Shōnen manga

is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of both adolescent boys and young men. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adults and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), one of the primary demographic categories of manga and, by extension, of Japanese anime. manga is traditionally published in dedicated manga magazines that often almost exclusively target the demographic group.

Of the four primary demographic categories of manga, is the most popular category in the Japanese market. While manga ostensibly targets an audience of young males, its actual readership extends significantly beyond this target group to include all ages and genders. The category originated from Japanese children's magazines at the turn of the 20th century and gained significant popularity by the 1920s.

The editorial focus of manga is primarily on action, adventure, and the fighting of monsters or other clearly defined forces of evil. Though action narratives dominate the said category, there is deep editorial diversity and a significant number of genres and sub-genres within manga, especially compared to other comic cultures outside of Japan, including comedy, crime, romance, slice of life, and sports.

Terminology and etymology

The Japanese word , meaning "young boy", historically referred to juveniles in a general sense and was used by the Japanese publishing industry until the end of the 19th century to designate publications aimed at children and young people. The word shifted to its current usage of referring specifically to media aimed at adolescent boys, beginning with the practice of segmenting periodicals, especially manga magazines, by sex and age-specific target groups, which was established at the beginning of the 20th century and accelerated starting in the 1960s. This segmentation system is now openly used as a categorization system by manga publishersTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and extends into works that are adapted from manga, such as anime.Template:Sfn

manga

manga refers to manga aimed at an audience of adolescent boys, with the primary target audience alternately defined as 10 to 19 years oldTemplate:Sfn and as 12 to 21 years old.Template:Sfn It is the most popular category in the Japanese market of the four primary demographic categories of manga (, , , and ).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The actual readership of manga, as is the case for all demographic categories of manga,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn extends significantly beyond this adolescent male target group to include all ages and genders.Template:Sfn For example, a 2006 survey of female manga readers found that Weekly Shōnen Jump was the most popular manga magazine among this demographic, placing ahead of magazines that specifically target a female readership.Template:Sfn The target group orientation of manga is particularly evident in the non-manga content of manga magazines, which include advertising and articles on topics tailored to the interests of young males, such as video games. Non-manga content often corresponds to a major manga series in a given magazine, for example, advertisements for a video game adaptation of the series or articles about an animated film adaptation of the series.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

History

Pre-war and wartime era

File:Shōnen Club April 1929.jpg

The cover of the April 1929 issue of Shōnen Club

Children's magazines with sex-segregated readerships have existed in Japan since the early 1900s. While early youth magazines were ostensibly unisex – Shōnen Sekai was the first youth magazine in Japan in 1895, targeting a readership of both boys and girlsTemplate:Sfn – in practice, the editorial content of these publications largely concerned topics that were thought to be of interest to boys.Template:Sfn This provoked the emergence of first exclusively (girls) magazines in 1902, and magazines subsequently began to exclusively target a male audience.Template:Sfn

Initially, these magazines did not publish manga.Template:Sfn The first magazine to do so was Shōnen Pakku, first published in 1907. This was followed by Shōnen Club in 1914 and later Yōnen Club. Among the most successful and influential manga series in these early magazines were Norakuro by Suihō Tagawa, which follows the life of an anthropomorphic dog soldier, and Tank Tankuro by Gajo Sakamoto, about a robot-like character who can change his appearance.Template:Sfn

magazines enjoyed significant popularity during the 1920s and 1930s, with Yōnen Club selling over 950,000 copies. During the Second Sino-Japanese War and Second World War, magazine sales declined and publications were used increasingly for wartime propaganda purposes. The manga content in these publications was reduced,Template:Sfn and the series that remained typically focused on patriotic and militaristic themes, such as stories about samurai. In other stories, robots were depicted as fighting in the war against the Allied forces, as analogous to western superhero comics that depicted superheroes fighting the Axis powers during this same period.Template:Sfn

Post-war era

During the post-war occupation of Japan, the Japanese publishing industry was rebuilt under initially strict guidelines. Stories focused on war, combat, and most competitive sports were banned with the aim of discouraging belligerence and hindering the use of manga for pro-Imperial propaganda.Template:Sfn Manga developed during this period under the influence of artist Osamu Tezuka, with series such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tezuka was inspired by American cartoons, and pioneered the so-called "story manga": long-running manga series with a cinematic style and continuity across multiple chapters, contrasting what had previously been a medium defined by one-off comic strips.Template:Sfn Science fiction stories about robots, space travel, and heroic space-faring adventures enjoyed popularity during this period;Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn many sci-fi stories took themes and concepts from war comics and re-imagined them with pacifist ideals, such as Tetsujin 28-go by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.Template:Sfn

One of the first new manga magazines of the post-war period was Manga Shōnen, which launched in 1947 and published works by Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, and Shōtarō Ishinomori.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As post-war censorship codes were repealed and Japan entered a period of significant economic development in the 1950s, sales of manga and the number of manga magazines increased significantly, and and manga came to further establish themselves as distinct categories.Template:Sfn The first works of sports manga also emerged from manga during this time; notable early works include Template:Ill by Eiichi Fukui as the first manga series in the genre,Template:Sfn and Ashita no Joe by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba, which became one of the most commercially successful works in the genre.Template:Sfn

1959 saw the launch of Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen Magazine, the first weekly manga magazines.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Other weeklies, such as Shōnen Champion, Shōnen King, and Shōnen Ace, emerged in the 1960s.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Weekly Shōnen Jump was first published in 1968, and would establish itself as the best-selling manga magazine across demographic categories, a position it holds to this day. Many of the most popular and commercially successful series originated in Weekly Shōnen Jump, including Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama, Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, Bleach by Tite Kubo, One Piece by Eiichiro Oda, and Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue.Template:Sfn

Modern era

manga became formalized as a category of manga aimed at an older male audience in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and many artists associated with the realist movement migrated to manga. The demise of the (rental manga) market led many artists to move into magazine publishing, including manga, bringing their distinct themes and style with them. As a result, manga came to deal with more serious and political themes, and saw an increase in depictions of violent and explicit subjects, as well as an increase in profanity. Significant artists of this era include Shigeru Mizuki,Template:Sfn creator of the horror series GeGeGe no Kitarō; and George Akiyama, whose manga series Ashura depicts cannibalism, child abuse, and mass murder. Although this provoked a public backlash, it did not lead to the decline for the industry: series with anarchic, offensive humor became popular in and manga alike, with Crayon Shin-Chan by Yoshito Usui becoming an internationally famous example of this phenomenon.Template:Sfn Manga artist Go Nagai originated the sexually charged genre with Harenchi Gakuen, which was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

The stylistic and thematic differences between and began to narrow considerably beginning in the 1980s, with widespread exchange of stylistic devices and themes. For example, the characteristic large eyes of manga became common in manga to convey the emotions of characters, and female characters have enjoyed greater prominence as both supporting and primary characters in manga. Other graphic storytelling techniques that originated in manga, such as montages of multiple panels, were imported into manga and have become common stylistic devices.Template:Sfn

In the 1980s, combat-focused "battle manga" stories became popular, with Dragon Ball and Fist of the North Star emerging as representative works of this development. Manga critic Jason Thompson credits the success of Dragon Ball, first published in 1984, as originating a trend that has persisted to contemporary manga of favoring cartoonish art styles over the more mature art styles of titles such as City Hunter and Fist of the North Star.

Female manga artists also began to enjoy increasing critical and commercial success as manga creators.Template:Sfn As a result of the combined influence of and the rise of female artists, romance emerged as a subgenre of manga, especially romantic comedy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When manga began to emerge in the Western world in the early 1990s, the category was so dominant in these new markets that it came to shape the image of manga as a whole.Template:Sfn While made gains in popularity by the 2000s, remains the most popular category of manga, both in Japan and internationally.Template:Sfn

Characteristics

Themes and genres

This thematic orientation of manga is readily inferred from the formal values or slogans that manga magazines assign themselves: for example, "friendship, perseverance, and victory" for Weekly Shōnen Jump,Template:Sfn and "courage, friendship and fighting spirit" for CoroCoro Comic.Template:Sfn The editorial focus of manga is primarily on action, adventure, and the fighting of monsters or other forces of evil.Template:Sfn Action stories are so dominant in manga that some manga and non-manga works are occasionally designated as not because of their ostensible target group, but because of their content focus on action and adventure.Template:Sfn Though action narratives dominate the category, there is deep editorial diversity and a significant number of genres and subgenres within manga, especially when compared to other comic cultures outside of Japan.Template:Sfn This includes but is not limited to comedy, crime, romance, slice of life, and stories about activities such as sports and the lives of different types of working professionals.Template:Sfn

The action genre is itself is expressed through a variety of subgenres, from historical and contemporary drama to science fiction and fantasy.Template:Sfn war fiction has been alternately jingoistic or critical of militarism and violence, with Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa as a notable example of the latter.Template:Sfn Samurai appeared frequently as idealized role models for boy readers in early , analogous to representations of cowboys in western comics; samurai stories shifted to comedy and sportsmanship in the post-war period, before returning to themes of idealized themes of good versus evil.Template:Sfn Though manga typically attempts to convey a message of peace, the category has been criticized by individuals such as director Hayao Miyazaki for promoting overly simple good/evil dichotomies.Template:Sfn

Narrative conventions

A protagonist is often characterized by contradictory qualities: short-tempered and cool, mischievous and rebellious, serious and cynical, clumsy and infallible, or who appears as a good-for-nothing but possesses hidden abilities. In some cases, the contradiction takes on a literal form in the form of , where the hero is able to switch between two personas with different appearances and personalities; examples of this device include Yu-Gi-Oh by Kazuki Takahashi and Samurai Deeper Kyo by Akimine Kamijyo. Transformation abilities are often linked with bonds to a spirit, monster or robot.Template:Sfn A major narrative device in manga is rivalry between the protagonist and his opponent,Template:Sfn with a fight or a quest often appearing as a central element; Dragon Ball is among the most popular and commercially successful examples of this archetypal story.Template:Sfn

Typically, a protagonist is an outsider, or in some way disadvantaged compared to others, but who through training, perseverance, and willpower eventually succeeds against all odds.Template:Sfn Plots typically follow the basic structure of the hero's journey, with much of the story focused on the protagonist's training and transformation into a hero, and on characters who earn their status as heroes through effort and tenacity rather than by virtue of birth or assignment. For long-running series, the hero's journey repeats itself; as a new story arc begins, the enemy becomes more powerful and the danger to be overcome becomes greater.Template:Sfn In addition to these external conflicts, a protagonist often also faces internal conflicts, typically focused around maturity and growing older.Template:Sfn In contrast to manga, which often focuses on the thoughts and interior monologue of the hero, typically advances plot through dialogue and action.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Happy endings are common in manga, but are not obligatory,Template:Sfn

Visual style

File:Cosplay - AWA15 - Naruto Uzumaki derivate.png

A cosplayer dressed as Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto, displaying the characteristic "spiky" hairstyle

Comics theorist Neil Cohn regards the art style of as generally "edgier" than that of manga, and notes how most regular manga readers are able to easily distinguish between and based on visual appearance alone.Template:Sfn Visually, a protagonist often possesses what manga critic Jason Thompson describes as "insanely spiky hair" that distinguishes the protagonist's silhouette from that of other characters.Template:Sfn The eyes of characters in the post-war period are significantly smaller than those of characters in manga; large eyes are used in manga to better convey the emotions of the characters, an aspect which has historically been given less focus in manga.Template:Sfn A common visual device in action scenes is to depict the contours of figures with rough, coarse motion lines to give the appearance of movement.Template:Sfn

Role of women

Historically, the protagonists of manga were almost exclusively men and boys; women and girls appeared primarily in supporting roles as sisters, mothers, or girlfriends, if at all. This was especially true of stories that developed out of manga beginning in the 1970s, with The Abashiri Family by Go Nagai as one of the earliest representative works of this development, as well as an early example of a manga with a female protagonist.

Since the 1980s, women and girls have played a more active role in manga, fighting alongside male characters and not merely as passive support.Template:Sfn Dr. Slump by Akira Toriyama was an early representative work of this development, with its mischievous child protagonist Arale Norimaki being among the first manga to depict this type of archetypal character as a girl rather than a boy. The 1980s also saw female manga artists rise to greater prominence: notably horror manga artist Kei Kusunoki, and Rumiko Takahashi with her romantic comedies Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½.Template:Sfn

Especially in series that are aimed at an older audience, female characters are often presented in a manner that is attractive to the male target audience as (literally "beautiful young girls"). They exist as objects of romantic or sexual desire not merely for the male characters, but also for the ostensibly heterosexual male reader as a form of fan service.Template:Sfn While these objectifying tropes have persisted in manga, women have also developed more active roles in these fan service-oriented stories. A common romantic comedy trope in manga since the 1980s has been to pair a weak male protagonist with a strong female love interest who is not only the target of his romantic and sexual desire, but also his good friend and confidante.Template:Sfn

In the harem genre, which originated from manga, a male protagonist is surrounded by several female characters who desire him, and who are often more confident and assertive than he is; examples include Negima! Magister Negi Magi by Ken Akamatsu and Hanaukyo Maid Team by Morishige. In other cases, the male protagonist is unsuccessful in his attempts to woo the female character, or the story is focused around the originally naïve and infantile male protagonist maturing and learning how to develop healthy relationships with women.Template:Sfn

For certain series, a female readership who read in or interpret subtextual homoerotic relationships between canonically heterosexual male characters constitute a significant proportion of the series' audience; this is especially true of series featuring male characters who are (literally "beautiful boys"), or who are perceived as such by readers. This reading of manga is expressed in the form of fan works such as (self-published amateur manga) and the boys' love (BL) genre of manga and anime, which includes both original and derivative works. Manga scholar Yukari Fujimoto notes in her analysis of the female readership of the titles One Piece, Naruto, and The Prince of Tennis that homoerotic interpretations of manga tend to be most common among titles that do not include prominent female characters that a female readership is able to identify with.Template:Sfn

Magazines

File:Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday in Feb 2005.jpg

Stacks of Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 2005

manga is traditionally published in dedicated manga magazines that specifically target an audience of . At the industry's peak in the mid-1990s, there were 23 total magazines, which collectively sold 662 million copies in 1995. The total manga magazine market that year included 265 magazines, with a total of 1.595 billion copies sold.Template:Sfn

A manga magazine is typically several hundred pages long, and contains over a dozen series or one-shots.Template:Sfn The largest Japanese magazines in terms of circulation are Weekly Shōnen Jump by Shueisha, Weekly Shōnen Magazine by Kodansha, and Weekly Shōnen Sunday by Shogakukan; these publishers are also the largest publishers of manga generally. The fourth largest magazine, albeit by a significant margin, is Weekly Shōnen Champion by Akita Shoten, which was among the most popular manga magazines in the 1970s and 1980s.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The magazines CoroCoro Comic and the now-defunct Comic BomBom technically belong to the (children's manga) demographic, but are often counted as magazines as they target an audience of school-aged boys.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A list of the top magazines by circulation as of 2015 are listed below:Template:Needs update

Title	Circulation
Weekly Shōnen Jump	2,380,000
Weekly Shōnen Magazine	1,110,000
CoroCoro Comic	920,000
Monthly Shōnen Magazine	540,000
Weekly Shōnen Sunday	370,000
Jump Square	260,000