Manga Lecture #4

Manga, for the most part, is divided into four age categories. These are shonen, shojo, seinin, and jousei. Literally translated, boys, girls, men and women comics. These comics are divided into the categories by a number of different factors. But all of these have certain tendencies they follow. I’ll examine one of these today.

Shonen, boy’s comics, usually have a standard hero story, which is the most common type of manga created. It is a two dimensional story most often, with A great evil vs. a great good that must overcome the evil entirely. Shonen are very much a black and white tale that leaves no room for gray areas; they contain a number of heroes that are all righteous and good, usually down on their luck. The hero is special in some way, with a power or inheritance that singles them out for greatness. They are usually taken under the wing of a sage character, who trains them, and does not appear again until their death scene in the rain, usually killed by the main villain of the series. A young member of the opposite sex appears, which the main character gets on the nerves of. This character is usually the love interest in the story, made up entirely so the author can interject some romance into the plot. (usually boy-hero, girl-love interest). The hero becomes powerful, a leader of people, and inspiration. But as soon as he reaches his peak, the main villain will appear, destroying his hard work. The hero will attack the villain, who proceeds to hand the hero his ass. Thus begins the strength power up. (Think Dragonball Z, and you have the idea). The story arc will end when the hero becomes powerful enough to obliterate the villain, creating peace and harmony through violence. This then begins all over again when the next villain is introduced.

This is not to say all shonen are bad. Many are quite good, though they still have a number of stereotypes they fulfill.

Recommendations for great shonen (though most of these break the convention, that is why I consider them great):

One Piece*
Rurouni Kenshin*
Soul Eater*