[Discussion] Why do people act like it's bad to like shonen manga?

[BelphaZar]

Several reasons. It's cool to hate popular things, cool to dismiss things aimed at younger crowds as not being "sophisticated/intelligent/etc" enough, and, in my case at least, not a "Shonen is bad" so much as "shonen's over reliance on some of its tropes/cliches/archetypes and other general flaws are dragging it down and it could be better than it is." That last part leads to arguments with other fans who don't want to acknowledge, or who may not even see the flaws as being flaws in the first place, and arguments of course always blow up out of proportion.

I still really like shonen stuff, but as I've gotten older and relate less and less to some of the typical character traits, as well as having more experience with stories of all genres in general, there are some things I find annoying and wish authors would acknowledge, fix, or explore through their stories. Obviously this brings up a "things should always directly pander to me!" argument, but it's just how I feel and there are probably others who feel the same. Not much to be done about it, except perhaps write/draw one's own stuff if you're capable of it.

But...I just can't discuss shonen without a buinch of negative comments incoming. Seriously, they are so overhated it's not even funny, I cant think of a single shonen that gets more praise than hate. The funny thing is that most of those shonen haters generally have a lot of double standards like how they will accuse them of having a lot of stereotypes or clichés when just about every other genres have their fair share as well especially romcoms (yeah yeah yeah, I know Shonen is not a genre, it's a demographic yada yada you all know what I'm talking about and most of the haters don't care) or how they'll complain about shonen heroes having a lot of plot armour yet stay quiet when the same happens with Berserk,Tokyo ghoul, really disguting. Why is that so?

 

[Bimbonium]

Though I might not qualify as a shounen hater, but seeing the same thing again and again (e.g. nakama power) becomes annoying especially when the manga is still in its early stages, so I skip new shounen works

 

[BelphaZar]

Though I might not qualify as a shounen hater, but seeing the same thing again and again (e.g. nakama power) becomes annoying especially when the manga is still in its early stages, so I skip new shounen works

Im sorry i really didnt meant to use the word "hater" and i understand people should be smart picking what to read or watch but not every shonen is bad but they get hate right from the start

 

[Cunning Linguist]

It's not. There are some good shonen manga's out there. I prefer the more mature stuff myself. Do what makes you happy. You do you. And I do your mother

 

[Bimbonium]

Im sorry i really didnt meant to use the word "hater" and i understand people should be smart picking what to read or watch but not every shonen is bad but they get hate right from the start

Well after reading (Naruto, Bleach, Ft, OP,........) if a manga does not differentiate itself from the start, I wouldn't bother with it, normally I wait for the anime to air, watch season 1 then decide if it's worth it, and boi have I seen a lot of cringe worthy shounen stuff, using that technique

 

[-Punk-]

You can like whatever you want, is just that people can't keep their hate to themselves, there's a lot of mangas out there's with different genres etc but people keep reading the same shit and then complain, that's when it becomes a cycle of what you are saying.

 

[Venomous Cobra]

Well, some Shonen are actually great, some huge titles that made the manga industry what it is were shonen and simply no one can deny that it's no less than "good". In fact, many series that are popular with the Seinen demographic have run in Shonen magazines when they were serialized.

However, criticism will always happen so get used to it, especially now that many shonen are bad (or at least to many poeple). Having a similarities in themes is not the problem here, it;s the way those themes are presented in the story that doesn't always have to be the same, which what people dislike.


The hate on shonen is merely a reflection of how overrated it is, and anyway a large number of those that I've met who hate on shonen continuously are the ones who don't know the great titles that are part of it so you don't need to get all mad now.Hating it however is 100% normal and justified, but of course so is hating any type/genre/demographic

 

[WoldOfFingo]

People wanna feel like big boys. They like to feel mature on a cartoon site.

 

[Tarkatower]

cause ppl are shitty.

and i think it's just the weekly battle shonen that receive most of the hate cuz of the anti-mainstream mentality.

 

[~Ethereal~]

Who cares.

 

[Bling Kai]

Well there hasn't been a significantly good shonen in a long time.

 

[Pumpkin Ninja]

It's not. There are some good shonen manga's out there. I prefer the more mature stuff myself. Do what makes you happy. You do you. And I do your mother

Why do you love mothers so much?

 

[Cunning Linguist]

Why do you love mothers so much?

I'm a lover of all women

 

[YellowFang]

Though I might not qualify as a shounen hater, but seeing the same thing again and again (e.g. nakama power) becomes annoying especially when the manga is still in its early stages, so I skip new shounen works

This pretty much...
I can't dismiss the ones I grew up with(I just can't), but find it difficult to get into new ones...

 

[Hexuze]

Who cares. Haikyuu is GOAT.

 

[Avani]

According to

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, ninety percent of everything is crap.

If they are still reading the picture books from Japan and insisting only shonnen manga have issues then it's just that they haven't explored the other genre's enough yet to get bored of the cliches tropes used in them. Or they were short stories and thus didn't have enough space to use more of them typical tropes.