Discussion Shounen vs Seinen

So, I kinda don't like reading Shounen novels since I find it very "immature". I mean most action novels happen in medieval ages with no technology, law and morals yet they fcking believe in love, justice and friendship. I do not find it tomy liking. I prefer Seinen novels since they are more "realistic". Look at Xianxias for example. They kill. In shounen novels, its hard to find something like that. The Ultimate anti-hero or something for example. He's basically the strongest human alive but was sealed (on his own volition) and now treated as trash. Its like reading the story of a martyr for crying out loud. And I'm sure there are still a lot of novels out there like that. Its not like I hate all shounen novels. Just most of them. What do you guys think?

 

Shounen and Seinen are literally just japanese age ranges like early teen and young adult. Obviously since I fall into the Seinen age range, I prefer Seinen novels.

 

Yeah they changed the shounen term over the past decade. I still can't believe they use to call my favorite anime of all time Fist of the North Star a shounen. lmao. Yeah I'm tired of shounen and that justice bullshit. I've seen so much Japanese anime and read manga I'm tired of it. So Xianxia was a breathe of fresh air.

 

Shounen are made for little boys. It's all about action, awesome power-ups, cheesy lines and service (well, japan usually).
Kids don't like serious stuff. You don't give kids serious shit where the characters die. They gon cri

 

Its not that they have no laws or morals, its just that its not the same as a city today. These days morals still vary from person to person, and crime and punishment is heavily dependant upon who someone is, and their background. Ever seen a movie star who gets a dui, gets about a week in jail, while your average joe could be months? Love has always been something humans have held significance to, especially familial love. Justice is a bit more flexible since its alot like morals and law, in some socieities revenge is seen as a form of justice, one which the law has no power to admonish or punish. Its all a point of view thing. Most of the worlds portrayed in the popular novels these days are aristocratic societies with low technology level, ruled by power. Even on earth these socities tend to take a very blunt way of handling problems. Remember the guilotine, firing squads, or nooses? Public executions used to exist in most places that are still standing and become big parts of their country. Shounen tends to highlight these aspects since it is geared towards young men, and blunt, gorey and to the point stands out much more then subtle, law abiding and such. Anti heroes exist for such a reason.

 

Well, in animes, its pretty understandable since this is already the 21st century. Most people watch TV. But for novels, I think most "boys" would rather watch doraemon than read novels with thousands of chapters

 

*cough* Fairy Tail *cough*
Friendship = Instant Powerup

 

Seinen ftw. Though shounen would be more popular since its eligable for all ages... most web novels are shounen though.. it usually wont include ruthless killings, sex or gore... which most xianxia readers love so much.

 

depends on what it is. If it is good, then it is good.

 

Well shonen and seinen are really just referring to target audiences.

Shounens are not all just NAKAMA POWER JUSTICE BONER GOOOOO either. There are plenty of shounens that are legitimately really good (FMA, JJBA, etc.)

I'd say that seinens are still a cut above shounen though. Many of the best mangas out there are seinen after all.

 

Exactly. Those with power are destined to rule. That's why Xianxias are much more popular than Shounens. In shounens, they rather let their enemies who tried to harm or even kill their friends, family and other loved ones go rather than pull the roots so its all over. I know that there's still law in those stories but come on. What villain gives a shit about law? Even in our current times most people treat law as a joke. And for those with aristrocratic background in novels, in the face of absolute power, what can they even do? Xianxias are able to meet these things which Shounens cannot. Shounens tend to make their life more difficult because of that "law abiding citizen" character

 

...Honestly, shonen series no longer have the appeal they used to for me, but I wouldn't put xianxia style novels any higher imo. They definitely feel like a 'kid trying to be tough in order to fit in', charming for a bit but ultimately childish and after a while, annoying.

Typical xianxia is "atop the bodies of 100 noobs, MC thus became the Noob King. Searching for Scrubs to then conquer, MC set out to the land of the Scrubs, all the while searching for instant powerup of OP" to me.
While shonen falls into "get stronger to make friends to get stronger and beat da big bad while making friends".

I quite enjoy seinen as a genre, but of the xianxia I've read, I can't put it with seinen in my mind.

NOTE: this is gross exaggeration of each genre, I have read both good and bad of all these genres, but this is the average across the typical genre blanket.

 

"So, I kinda don't like watching Power Rangers since I find it very immature."
"No shit its a kid show"

 

Shounen is equivalent to PG-13 and Seinen is equivalent to R. You won't see a PG-13 with R scenes in it just like you won't see a shounen with seinen in it.

 

Don't really agree that xianxia is realistic lol.

But yeah, seinen is more preferable to shounen. Seeing that seinen targets older audience, it's obvious that it has to be more realistic.

Shounen doesnt necessarily mean action and friend power and fighting lol. There are non action/adventure shounen manga are still quite enjoyable. I enjoy Baby Steps manga a lot for example.

But I pretty much hate the action shounen manga. I used to enjoy it when I was 14, but now I've lost interest.

It's obvious that as you get older, you won't probably enjoy shounen. Tastes evolve. Comparing seinen and shounen is weird, seeing that they have 2 completely different targetted audience.

 

Well it does vary heavily, but the shounen age range is 'elementary to 15' So a childish point of view should be thought of. But by the time your 16, seeing the same enemy coming back, and back, and back gets really annoying. You eventually just want to see them die. And as for aristocratic societies in these novels, they usually are controlled by the local strong force. That is why their clan exists, they have an expert who stands at or atleast near the top of the local power base. Although we dont see much of the background in novels these days, given how they describe most cities, murder, muggings, theft, rape ect. Literally happens just outside the city gates. Most mcs dont head down miscellaneous alley ways, or the more slum like areas, so we only see the more obvious kind of crime, which tends to be (insert douchy young master here) type situations. In cultivation type novels your families appearance as well as yours goes a long way, considering life spans it makes sense.

 

Most anime came from novels/manga.
and there are people who are "children" at heart. (I have a dull childhood)
It's easier to appreciate too. In a sense, "light reads"
Shounen is not always action... sometimes there is school, romance, or daily life...

Then there is the difference in culture. China and Japan have different sense of values and morality....

 

as they said they target different age groups...
in general novels/manga/etc of the shounen group run along the lines of teaching "good values" in a simpler and eye catching manner, and seinen ones "target" emotions and concepts of a higher level of complexity.
that is why someone who is, for example, 20 or older would find childish (and not necessarily boring) a shounen novel. and the other way around a 10 year old boy would probably be bored or cry after reading a seinen novel (more likely a manga, because not many kids like to read without pictures).

 

Japan is just different from where you come from. In Japan, Light Novel, which is just a slightly different version of Web Novel is really popular and being sold at certain store, so yeah, "boys" do read novel there