Unorthodox Shounen

Welcome to the collaborative blog with the great Kona-sama and lovely Neko, this collab will be about the shounen genre but something you didn’t expect, we will be talking about the shounen genre in general and also why these shounen anime or some aspects of them don’t really belong or fit the shounen genre for several reasons. I know shounen is just a demographic or is shounen because it was in shounen jump. Even though there is no set requirements for a shounen anime there some similarities, troupes, settings, clichés, etc. that make a shounen.

Shounen is also considered to be a genre itself by a lot of people and these anime shouldn’t be even for that age range either even though Japan has stigma about what it considers to be for adults, I know that Japan is way different from western culture but I’m talking about the demographic to the western world as well so keep that in mind. All demographic info will be from MyAnimeList. This blog has some political correctness and is purely our opinion so don’t make a mess in the comments.

As a tribute to Kyoani arson incident, I added A Silent Voice

Death Note

Now for the most well know anime, Death Note everyone knows but I never thought to look at its tags until now then I was surprised to see it has a shounen tag which was even in the jump force game and for Death Note to get into the shounen just perplexes me as this anime deals with the topic of morals of death and in it shows killing of many criminals with unethical philosophy that shocks me that that this is for kids when it has very adult themes. This also isn’t your typical shounen either as in most shounen it has to with either fighting, action, a kid or man with big dreams to change the world for the better but this anime does the complete opposite of that has no fighting just a mental strategic battlefield that impressed me very much and a main character that wants rule the world but for the wrong reasons I would call this anime an anti-shounen in all honesty. This anime is definitely something you shouldn’t let young people watch because of its adult themes and disturbing content involved.

A Silent Voice

The shounen genre is for 12-18 and that’s a very broad range because something that is suitable for an 18 year old is not suitable for a 12 year old so the demographic is sort of flawed in a way and this anime shows that flaw because this is on the fence with it. This movie has a lot of heavy topics like suicide that isn’t suitable for the demographic and I feel like this anime is not just for shounen as it portrays a lot of mental health issues like social phobia that it should be for also seinen because this affects everyone, I feel like this is not a shounen but for ‘everyone” demographic as it could be trying to teach the youth about this and trying to make a better future but I do give it credit for putting it in a male demographic as showing weakness and these issues are considered taboo for a lot males as people consider them weak if they do then get told to “man up” so I’m happy this show takes that seriously and why it is one of my favourite movies and anime, japan is truly ahead of the world in my opinion.

Aria the Animation

This show just confused me so much of why it even is in this genre and I don’t know where to begin. First off, this show cast is fully female which just already contradicts the whole genre of shounen as the main character is usually but not for this, oh wait you thought the main character was female? No, the main character is actually a cat! Which is male so maybe I was wrong but that doesn’t count, baka!!! When you think shounen, you think of action, magic maybe, maybe a little fanservice, maybe an epic adventure but no this anime has none of that it is just a chill slice of life that has science fiction undertones with the whole planet being on mars that at first glance you would not expect from this and a sci-fi shounen is unheard of (side note: but there is samurai 8 that just came that is a science fiction shounen so that may the future of shounen) It has nothing that I would match with the genre so it is an unique show let alone shounen that in my opinion just should be for everyone and no demographic; in other words watch it!!

Neko Joins the Collab

Shounen or Shonen can be classified as an age demographic that, as its Japanese meaning suggests, has a target audience of younger males, typically teens ages 12-18. There are many commonalities that you see among shounen anime and manga, especially the "underdog" motif, as it is apparent in the industry's history, that it is among the most popular that are out there. We also have the "power of friendship", and "never giving up" just to name a few. Among the countless amount of shounen out there, some stray from the general clichés that most people think of when they hear the word "shounen", so I'm here to name a few of those shows that surprised me upon learning they have the shounen tag.

Warning: This is all just my opinion and some of it is generalized

When I think of shounen I think of a coming of age story of a young boy or group of teens that face some sort of dilemma or challenge and they need to overcome it to reach a goal and become stronger; mentally and/or physically. This may sound vague, but I feel it is an important premise of every shounen out there. This could also apply to shows within other genres, but I feel this is especially important for a show to be a shounen. The character(s) in question should have an end goal, although the means of getting there may be unknown. For reference there are other aspects I believe are important to fit the shounen genre/demographic:

Attack on Titan

I've been surprised not once but multiple times (as I've forgotten time and time again) that AOT is actually a shounen. The gore elements are one of the entertaining aspects of the series and though it has been toned down and somewhat "censored" for the anime, the manga never fails to show gruesome scenes that fully depict scenes you don't see in the anime. For me this is already questionable though, because if it's too nsfw to air on tv is it still shounen?

Social politics are something I wasn't expecting to be such a big part of the latter half of the series. I and many others were expecting more action with the release of season 2 but many were quickly disappointed when it was not initially delivered. AOT checked off several of the shounen motifs in the beginning but I feel that it has progressively become more seinen regarding its subject matter. What's "good" and "bad" can't even be considered here because it isn't so black and white in the series. It continues to dive into themes that have not just the audience, but even the characters doubting and questioning their beliefs and what may be morally right and wrong in the world. This aside, Eren and Co. do indeed have somewhat clear end goals, but I feel like that isn’t enough considering everything else I just mentioned. After the first season, whether it was due to the long wait between seasons or the show getting more political, a number of fans have dropped the series and I think it's because of the show straying from typical shounen clichés.

Domestic na Kanojo

Never would I have ever thought that this would be a shounen. I was confident thinking it may have been a seinen but boy was I wrong. This is borderline seinen so aside from dealing with taboo subjects most other aspects aren't so bad. The main cast (although the goal of… is harshly undermined in the anime and given little attention… like throw away the whole adaptation to be honest) all have clear end goals. Since this is a romance, I wasn't expecting … to power up and fight through his problems but I will say that up to where I've read the manga has done a good job of showing him grow and gain aspirations. On this list I had to say that this one strays the most from your typical shounen. While I can see the appeal, the show has just from the synopsis, the content isn't necessarily pg 13. I'm reading the manga and have seen the anime and all I can say is WHEW. Not only is it tapping into some taboo subjects but even reading the manga makes you wonder how it was cleared to be published in a shounen magazine. Then again, a lot of stuff regarding the industry is questionable. I have seen a lot of questionable stuff but the fact that the series is a shounen blew my mind. Not only do I feel that the series is stretching beyond pg 13, particularly the manga, it doesn't give me the feeling that it’s a shounen show.

Maidens of the Savage Season

When it comes to this show it is the clearest representation of what I stated that I believe a shounen should entail. A group of teenagers struggling with adolescence and discovering themselves. Aside from the theme why might this have surprised me that it was a shounen? In case you're wondering, it's not because the cast is mostly female but it's due to the fact that the show is basically set in a slice of life setting. I feel like there's a missing Slice of Life tag because it's following the day to day lives of these girls. That's why it doesn't "feel" shounen to me. It seems more like a typical (not just typical it's actually amazing) Slice of Life that can be enjoyed by literally anyone.

Even though there are aspects of these shows that essentially make them shounen including where they're serialized and central themes, it's just hard to shake the feeling that they shouldn't be in the shounen category. In fact, it's somewhat weird that they even are which is what surprises me the most.

Thanks for Reading!