Seinen
Genre
Seinen manga are manga whose target audience are adult men -
generally aged from eighteen to their mid thirties. This is in
contrast to shonen manga; which is for younger men and boys,
generally from eight to eighteen years of age.
There is also a female counterpart to seinen manga known as josei,
sometimes also referred to as redisu or redikomi; which are manga
created to appeal to females in ages ranging from eighteen to
thirty.
Of course, these demographics are only averages, and the manga are
read widely by individuals outside of their target audiences.
The rise in seinen manga started when rental magazine systems –
also known as rental libraries - began to become popular in the
1950s. These were drawn to appeal to an adult audience and could
sometimes contain more mature subject matter. But as these rental
libraries' popularity began to decline, the publication of seinen
magazines was introduced.
It was in 1967 that Futabasha Publishers released Weekly Manga
Action. Not long afterwards, in 1968, Shogakukan began the
publication of Monthly Big Comic. Because of the decline in the use
of the rental system, some of the artists who had previously used
it to publish their work began to draw for shonen or seinen
magazines.
The introduction of these new magazines created competition in the
market between the increasing amount of seinen manga and the
pre-existing shonen manga. While shonen manga began to use certain
story elements to gain back more readers, seinen manga also fought
to retain a majority of subscribers. Ultimately, in 1968 with the
release of Shueisha's Shûkan Shonen Janpu, 'Weekly Shonen Jump',
and the already existing Weekly Shonen Magazine published by
Kodansha and Weekly Shonen Sunday published by Shogakukan, shonen
manga began to take back the majority of readers it had in the
past.
Seinen manga, as aforementioned, are aimed at older audiences, and
the themes presented can often vary. Comparatively to shonen manga,
seinen depict more graphic sexuality and violence. As well, instead
of teenage main characters, as in shonen manga, the manga often
revolve around the life of a college student or businessman. Seinen
manga can also be more dramatic than the average shonen manga and
may also have political themes.
Again, it is difficult to look at a manga and determine whether it
is a seinen, shonen, or even a shojo manga. While the themes can be
an indicator, there are two details that can be used to help
determine whether or not a manga can be classified as seinen. The
first detail is the original magazine that the manga was published
in, and whether or not that magazine was a seinen. If the term
'youth', 'young', or 'big' appears in its title, it is most likely
a seinen magazine, though this is not a hard and fast rule.
The second detail is the inclusion or absence of furigana. This is
hiragana (one of the Japanese writing forms) that is written
alongside kanji. Since furigana is an aid for those who may not be
able to read kanji, its absence can indicate that the manga was
intended for an older audience.
Seinen manga is still read today, though it is not as popular as
shonen manga. In 1979 Shueisha created Shukan Yangu Janpu, 'Weekly
Young Jump', which has become today's leading magazine for seinen
manga. Some well-known seinen manga that have been published
include series such as 'Golgo 13' by Takao Saito, 'Berserk' by
Kentaro Miura, and 'Akira' by Katsuhiro Otomo.
