In this article, we will look at a list of the best bishounen animes that have beautiful male characters. Animes that are sometimes focused on appealing to the female audience in some way, sometimes with fanservice. We will also see a ranking of handsome characters.
Bishounen (also known as bishie) is a combination of the Japanese terms bi [美] meaning beautiful and pretty, along with the word shounen [少年] meaning boy. In other words, literally a beautiful boy or pretty boy.
These “pretty boys” are famous in real life for their feminine aspects and style, they have a big space in Japanese pop culture as boy bands, rock stars, actors and models. Who could blame the female population for courting these beings?
Now imagine having these aspiring One Direction in animes? You have all the aspects of your favorite anime, with the addition of a handful of ridiculously handsome boys. Bishounen animes often have sweet love stories that can enchant any girl.
Table of Content
What anime usually have bishounen characters?
Any anime can have one or another bishounen character to attract the female audience. Whether it's a shoujo, shounen, seinen anime or any other. However, some animes seem to focus on handsome male characters. Generally, these animes are:
- Idol animes;
- Reverse or Inverse Harem Anime;
- Anime Shounen Ai;
- Romance Shoujo anime;
- Music animes and bands;
- Vampire animes;
- Butler animes;
- sport anime;
Most of the anime types mentioned above have hot male characters. The list is really quite extensive, many of these anime are generic, made just for fan service to the girls. That's why we won't pay much attention.
Many of these anime feature these men shirtless or even nothing at all, some even pull a bit into homosexual romance. That is, directors and authors do not only sensualize female characters to attract the public.
Bishounen Anime That Are Actually Shounen
Some animes have many bishounen characters, but they are actually aimed at a male audience or a general audience. They do not overuse fanservice for women, they simply have characters considered crushes and eye candy for women.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
The anime tells the story of a protagonist who, in addition to being handsome, is super intelligent. He intends to overthrow the government that rules the world, only with war strategies and with a power that allows him to give one order to anyone.
One of the best anime of all time has cute characters that enchant girls. Set in the future, Code Geass offers mind-blowing fights from young and attractive soldiers. Look into Lelouch's eyes and succumb to his power.
The traits of the anime are not the best, but they have their own style and charm. In this anime, what really stands out are the male characters, while in most other shounen anime, the girls with big breasts are in charge.

Kuroko no Basuke
Another super-popular sports anime that delights both audiences. Although romance is scarce, this basketball anime has charismatic characters that enchant both girls and boys. Its focus is to delight both audiences.
Even though it doesn't focus on female characters, this anime manages to win over a large part of the boys with its story. Why is it a bishounen? Surreal basketball skills, young muscular athletes, and beautiful faces. Do I need to say more?

Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)
An very interesting anime about a badass butler who does everything for his master. This anime is considered a shounen, has a lot of action and a quite dark setting, but it is popular mainly among girls. I wonder why?
If you like tuxedo aristocrats and butlers, you will love this anime! It has an amazing story and a great soundtrack. This anime is usually one of those that hold you from beginning to end.

K
Shiro is an ordinary student at Ashinaka High School. His life takes a turn when, one day, a classmate asks him to do an assignment. Shiro is attacked by a group of people, not understanding what is happening.
A video is shown showing him killing someone and claiming to be the "Seventh King". The story is really interesting, but the character design is so good that girls will probably focus on the hot guys from anime.
The series of anime and manga [K] is for all genres, some focused on the shoujo, seinen, and shounen audience. Few girls are present in this anime, which makes one think that the focus of this work is mainly on the girls.

Anime with Bishounen characters made for girls
Akatsuki no Yona
Despite being primarily aimed at a female audience, Akatsuki no Yona fits perfectly as a well-crafted action anime with high-quality characters and storyline. The anime focuses much more on the plot than on romance.
Princess Yona has lived her entire life in luxury and goodwill in her kingdom until now. She has everything she ever wanted and needed, and a childhood friend she's always had a crush on. One fateful day, on her 16th birthday, everything changes drastically for the worse.
His life goes on a journey trying to survive and find other characters who are handsome men forming a harem. Fortunately this is an anime focused on the story, with little fan service, but that enchants many girls.

Vampire Knight
What if the hot guy you fell in love with at school was a vampire? Would you learn more about him or would you run away? If you like mysterious boys, Vampire Knight is the right anime for you.
The anime shows a boarding school that divides two isolated elite classes during the day and at night. The night class is full of beautiful vampires, where Yuuki and Zero act as guardians, protecting the secrets of this night class.
Can vampires and humans coexist, even in the strict setting of Cross Academy? Although it seems like a shounen anime, this is actually an anime aimed specifically at a female audience.

Kamigami no asobi
Kamigami no asobi is full of fun and attractive characters. The plot of this series thickens as the viewer goes through it episode by episode leaving the girls in love with each protagonist.
The high school student Yui Kusanagi is chosen and forced by Zeus (director of a Forbidden Academy) to teach the values of humanity and love to other young gods. The story starts here and goes far beyond. Another reverse harem full of bishounen.

Brothers Conflict
Brothers Conflict tells the story of Ema Hinata, a girl who lives with her father, who decides to remarry and the girl gains a new family of incredible 13 siblings. That is, this anime has 13 handsome men for all tastes.
Ema wants to get along with everyone, to live in peace, but the boys can't define her as a sister, so forbidden issues like love begin to trouble this new family. Reverse Harem, hot characters and forbidden romance? Hmm…

Free! (Free! Iwatobi Swim Club)
A group of friends decide to create the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club to swim together. The anime is full of main characters appearing shirtless in bathing suits most of the time.
Despite being aimed at girls, many men also found the anime and story interesting. Handcrafted by Kyoto Animation, the character designs are brilliant and will make any girl drool with those muscles.

Other anime with Bishounen characters
There are many animes with bish characters. To conclude, let's leave an extensive list in order of popularity, with the most popular bishounen character animes of all time. From shounen animes to shoujo.
- Hakkeden;
- Owari no Seraph;
- Haikyuu;
- Nanbaka;
- Katsugeki Touken Ranbu;
- Bungou Stray Dogs;
- Dance with Devils;
- Uta no Prince-Sama;
- Norn9;
- Hakuoki;
- 07-Ghost;
- Shounen Hollywood;
- Miracle Train;
- Ouran High School Host Club;
- Bakumatsu Rock;
- Kamisama Kiss
- Inu x Boku
- The Prince of Tennis
- Pandora Hearts
- Maid-Sama!
- Rainbow Days;