Shōnen manga
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The term shōnen, shonen, or shounen manga (少年漫画 shōnen manga) refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters (少年) literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters (漫画) generally mean "comic". The complete phrase literally means "young person's comic" or simply "boys comic" Examples include Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin, Saint Seiya, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Detective Conan, YuYu Hakusho, InuYasha, Hunter × Hunter, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Eater, The Prince of Tennis, Slam Dunk, Fairy Tail, Reborn!, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Fist of the North Star, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Fullmetal Alchemist, Black Butler, and D.Gray-man.
Shōnen (少年) manga (漫画) is typically characterized by high-action,[1] often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting squads and the like is often emphasized. Attractive female characters like Bulma from Dragon Ball Z or Nami from One Piece, with exaggerated features are also common (see fan service). Note that none of these listed characteristics are a requirement, as seen in shōnen manga like Yotsuba&!, which features a female lead, and almost no fan service or action, and that what most defines whether or not a series is shōnen are things like the magazine (see Weekly Shōnen Jump) it is serialized in or the time slot it airs on T.V. After the case of Tsutomu Miyazaki, depictions of violence and sexual matters became more highly regulated in manga in general, but especially in shōnen manga.[2] The art style of shōnen is generally less flowery than that of shōjo manga, although this varies greatly from artist to artist, and some artists draw both shōnen and shōjo manga.
Beyond shōnen manga, manga for men (university age and older) is called seinen manga. Despite a number of significant differences, many Western fans do not make a distinction between shōnen manga and seinen manga. This may be because very few seinen manga have been published outside of Japan. In Japan, many older men read shōnen magazines because of their ease in reading during commutes to and from work on trains. Consequently, in Japan, shōnen manga magazines are the most popular manga magazines.
Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama is credited for popularizing a general trend seen in many popular shōnen manga of today, with notable authors of other shōnen manga such as Yoshihiro Togashi, Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Gosho Aoyama, Tite Kubo and Yusuke Murata paying homage to his impact and influence on their work.[3] It is because of this general trend in popular shōnen manga that the term "shōnen" is often confused as being a genre, despite the fact that many shōnen manga do not follow this trend at all.
Contents |
[edit] List of shōnen manga
[edit] See also
- Children's manga: Manga intended for children
- Shōjo manga: Manga intended for adolescent girls
- Seinen manga: Manga intended for adult men
- Josei manga: Manga intended for adult women
[edit] References
- ^ "Short anime glossary [Краткий анимешно-русский разговорник]" (in Russian). anime*magazine (3): 36. 2004. ISSN 1810–8644.
- ^ http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/mclelland.htm
"One result was a new regime of self-regulation among manga producers and distributors who began to reign in the more violent and sexual images that characterised some genres, particularly manga directed at shōnen (male youth)." - ^ http://dragonballarena.gamesurf.it/english/info/guide/tributes.php
[edit] External links
- Anime for boys (Japanese)
- Anime for men (Japanese)
- Shōnen-in, reformatory (Ministry of Justice site) (Japanese)
