[quote="Grungie" pid='216207' dateline='1599377760']
They’re just target demographics as opposed to genres, which makes sense when you find out that shojo means little girl, and shonen means little boy. Then there’s seinen and josei, which are the young adult versions for the two genders.
When it comes to the differences, it’s super arbitrary, as the sole defining factor of what makes x manga x demographic is based on what magazine it was published in. You’ll run into situations where you have two very similar series, but are labeled as different demographics, just because they were published in different magazines, like Lucky Star vs K-on. Or another situation, completely dissimilar series having the same demographic label, like K-on and Ghost in the Shell both being seinen.
A lot of people think those terms are genres because they saw a bunch of similar shows having those labels, so they thought those words indicated genres. Once you start digging around, you’ll realize how pointless it is, even in the same magazine. Shonen Jump is the trendsetter for the stereotypes associated with shonen, but even they have series that don’t fit the typical Naruto or Bleach formula, and have romance manga published between those.
[/quote]
Shonen traditionally meant stuff like Naruto or Bleach but you are right that's why when the term "battle shonen" got coined it became more appropriate since something like Nichijou or We Never Learn are also part of WSJ.
They’re just target demographics as opposed to genres, which makes sense when you find out that shojo means little girl, and shonen means little boy. Then there’s seinen and josei, which are the young adult versions for the two genders.
When it comes to the differences, it’s super arbitrary, as the sole defining factor of what makes x manga x demographic is based on what magazine it was published in. You’ll run into situations where you have two very similar series, but are labeled as different demographics, just because they were published in different magazines, like Lucky Star vs K-on. Or another situation, completely dissimilar series having the same demographic label, like K-on and Ghost in the Shell both being seinen.
A lot of people think those terms are genres because they saw a bunch of similar shows having those labels, so they thought those words indicated genres. Once you start digging around, you’ll realize how pointless it is, even in the same magazine. Shonen Jump is the trendsetter for the stereotypes associated with shonen, but even they have series that don’t fit the typical Naruto or Bleach formula, and have romance manga published between those.
[/quote]
Shonen traditionally meant stuff like Naruto or Bleach but you are right that's why when the term "battle shonen" got coined it became more appropriate since something like Nichijou or We Never Learn are also part of WSJ.
