Shōnen manga

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Shōnen manga (少年漫画), also romanized as shonen or shounen, are Japanese comics marketed towards young teen males between the ages of 12 and 18.[1] The age group varies with individual readers and different magazines. The kanji character 少年 (shōnen) literally means "boy" or "youth", and the character 漫画 (manga) means "comic"; thus, the complete phrase means "young person's comic", or simply "boys' comic", with the female equivalent being shōjo manga. Shōnen manga is the most popular and best-selling form of manga.[2][3]

Summary[]

Shōnen manga is typically characterized by high action,[4] often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. Commonly-found themes in Shōnen manga include martial arts, mecha, science fiction, sports, horror or mythological creatures.[3] The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting squads, and the like are often emphasized. Protagonists of such manga often feature an ongoing desire to better themselves,[3] and often face challenges to their abilities, skills and maturity. Values such as self-perfection, austere self-discipline, sacrifice in the cause of duty and honorable service to society, community, family, and friends are often stressed.[5][6]

None of these listed characteristics are a requirement, as seen in shōnen manga like Yotsuba&!, which features a female lead; what defines whether or not a series is shōnen is the official classification of the magazine it is serialized in.[7]

History[]

Further information: History of manga

Before World War II[]

Manga has been said to have existed since the eighteenth century,[8][9] but originally did not target a specific gender or age group. By 1905, however, a boom in publishing manga magazines occurred, and began targeting genders as evidenced by their names, such as Shōnen Sekai, Shōjo Sekai, and Shōnen Pakku (a children's manga magazine).[9] Shōnen Sekai was one of the first shōnen manga magazines, and was published from 1895 to 1914.

Post-occupation[]

The post-World War II occupation of Japan had a profound impact on its culture during the 1950s and beyond (see culture of Post-occupation Japan), including on manga. Modern manga developed during this period, including the modern format of shōnen manga we experience today, of which teen boys and young men were among the earliest readers.[5] During this time, shōnen manga focused on topics thought to interest the typical boy: sci-tech subjects like robots and space travel, and heroic action-adventure.[10] Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy is said to have played an influential role in manga during this period.[8][11][12] Between 1950 and 1969, an increasingly large readership for manga emerged in Japan with the solidification of its two main marketing genres, shōnen manga aimed at teen boys and shōjo manga aimed at teen girls.[13]

The magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump began production in 1968,[9] and continues to be produced today as the best-selling manga magazine in Japan.[14] Many of the most popular shōnen manga titles have been serialized in Jump, including Dragon Ball, Captain Tsubasa, Slam Dunk, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and others.

With the relaxation of censorship in Japan in the 1990s, a wide variety of explicit sexual themes appeared in manga intended for male readers, and correspondingly occur in English translations.[15] However, in 2010 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government passed the controversial Bill 156 to restrict harmful content despite opposition by many authors and publishers in the manga industry.[16][17]

Modern shōnen manga[]

Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's Fist of the North Star (1983–1988) and Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball (1984–1995) are credited with setting the trends of popular shōnen manga from the 1980s onwards.[18][19] In turn, both series were influenced by the martial arts films of Hong Kong action cinema, particularly 1970s kung fu films such as Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978).[20][21] In 2011, manga critic Jason Thompson called Dragon Ball "by far the most influential shōnen manga of the last 30 years."[19] Many currently successful shōnen authors such as Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Hiro Mashima, and Kentaro Yabuki cite Toriyama and Dragon Ball as influences on their own popular works.

After the arrest and trial of serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, who was dubbed the "Otaku Murderer", depictions of violence and sexual matters became more highly regulated in manga in general, but especially in shōnen manga.[22]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "What Does Shounen Mean?". The Word Counter. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  2. ^ Aoki, Deb. "What is Shonen Manga?". About.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kamikaze Factory Studio (2012). Shonen Manga. HarperCollins. p. 8. ISBN 9780062115478.
  4. ^ "Short anime glossary [Краткий анимешно-русский разговорник]". anime*magazine (in Russian) (3): 36. 2004. ISSN 1810-8644.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Schodt, 1986, op. cit., chapter 3, pp. 68-87.
  6. ^ Brenner, 2007, op. cit., p. 31.
  7. ^ 雑誌ジャンルおよびカテゴリ区分一覧 [Magazine genre and category category list] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japanese Magazine Advertising Association. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Thorn, Rachel (June 1996). "A History of Manga". Matt-Thorn.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Everything about Shounen (Shonen 少年) Genre". Jappleng.com. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  10. ^ Schodt, 1986, op. cit., chapter 3; Gravett, 2004, op. cit., chapter. 5, pp. 52-73.
  11. ^ Eibun Nihon Shōjiten [Japan: Profile of a Nation] (Revised ed., 1. ed.). Tokyo: Kōdansha Intānashonaru. 1999. pp. 692–715. ISBN 4-7700-2384-7.
  12. ^ Schodt, Frederik L. (2007). The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-54-9.
  13. ^ Schodt, Frederik L. (1988). Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics (Updated paperback ed.). Tokyo; New York: Kodansha International. ISBN 978-0-87011-752-7.
  14. ^ "2009 Japanese Manga Magazine Circulation Numbers". Anime News Network. 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2013-11-30. The bestselling manga magazine, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, rose in circulation from 2.79 million copies to 2.81 million.
  15. ^ Perper, Timothy; Cornog, Martha (1 March 2002). "Eroticism for the masses: Japanese manga comics and their assimilation into the U.S.". Sexuality and Culture. 6 (1): 3–126. doi:10.1007/s12119-002-1000-4.
  16. ^ "Comic fans protest 'extreme sex' manga bans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Agence France-Presse. 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  17. ^ "Writers, Lawyers Oppose Revised Youth Ordinance Bill". Anime News Network. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  18. ^ Jensen, K. Thor (2 October 2018). "The Absurd, Brilliant Violence of Fist Of The North Star". Geek.com. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Thompson, Jason (March 10, 2011). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga – Dragon Ball". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  20. ^ "New Fist of the North Star: Interview with Buronson". ADV Films. Archived from the original on 2007-02-18. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  21. ^ The Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues. DH Publishing Inc. 2004. p. 7. ISBN 9780972312493.
  22. ^ McLelland, Mark (April 2009). "(A)cute Confusion: The Unpredictable Journey of Japanese Popular Culture". Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific. No. 20. Retrieved 15 September 2021. 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 characterized some genres, particularly manga directed at shōnen (male youth).

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