The Art Of Shonen
Written on March 5th, 2023 by {"login"=>"jcbphc21", "email"=>"f20181005@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"Journal Club", "last_name"=>"BPHC"}Shonen, which literally translates into a 'few years', is a genre of anime that has ruled the industry since the 1970s, but why? Why is shonen so popular? is it because of the flurry of powers across the screen which make you go into a trance, or is it the human tendency deeply wired into our psyche to support underdogs somewhere deep down in your heart (bruh if you don't root for underdogs, you weird-weird).
Let's take case studies; I'm gonna make a case for the big names in the industry and analyze why they were so successful and impactful.
Imagine an orphan getting ghosted and tormented by the village people because you're different but have no clue why you're distinct. People are looking at you as if you're some impending danger waiting to take their lives; well, folks, that is the story of a certain Naruto Uzumaki. I'm going to draw from personal experiences here, but Naruto has always been close to my heart and to everyone in the anime community, there is no doubt in my mind that Naruto is the best character to come out of ANIME itself (again, I might be biased here), but the story of a boy who is low on talent, but high on ambition and will is not a new trope to anime, the characterization of such a character was introduced with Naruto, and much more recent anime have adapted it.
The characterization itself takes on multiple forms, be it the ‘Power of Friendship’ in Fairy Tail or 'I have no magic, but I’ll become the Magic King' in Black Clover; we can say that Naruto was the torch bearer of all anime where the 'Main Character' chases his dream. Added to that is the core of why shonen is so popular, the 'power system' (phoenix people chill). Almost every anime has a power system as the canvas it unravels the story on. Be it the 'Chakra' in Naruto, the 'Magic' in Black Clover, or the 'Haki' in One Piece, combine these 'power systems' with the fantastic stories that mangakas spend sleepless nights writing and add a little bit of 'fillers' and, Voila, you've gone and gotten yourself a standard shounen anime.
But the standard is not going to cut it; the standard is not going to stand the test of time. Some anime have gone above and beyond; the anime I can make a case for (hoping to be synonymous with readers) are One Piece, Attack on Titan, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
One Piece was the most-watched show of 2022. It is the highest-selling manga in the world, with over 516 million copies sold, so what does One Piece do differently? Story building, by that, I don't mean that it has a fantastic story that progresses at a nice pace. One piece has nailed the intricate details of the T. Eichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, is considered a mastermind for the amount of foreshadowing he does. Albeit, it will only matter to the flow of the story once the pieces have fallen in place-MINDBLOWN.
The story of a pirate group going on a life-altering voyage to find the 'One Piece', the ultimate treasure, and for the main character to become the Pirate King, One Piece connects to the adventurer in you; how many of us wouldn't mind a lifelong voyage with some of our best friends, filled with adventure.
Villains with incredible backstories, an island with mind-boggling geographies, and fights with creative choreography make you want to jump into the world, but One Piece has its fair share of flaws. It is monotonous in parts, and the biggest complaint is that it's too long, with over 1000 episodes.
While Naruto and One Piece did a little extra compared to the standard trope, FMAB and Attack on Titan crushed it. Their stories are well written, the plot is so well-driven, the characters make sense and fall right into place, and the connections throughout the story are impeccable.
All the while, they stay true to the genre of Shonen. The main character is still chasing a goal, a power system is in place, and amazingly choreographed fights exist, but these two stand way above anything else.
One thing they perfected is that they both are so 'enough' in themselves; there's not an inch of futile story material, every word written, every scene animated has a purpose, and it fulfils the purpose at some point in due course of the story. I wouldn’t even want to brief the story of these two; they’re must-watch/read stories of this planet, if I may.
Shonen is a great genre to get into anime, and there is so much lore to be consumed from all around the world, so don’t avoid anime because of the means of consumption, give ‘animation’ a blind eye and jump right into a fantastic world which will blow your mind.
Writer Credits: Viswamithra B
Designer Credits: Taanvi Dande