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  • Just Shounen a little light on You

    Posted on May 21st, 2007 by Darkshaunz - 2,749 Views

    Darkshaunz makes sure he insures his scouter

    It’s been a while folks, if you’re wondering where Rets and I have been recently, well I’ve been busy preparing for exams and finishing off university assessments and will still be out of the loop for the coming weeks. Retsgip is currently in Los Angeles, so he’ll be out of it for at least a week (I’ll scrounge him for an entry for you BLEACHers when he gets back though). But I had a special request from a fellow blogger recently, who was organizing a series of guest entries for his blogging pad, his name is Runningkid and he runs Ruki: The Running Blog, he’s a fellow Shana enthusiast like me (well like all of us, who doesn’t loev tsundere loli?). His request was pretty simple, “Shaunz, I need you to write something about your favourite genre”, and so in Retsgip tradition, we powerup our memes and pay homage to Saiyan-wannabes across the anime world. Kamehameha Bitches.

    So…Runningkid approached me asking me to put to paper what my favourite genre of anime or manga is. Now, I thought this was a no-brainer, seeing as I am massive Evangelion fanboy. This was followed by a slight pause…hang on a second, just because I like one series in a particular genre, it shouldn’t count as my favourite! So I sat down, looking at my anime folder and found my answer. It’s funny, prior to Bloggingkid asking me, I really had no idea. The answer lies with Young boys, growing up in melancholic atmospheres, the great adventure across the endless sea, the villain who just keeps powering up and his companions who will no doubt either betray or die in the name of comradeship. All of this for that beautiful maiden, his kidnapped childhood friend, his estranged father/brother or the fact that there is a neverending lust within him to get stronger till he grind pure Titanium with his pinky finger. Now, I beckon you all to remove yourself from the “orz” position, despite knowing that I derive a lot of excitement and drive from the Shounen genre. I blame it on the gratuitous abuse of the over 9000 meme, but we can’t help but stare in awe and amazement at Vegeta’s ridiculous manliness.

    Now, an exciting part of this entry is that I have no knowledge whatsoever of what the other guest bloggers will choose as their genre of choice. I would be exceedingly amused if one or more happened to knock off Shounen as “shallow bollocks” in favour of their favourite genre (I’m an ass like that). So, is it as simple as Young boy gets stronger until he ultimately defeats his uber-arch-villain by using a Super-charged wave of pure chi/chakra attack of infinite destruction and flying leprechaun rainbows? Well yes, on the surface it definitely has to be. Let’s face it, if viewers truly are looking for a gritty, dark and mind-probing adventure of a lifetime, I’d think they would avoid the anime with an always-smiling spikey-haired young boy holding an oversized spirit sword or wearing a fluoro-orange jacket which is more likely to scream attention than promote stealth. Hence why I find it amusing that people criticize Shounen for doing what It’s supposed to do. Granted, its not for everybody, I appreciate the Genre for its easy viewing and conventional pacing when it comes to main arcs etc. I know you are looking at the screen with Light-like eyes now, and that wicked “Just as Planned” suave grin. I have anticipated your question already, “Yeah Dark, how about those FILLERS huh!?’. *Gulps* You got m-As if, it’ll take more than that to drown my burning passion for Shounen!

    Okay, so I see you’ve played the dreaded FILLERS card. As a young kid watching Pokemon (mind you I still play Pearl to this day), I was bedazzled by all these non-storyline related events. I often questioned why they were so disjointed and why they sucked like crap when instead I should have been watching Pikachu own the living crap out of Liutenant Surge’s Raichu instead. There is no argument for fillers, I never enjoyed the Naruto Fillers, in fact they made me stop watching the anime altogether (despite the fact Shippuuden salvaged the damage somewhat). However, admittedly there has been steps made by animation companies to improve the markedly sorry state of fillers, notably by Bleach. Now those of you who are following Bleach anime and manga know that the recent episodes aren’t very faithful to the manga representation of events. The obvious one is Kariya’s appearance in Ichigo’s inner state of being during his trial to rediscover his Fighting “Instinct”. What should have been a disaster of a sequence, especially for quite an important plot-device scenario, admittedly turned out not only relevant to Ichigo’s self-discovery, but also allowed viewers an alternate viewpoint from that of the manga. The whole Byakuya/Kariya affair were both well transitioned and although it did seem like it was “Forced” in order to drag the episode, it was still a blase seeing everybody’s favourite ladyface man open a can of flower petals on cherry-head, and hearing Kariya’s raspy voice was kind of nostalgic. So fillers give manga readers a little something extra, kind of a pitstop to explore what could have been in the manga or earlier works, it’s annoying, but its a well needed break from the epic main storyline (unless they are absurdly long).

    Comrades. Companions. Friends. These words represent the one thing which makes Shounen enjoyable and connecting. It sounds kind of cliche’d, the whole comradeship principle in a grand adventure to defeat some ambiguous Dark sorcerer. No matter how strong a Hero gets, he needs friends and buddies to help him out. The moral of Shounen lies not with getting stronger just because you can, its all about getting strong because you have something important to protect. Before we all put on our Knight-in-Shining armour caps on, an important thing can be not just that special lady, but to “rescuing” estranged friend and even cover something like an near-impossible dream of finding the ultimate treasure. There will be characters in Shounen who want to get stronger just for the hell of it, either because they had too much money to burn or they were so evil, they would buy kittens just to strangle them (I do not condone such violent Anti-kitten actions, for the record). It makes sense, Bad guy X has to destroy Village Y to get stronger, but not before Kurosaki ABC can help it! I know its a formula which has been done to death more times than an undead priest, but the magical thing with formulas are that; if you insert the right ingredients in, they are a sure-fire way to cook up a delicious show. Plus Shounen heroes are reflective of what real people seek, an unlimited power and the ability to protect something they hold very dear to themselves….or the domination over what they desire (Do you roll for Yoda or for Vader?)

    How about Villains? In Shounen, the villains are pretty clear cut, and their motives, whilst usually not known are assumed to be aiming for something so nefarious that even Jesus himself weeps from his divine throne. Formulas are really Yin/Yang instruments, there has to be balance, what you do to one side, you must do to the other (else the formula explodes into horrible face-eating and ass-biting acid). Ridiculously powered Hero equals some of the nastiest badass motherfuckers you will see on the face of our animated Earth. I like seeing people gasp in shock and awe at Bleach’s espada, the impressively strong “Royal guard” of Los Taco Bell in Hueco Burrito (Yes, I am a total Bleach expert). The Espada are impressive to watch, but then again, look at the guy who is leading them. Aizen’s using 70’s hairgel which reminds me of Da Fonz from Happy Days (Eyyy!!!!) and he demands that you have scones and tea before destroying the spirit realm, that guy is one jive cat. However, the newer shounens are yet to terrify me as much as The second and third saiyans landing on our soil. If you can, I recommend rewatching the Vegeta arc of Dragon Ball Z. You will not regret it, Vegeta and Nappa are nightmare inducing for young and old alike. If commando training makes you a real survivalist “Man”, then watching Vegeta demonstrate to Goku the Might of a True Saiyan Prince without flinching or getting tingly shakes would make you a real “Anime Man”. It’s Epic stuff we won’t forget.

    Its quite a strange genre, its kind of one where we know we really enjoy, but one which bloggers tend to write kind of heavy handedly. This is probrably because they all have manga counterparts already, and the likes of Naruto, Bleach and One Piece have had some form of brain-rending filler runs. The genre is always under scrutiny for doing the thing it does best, having a simple and predictable storyline. It’s also the most polarizing one for me; on one hand, I may not feel that “Elitist-Intelligent High Horse” when discussing about Shounen then I do with most of the abstract-mindfuck anime like Technolyze or Serial Experiments Lain and on the other, it is just a ton of fun to watch. It’s also part nostalgia for me, I grew up watching the Power Rangers, who were basically all Shounen heroes in a way. Red ranger and White ranger had the most bullshit powerups whilst the others drew the short stick. Plus, I think there’s a bit of Shounen inside all of us. It’s an undeniable part of growing up, where we fantasize not only about wielding that power to protect, but also about being transported to another reality where the borders between Good and Evil really are clear and that there’s always a gorgeous girl who will always need your heroic last-minute saving.

    Cheers,

    Darkshaunz

    PS: Bleach manga needs to hurry up, what has happened to my Rukia!? (AGAIN)

    PPS: I have another entry in the works, but I am net-shaped at the moment because of my SHIT internet plan. Excuse the lack of pictures this time around.

    5 comments to “Just Shounen a little light on You”

    Please use <spoiler></spoiler> tags when appropriate, thanks!

    1. Darkshaunz i do belive you were made for these types of writings, your words of wisdom strike a very familiar cord within me, as i too grew up with the likes of power rangers(greenranger yea) and DBZ(goku yea) and all the other brain melting shows that people scoff at now that they are older and supposedly more “educcated” in the ways of the genre. The series’s may be more refined but they are basiclly at the core the exact same thing as what we grew up with of course. I look forward to more writings of yours!

      (PS. I’m sure kubo wouldent be so heartless as to do anything with rukia, although i’m also waiting with baited breath. I’d assume she was in the same boat as the other ones who fell, of course…i think the author is trying to tell us somthing with everyone getting pwned left and right like this though..)


    2. Rukia needs one of those buttons like on the infomercials: “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”

      What is up with that Freeza pic… damn that’s creepy. Also can’t believe you are cheating on Retsgrip while he’s out of town.

      Regarding shounen, I always wondered if people who do not like shounen get chills when they watch a scene where the hero is getting beat up and smirks and decides to use “that” (which always refers to ougi of pwnination 9001) to save the day.

      Finally, I always felt that Pikachu beating Raichu was one of the biggest scams ever. This should never have happened. In fact, I’m still bitter about it. I swear to you in a few years, Pikachu is going to be found out like Barry Bonds, and everyone is going to talk about putting an asterisk next to his record.


    3. Nice entry. :)

      I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. You’re not necessarily going to get much emotional investment with a shounen anime just as you’re not necessarily going to get zany over the top action with slice-of-life anime. At the same time, shows merge genre more than before, so it’s hard to see a show as “just X genre”, despite it having many elements of a specific genre into it. Personally I think that’s a good thing.

      Shounen tickles my fancy as quick entertainment, a sort of “WOW! What new technique will they do next? Will they ascend to the higher power plane again?!?” sort of thing. Though depending on how it’s done, it can get kind of annoying. One-dimensional characters (usually villians) tend to bug me, and sometimes everything seems heavy-handed and instantly there, like lessons learned, suddenly “WHOO NEW TECHNIQUE” and all that jazz. Change can be gradual too. But pet peeves vary from person to person as well. :P


    4. @Inuhanyou: Your words of praise continue to inflate my head at dangerous levels! Thanks as always for dropping by and savvying a read or two (Rets and I need to buy you a drink each if we ever meet irl). What you said is precisely correct, we grew up with Shounen, we ARE Shounen. Let’s face it, Mecha/SciFi/Moe can’t even comprehend our Power Levels /crushes scouter.

      I sincerely hope you are right about Rukia. Christ, she’s been impaled more times than the kebabs they sell in my university. Make the Rukia hurt stop.

      @Kabitzin: Shhh! It’ll be our little secret! I’ll even share one of my Eyepatch-lolis with you. Rukia needs a button which says,”Press me on Impale so I can actually get some Plot armour” (It’d be a MASSIVE button, granted).

      Also, Ash is a retard. I can’t believe he used Pikachu against Raichu, I used Graveller against Lt.Surge in Pokemon Red, like a REAL PRO. But c’mon Ash choosing not to use the Thunderstone on Pikachu after winning the battle was one of those /teary-eyed moments.

      @TheBigN: Thanks for stopping by Bigboss. I can relate to the point you brought up about really one dimensional bad guys, and heck, really one-dimensional good guys. Then again, its kind of a popcorn-watching affair. This is opposed to some anime where you face skews to a Sherlock Holme’s brow-flex as you try to piece plot elements together.

      Also, I am excited for Bleach to introduce the next step up from BANKAI, who knows what it will be called. I just hope it involves really shiny lazers and lots of pointless shouting.


    5. Next step up is called MANkai. Puts hair on your chest.


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