I figured with silv’s great new additions and the recent influx of traffic, now would be a good time to blog this. ^^
Now to start off I know not all of you are familiar with the term shounen or seinen. They are both genre’s of manga. Shounen is for younger male audience’s(preteen-16 or so), where seinen is meant for males as well, but an older male audience(late teens+).
Lately it seems more and more like the new thing to do is stop reading shounen series and start reading “real manga”(read: seinen). Now, I will be the first one to admit most shounen series have lost a bit of their luster over time, but is ditching them all together for “real manga” really the way to go? Are seinen series really that much better than shounen? I’ve been thinking about this alot lately and I think I’ve finally decided on something.
If you enjoy reading something, then read it and have fun, that’s why you are spending your free time reading it in the first place right?
All I’m trying to say is sometimes some of us, that have been reading manga for a very long time, start to think our opinions hold more sway over what you should read than your own. So don’t be discouraged, disgruntled, (or another d-word that I don’t even know!) if we sometimes seem to scoff at your personal choice’s of manga. In the end you should be finding what you like and reading that regardless of what other people say about it!
That last sentence is exactly what we’re here for. We want to help provide you guys with things you may already like, while at the same time showing you that there are new worlds that you might not have otherwise seen if you had stayed downloading your Naruto’s and Bleach’s from other sites. We’d like to become a part of your daily web surfing and hopefully a few times a week provide you with something new to try on for size! We strive to put up top quality series that aren’t already in the spot light for one reason or another, as well as providing links to current and past favorites!
We can’t guarantee that you will like everything we link, but chance’s are you will find something, someday, that will have more depth and meaning to you than your standard shounen series.
So: welcome to all the new browsers and posters! Please don’t be put off if we seem pushy with our manga suggestions sometimes, it’s just how some of us are! Please don’t be afraid to try some of the lesser known series out from time to time! Just keep reading what you like, and keep looking for the next thing to interest you! ;)
Ebi
July 1st, 2008 at 6:27 AM
great speech ebi, this is so true, but still maybe an example of such a great seinen series would convince your readers easier, dunno: emma, sanctuary, berserk, claymore; something that at least left a mark on you so they will actually consider coming back for more – at least this is my opinion.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:18 AM
Ebi is right, nice speech. To all manga fans (past present future), read what you like, explore new genres and have fun.
However here is a tip, if you ever encounter with a manga you think would have a nice storyline after reading the summery but you get put off due to a manga which has too much details that the pages look too messy to follow what is going on, or has too little detail that the pages seem empty, just have patience.
1) perhaps the mangaka is new to the business
2) perhaps the cleaners couldn’t do a good job due to bad raw files
3) perhaps it was scanlated by a group who is new to the business
4) perhaps there may be another version scanlated by a more experienced team, so go look for it
5) take the time to read it slowly
July 1st, 2008 at 11:12 AM
“Now to start off I know not all of you are familiar with the term shounen or seinen. They are both genre’s of manga. Shounen is for younger male audience’s(preteen-16 or so), where seinen is meant for males as well, but an older male audience(late teens+).”
I’ve mentioned this several times before in several other forums. “Shounen” and “seinen” are demographic groupings, not genres. Shounen and seinen works may be of any genre and neither kind is inherently “superior” to the other. Even though most of my favorites these days are classified as seinen, I’d rather spend my time reading Claymore or Neon Genesis Evangelion than something like Ikkitousen.
“great speech ebi, this is so true, but still maybe an example of such a great seinen series would convince your readers easier, dunno: emma, sanctuary, berserk, claymore”
Claymore is shounen.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:39 AM
:)
July 1st, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Claymore is at the very edge, and at the present time by far more promising in the seinen department then gantz [darn it! wtf did they do to that manga]
and one more thing, f***, i can’t believe i’ve missed the genre thing, i guess it’s true what they say: if you hear a lie enough times you begin to think it’s true
July 1st, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Yeah, I realize about the demographic groups for shounen and seinen. :P I just think that anymore they have been used as a genre for so long that that is what they are turning into anymore. Most sights list them as genre’s, and although they are very very broad genre’s they usually get you to the type of series you’re looking for if you use those terms to search for manga. :P If you want a good example of seinen, check out Historie, its historical seinen. I’ll post some later on. Naruto, bleach, and even dragonball would all be good examples of shounen!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Same goes for Vinland Saga, it started in a shonen mag, but is now in Afternoon – so what? Despite the genre (or better: the magazin), you’ll know soon enough if its good for you or not ;)
I would love to see Historie on the front page, I read it a week ago and was fascinated.
Totally OT: “Stay awhile and listen!” I know, wich trailer you watched recently hehe
July 1st, 2008 at 3:13 PM
I’ve been hoping for d3 since they stopped patching d2 =/ (before ubers patch i mean) was so excited to watch that!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:58 PM
I read Shonen for action when I’m really bored, but when I want something that has a story or a great manga, I always go for Seinen. Shonen doesn’t take much ingenuity, they start off good, but they end up sucking later cause the plots aren’t planned out.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Do we really need to distinguish shounen from seinen? Getting the best from both worlds is good enough…
July 1st, 2008 at 4:40 PM
az: you should try josei to, seinen is grate but sometimes you just nead someting different and going to josei in place of shounen at least would keep the story more interesting. [for those that would want to try i recommended vampire girl and sakuran]
July 1st, 2008 at 5:13 PM
some josei are great. women have another type of humor, theirs is more delicate and hidden, while male mangaka uses graphical facial expressions of surprise.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:23 PM
You should try to get some writers for updating Josei and Shoujo series silv :P I know I don’t keep up with them really, doesn’t seem like we have many of those posted!
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 AM
Bah, shounen bashing is just a fad. As a mature adult, I’ve come to appreciate the lighthearted logic rife in many shounen series without contempt. The thing is that maturing adults (yes, they are still maturing) would prefer the grittier storylines on seinen, but shounen can be a complement to that, sorta like the pickled ginger to your sashimi.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 AM
Well Said Peppokiri!
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 AM
I feel that seinen more often explores a much wider array of subject matter, and makes it refreshing for reading around the more popular or generic shonens
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:05 AM
like others have said, there is a place for both shounen and seinen.
although many shounen’s plotlines are very similar, there are still many good titles out there. i personally love bleach, though many manga fans hate it.
but im a seinen man at heart. i love manga which have everything. action, romance, psychological elements and of course a great plot. eden springs to mind as one of these
keep up the great work silv/ebi/crazy