Current Events > I'm convinced that most shonen writers don't socialize with other human beings.

(+) Yeah! (+)

They're up there with comic books when it comes to garbage character writing. Probably a couple of notches higher, even. Why can't the characters be their own fully realized individual that talk to each other like people, instead of being one of the numerous annoying archetypes that you've seen in a million other animes?

Oh boy, and then there's female characters... Like, I get that the target demographic are young, horny boys. But come on, dude. Can't there be a female character whose clothes isn't getting torn off, whose skirt isn't always accidentally flying up, or whose tits and ass aren't constantly landing on the main guy/being groped?
I am not at all against fan service and a character being sexy, but geez, there's a limit before it starts getting dumb.

I guess what I'm trying to say is -- can we get more stuff like Full Metal Alchemist? That's technically a shonen and that show fucks.

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Once you recognize the secret of their exposure, you will feel ashamed of your words and deeds.

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Writing realistic characters is hard

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their demographic didn't even want realistic character.
maybe should just realized that you've grown out of the genre.

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Ricemills posted...

their demographic didn't even want realistic character.
maybe should just realized that you've grown out of the genre.

I was about to say this. TC says he understands shonen's target demographic, but does he really? Like the writers use those "annoying" character archetypes because the readers like them. Same thing with the "dumb" fan service, they do it deliberately to appease their audience. Just find something else to watch mayne.

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I suggest one of the many other anime that do not have these issues. Or at least, for the most part.

Vinland Saga
Berserk
Megalobox
Attack on Titan
Devilman Crybaby

etc, etc


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Balrog0 posted...

Writing realistic characters is hard

I get that. They don't even have to be "realistic" per say. More so, believable.

Going back to the whole female character thing:
Let's say you have this chick character, right? At least twice per episode, her clothes gets ripped up, be it during a battle (while everyone else's remain intact, obviously) or she slips and all her stuff falls off or some dumb bullshit. The purpose it serves is just as a fanservicey running gag, basically. It's just awkward and weird.

Now let's say, on the other hand -- you have this female main character or whatever. And she, naturally, fights evil of some kind. But for her to tap into her superpower, whatever it may be, lets say she goes into another form and it disintigrates her clothes in the process. So when she gets done fighting the bad guy of the week, she goes back to normal and -- woah! -- Now she's put in a kooky situation where she's indecent in public and she doesn't want others to see.
Is that still silly? Yeah. But at least that's actually integrated in the concept of the story itself.

My favorite example I like to go to is Power Girl. Women characters in comic books are often drawn by a lot of artist to have ridiculously large breasts (even if they didn't even start out looking like that sometimes). You see it all the time. They're a dime-a-dozen.
Power Girl, on the other hand, not only have large breasts, but her big bust is an actual characteristic about herself that's realized, not only in-universe by other characters, but by the people writing her too. It's to the point where giving PG small breasts would just feel off because it's such a big part of her character (pun not intended).

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Shonen is literally made for young boys.

Maybe try reading some seinen instead or maybe shojo.

I would recommend you look into josei stuff, or like the older adult male genre. I think some of the simplicity comes from shonen shows being aimed at teenage boys, but also because of the genre's popularity influencing the quality of the work.

A lot of these shonen writers are on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule for each chapter. They need a fully written and illustrated comic that's like 30+ pages long, every week. That doesn't lend itself to greater plotting, and it doesn't lend itself to a robust social life which might add nuance to the writing, especially in regards to writing women.

You're probably going to find more complex themes and better characterisation in media aimed at older audiences, where the mangaka isn't cramming out an issue a week and where they're considering headier plot points and more mature characterisation.

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Realistic, fleshed-out characters require time -- a commodity not afforded to shonen writers. If you have to put out two to four stories a week, your stories are going to recycle content from other stories and feature expedient character types over fully realized protagonists.

If I had three months to writer a screenplay for a movie, I could probably give you some decent characters in that time. If I had a story due out next week, I'd probably plagiarize (I mean "borrow from") some entertaining old story and hope that nobody noticed.

speed grapher is one of those shows that touch a lot of sensitive subjects, aint a shonen but god damn it felt like i was watching fma in a modern setting

also i havent seen much shonen not being about friendship of one sided (and inexperienced) characters and stuff

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Megalobox is pretty sick

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FortuneCookie posted...

Realistic, fleshed-out characters require time -- a commodity not afforded to shonen writers. If you have to put out two to four stories a week, your stories are going to recycle content from other stories and feature expedient character types over fully realized protagonists.

If I had three months to writer a screenplay for a movie, I could probably give you some decent characters in that time. If I had a story due out next week, I'd probably plagiarize (I mean "borrow from") some entertaining old story and hope that nobody noticed.

That's probably why Berserk is so good. Miuras release schedule is entirely fucked but there's not a single bad chapter in that manga

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Just answering your topic title no they do not because the schedule for shounen (mostly Jump) mangaka is hellish and leaves little to no time for any outside activities.

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It's for young boys, the dumbest and horniest consumer.

NinjaWarrior455 posted...

Just answering your topic title no they do not because the schedule for shounen (mostly Jump) mangaka is hellish and leaves little to no time for any outside activities.

Yeah, I really don't see how people are able to make long running weekly manga. After a while the schedule they are on really starts causing health issues.

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Don't take shounen too seriously they are meant to appeal to 15 year old boys who only care about tits and cool fights.