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Flower power?




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Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:43 pm Reply with quote
Why are bishounens in so many anime (and manga since many animes are based off of it) surrounded by flowers?
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Efan



Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Ctimene's Lover wrote:
Why are bishounens in so many anime (and manga since many animes are based off of it) surrounded by flowers?


Well, if you read the lexicon you will see that they are meant to be more pretty than handsom. And what symbol most commonly represents pretty? Flowers. Thats my logic.
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PantsGoblin
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Joined: 27 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:15 pm Reply with quote
I've just heard this so I'm not sure, but I think roses represent male homosexuality in Japan. I've also heard that lilies represent female homosexuality in Japan too.
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dormcat
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Joined: 08 Dec 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:36 pm Reply with quote
PantsGoblin wrote:
I've just heard this so I'm not sure, but I think roses represent male homosexuality in Japan. I've also heard that lilies represent female homosexuality in Japan too.

Completely correct. Wink Lily is yuri, literally.
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Efan



Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:50 pm Reply with quote
Is bishounens a name for homosexual pretty guys or just pretty guys?
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dormcat
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:52 pm Reply with quote
Efan wrote:
just pretty guys
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abunai
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Joined: 05 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 3:30 pm Reply with quote
  • 少年 = shounen ("young man")
  • 少女 = shoujo ("young woman")
  • 美少年 = bishounen ("beautiful young man")
  • 美少女 = bishoujo ("beautiful young woman")
  • 美人 = bijin ("beautiful person" - usually female)

Related words:
  • 美術 = bijutsu ("fine arts", lit. "beauty art" or "beauty technique")
  • 美学 = bigaku ("esthetics", lit. "beauty study")
  • 美容 = biyou ("beauty of figure or form")
  • 美辞 = biji ("flowery language", lit. "beautiful expression")

And finally a proverb:

美人薄命 = bijin hakumei ("beauty and good fortune seldom go together", lit. "beautiful person, evil fate")

- abunai
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:22 pm Reply with quote
I seem to remember another thread about these words, but it might have been on a different forum. One thing I'd like to add to avoid confusion is that 年 [nen] means "year(s)," not "man." So, 少年 could also mean something like "youth," which we often use in English to mean a teenaged male. "Man" is 男, a character read as dan, nan, or otoko.
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abunai
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Joined: 05 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:44 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
I seem to remember another thread about these words, but it might have been on a different forum. One thing I'd like to add to avoid confusion is that 年 [nen] means "year(s)," not "man." So, 少年 could also mean something like "youth," which we often use in English to mean a teenaged male. "Man" is 男, a character read as dan, nan, or otoko.

Yes, shounen literally means "not many years" or "small years", corresponding to the English word "youth", which can mean "the condition of not being old" or "a young man".

Whereas shoujo literally means "small woman". Apparently English and Japanese share the idea that describing a neutral characteristic (i.e. age) implies that the subject is masculine, whereas a feminine subject needs to be specifically indicated.

- abunai
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