Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sat Aug 11, 2018 2:16 pm

I can appreciate other anime for having better overall writing, characterization and lore, but for me personally Dragon Ball is just more fun to watch, it simply has this unique charm thats hard to replicate.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by ekrolo2 » Sat Aug 11, 2018 4:40 pm

I'd probably say yes, there's a nice simplicity to it and an aversion to many modern cliches of the genre that positively kills my enjoyment of them. On a technical level, I'd probably call Fullmetal Alchemist the best Shonen ever put out.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Neo-Makaiōshin » Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:32 pm

It is no longer the #1 but it still remains among my favourites, Naruto is currently my king of shonen.
Dragon Ball was always a kid series and fans should stop being in denial.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by sintzu » Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:36 pm

Neo-Makaiōshin wrote:It is no longer the #1 but it still remains among my favourites, Naruto is currently my king of shonen.
It's great to see another Naruto fan here as it's one of the best shonen yet one of the most criticized (hated) ones.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by ABED » Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:19 pm

I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.

Of those named, I've never seen nor have interest in Naruto and One Piece. I've gotten through nearly 20 episodes of FMA and found it confusing and boring. I won't try again on the off chance that there's a great payoff.

YYH is the closest to DB and is in many ways superior, but overall I still enjoy DB more.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Jackalope89 » Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:25 pm

ABED wrote:I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.

Of those named, I've never seen nor have interest in Naruto and One Piece. I've gotten through nearly 20 episodes of FMA and found it confusing and boring. I won't try again on the off chance that there's a great payoff.

YYH is the closest to DB and is in many ways superior, but overall I still enjoy DB more.
Shonen anime are series targeted for teen boys primarily. The counterpart would be shoujo, anime targeted towards teen girls (Sailor Moon being one of the most well known).

As for classifying it... Well, when looking them up on online lists and what not, you'll see the shonen tag along with the comedy, action, drama, romance, and other tags.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by ABED » Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:36 pm

Jackalope89 wrote:
ABED wrote:I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.

Of those named, I've never seen nor have interest in Naruto and One Piece. I've gotten through nearly 20 episodes of FMA and found it confusing and boring. I won't try again on the off chance that there's a great payoff.

YYH is the closest to DB and is in many ways superior, but overall I still enjoy DB more.
Shonen anime are series targeted for teen boys primarily. The counterpart would be shoujo, anime targeted towards teen girls (Sailor Moon being one of the most well known).

As for classifying it... Well, when looking them up on online lists and what not, you'll see the shonen tag along with the comedy, action, drama, romance, and other tags.
Then Shonen encompasses a lot.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Jackalope89 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 12:44 am

ABED wrote:
Jackalope89 wrote:
ABED wrote:I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.

Of those named, I've never seen nor have interest in Naruto and One Piece. I've gotten through nearly 20 episodes of FMA and found it confusing and boring. I won't try again on the off chance that there's a great payoff.

YYH is the closest to DB and is in many ways superior, but overall I still enjoy DB more.
Shonen anime are series targeted for teen boys primarily. The counterpart would be shoujo, anime targeted towards teen girls (Sailor Moon being one of the most well known).

As for classifying it... Well, when looking them up on online lists and what not, you'll see the shonen tag along with the comedy, action, drama, romance, and other tags.
Then Shonen encompasses a lot.
Yep. That's why its better to go by the other tags for anime to see what its about.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by MajinMan » Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:16 am

Shonen isn’t targeted at “Teen Boys,” it’s just boys in general. The main target demographic for these type of series is probably around 8-14.

Anyway, I’m a pretty big Naruto fan as well, and although it has a lot of great moments and characters, it will never top DB to me. The final arc of Naruto is a complete disaster and ruins a lot of the story. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, think of it as a very, very long Dragon Ball Minus. One that takes up around 200 episodes and chapters.

One Piece I read until the Fishman Island arc, and then dropped it out of sheer uninterest. Haven’t went back to it in 4 years.

Yu Yu Hakusho I saw as a kid and really liked, but I have a foggy memory of it and haven’t seen it in a while. Maaaybe it could top DB if I watch it now, but I doubt it.

And the final main Shonen I’ve seen is My Hero Academia. I gave into the hype after a lot of people said it was really good. While it is really solid, I don’t see why people consider it so special or how it “deconstructs” shonen. It’s been enjoyable so far, but I just don’t see the major hype.

So yah, Dragon Ball is still my #1. At this point in my life, it is pretty much settled.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by RandomGuy96 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:53 am

I don't watch/read a lot of shonen.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by TheGodfather93 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:02 am

No, One Piece is.

I still love the original Dragon Ball and that will never change, but for me, One Piece is better in every single way, except maybe character designs.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by NintendoFan28 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:45 am

I still love Dragon Ball, but One Piece is my favorite anime now, followed by Hunter X Hunter.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by sintzu » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:47 am

Jackalope89 wrote:
ABED wrote:I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.
Shonen anime are series targeted for teen boys primarily.
MajinMan wrote:The main target demographic for these type of series is probably around 8-14.
To be exact "shonen manga is primarily intended for boys between the ages of 12 to 18". From Wikipedia. The majority of One Piece's readers are over 18 so the range can go over 18 if someone grew up on a series. Popularity can also push older reader to check something out.
MajinMan wrote:The final arc of Naruto is a complete disaster and ruins a lot of the story. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, think of it as a very, very long Dragon Ball Minus. One that takes up around 200 episodes and chapters.
The anime did drop the ball with all the filler episodes but you can at least take those out, something you wouldn't be able to do had they stretched out the events themselves. I do think Kaguya could've (should've) been left out but apart form that I think it was a solid arc. At least it didn't kill its franchise like Bleach's final arc did.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Saikyo no Senshi » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:10 am

The "shounen is primarily for boys" is highly inaccurate. It is just a marketing statement. There is no single target audience for shounen cause the target audience is pretty diverse. It is a common misconception among the anime/manga fandom.

This survey by Nikkei 4-5 years ago showed that half of JUMP's readership are women. And, yeah OP has a pretty strong female fanbase and so does a lot of other popular shounen titles.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Kid Buu » Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:37 am

I...don't know if I'd call myself a big anime fan. There's a few anime I'm passionate about (enough to post on a forum dedicated to it), but I dont really watch much anime. I'll sometimes watch a new series, but I dont really go out of my way to keep up to date with anime like some people do.

Anyway, to answer OP questions, no. My favourite Shonen is Kimagure Orange Road, but that isnt really a Shonen "battle" type series. I did start watching My Hero Academia recently, so maybe that can surpass DB.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:47 am

I always love to see Kimagure Orange Road fans. Because it gives me an excuse to gush about its music which is TERRIFIC.

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by MajinMan » Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:48 am

sintzu wrote:
Jackalope89 wrote:
ABED wrote:I don't know what technically constitutes a Shonen anime.
Shonen anime are series targeted for teen boys primarily.
MajinMan wrote:The main target demographic for these type of series is probably around 8-14.
To be exact "shonen manga is primarily intended for boys between the ages of 12 to 18". From Wikipedia. The majority of One Piece's readers are over 18 so the range can go over 18 if someone grew up on a series. Popularity can also push older reader to check something out.
MajinMan wrote:The final arc of Naruto is a complete disaster and ruins a lot of the story. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, think of it as a very, very long Dragon Ball Minus. One that takes up around 200 episodes and chapters.
The anime did drop the ball with all the filler episodes but you can at least take those out, something you wouldn't be able to do had they stretched out the events themselves. I do think Kaguya could've (should've) been left out but apart form that I think it was a solid arc. At least it didn't kill its franchise like Bleach's final arc did.
I skipped all the filler when I watched the anime, and my feelings didn’t change. Without going too deep into it since this isn’t a Naruto forum, I had big problems with the reincarnation stuff and the extremely boring crap that happened during the first stage of the war. Madara and the final battle between Sasuke and Naruto were like the only parts of this arc I actually liked. The rest I thought was either boring or terrible.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by sintzu » Sun Aug 12, 2018 5:01 am

Saikyo no Senshi wrote:The "shounen is primarily for boys" is highly inaccurate. It is just a marketing statement.
That definition is what it originally was decades ago and although it's still known for that, the people who watch and read it can be completely outside of that range like adults or even women like you said.

A similar situation would be comics and star wars, both started out as mainly kid products and despite still being defined as that, the range is far wider than that one demographic.
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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:50 am

sintzu wrote:
Saikyo no Senshi wrote:The "shounen is primarily for boys" is highly inaccurate. It is just a marketing statement.
That definition is what it originally was decades ago and although it's still known for that, the people who watch and read it can be completely outside of that range like adults or even women like you said.

A similar situation would be comics and star wars, both started out as mainly kid products and despite still being defined as that, the range is far wider than that one demographic.
Good art transcends demographic conventions. Dragon Ball is no exception. It was created with a certain demographic in mind but its appeal has broadened over time because for many people who grew up on it it never lost that appeal.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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Re: Is Dragon Ball still your favorite shonen?

Post by ABED » Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:11 am

A target demo and the demographic that actually consumes something aren't the same thing. You're target demo can be young males, but end up having a reader/viewership that skews older.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
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