Shōnen

## *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 boys in junior high school to high school age. 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 one of the most popular and best-selling forms of manga.

## Summary[edit]

*Shōnen* manga is typically characterized by high action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. Commonly-found themes in S*hōnen* manga include martial arts, robots, science fiction, sports, horror or mythological creatures. 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, 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.

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.

### Before World War II[edit]

Manga has been said to have existed since the eighteenth century, 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). *Shōnen Sekai* was one of the first *shōnen* manga magazines, and was published from 1895 to 1914.

### Post-occupation[edit]

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. 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. Osamu Tezuka, creator of *Astro Boy* is said to have played an influential role in manga during this period. 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.

The magazine *Weekly Shōnen Jump* began production in 1968, and continues to be produced today as the best-selling manga magazine in Japan. 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. 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.

### Modern *shōnen* manga[edit]

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. 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). In 2011, manga critic Jason Thompson called *Dragon Ball* "by far the most influential *shōnen* manga of the last 30 years." 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.

## See also[edit]

* Children's manga: Manga intended for children
* *Shōjo* manga: Manga intended for adolescent girls
* *Seinen* manga: Manga intended for adult men
* *Josei* manga: Manga intended for adult women
* *Gekiga*: Manga for adults, like *seinen*, but with a dominant focus on art and literature. Comparable to graphic novels.