Ever since marching band has come back around, I've been having flute (yes, flute) sectionals with my friends (most of which are anime fans) and the topic came up this afternoon "What IS a bishounen?"

I know, it's an odd question to ask, but hear me out. The controversy came up when one of my friends said that Robin from Teen Titans had a very bishie moment when he did something or other.... but this made some of my friends say that only anime characters could be bishounen, while others argued that any hot guy can be a bishounen, including real people like Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp.

So this is your chance to be heard, what's your definition of a Bishounen, and of course, who's your favorite?

The official definition of bishounen is "Pretty boy". Bi, leaning towards the more feminine side, and shounen meaning boy. However, Any guy who is cute is a "Pretty guy" to me. (or as me and my friends call them, "Beautiful men!")

Sweet! I play the flute too! *pout* 'cept no guys at my school ever played... only these darn prissy girls... um... of which I was not one! lol... but anyway, what is a bishounen?

Well I think the exact translation is a young man(between ages about 12-16) with feminine characteristics. Example: Yuki from Fruits Basket, Omi from Weiss Kruez(sp?), and Bakura from Yugioh. Pretty much if they could easily be mistaken for a girl, it's a bishounen. Older hot guys that are not so feminine are supposed to be called "Biseinan"(sp?). Sanosuke from Kenshin, Tenka from Houshini Engi, or most of the guys from Saiyuki would fit in this category.

However... bishounen has really become a relative term. While I think it still holds all the same meanings in Japan, we in the english speaking places have adapted it to include any guy that we think is "hot" "cute" or "Babe-tastic". So... in english fangirl-ese "bishounen" would indeed apply to Robin, Orlando, and Johnny.

As for who is my favorite? That's like a parent trying to pick their favorite child... how can i say there's a favorite? there's so many I like! -

Gojyo(of course), Link, Zidane, Van Fanel, Count Cain, Kenren, Sora, Riku, Orlando!, Kazuki of the Strings, Kippei(Aishiteruze Baby), Dark Mousey, Raistlin Majere, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Zack, Irvine Kinneas, Tidus, Shuyin, Baralai, Dalamar the Dark, Hatsuharu, Kyo, Ritsu, Hatori, Ayame(shhh don't tell no-chan! lol...), Shigure, Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, Lt. Havoc, Akabane (aka Dr. Jackel), Tenka, Taikoubou, Roshi(from Houshin Engi, NOT DBZ), Fugen(OF COURSE! lol...), Nataku, Raishinshi, Fukki, Kurapika, Hisoka(HXH), Tsuzuki, Naruto, Neji, Gaara, Sasuke, Kakashi, Kiba, Rock Lee, Haku(Spirited away), Kiley(Peach Girl - he is so adorable!), Hayate(pretear), Fakir(princess tutu), Mutos(tutu), Kougaiji, Ryuhou, Kanou(get backers), Kanou(Spiral), Ayumu(spiral), Eyes Rutherford(spiral), Touga, Clarinet, Kakyou(X), Bakura, Marik, Kenshin, Enishi, Sanosuke, Aoshi, Serge(Chrono Cross), Faust VIII(Shaman King), Cooro(+Anima), Husky(+anima), Senri(+anima), Zelgadis(Slayers), Xellos(slayers), Tasuki, Hotohori, The "Boshi" twins from fushigi, Yohji (Weiss), Hikaru, Isumi, Kaga, Takuto, Izumi, Ichigo(bleach), Prince Ludwig, and the many hot guys in "Host Club", "Tsubasa wa motsu mono", "Never Give Up", "Death Note", and "Zettai Kareshi"! ... my brain hurts... and I know there's more... but i can't think of them right now...

Orlando Bloom looks like a skeleton...that boy is NOT a good looking person...he needs to eat more. ;)


And yeah, I tend to get a little...angry at people who say that guys that don't look like 12 year old girls are Bishounen...but I have pretty much given up on that...*shrug*

Like Pan Pan says...Bishounen is most commonly related to just guys that are attractive in some form or another. I still am not sure why they don't just call them Attractive Men...but Fangirls are a Mystery of Nature...don't EVER try to figure them out! ;) :ph43r:

Yep, that is SO my argument. The term has just become adapted to mean any hot guy - and there is nothing wrong with that.

And people that argue about that till the end of the earth truly annoy me. Do I care if I should be calling someone a "bisennin" instead of a "bishounen" HELL NO! I can't shorten 'bisennin' to 'bish' or 'bishie'!!!

Is the world going to end because we've adapted the term to be more broad? NO!!! Is it a stupid argument! Yes!!!!

As you can tell, I've had to deal with this argument several times. If I mention someone... usually someone from Saiyuki ( :lol: ) isn't a bishounen I get, "*snappy* They're not a bishounen to begin with!" Or I get corrected, "*grumpily* It's BISENNIN!"

Again, do I flipping care? And do NOT correct me on something so trivial that it's stupid.

And one more point! Geesh Pan pan, can you HAVE a longer list? ;)

Yay! I introduced you to 'Tsubas wo Motsu Mono'! Hot bishies in there!!

Oh, back to the main question. If the person who mentioned Robin thinks he's hot and he did something so cool in whatever moment, then yes she can say it was a 'bishie moment' We say that about people all the time... of course that usually is used when they start sparkling......

My favorite Bishies:
Raimon from 'Tsubasa wo Motsu Mono' - he's so hot and his personality...Oh I just love him!

Prince Ludwig, Count Cain, Roy Mustang (I've seen prettier but he's so freaking cool that he has surpased those prettier ones!!!), Yuki, Kyo, Killua, Nataku, the hot mafia guy that I can never remember his name- that one's just for looks though :lol: .. I'll just leave it with that !

::glares darkly at P-chan and quells urge to smack him upside the head:: Orlando Bloom is NOT a skeleton - yeah, he's thin, but not THAT thin.

Anyway, like they said - bishonen for the English-speaking audience has coem to mean any hot guy. As for my faves......well, a short list, in no particular order, is:

Hotohori, Tasuki, and Tamahome from FY, Inu Yasha, Sesshomaru, and Kouga from IY, Kurama/Yoko Kurama, and Yusuke from YYH, Kenshin and Sanosuke, RK, Tuxedo Mask from SM, Larva from VPM, and Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, and Goten from DBZ. :P

*~*NansJns*~*

I am mostly talking about his face...Everytime I look at him I am reminded of Skeletor...I am not meaning to be rude...it's just the truth. :ph43r:

How the hell does Rasitlin Majere qualify as a Bishie?
Dalamar I can understand. He's an Elf, therefore he AUTOMATICALLY qualifies, but Raistlin?! Raistlin is the definition of creepyness. And while were on creepy, Faust VIII has always bothered me as well?? What about a guy who's missing a chunk of his chest and carries a skeleton in his cloak qualifies as a Bishie? But, I've gone off topic. Back to Raist. What qualifies him as a Bishie?
And I thought I was big Dragonlance fan...

Note: This in no way means that I don't think Raistlin Majere is cool. He is in reality one of my favorite characters, right behind Tasslehoff Burrfoot.

eh...definition for bishounen....i never really cared to know the proper name...all i know was that it was something like "hot guy". as for me, i'd rather know the proper pronounciation.

as for my list...its not long...: Neji [Naruto], Satoshi [DNAngel], Kurapika [hunter x hunter], Kougaiji [saiyuki], Eyes Rutherford [Spiral], Kanone Hilbert [Spiral], Kakei Jubei [Get Backers], Musica [Rave Master], that bluehaired dude from Rave master, and that blonde kid from Spiral alive. and i would say Kotaro [i think thas his name...imma doing direct translation from chinese] from Negima, except that he's 9, so i dont think he counts. cute kid, tho.

The only kid I know of from Negima is Negi himself.
I think you're thinking of Keitaro from Love Hina, which was the manga Akamatsu did before Negima (and happens to be one of my personal favorites).

Okay, here goes - Have you read "The Soulforge"? Raistlin in his prime! I dunno, he's not "handsome" like caramon, but most of his family seems to be goodlooking... just because the covers on the books aren't pretty... Except for maybe the new cover on Time of the Twins... he looks pretty in that one... dang, I wish I were Crysania... wait... scratch that... I don't wanna end up blind AND Raistlin-less... anyway... I can't help it, he's just so awesome... Plus, if you've ever been to Dragonlance Never! http://www.geocities.com/dragonlance_never/# where they draw him anime style... except everything is down right now... *pout* but they have some really pretty art there of both raist and dalamar (NOT together! o_o) lol...

and as for Faust VIII... that's a good question... I just really like him! he's cool! and he likes to kill things, and blood, and stuff... and... *blinks* wait... i'm Pan Pan... i'm supposed to be the crazy evil one... do I REALLY have to explain why I like guys that are crazy and evil....? O_o lol...

~Pan Pan

I've got The Soulforge in Hardcover version, along with about 100 other Dragonlance Novels and the Death Gate Cycle. Personally I like the sequel "Brothers In Arms" more than I like "The Soulforge".

And I don't think Crysania and Raistlin ever managed too... solidify their relationship. And she was a bit of a bitch as wel. l So I guess that's another reason too not envy her. But she DOES get a really cool tiger!
And then theres Usha and Tika and Laurana and Goldmoon *drools*... DragonLance is a true "Fantasy" world.

nanana...kotaro comes in book 5...with the evil monkey lady...and theres the other white haired kid who has the rock and water magic...also a kid. I read up to book 6 right now.

and Faust VIII is hot!....my vampiric friend wants him as a dad...

Definition of bishonen? hunky beefcake! I am rather attracted to many bishis, but I notice that I'm more attracted to bishis that have a bit more body as opposed to long-haired stick-figures. I've been rather partial to long hair as well as badass.
My favorite bishis would be:
Lotor, from Voltron, has always been a favorite of mine (old school rocks!); Bakura, Marik, Duke and Yami Yugi, from YuGiHo are favorites of mine (the more I watch the show, the more bishi Yami is and the more grotesque Yami Marik is); Hotohori, Nuriko (he's not gay! he just wants his sister back...) from Fushigi Yugi; Vincent and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7; Zidane and Kuja from Final Fantasy 9 (you know, I really don't have a problem with crossdressers, they're actually pretty funny), how about some of those really cute hume and elvaan guys from Final Fantasy 11- rrreow! Deimos from Bride of Deimos; Kurama from Yu Yu Hakasho; Inyasha, Sesshumuro and Nomoko (sp?) from Inyasha; Malachite from Sailor Moon and that's all i can think from up the top of my head.
You know, being a 20-year old college girl, I feel rather awkward about getting all giddy over boys that in real life, I would think of as children. I don't know, maybe its just me, I don't know how the rest of you guys feel. Oh, the young bishis are cute and all, but I'm an older man type girl- like Vincent and Lotor and Sephiroth and......
Sonjalee

Oh yeah, Drizzt from the R.L. Salvatore's dark elf series, and from Elfquest: Cutter, Rayek, Strongbow, Mender, and many more ^_^
I don't know if any of you are familiar with Wendy Pini's Elfquest, I know Nannon is, but here's a link to her website, her comic has lots of elf bishis:
http://www.elfquest.com/
and here are some other artists that I really like that also have some really nice guys:
http://www.tarnishedimages.com/
http://members.tripod.com/~AprilLee/
Enjoy!
Sonjalee

Personally, my favorite is Kaname from Juvinile orion.

Kaname: THAT'S obvious.
Me: shut u..
Kaname: *immidiatly grabs my face and kisses me*
Me: (maybe I should say "shut up" to him more often!) :wub:

Aaaaah, Drizzt. I had heard that R. A. Salvatore's Dark Elf series was not very good. But I bit the bullet and read the first volume of Drizzt's origin story trilogy thing. The cover art is really ugly, and Drow are supposed to have black skin. >_< Being an Elf (the fact that he's a Dark Elf changes nothing), though, he's automatically hot and I've never associated him with his ugly cover art.

Yeah. To me a bishounen is any guy I think is pretty, or sexy or both. But I'm self-conscious about actually calling anyone but an anime character or a male J-pop/J-rock star a bishounen.

The Vampire Lestat, for instance, is a bishounen. As is Vlad de Magpyr from Carpe Jugulum and Maladict from Monstrous Regiment. Also included in my list of bishounen are Yakumo Fuji, Vash the Stampede, Millions Knives, Yami Yuugi, Zelgadis Greywers and Vampire Hunter D... Hmmm... I've got a lot of vampires in there, don't I?

I swear, I don't have a vampire fetish. It's just that there are so many sexy vampires.

That's so true!! Do you know Translvania? That's my hometown!! I never tell anyone, though. <_< Do you think I should?

There's A LOT of male vampires there. I saw about 47 HOT guys. :wub: Gimme gimme gimme!!! NYHAHAHAHAHA :P

That's Transylvania. I've briefly made the acquaintance of a few mortals who have visited the Bran, Dracula's castle.

Personally, I think everyone will make fun of me in Fem~gri~la if they know my deepest secret. :(

definition of bishounen?
I love dictionaries, but I've never looked that up...
I like Pan Pan's description the best
bishounen may mean pretty boy
but it is definitely used as a common word
for those sexy boys we all love (at least for anime fangirls)

when I was a brand new fangirl
I think I saw my sexy anime boys
being called bishounen for the first time
on one of those "Gotta Catch'em All!" Bishounen things

that's when I figured bishounen meant sexy boy

Pocket Bishounen? I remember that too. I caught a whole bunch of them.

I had Dark Mousy, Human Inuyasha, Demon Inuyasha, Yami, Orphen and Majic(from Sorcerous Stabber Orphen), Van Fanel, Human Artemis from Sailor Moon, Dilandau, Elios, Sesshoumaru, Yue, Cloud, Link, Megaman, Zelgadis, Yakumo, and a few that weren't from anime or videogames.

I had Tulio and Miguel from The Road to El Dorado, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Nightcrawler and GlitchBob from Reboot.

I usually see Bishonen defined as a pretty boy in most places. But everyones bishonen are different so there is no one definition. Whoa philosophical moment. Moving on.

Personally I like the carzy ones, Akabane from Get Backers, Farfellow from Weiss Kruz (think I mispelled that), the whole handsome blossom trio from Fruits Basket, I know theres more but none are coming to mind right now.

But one anime with alot of bishonen is without a doubt Bleach. I love Renji!