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History of Shonen Addendum
For those of you who came tonight: Thank you! I’m very pleased with how the event went overall, and by the size of the crowd. I’m somewhat amazed that I was able to speak for nearly five hours, but time seemed to fly by (at least, to me), so I hope it was as entertaining for all of you as it was for me. I loved the casual atmosphere, and I was completely flattered that non-regulars to anime club actually came to watch me. Thank you so much.
The series list I promised is right here:
Series in bold are an arbitrary declaration of the more important titles, and are a decent indication of series to read in terms of overall relevance (not necessarily quality).
I must ask that no one use the list for any purpose other than personal enjoyment or reference without my permission.
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I also want to briefly elaborate on a claim I made a few times about some series, which may be hard to understand without proper explanation. I mentioned how some series are able to do comedy brilliantly well, but then feature uncharacteristically heartfelt chapters which were done very effectively. A perfect example:
How to set up and deliver a punchline: Gintama 171
How to charm your readers: Gintama 172
The effect is only strengthened by the fact that these chapters are back-to-back. The non-comedy chapters of Sket Dance achieve a similar effect.
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For the record, I wholeheartedly recommend changing your online manga reader to MangaToshokan. Uncompressed images and a clean website layout make it markedly better than OneManga or MangaFox, which I only use for anything not yet uploaded to MT.
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If you’ve been inspired to discover new series, and are pleased with what you find, please let me know! I’m curious to know how well-received my recommendations are.
Cross Game Retrospective
Cross Game, the most recent series by renowned mangaka Mitsuru Adachi (Touch, Rough, H2) has finally come to a close. Beginning in Shonen Sunday in September 2005, it has entertained readers for nearly five years, and with a breathtaking climax that does justice to the quality of the entirety of the work, it belongs in any recommended reading list.
Cross Game follows Kitamura Kou, the son of a sports equipment store owner, a pleasant, somewhat sarcastic boy with only enough of an interest in sports to push sales for his family’s shop. Most of the story and character development is driven by the relationship between Kou and the sisters of the Tsukishima family, primarily the middle two sisters, Wakaba and Aoba. Kou and Wakaba were born the same day in the same hospital, and have shared a close relationship since birth, while Aoba is jealous of the attention her older sister gives to Kou. Aoba is a naturally talented pitcher, and Kou, with an increasing interest in baseball, uses her as the inspiration after which he models his pitching form. These scenarios, coupled with a momentous event early in the series, form the foundation of the fascinating relationship between Kou and Aoba, which itself is the focal point of Cross Game.
That focus on character relationships is complemented by Adachi’s ability to give his characters a familiar humanity. The current shonen landscape is overwhelmed by unrealistic characters defined almost entirely by one trait each. Natsu (Fairy Tail) is indomitable. Sasuke (Naruto) seeks revenge. Some series even feature an entire cast of one-note characters; Mahou Sensei Negima! is an enjoyable series, but the members of Class 3-A are hardly shining examples of character depth or development. By contrast, the cast of Cross Game features realistic complexity, with entirely ordinary traits used tastefully. Senda is showy, awkward, insecure, yet positive. Azuma is independent, determined, and driven (but not ruled) by his past. All are human traits, and all are displayed in balance with each other to further reinforce the series’ realism.
Similarly, the writing is true to life. On the diamond, Cross Game accurately portrays the duality of Japanese youth baseball, combining the professionalism of self-imposed pressure to strive for Koshien with enough mistakes and immaturity to remind the reader that despite any measure of success, the protagonists are still a group of kids. Unlike other sports series such as Prince of Tennis, which announced the dominance of its stars too early and robbed the series of any building anticipation, Cross Game uncovers talent slowly and subtly. Kou’s pitching ability grows throughout the course of the series, and that growth is largely dependent upon those around him, particularly Aoba. Meanwhile, the romantic comedy elements of the series are intentionally faint. Even quality shonen romantic comedies like Suzuka put the characters’ feelings on full display, leaving nothing to the imagination, and depend heavily upon fan-service. By contrast, Cross Game credits the intelligence of its audience with characters authentically secretive about their romantic interests, characters with which the reader can relate.
As a visual piece, the art style is appropriate for the tone of the story. Each character design is clean and suitable to each personality, if perhaps somewhat familiar. After all, when presented with a picture from one of his many series, even an avid Adachi fan would be forgiven for confusing one character with another:
 Touch |
 H2 |
 Cross Game |
That said, Adachi deserves as much credit for his art as for his writing. The foreground action is supported by detailed backgrounds evoking a calm suburban Japan. Scenes are also carefully interspersed with views of the landscape or wordless crowd reaction, speaking volumes through art alone. In fact, Cross Game was used in a 2007 academic presentation to the International Research Society for Children’s Literature as an example of silent narrative. Many series have both excellent art and writing, but few series feature art and writing that complement each other so perfectly.
Like respected predecessors Slam Dunk or Hikaru no Go, Cross Game transcends its genre. It is not just an excellent baseball series, but an excellent series, requiring no particular love for or interest in the sport. The characters are diverse, the story is compelling, the art is enriching, but above all, the cohesive work is brilliant. Cross Game has long been well-received, even winning the 54th Shogakukan Manga Award for shonen, and it will continue to receive far more lofty praise than a review on a blog, but nonetheless, I offer my personal recommendation:
I read a huge amount of manga, some out of self-appointed obligation but most out of enjoyment. That enjoyment varies, but even the most amazing chapters of my favorite series rarely elicit more than a smile and a good mood from me.
Chapter 168 of Cross Game froze me in my seat, sent chills down my spine, and left me with an impression I still feel three weeks after reading.
I hope you read it, and I hope you feel the same.
Weekly Power Rankings – 2/7 – 2/13
History of Shonen Encore
I will be re-presenting my History of Shonen panel (originally presented at Ohayocon 2010) at Animate! @ Ohio State, the anime club at The Ohio State University, Friday 2/19, at approximately 7pm. I’ll have use of my room for around five hours, and while I don’t intend to take nearly that long to speak, I will actually have time to properly address every series and topic. No membership to the club is required for attendance. I hope to see you there!
Directions are best found on the Animate! @ OSU website. The nearest parking is a garage essentially at the corner of Woodruff and College.
Weekly Power Rankings – 1/31 – 2/6
Medaka Box Vomic
As a followup to the recent post regarding Medaka Box, here is the recently-released vomic (officially-made manga with voice acting).
Cross Game Ending
Cross Game, the current romantic comedy / baseball series by Mitsuru Adachi (Touch, Rough, H2), will come to a natural end in Issue 12 (February 17) of Shonen Sunday. While I’ll reserve my final thoughts until after the series ends, it would take a monumentally uncharacteristic lack of quality in the final two chapters to prevent all but the highest praise. As for the future, Adachi has historically stayed active in his writing, usually taking less than a year break between major weekly series. No new series has been announced, but such news would be as unsurprising as it would be welcome.
Source: News-Paradise
Medaka Box Steadily Improving
After uninspiring beginnings which have placed it in danger of cancellation for months, Medaka Box is finally starting to find some direction in its plot and character development.
The series follows first-year student Medaka Kurokami (pictured, right), the newly-elected student council president, who is impossibly near-perfect in every area, including academics, athletics, and looks. She sets up a suggestion box in hopes of helping students in need and improving the school. She is joined by her childhood friend, the comparatively normal Zenkichi Hitoyoshi (pictured, left), who does not wish to join the student council, but does want to stay close to Medaka.
The problem with Medaka Box has never been the characters. Medaka complements her excellent mental and physical traits with a strong personality, which generally presents itself in humorous ways. One recurring scenario is for her to stand immediately behind someone and exactly mimic their pose (example). Zenkichi is the closest the series has to a comedic straight man, and is the only character with which the audience has a chance to relate. The secondary characters are all diverse and interesting, though some of their traits feel forced, as though the author is trying to make each new introduction live up to the absurdity of Medaka.
Instead, the problem Medaka Box faced upon its debut was the similarity of its plot template to existing series. The core concept of Medaka, that a small group undertakes tasks to assist whoever asks, was already shared by two currently-running series in the same magazine: Gintama and Sket Dance. Granted, there are some notable differences; Gintama mostly uses this format as a device to launch other, more involved plots (whether gag or serious), and Sket Dance splits the focus of its absurd humor between the three main characters, unlike Medaka Box, in which most of the focus is on Medaka herself. Still, the comparisons (especially between Medaka and Sket Dance) are apt, and they gave Medaka a rehashed feel in its early chapters.
Recently, though, Medaka Box has moved away from its original short-form gag stories and has introduced an overarching plot. The story currently borrows less from the specific Gintama– or Sket Dance-like formula, and has broadened its style to more typical shonen action. Most importantly, the spotlight once monopolized by Medaka is now being shared by Zenkichi and the rest of the student council, and by no coincidence, fan interest in Medaka Box is growing. In particular, Zenkichi is proving to be essential to the quality of the series. In this setting of absurd people with ridiculous abilities, the most interesting character is undoubtedly Zenkichi, who struggles to overcome his normalcy and remain by Medaka’s side. His recent battle, which began in chapter 33, has been the best instance of character development the series has offered to date. It will be difficult but critical for the author to continue to expand upon someone designed as an antithesis to the main character.
Furthermore, the author will be operating under pressure to improve. Medaka Box entered the bottom 5 for the first time in WSJ Issue 35, 2009 (July 27), and has since never been out of the bottom 5 for two consecutive weeks. (Explanation of the “bottom 5” now in the Terminology section of the About page.) It’s receiving some support from volume sales (Volume 2 sold over 82,000 volumes in its first two weeks), and it is receiving a drama CD adaptation, but, behind Neko Wappa!, is one of the series most eligible for cancellation. Given the eight-week delay between chapters and their placement in the table of contents, it’s possible that Medaka could soon escape the bottom 5, but it will need to finish this arc strongly to have any chance of long-term survival.
Medaka debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 24, 2009 (May 18). The series is written by Nisio Isin, author of the Monogatari light novel series, of which Bakemonogatari has already received an anime adaptation, and the Katanagatari samurai epic, whose anime adaptation is currently airing. Isin is not new to manga, having previously worked with renowned manga artist Takeshi Obata (Hikaru no Go, Death Note) on Uro-oboe Uroboros, a 2008 one-shot in Weekly Shonen Jump. Medaka is drawn by artist Akira Akatsuki, previously known for the brief 2007 WSJ series Contractor M&Y.
Weekly Power Rankings – 1/24 – 1/30
Weekly Power Rankings – 1/17 – 1/23
Ohayocon Panel Addendum
History of Shonen panel attendees: Thank you so much for coming! I apologize for not having the panel timed properly so that every last series was addressed, but I’m happy I was able to cover the older series in more detail, since those tend to be less familiar to current fans. That aside, it was incredibly fun for me to present the panel to all of you. You were a fantastic audience, and I hope to see each of you at future events. Thanks again.
As promised, for those who are interested, here is the list of series I covered (or intended to). Series in bold generally indicate the more notable or influential series, not necessarily quality. Basically, if you’re using the list to expand your knowledge of shonen as a whole, I would recommend you start by reading the series in bold (or at least becoming suitably familiar with them), then filling in the gaps from there.
Unfortunately, I must ask that no one use my work for any purpose other than personal reference and enjoyment without my permission.
Shonen Beam Panel at Ohayocon 2010
SB will be at Ohayocon 2010, presenting a panel entitled “History of the Shonen Magazine War” (sometimes abbreviated to “History of Shonen”). The panel synopsis:
Today, shonen magazines and their hit franchises benefit from tremendous exposure and popularity among Western audiences, but the same can’t be said for those that helped create and sustain the magazines. This panel will focus on the three major shonen magazines (Weekly Shonen Jump, Weekly Shonen Magazine, and Shonen Sunday), starting with their inceptions and working forward through time. We will examine the major series and authors that helped boost their magazines’ sales, define their magazines’ style, and influence each new generation of young authors. Also, we’ll present and discuss opinions on a variety of subjects, such as the current state of each magazine. It’ll be fun and informative, and we hope to see you there.
(If none of that means anything to you: DO YOU LIKE NARUTO ??? Come find out what awesome series came before it!)
Currently scheduled: Sunday, 11am (2 hours), Panels 3 (Union D-E)
Sket Dance Wins Shogakukan Award
Sket Dance, a Weekly Shonen Jump comedy series by Shinohara Kenta, has won the 55th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shonen category for the year 2009. Sket Dance follows the adventures of the “Sket-Dan,” a small group dedicated to helping students and staff of their school. The character traits and interplay between the group members meshes well with strong comedy writing, which is sometimes appropriately counterbalanced with heartfelt story arcs. Sket Dance has been running in Jump since 2007 but has yet to receive similar recognition from Western audiences as other Jump series, or indeed series in rival magazines. Fan scanlations for the series have fallen behind, and at the time of writing, Sket Dance doesn’t even have a page on Wikipedia.
That said, receiving such a prestigious award is a fantastic honor for the series and could be the sign of a surge in relevance in the next couple years. Volume 11 of Sket Dance debuted at #11 on the Weekly Oricon charts with over 100,000 units sold. Sket Dance also recently received a drama CD, which is typically intended as a precursor to an anime adaptation. Two other Jump series, Bakuman and Nurarihyon no Mago, already have anime adaptations in development, while Toriko received a short OVA for Jump Festa; it would not be surprising if more anime announcements were forthcoming, and Sket Dance would certainly be deserving of consideration. Furthermore, recently-formed scanlation group Iconoclast has announced Sket Dance as its first project.
Sket Dance is now in elite company as only the eighth Jump series to receive this particular award from Shogakukan, the publisher of major magazine rival Weekly Shonen Sunday. The other seven series (and the year they won the award): Play Ball (1976, tie), Dr. Slump (1981), Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin (1986), YuYu Hakusho (1993), Slam Dunk (1994), Hikaru no Go (1999, tie), and Bleach (2004).
Source: Shogakukan, Oricon
Weekly Power Rankings – 1/10 – 1/16
Jumbor Resuming Sets Interesting Precedent
Juuki Ningen Jumbor, a short-lived Weekly Shonen Jump series from 2007, is set to resume in Issue #03 (2/19) of Ultra Jump. The series title will be shortened to Jumbor for its upcoming run. Much in the same way that Basquash! bizarrely appropriates basketball, Jumbor is a shonen/mecha hybrid heavily influenced by concepts and designs from construction machinery. The series is the creation of mangaka Hiroyuki Takei, best known for Shaman King (1998-2004); in stark contrast, Juuki Ningen Jumbor only lasted ten chapters before its cancellation.
While the news is good for Takei and his fans, it’s most relevant because of the precedent it sets for Shueisha properties. If Shueisha is willing to breathe new life into such a brief series, it’s entirely possible that other series with a more proven record could face an eventual second chance. Granted, Jumbor is somewhat of a special case, given Takei’s status as an established success, but even a far more popular mangaka would have to present a strong case to the publisher in hopes of having a previously unsuccessful series revived. Hopefully, this move will be the gateway for deserving series to be given another print run. From the same era as Jumbor, Double Arts stands out as the series most worthy of another chance. Double Arts had a surprisingly interesting concept accompanied by a pleasant art style, but was only allowed 23 chapters to develop a plot that felt like it should have been far more grand in scale. Another standout series from the same time period is Mx0, a well-executed example of some classic themes in shonen (schoolkids, romance, magic). While it was given substantially more time to establish itself (99 chapters), it was cut short at an awful point in its plot development. Perhaps Mx0 could benefit from another Takei venture: Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang, a reprint of the original series with new chapters added to properly finish the story.
Hiroyuki Takei is also the co-creator of Karakuridoji Ultimo, a collaboration with American comic book legend Stan Lee.
Credit: News-Paradise
Shonen Beam Social Network
Shonen Beam 