shonen

Shonen is manga and anime aimed mainly at teenage boys: action, rivalries, training arcs, big fights and friendship. Think of the long-running hits about heroes trying to get stronger.

What shonen means

Merriam-Webster defines shonen (also spelled shounen) as manga or anime intended primarily for boys, and quotes a description of it as manga for boys roughly 12 to 18. In practice it’s a demographic label, not a genre, but it comes with familiar ingredients: a determined young hero, a power system, tournaments, rivals who become friends, and battles that take several episodes.

Plenty of shonen fans aren’t teenage boys, of course. The label says who a magazine was originally aimed at, not who’s allowed to enjoy it.

Examples

• “It’s a classic shonen: the hero trains, loses, trains harder, wins.”
• “I usually read shojo, but this shonen series got me.”
• “That fight was peak shonen, three episodes of screaming and power-ups.”

Where it came from

It’s Japanese shōnen, “boy” or “youth,” from the phrase shōnen manga, manga for boys. Merriam-Webster’s earliest English record is from 1982. Japanese publishers sort magazines by audience, and famous shonen magazines like Weekly Shōnen Jump launched many of the biggest series.

Shonen vs. shojo vs. seinen

• Shonen: aimed at teenage boys.
• Shojo: aimed at teenage girls.
• Seinen: aimed at adult men, often darker or more complex.

Related terms

• Shojo: manga for girls.
• Isekai: stories about being transported to another world.
• Arc: a long storyline.
• Otaku: an obsessive fan.

See more terms like this in our anime slang guide.