Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

One Piece can be pretty dark at times too...granted not anything super gritty and dark, but it does have those moments. Still, it is generally very light hearted and fun.

Late reply but

I'm one of those guys that doesn't like childish shows. I pretty much never watch shounen because the main character is always too optimistic for my tastes. I like realistic stories and there isn't much shounen which stays true to that. I can understand why something like One Piece would be so popular though, and I agree that shounen can be very, very good, it's just that the way those stories are constructed just don't appeal to me.

Also, I dislike how there's an assumption that all "mature" stuff needs to be gritty, violent and all round depressing. There are some wonderful Seinen anime which are funny and lighthearted. I feel that Seinen is the most diverse demographic, probably followed by Shounen.

Well if said Seinen is "lighthearted and funny" what makes that different from funny, lighthearted shounen? Also, there's some pretty dark shounen, like Attack on Titan, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion to name a few. Trigun is also shounen. (At least when it began.)

I know I posted this earlier, but does anyone know where I can find episodes 73-100 of the Kirby anime? Thank you.

I have to agree with this. With all the time I've spent digging through manga, I can't tell you how many times I've ran into Shounen series that have objectionable content on par with Seinen series, & Seinen series who's content isn't any worse (and sometimes more tame) than certain shonen series.

I know Shounen is aimed at a teenage male audience, & Seinen at an adult male audience, but content wise, it doesn't seem like there's a limit to what they're allowed to portray in Shounen, and rather, the differences in demographics come down to who they think the title will appeal most to, instead of the content determining it.

I've started to rewatch the original FMA with my little brother( who hasn't watched the series yet)

@Rocko52 I should clarify myself haha because I'm not too good at expressing what I mean

The demographics don't actually affect content at all. Thematically, BECK (technically shounen) is more mature than something like K-On (technically seinen). I'm not arguing that the seinen demographic is in any way superior to shounen, or that there's even a possibility of comparing the two. They're just words tacked onto the manga as a vague guideline of who should read it.

To me, stories written solely for adults feel more worldly. There is a deeper focus on characterisation and a higher amount of subtlety rather than spectacle. I think I've posted here about how I like more thoughtful, slow paced anime. Stories written with teenagers in mind tend to be more energetic so to excite the audience, and I'm not really into that. I must sound like such a disgruntled old man haha

^Only a little bit.

Anyways, I started Durarara, not much to say but it did start itself off on the right foot, so I'll try to continue it soon. I'm the meantime, I'll continue my rewatch of Naruto. I want to get through the land of waves arc at least, that was where Naruto first impressed me as a kid.

Speaking of Durara, a brand new Jump Title cam out the other day by the guy who made that and Baccano. It's called Stealthy Symphony, and it's first chapter in WSJ came out on either yesterday or Sunday I believe.

I need to continue some shows that were in hiatus:

Macross Frontier
Eureka 7: AO
One Piece
Outlaw Star
Big O
Eyeshield 21

Just finished up the newest chapter of History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi!

Thought I'd make your life a little easier.

That bad, huh?

Oh, I thought maybe Stealth Symphony was going to be by the creators of Death Note because the art reminded me of Bakuman. I'lm gonna check it out eventually, the name sure grabs my attention.

I've heard it misses the point of how the previous series ended. Insta-fail for me, will not watch.

Anyone read the first chapter of Stealthy Symphony? I have not yet, I don't believe subs are out yet except for the official release of Shone Jump Alpha...which I can't pay for...but anyways I'll keep my eyes peeled, I just want to see if it's any good.

I'm still curious to see if it'll turn out to be like Soul Catcher(S), which is a shounen music manga.

Watching Area 88 right now. I have the DVD for episodes 4-6, but watching the rest on GoGoanime.

Shounen Music Manga? Like a manga about a band? Or a world based around music?

If it's the world idea...well I've had vague ideas of a shonen setting within a world based all around music, kinda like what food is to Toriko.