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Shōnen (Demographic)

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It's not anime, it's MANime!

Manga and anime aimed primarily at teenage boys. Traditionally aimed towards boys between the ages of 12 to 18 years. They tend to be Fighting Series focused more on action than relationships, with romance generally either perfunctory or Played for Laughs. Some battles can be sublimated into a form such as a sports competition or even a Tabletop Game.

While there was a time where protagonists could be adult men the target audience would look up to, it's more common for the title character, and most of the cast, to be predominantly teenage or young adult male, equally capable of action and Ham. Lots and lots of ham.

Note that while the term "Shōnen" tends to be used to refer to a few standard genres, it literally refers to the target demographic (and in Japan, generally refers strictly to manga, rather than anime). Its older counterpart is Seinen, although both are enjoyed by other audiences as well. The Distaff Counterpart to Shonen is called Shoujo.

There is no definite marker for a series being or not being Shōnen. Though the magazine it runs in is a good indicator, many Shōnen magazines aim for the huge Seinen Periphery Demographic that also purchases them. Some of this is a natural result of the franchise Growing the Beard together with the audience: many series that are popular with the Seinen demographic (and marketed towards such in omnibus tankoubon volumes) have run in Shōnen magazines when they were serialized. Some long running series will "graduate" to a magazine for an older demographic to follow its aging audience.

Themes are not a definite indicator either: while most Shōnen works (particularly the action fighter types) tend to fall in the idealist side on the scale of idealism vs. cynicism, there are also plenty of works with Darker and Edgier elements and outright Deconstructions that can easily be mistaken for a Seinen series and evoke a What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? reaction (Death Note and Neon Genesis Evangelion are some of the notable examples). That being said, light and fluffy/dark and moody romance, serious female-led dramas, and cute art styles aren't limited to Shoujo manga either, as stories like Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san and Azumanga Daioh can attest.

Due to Values Dissonance, some Shōnen series are primarily marketed towards adult fans in the West; as such, most of [adult swim]'s anime lineup consisted of Shōnen. One of the most illustrative examples of this is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, a highly idealistic Hot-Blooded, bright and cartoonish Super Robot series that aired as the equivalent of a Saturday Morning Cartoon in Japan but debuted on Adult Swim, uncensored, in the US.

Shōnen series were the first to be brought over en masse to the Western world, and as such, makes up much of the popular American perception of anime.

This is because it is, perhaps, the genre most similar to heavily actionized, Rated M for Manly Western Animation shows of The '80s, also largely geared towards teenage males with swaths of Multiple Demographic Appeal. (Pure shojo bounces between the realms of cutesy and melodramatically scandalous for most Media Watchdogs, so it does not get shown in the West as much.)

See also: So you want to Write a Shonen Series

General Examples

  • Many series with Humongous Mecha.
  • Sometimes, adaptations of stories with Multiple Demographic Appeal will create two versions of the story, one Shōnen and one Shoujo. For example, The Vision of Escaflowne had a Shōnen-version manga produced of its story, while Magic Knight Rayearth's OAVs have a similar bent as compared to the original series.
  • All the titles featured in the Weekly Shōnen Jump (or simply Jump) magazine, which should be obvious. They have a kind of legacy with each other, enough that a crossover video game is a common thing to see every few years.
    • While more niche in the west, Fist of the North Star is a very important and influence title to Shonen Manga, and is considered to be the work to start the "Golden Age" of Shōnen Jump, with all other subsequent fighting series building on what it established.
    • The Dragon Ball series is by far the quintessential Shōnen, and due to its age, length and influence provides examples of most of the classic tropes. Not to mention the fact that its popularity has more or less inspired most of the current Shonen Manga of this day and age.
    • Of all the ongoing Shōnen series, One Piece is the most popular. It has drawn a great deal of inspiration from Dragon Ball, but developed a very unique and compelling flavor of its own.
    • Naruto, another series inspired by Dragon Ball, was the most popular manga in America for a long time.
    • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, released in 1987, is one of Shōnen Jump's longest running Shōnen series, having reached over 100 volumes in Japan. With its 7th part, "Steel Ball Run", it has switched magazines to Ultra Jump and thus officially "graduated" to Seinen. It drew much inspiration from North Star.

Other Examples in Shonen Jump

Non-Shōnen Jump Examples

Commonly Mistaken for Shonen:

Alternative Title(s): Shounen, Shonen, Shonen Genre

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