animation]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in comics]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in video games]]
[[Category:Online obscenity controversies]]
[[Category:Wasei-eigo]]