Archive
Site switch
Hello again. While the site remains on indefinite hiatus, an issue requires reverting to the old hosting. All data from the newer site has been saved, but will be inaccessible so long as the hiatus continues. There is no definite plan to return, nor to close permanently.
Beamcast Hiatus
Due to some major, unavoidable issues, Beamcast will be on hiatus through December, and possibly through the first week of January. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we also hope that such a break will allow us to focus more on written content and the evolution of the Shonen Beam website.
Rest assured, despite the use of the word “hiatus,” none of us are lazing around playing Dragon Quest. We will return as promptly as possible with the best content we can provide. We eagerly look forward to our next recording session, which will likely be a major 2010 retrospective episode. Our attention now turns to regular site features such as reviews, Power Rankings, and articles, as well as exciting new ideas which will be announced as soon as they are ready.
Thank you for your understanding, and you’ll hear from us again soon. Happy holidays.
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.
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.
Launch!
Welcome to Shonen Beam! This is only a soft launch of the site, so no fanfare or anything special. We’ll build content from here, so bookmark us, follow us on twitter, and check back later.
Shonen Beam Social Network
Shonen Beam 