Hey everybody, Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind. Following my promise in January I give you the first of what I hope to be a monthly thing in 2015 and in the future the Otaku Corner where I break character and give my honest thoughts on anime/manga topics as well as do the occasional rant. Since we’re in the month of love and today is Valentine’s Day I think it’s only fitting that I talk about love and romance. And to help me with this topic I’m going to be focusing on shonen manga. Sometime last year when I was reading online I saw someone post an interesting question about romance and shonen manga. In the post the author talked about how romance particularly in shonen manga is very underused, not used all that well, or never used at all. At first I didn’t think about it all that much but then as I sat down and thought about it he actually made a good point. Shonen mangas really don’t use romance all that well and anytime when they do it’s mostly played for comedic effects. Why is that, why don’t shonen mangas utilize romance all that well and is this a good thing? Well, here are my thoughts on this topic.
Reasons why romance isn’t in shonen
Let’s start by looking at reasons why romance isn’t in shonen. The most obvious reason is because shonen is for the male audience. Now there are female readers and watchers who like shonen and enjoy it. Hell, I even read and watch a few shojo mangas/animes myself and enjoy them. Now while there are females who enjoy shonen in the end shonen is primarily directed at the male audience and males for the most part aren’t interested in that romantic stuff like girls. We want action, things exploding, characters punching and kicking each other, blood, and anything else you can think of when you think of shonen.
Second Reason: Romance is hard to write. In fact it’s so unsettling and weird for some authors that they avoid romance all together. In my opinion romance is the toughest thing to write about. I have yet to see any writer do it correctly and that’s because when a writer writes about romance they use their own personal experiences with romance to write about romance or write their own idea on what love is or like. Now this isn’t really a bad thing because romance is different for each person but at the same time this is where the problem comes in. Romance is different for each person, what the author might have experienced in the past or is currently experiencing might not match what the reader has gone through and thus either fly over their head or not be taken all that seriously. The most common trait authors in mangas like to use with their main characters in romantic settings is make them oblivious to the romance in general or make them total wimps when faced with romance. The best example I think of this is Love Hina which is a terrible manga by the way. Anyway, the main character is a total wimp oblivious to the feelings of the girls around and they’re made very clear but no he’s a total wimp and is oblivious to the feelings of the girls around him. Another and more famous example is Ichika from IS who is so dense that he can’t tell that the girls who are his friends like him and it’s so obvious it’s frustrating and annoying. Real males aren’t this oblivious and wimpy when it comes to romance and will usually sense or tell when a girl likes them or not.
Third Reason: Romance is distracting. Another reason why shonen writers don’t like to add romance into their stories is because romance distracts the reader from the main story and it’s true, romance can distract people from the main story because they get too involved with different couples that it becomes distracting. There are even times when the romance can overshadow the main story. A good example of this is Inuyasha. As I said before I was never a fan of this show and the reason is largely due to the romance between Inuyasha and Kagome. The romance between the two characters overshadows the story entirely. In fact, there are times when the anime will stop dead in its tracks to address the relationship between the two. I remember watching one episode where it was dedicated to Inuyasha and Kagome having a fight and the two finally reconciling with each other. Did we really need an episode where our two main characters act like children and stop speaking to each other until the other admits they were wrong and apologize? That’s just wasting time on our part and they do this multiple times in the show. It’s childish and deviates from the main story.
Fourth Reason: Poorly explained/executed. Romance in shonen is very poorly explained or executed. Because of this the romance between characters is usually played for comedic affects like with Grey and Juvia from Fairy Tail or Luffy and Boa from One Piece. Other times characters will just get together out of nowhere and we as an audience are told to ask no questions and just accept it. The best example I think of is Vegeta and Bulma from Dragonball Z. Now I like this couple I have to admit this is one of most poorly done couples I have seen. When I first watched Dragonball Z and these two got together I honestly thought I missed an episode or two because the series never really went in-depth into how the two got together. They shared only like three scenes together, a few lines of dialogue where it was mostly them arguing with each other and then the two somehow wind up together and have a baby. How did that happen? Toriyama never explains how the two got together it just happens. In his defense he does show that Vegeta and Bulma really do care about each other and that they are a good match for each other but he never really explains why they care about each other. What makes Bulma so special to Vegeta, what makes him so special to Bulma, and why is this? You can say a person is special to you but if you can’t give a good reason as to why that person is special and what makes them special to you than we have a serious problem. A good example of this is Sauske and Sakura from Naruto. We all knew those two were gonna get together at the end of the series and even when it happened we were still pissed about it because they never explained why they’re special to each other. The stuff that Sauske did to her and put her through was just terrible and yet despite doing all these things Sakura still loves this guy and wants to be with him. Sakura is even worse because she never gives a reason as to why she likes Sauske she just likes him because she likes him and because the author demands that she like him. I was really hoping in the series they give us a little backstory into why Sakura has a crush on Sauske. Is it because he saved her when they were young, did he help her on a homework assignment, or did he protect her from some bullies. We never get an answer to this and that’s what pisses me and a lot of people off about this couple. They have no reason to be together. If anything the author show us why they shouldn’t be together. Their relationship is like an abusive relationship where Sauske is the abuser and Sakura the victim. Now, it takes a strong person to be an in abusive relationship but it takes an even stronger person to stand up to the abuser, say no, and get out of that relationship.
Fifth Reason: To show us that love isn’t everything. We live in a society that tells us that love is everything and that if we aren’t in love then we’re living a pretty meaningless and dull life. This is why a lot of people are so quick to jump the gun when it comes to marriage. They believe that if they wait too long they’re gonna end up lonely and sad so they decide to get married young and live a rich fulfilling life. Unfortunately things don’t turn out the way they dreamed, they fall out of love, file for divorce, and continue their search. By eliminating romance and love from shonen, writers can show that love isn’t as important as the world makes it out to be. Yes, it’s true that meeting that special someone, falling in love, and starting a family of your own is a good and a joyous feeling but I don’t think it’s the only joyous feeling in the world. There are all sorts of other things that can bring joy in your life and can be just as powerful and meaningful as love such as the bonds of friendship you have with people or overcoming the odds and winning through your power and perseverance. Shonen writers could possibly be showing us that just like love is powerful things such as friendship can be just as powerful as love. Take One Piece for example, Oda goes on record saying he has no intention of putting romance into his story and replaces this with friendship showing us the comradery the Strawhats have with each other and how each are willing give up or sacrifice anything for each other. A good example of this is the Enies Lobby arc which some fans like to call the Robin arc. In this arc we find out Robin’s true backstory and discover that she’s never had real friends because of who she is and where she comes from. When the world government finally comes for her she gives herself up to spare the Strawhat crew because for the first time in her life she found people to care about and didn’t want to see them get hurt. She even goes as far as trying to make herself their enemy in order to cut times with them. But despite all of her attempts the Strawhats reached Enies Lobby, fought through an army of Navy officers, and declared war on the world government just to get back Robin. They declared war on an organization that pretty much controls the world all for the sake of rescuing just one of their friends. The comradery between the Strawhats is so powerful that they’re willing to turn the whole world on them just to save just one of their friends from dying.
Final Reason: Would it really change that particular character? A question you have to ask yourself is if this particular person was in a romantic situation would it change their character, would they be different, and would it add to the overall narrative of the story? Stuff like that is very important to ask yourself when writing a character or story and it’s something I think manga writers think about whenever they decide to bring romance into their stories. Like think about it, if Natsu and Lucy from Fairy Tail were to start dating and became a couple would their characters really change? Would Natsu start acting more mature and if so would this be a good and believable change? Would Lucy change? Would she become more flirty and embarrassed around Natsu or would she still be the same silly Lucy we all know and love. Or how about Nitsuj dating one of the AI girls. If Nitsuj started a romantic relationship with say Isis would the two change? In my opinion no. Believe me I’ve thought about this a few times before in my head and in all honesty the two would not change at all. Nitsuj would still be his perverted self who reviewed anime and Isis would be right beside him keeping him in line and know that his perverted acts is just harmless fun. Nothing would change and the characters would still be the same making their romantic relationship nothing special.
Reason why romance should be in shonen
Now you’re probably thinking with all these reasons as to why romance shouldn’t be in shonen there’s probably no good reasons why romance should be shonen, right? Wrong. There are actually a few good reasons why romance can be good for shonen.
Reason One: Romance can make the character stronger. There are times when romance particularly a characters feeling for another character can make that character stronger because they care deeply for that character and don’t want to lose them. A good example is Hinata from Naruto. Throughout the series we’re shown that Hinata didn’t have what it took to be a ninja and everyone around her including her father pretty much gave up her. Because of this Hinata developed low-esteem for herself and became a recluse. However, this all changed when she met Naruto a guy who everyone in the village hated and looked down on but despite all of this Naruto never gave up or let anyone get to him and wouldn’t you know it, this was the only guy in the village who actually believed in Hinata and said that she’s strong. That’s all Hinata needed, someone to just believe in her and because of this she developed romantic feelings for Naruto and began getting stronger until she became one of the strongest ninjas in the village.
Reason Two: It can lead to great character interactions. While I respect Oda’s decision to leave romance out of One Piece I have often wondered, how great it would be if the characters did start to respond to the feelings of others. How nice would it be if Nami responded to Sanji’s feelings for her or if Robin and Zoro started showing some feelings for each other or at least showed an interest in each other? Stuff like that could really lead to some good interactions among the crew members and bring them closer together as a family showing them they don’t have to be alone in the world that there’s someone out there for them or even beside them.
Reason Three: It makes the characters come alive. Very similar to reason two, having the characters show romantic feelings for each other is a good way to make the characters come alive and become more relatable. Seeing their struggles, conflicts, and heartbreaks adds to the overall weight of the character and makes you want to see them be happy at the end. Chances are a person can be in a similar situation like Rito from To Love Ru. You have two girls who you like both being great but you can’t choose between them. On the one hand you have the girl you’ve had a crush on since middle school and on the other hand you have the new girl who comes out of nowhere pulls you out of your comfort zone and just makes your life fun changing you into a better person. Both of these girls are great and being with one of them will be even greater but the problem is you’re not sure who to go with.
Final reason: Different insight and ideas on romance. I know I said that romance can be difficult to write about because authors tend to give their own ideas and viewpoints of romance in their stories but at the same time these different ideas and viewpoints can be quite interesting and help shape your own idea on what romance is like or could be like. Like I said before romance is different for each person out there and just because a person has a different interpretation of it doesn’t mean they’re wrong it just means that to them this is what romance is like and if someone out there has a similar idea of romance that the author has than chances are the author’s story is helping them in some way that we might not know.
Is romance good or bad for shonen?
So we finally get to the main question is romance good or bad for shonen? After looking at both sides of the argument with each one having good reasons in my opinion romance isn’t good for shonen but at the same time it’s not bad for shonen either. If a shonen author wants to use romance for comedy and focus his story more on the action, story-telling, characters, and show that other factors and bonds can be just as strong as romance than that’s fine it doesn’t hurt them or their story but if authors want to add romance to their story and show it in a more serious light while showing their idea of romance than that’s fine too just make sure you watch out for the problems I mentioned earlier. And if an author can tell a shonen story while keeping a good balance between the romance, action, comedy, character-development, and story than more power to that author. In the end romance and love in shonen isn’t a bad thing and if an author thinks they can pull it off than go for it I more than welcome it. If not, then at least we the readers can get a good laugh out of it. Well those are my thoughts I hope you enjoyed, if you would like to share your ideas on this subject leave a comment below, and if you have an idea for a subject let me know I’m always open to new topics to discuss. Thanks for reading, happy Valentine’s Day, and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj and the next Otaku Mind.
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