Shotacon (ショタコン,ショタ) is a Japanese and anime term for a sexual complex where an adult, usually male, is attracted to an underage boy. Because such characters are usually bishounen (before or after the fact), it is classically associated with yaoi, although straight shota also exists.

Generally, hentai art on the internet is labeled shotacon if it depicts a noticably underage boy by himself or with a partner (of any age or sex) Characters under the age of 14 are generally considered shotacon although depending on the age of the older partner this may extended into the teenage years.

A large amount of shotacon doujinshi is written by women for women, although many male fans enjoy them as a form of wish-fufillment due to the use of older, attractive women in a sexually dominant position. This runs against the typical view that hentai (or anime in general) idealizes virginal, submissive girls and portrays men as overly aggresive partners.

Because boys are typically considered to have a larger interest in sex than girls, the term and genre among anime fandom has less of a stigma relative to its counterpart, lolicon, and it is sometimes used as a source of humor.

Shows including mild shotacon themes include Haunted Junction , Mahoromatic, and perhaps Onegai Teacher, although because these shows are primarily aimed at a male audience they would be more identifed as a josei fetish.

Origins

The phrase derives from "Shotaro complex" (Shotaro is a hero character from Tetsujin 28-Go and is a popular generic name for young male characters in anime) and is sometimes contracted further to shota. Shotaro, in those anime and manga, often outwitted and was never afraid to say what he had to against ungainly grownups. Except for few occasions where his physical limits failed him, he had everything that could be had for an adult. His appearance was also deemed cute.

Where this Shota-con concept developed is hard to prove but one of the earliest root of this syndrome can be traced to readers responses to detective series written by Edogawa Rampo featuring a cool detective Kogoro Akechi. In it, Yoshio Kobayashi and his friends form "Shōnentanteidan" (Junior Detective Group, similar to the Baker Street Irregulars of Sherlock Holmes) to aid Mr. Akechi. Kobayashi was written as a perfect young teenager who, some might say, had a strong 'dependency' to Mr. Akechi. Every time he appears, he is either worried about Akechi's well-being or helping Akechi set the trap for criminals. On numerous occasions that he was captured, Akechi swooped in for a timely rescue. He even lived together in the Akechi's house who happened to be not married. In short, he acted almost as though he was Akechi's wife and no doubt not few female readers had read stories picturing them to be in Kobayashi's position.

Shotacon as a Meme

'Bridget', a crossdressing young boy of the video game series Guilty Gear became infamous on image boards like Futaba Channel and 4chan as a shotacon sex symbol, whose cuteness was lauded by otherwise vehenemently straight fans. Usually depicted in his blue nun habit, he became instantly recognizable even when his origin and sex wasn't. Canonically, he dressed as a girl to avoid the supersitious persecution of twins, and has an honest desire to become more, fanworks usually depict him in a feminine or even lolicon style of dress, although still anatomically male.

See also: shonen-ai, hentai, yaoi, child pornography, MILF