Editing Shotacon (section)

{{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>