How is Death Note Shounen?

[Mr. Anime]

Okay, this is thing about Death Note that has been bugging me, how is it Shounen? When I think of Shounen manga and anime, I think of Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin etc. But Death Note is NOTHING like any of them, it's a supernatural/horror crime thiller (and a very good one too) that has none of the things that makes it part of Shounen genre. So why is it a part of Shonen Jump titles?

[D Dubbs]

Well, a shounen title doesn't necessarily have to be of the fighting genre, although 90% of them are. You can have various types of shounen: sports (Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21), game-based (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Hikaru no Go) and mystery and suspense (Death Note, Detective Conan/Case Closed).

Basically, pretty much the only the regulation that a shounen has to follow is that a young boy (or in some cases, girl) somehow obtains extraordinary power or talent. Something has to make them unique. That's the premise for shounen.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Basically, pretty much the only the regulation that a shounen has to follow is that a young boy (or in some cases, girl) somehow obtains extraordinary power or talent. Something has to make them unique. That's the premise for shounen.

No, there's no 'premise' for Shounen, because it isn't a genre. It's simply a categorization of series targeted at middle school aged boys. Death Note is a shounen series because it was made to target middle school aged boys. That's the size of it.

There are plenty of shounen series that don't fit your description at all.

[D Dubbs]

There are plenty of shounen series that don't fit your description at all.

All right...I don't want to get in a big debate over this...but out of curiosity can you list some of those series? With practically all of the shounen titles I've read or watched, I think that my description works pretty well as a generalization.

[Timmay]

I'll bite. The easiest ones I can think of are Ichigo 100%, Love Hina, and I''s. The leads aren't especially gifted and have no super powers. They're all focused on romance. Then there's also your slice-of-life shounen, and your shounen comedies. I'm not going to tear into your definition because I think you meant to say something a bit different, but there are plenty of series that start with the lead gaining his abilities through hard work, and plenty that are grounded in reality: Hajime No Ippo and Slam Dunk for example.

The only thing a shounen needs to be a shounen is being printed in a shounen magazine.

[Pepperidge]

Well, a shounen title doesn't necessarily have to be of the fighting genre, although 90% of them are.

Actually, the majority of them aren't. It's just that the most popular ones are. Shonen magazines are generally more prone to give us GTOs, Becks, and a crapload of sappy romances.

[straw_hat]

The manga which the anime is based on was printed in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan along with series like One Piece, Naruto, and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the latter of which spoofed Death Note in a two chapter special, simple as that.

As for why the American dub has the words Shonen Jump slapped on top of the main title it's just something Viz does to all the anime versions of Shonen Jump manga titles.

[Beat]

Fist of the North Star was in shounen jump, and the ultraviolence from that manga doesn't lend itself to the traditional shounen stereotype either.

[macattack]

Shonen is something published in a magazine intended for the middle school/young male demo. Just because it contains content that Americans might consider adult doesn't change the fact that to the Japanese, it's meant for kids (specifically male kids). A lot of shonen contains heroes who are in that 12-17 set to appeal to the demo, but there are many exceptions.

Basically, you have to be published in a shonen magazine or in a magazine that contains shonen comics (Monthly Comic Blade's a good example of the latter) in order to be considered shonen.

[Lutochris]

Actually, the majority of them aren't. It's just that the most popular ones are. Shonen magazines are generally more prone to give us GTOs, Becks, and a crapload of sappy romances.

There's such thing as Shonen romances? I thought romance was almost exclusively Shoujo.

[Timmay]

There's such thing as Shonen romances? I thought romance was almost exclusively Shoujo.
I mentioned some above. They're usually harem, the male is a typical loser, women all madly in love with him, sometimes there's special powers.

Love Hina is a good example, and stuff by Adachi (H2, Touch) tends to balance between sports and romance.

[FlyByNite77]

lol. I was gonna mention Ichigo 100%, wasn't the characters from it in that Shonen Jump all-star game a few years back too? lol

I wonder how they fought against a Naruto/Ichigo/etc...? :p

[straw_hat]

lol. I was gonna mention Ichigo 100%, wasn't the characters from it in that Shonen Jump all-star game a few years back too? lol

I wonder how they fought against a Naruto/Ichigo/etc...? :p

They didn't fight they were only support characters who effected the other fighters with a certain status aliments.

[Dudley]

They didn't fight they were only support characters who effected the other fighters with a certain status aliments.

And the same goes to all the other characters who aren't considered "shounen".
Characters from the romance and sports titles weren't playable fighting characters, which, oddly enough, applies here, where everyone who were playable (with very few exceptions), are shounen by Mr. Anime's terms.
Too add, Death Note characters weren't playable.

[Timmay]

The fact that were in the game at all is proof enough.

[Sketch]

Pretty Face is rather far from your typical shounen as well. It's mostly a romance story... Kinda of a bit of Ranma 1/2 but a lot less fighting (and only fighting for comedic effect really).

There's no real description for a shounen outside of "series targeted at middle school males". Death Note happens to be one of those and to it's credit it's done very well with middle school boys in Japan and it seems to have done quite well with 12+ in the US as well.

[Lutochris]

I didn't realize that harem shows were generally considered shonen as well. I thought those were more in the middle somewhere.

[Speedy Boris]

^ Some are, some aren't. Again, it basically boils down to what magazine/comic it originally appeared in across the sea.

[Marinite]

Only look at shounen as a male age demographic, not a genre, because it's not a genre.

[DBZNarutoWarrior]

Only look at shounen as a male age demographic, not a genre, because it's not a genre.

Yeah, that's basically what I got out of this thread for the summary. At first I thought Shonen was a genre, and I thought D Dubbs definition was correct (I guess I was raised to believe that from some others). It's a much easier answer (and it makes sense) that it's actually just for a male age demographic.

700!:p

[Master Toon]

Only look at shounen as a male age demographic, not a genre, because it's not a genre.

So it's not a genre?

[D Dubbs]

So it's not a genre?

Nope, it's a demographic.