Recently, the Isekai anime genre, which features characters reincarnated into entirely new worlds, has become incredibly popular in the anime and manga community. Hit series like Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime have exploded in popularity, opening up an exciting new genre for audiences.
However, according to a recent report from Oricon News, a Japanese entertainment company, the golden age of Isekai seems to be winding down. Even more than Isekai, a rising anime and manga genre called “reijo” is growing rapidly, steering the industry’s focus in a fresh direction.
Reijo Genre Surpasses Isekai in Popularity
The term “reijo” in Japanese means “noblewoman,” and stories in this genre focus on female characters who are aristocrats or sometimes villains. In the Oricon News article, Daichi Katsuki, sales director at MangaPlaza, commented on the growing love for reijo manga.
Katsuki specifically mentioned that the company is targeting more manga toward female readers to meet this rising demand. Reijo stories center on strong women as protagonists, which explains why they attract female readers who can relate to these heroines and feel inspired by their admirable examples.
Katsuki said there is “a passionate fan community emerging around a female-focused manga genre that previously didn’t exist in the U.S. market,” urging companies like MangaPlaza to focus more on titles favored by women, such as reijo. One such series, Dear Stranger, I Must Get a Divorce, has been a catalyst for this shift.
Reijo’s Popularity Highlights Anime’s Growing Appeal to Female Audiences
Dear Stranger, I Must Get a Divorce has been a turning point for MangaPlaza, as Katsuki described, inspiring the online manga platform to highlight similar titles that attract mostly female fans. This fresh focus on reijo and other manga genres with strong female leads marks an exciting change across the industry.
Many of the most popular anime and manga, like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia, feature male protagonists. This trend is especially clear in shonen, a genre primarily marketed to teenage boys but increasingly popular with a wider audience.
While many series include strong female characters, others do not. Fortunately, as genres like reijo gain popularity, this issue is gradually being addressed, allowing women to see more positive representations of characters like themselves in anime and manga.
Currently, MangaPlaza publishes around 250 reijo titles. Anime and manga are more beloved by female readers than ever, and the fact that reijo is among the most searched keywords on MangaPlaza clearly reflects this significant shift.