This is a summary of the rise of shota as a genre, as described in Watanabe Yumiko’s essay “Shota research” (ショタ研究), featured in Otakuology Annual 1998. The 1981 anime Six God Combination Godmars (六神合体ゴッドマーズ) set off a male ✕ male boom and had yaoi established as a genre in the dōjinshi world. 1981 was also … Continue reading Wataru and the birth of shota in mainstream anime