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Bishounen is Japanese for "beautiful boy." It is sometimes shortened to "bish" or "bishie."

[edit] Historical Definitions

The following term dates to December 2001 in the Harry Potter fandom:

Bishonen: Means "pretty boy", usually associated with characters from an anime/manga—though in the case of a lot of anime/manga, don't be too surprised when the boys are prettier than girls. Term can also be used to describe any hottie in the vicinity. (Equality, you know? Equal opportunities to drool whatever your gender/preferences are.)[1]

The following definition is from the MST community and dates to June 2005:

Bishounen - "Pretty Boy" A term for Japanese comics (Manga) aimed towards girls featuring dramatically handsome men. Also used to refer directly to such pretty male characters. [2]

The following definition dates to September 2006 in anime fandom:

Bishonen - pretty boy [3]

The following definition is from GAFF and dates to December 2006:

Bishounen, Bishie: Japanese term ‘Pretty boy’. Adopted by fan girls to denote their crush, usually within an Anime fandom [4]

[edit] History

The characteristic style of bishounen dates back to AD 1000 with Lady Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, but the terminology probably developed after the inception of young male actors playing women in kabuki theater.

Today, the term is popular with anime and manga fen, especially when describing characters in shoujo, shonen-ai and yaoi series.