Shounen anime becomes an important part of our childhood. From the adventure of Luffy to find One Piece, the struggle of Naruto to achieve his dream or the action packed adventure of Goku in Dragon Ball. Classic shounens will remain in special place in our hearts. They teach us about the importance of our dreams and not giving up in life. They shows how cool to explore in an adventure we call life. And they also show how friendship works as well as the importance of protecting someone you love. And as a kid, this life lessons in shounen anime is our inspiration as we grow older.
But why are we losing interest in shounen anime as we grow old?
As I said, shounen is our inspirations not until we learn that life is not working the same as those anime. I know that Shounen refers to anime intended for young boys. They are divided into two Rates, the Rated 13+ which contains family friendly content and an Ideal anime for teens. Rated 17+ which contains scenes that may be disturbing and not a good influence for young children.
Although I appreciate that writers are doing their best to create modern shounen anime that all audience no matter the age can enjoy the show. I also commend them for making unique and interesting plot. But I just notice these thing in most shounen anime that makes me lose interest in the said genre.
The story is getting mediocre. This is a noticeable problem in most of the modern shounens. Although the plot is unique and interesting, the story is still bland or average. It always revolve around the "I will achieve my dream", " Power of Friendship ", "I will never give up". I mean its not a big issue though especially if the target audience is children, but for those old anime fans they might find this boring and uninteresting.
Copy from each other. This must be one of the reasons for number 1. They are mostly based from the classic shounens. Its not that bad to base from the story of old masterpieces. But it is so noticeable that makes the story mediocre. I don't know why they still do this stupidity but come on, can't you just do something unique and original.
Too much Fanservice. This one is the most stupid backup plan for creators. Fanservice refers to extra material in anime to please the fans or audience, mostly use sexual nature. This so much like the coverup for number 1 and 2. If your story and plot is average just add some sexual content in it and consider it as joke. Sure the edgy 13 year olds will love this works but for older viewers they find it cringe and cheap. Not a good influence to younger kids too.
Can't relate in real life. As a kid, the story might be inspirational but as you grow older you'll realize that life is not working the same as the story in shounen animes. It's not that I'm saying that shounen philosophy is stupid, its just that it didn't work in real life.
Not all modern shounens is bad though. There are some that caught my interest and I am still watching up to now. Most of the anime that I watch is Seinen, I think thats its time to switch in that genre. I maybe losing interest in shounens but it still one of the important genre that I treasure in anime.
I may sound like very old in this article but actually I'm still a teenager or at the age of young adult. I started watching anime 5 years ago, that's why I write this stuff that I notice after watching hundreds of shows. And I think, that is what the creator/writer need to fix especially in modern shounens. This genre is not just for young but also young at heart and I challenge the writers to make something unique and interesting that everyone, no matter the age or gender, can enjoy.
Love this, I also think that these reasons is why I don't watch any new Shonen Series unless it subverts the shonen formula: (like Promised Neverland and Dr. Stone.) Or executes the "copied plot" things really well (like My Hero Academia.)
I still love shonen though, ONE PIECE is still my favorite Manga of all time and Bakuman is my personal favorite among the shorter ones. But you can't beat One Piece in world building, and Bakuman is way different than a typical shonen Manga.