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What Does Shounen Mean?




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caseclosedfan414



Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:20 pm Reply with quote
I'm sorry if i sound like a n00b for saying this, but I want to know: what does shounen mean? I know it's an anime genre, but what is it? When people describe an anime as a shounen, I have no clue what they are talking about. Can someone tell me? Thanks.

Last edited by caseclosedfan414 on Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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frentymon
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Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:26 pm Reply with quote
You'll find a very good description of Shounen here.

[EDIT] Thank you for your intriguing contribution, Riyousha. We have all learned a thing or two today.


Last edited by frentymon on Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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caseclosedfan414



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:36 pm Reply with quote
Oh! Thank you, frentymon. That helped a lot. Now I get it! I can't believe I couldn't figure that out. Now i feel stupid. LOL!
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Riyousha



Joined: 19 Mar 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:31 pm Reply with quote
Shounen means boy in Japanese. That's why Shonen Jumps is for young males.
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caseclosedfan414



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:55 pm Reply with quote
Oh. Thanks, Riyousha. I didn't know that. I've never even heard of "Shounen Jumps", so yeah. Random facts are always good because knowledge is power! LOL!
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Koda89



Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:35 pm Reply with quote
Riyousha wrote:
Shounen means boy in Japanese. That's why Shonen Jumps is for young males.


Well, to be more precise, Shounen is Young Boy......>_>
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:51 pm Reply with quote
Koda89 wrote:
Riyousha wrote:
Shounen means boy in Japanese. That's why Shonen Jumps is for young males.


Well, to be more precise, Shounen is Young Boy......>_>
To be even more precise to an anal-retentive degree, shounen (少年) means "a few years" if you break down the kanji. Of course, you'll never get far if you try to translate Japanese literally, so the meaning of shounen is closer to "youth" (as a noun meaning "young person"). There's actually no specification of gender within those kanji, although with shoujo (少女), the second kanji does mean "female."
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:17 am Reply with quote
Yup. Shonen stands for buy, which would explain why there's 20 somewhat different magazines in Japan with shonen at the beginning of the title. Shonen Jump, Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Champion, just to name a few.
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suna_suna



Joined: 06 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:20 am Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
There's actually no specification of gender within those kanji, although with shoujo (少女), the second kanji does mean "female."


then could shoujo mean young or little girls? does 少 mean small as well?
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:33 am Reply with quote
suna_suna wrote:
then could shoujo mean young or little girls? does 少 mean small as well?

Sometimes 少 can also be 少ない, which is "not enough" or "very little". Small would be this one, 小
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caseclosedfan414



Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:38 am Reply with quote
Oh, OK. Thanks, guys. I didn't know any of that, so it helped. LOL! I wish I knew Japanese. That'd be so cool. I wonder where you can learn it. I guess going to Japan would be the best way because of all that "instant immersion" stuff. I want to go to Japan. LOL! But anyway, thanks, everyone.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:55 am Reply with quote
fighterholic wrote:
Yup. Shonen stands for buy,
Now thats thinking Japanese. Laughing
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:37 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
fighterholic wrote:
Yup. Shonen stands for buy,
Now thats thinking Japanese. Laughing

You know what, I meant to write boy, and I didn't even notice that. But I guess that works even better in the end Laughing
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frentymon
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:45 pm Reply with quote
Shonen Jump stands for buy. If it has the Shonen Jump label on it, people will buy it. Just like how I can make any awful mecha series, call it "Gundam (something)", and it will be popular.
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