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is a genre
Genre

A genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other Art#Art forms or utterance....
 of manga
Manga

, , are comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after World War II, but they have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art....
 with a target demographic of young boys generally between the ages of about 10 and 18. Examples include Dragon Ball, Naruto
Naruto

is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a World of Naruto#Kage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all....
, Bleach
Bleach (manga)

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he accidentally obtains the power of a shinigami?a Japanese death personification similar to the Grim Reaper?from Rukia Kuchiki....
, Case Closed
Case Closed

Case Closed, also known as in Japan and most other countries, is a Japanese detective fiction manga and anime series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and serialized in Shonen Sunday since 1994....
, One Piece
One Piece

is a Japanese shonen manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since August 4, 1997....
, Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan....
, InuYasha
InuYasha

, full title , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shonen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008....
, Death Note
Death Note

is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The series centers on Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the titular "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a shinigami named Shinigami #Ryuk....
, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Yu-Gi-Oh.

Shonen manga is typically characterized by high-action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting squads
Sentai

is a Japanese language word for a military unit and may be literally translated as "squadron", "task force", "group " or "wing ". The terms "regiment" and "flotilla", while sometimes used as translations of Sentai, are also used to refer to larger formations....
 and the like is often emphasized.






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is a genre
Genre

A genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other Art#Art forms or utterance....
 of manga
Manga

, , are comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after World War II, but they have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art....
 with a target demographic of young boys generally between the ages of about 10 and 18. Examples include Dragon Ball, Naruto
Naruto

is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a World of Naruto#Kage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all....
, Bleach
Bleach (manga)

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he accidentally obtains the power of a shinigami?a Japanese death personification similar to the Grim Reaper?from Rukia Kuchiki....
, Case Closed
Case Closed

Case Closed, also known as in Japan and most other countries, is a Japanese detective fiction manga and anime series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and serialized in Shonen Sunday since 1994....
, One Piece
One Piece

is a Japanese shonen manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since August 4, 1997....
, Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan....
, InuYasha
InuYasha

, full title , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shonen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008....
, Death Note
Death Note

is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The series centers on Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the titular "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a shinigami named Shinigami #Ryuk....
, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Yu-Gi-Oh.

Shonen manga is typically characterized by high-action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting squads
Sentai

is a Japanese language word for a military unit and may be literally translated as "squadron", "task force", "group " or "wing ". The terms "regiment" and "flotilla", while sometimes used as translations of Sentai, are also used to refer to larger formations....
 and the like is often emphasized. Attractive female characters with exaggerated features are also common (see fan service
Fan service

, fanservice, , or simply , is a vaguely-defined term primarily used for Japanese anime and manga to refer to elements that are unnecessary to the storyline....
), but are not a requirement; Dragon Ball Z, for example, has only a few such characters. The art style of shonen is generally less flowery than that of shojo manga, although this varies greatly from artist to artist, and some artists draw both shonen and shojo manga.

Beyond shonen
Shonen

is a genre of manga with a demographic of young boys generally between the ages of about 10 and 18. Examples include Dragon Ball , Naruto, Bleach , Case Closed, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin, InuYasha, Death Note, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Yu-Gi-Oh....
 manga, manga for men (university age and up) is called seinen
Seinen

is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at an 18–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be much older with some comics aimed at businessmen well into their 40s....
 manga. Despite a number of significant differences, many Western fans do not make a distinction between shonen manga and seinen manga. This may be because very few seinen manga have been published outside of Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
. In Japan, many older men read shonen magazines because of their ease in reading during commutes to and from work on train
Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track to rail transport from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rail tracks, but might also be a monorail or magnetic levitation train guideway....
s. Consequently, in Japan, shonen manga magazines are the most popular manga magazines.

List of shonen manga

Please see the category Shonen for a list of manga that are considered "shonen".


See also

  • Kodomo manga: intended for children
  • Shojo manga: intended for girls
  • Seinen manga: intended for young men
  • Josei manga: intended for young women
  • List of shonen manga magazines
    List of manga magazines

    This is a listing, by country of publish and target audience, of manga magazines....


External links

, reformatory
Reformatory

Reformatory is a term that has had varied meanings within the penal system, depending on the jurisdiction and the era. It may refer to a youth detention center, or an adult corrections....
 (Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Japan)

The is one of Ministries of the Japanese government.The Ministry of Justice was established under the Meiji Constitution in 1871 as the . It acquired its present name under the post-war Constitution of Japan in 1952....
 site)