Shounen anime and manga is arguably the most popular genre in Japan, given that beloved franchises,Bleach,Attack on Titan,One Piece,Naruto, and most recentlyDemon Slayerare shounen. Shounen tankoubon (serialized magazines) have a target audience with an age range of early to late teens. This means that some manga chapters may have darker themes than others.Attack on Titanis geared towards older teens, andNarutofor preteens, but despite the difference in content, they are still both shounen manga.
More often that not, storytelling in shounen involves a young main character who discovers something about himself and overtime becomes more relevant as the series continues. Seinen manga (which targets young adults and above) do that too sometimes, but it’s more focused on the main character’s psychology, the darkness of the world around them, and a lack of a solely black and white narrative. This should make the two genres relatively easy to tell apart, and while there have been some that “broke” the shounen formula (ex:Death Note), there seems to be an overlap in themes as of late.
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The Bright-eyed “Underdog”
UsingChainsaw ManandHappy Sugar Lifeas two examples, they’re both in the shounen genre and both have eccentric main characters, but in some ways, there are disturbing implications in their personalities. Denji is a neglected young man who’s so starved for attention and affection, that he doesn’t notice a red flag when it’s presented in front of him. Sure, he becomes a “hero”, but it’s ultimately his psychological challenges that drive the narrative, similar to Kaneki fromTokyo Ghoul.
Satou is a cute peppy young schoolgirl, but is actually a yandere who kidnapped a child and managed to convince herself that she’s “in love”. She’s developed this twisted sense of what “pure love” is, after spending most of her love life in flings with other guys her age. It’s disturbing, especially when we see each character’s backstory, they manipulate each other - and like most seinen manga, their psyches drives the story. There is only one character that’s “normal”, at least compared to everyone else inHappy Sugar Life.
From Boyhood to Manhood
Given that most shounen protagonists are in their early to late teens, they’re curious about the opposite sex, and youngsters aren’t known to have the most mature sense of humor. This also correlates with the audience, as jokes of that nature are more well-recieved with teens,Narutobeing a primary example. And usually, there comes a moment where the main character begins to mature and recognize the subject as less of a joke, but more of an educational view point. This lets the audience grow alongside the narrative.
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But the topic is not often fully explored in a psychological and intimate sense. When it comes to the demographic, most teens aren’t expected to have the maturity level to be able to understand these narratives. Of course, this is just a mere generalization, and seeing where the shounen genre is headed, it’s safe to assume that by including what was traditionally seinen content, gives young viewers a chance to learn.
Berserk, a seinen anime deals with just that. On top of the bleak world that Guts lives in, intimacy and love is part of his character development - never once used in a comedic way. A less popular shounen manga,Ijousha no Aiprimarily focuses on this concept, too. To overcome his past trauma, the main character sleeps with multiple girls to try to distance himself from making any one-on-one connections - let alone romantic ones. It’s also not used in a comedic sense either, but as a psychological response to losing his partner to a killer. What sticks out the most though is that seinen manga contains sexual content, shounen has implications at the most. But yetIjousha no AiandChainsaw Manhave no issues showing it.
The Overlap
Shounen anime incorporating seinen aspects isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it’s always good to treat your audience with dignity. Exposing them to a deeper more complex story can actually be much more beneficial to them. But given the fact that previously there was a very distinct difference in content and storytelling, with only a handful of exceptions, the two are beginning to blur the lines between which is which.
Moreover, this could pose a concern for parents, whose children read shounen tankoubon. If we didn’t know thatChainsaw Manwas serialized inJump, most of us would have assumed it was a seinen manga.
