Is Shonen Deeper than we think?
Oh yes,you guys are going to love this little topic i came across.
For those who don't know what Shonen is,(Well first of all,how are you a fan of anime,and you don't know what Shonen is?!) Shonen is arguably the most well known genre of anime in the west,and the east.
The best example of Shonen is,in my opinion,Dragonball Z.As it is arguably the most well known Anime of all time.Dragonball Z is basically a freaking dream.Awesome action,incredibly amazing villians,and very good characters.
And for the most part..That's what Shonen has become,and dare i say,expected to be for a long time.Action,boobies,amazing villains.The works really.Although there have been many breakthroughs in the Genre to prove that it's not just "Kid stuff."
For instance,the popular Fullmetal Alchemist,and Death Note have made the Genre FAR more known,and excepted.But after reading several discussions,and listing to a few Anime podcast,there have been some theory's going on lately that Shonen may actually be a alot deeper than we think.And i will explain the arguement that people are saying.
You see,if you look deep enough,you're going to notice that Shonen is..Rather Unique,and weird.It takes familiar elements of our world,and twist,and turns them on there head.This is popularly known as,a Deconstruction.
Now for some more explaining.An example of deconstruction in Anime is..Something like Madoka Magica.Or Bokurano:Ours (Btw..Watch Bokurano.) If any of you know those shows,you may understand what i am talking about.
The theory is that most Shonen are actually deconstructions of familiar things in our world,but they take them to "Out-Of-Control" Levels of uniqueness.
I'll give you a few examples.
Ninjas? Swift striders of death,that use very well thought out assassination plans to dispose of a target? PFFT! No way buddy.What you do is put a demonic fox inside of a boy who wants to be the leader of his village.And then make a spin off series that makes the show EVEN MORE POPULAR! And focus on the whiny emo raven haired kid,who is trying way to hard to act.Oh yes,and fillers.DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE FILLERS! SO MANY FILLERS! SO MANY FILLERS!!! *Insane laugh*
Grim Reapers? You mean,samurai grim reapers.Who actually spend more time..Fighting other reapers,than actually..Reaping the hollows..WHATEVER!
Pirates.No Yo-Ho,stealing,or murder here mate.Just the adventures of mister fantastic,with a straw hat!
Exorcist? You want to yell scriptures at a possesed body? HA HA HA HA HAAAA! No.What we do is get a cursed boy,with a demonic arm,to fight a fat clown! (To be fair though..I love D.Gray Man.)
Or better yet.We get the twin sons of the devil,to fight other devils!
You want more?!
How about instead of breaking down stuff with alchemy? We use it to makes weapons of FREAKING DESTRUCTION?!
]
A boy writing stuff in his diary? Well thats normal..BUT HOW ABOUT A FREAKING DEATH GAME,BASED AROUND THE DIARIES! WHOEVER WINS BECOMES GOD!
See my point? And in all honesty,its very hard to disagree that Shonen has a rather..Unique way of doing things.And i think that's the charm of the genre.Shonen is very fun to watch.It just brings a happy feeling to me.And while i do agree that shonen,in many respects,is very good at taking familiar elements of everyday life,and changing it to something bigger and more awesome.I honestly don't think there is anything deeper to it.Sure you have things like Death Note,and Fullmetal Alchemist,that are obviously trying to convey something to the audience.But other than that,i just think of it as pure pleasure.
Other than that,i have nothing else to say on the topic.Why don't you-The reader,tell me what you think about this topic.See yah next time *Waves*
Eh,who knows.Maybe there is much more to you,than we think...?
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