Summary

• There is a trend of darker shonen anime series, such as Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen, challenging the traditional light tone.
• Darkness has its place in shonen, but it wasn't meant to be the norm.
• Industry-produced light shonen series such as Spy x Family aim to effectively balance the prevalence of darker shonen series.

Most anime fans will agree that the Shonen demographic is the most popular across the industry and appears to have more cross-demographic appeal than its shojo, seinen, and josei counterparts. With series like dragon ball, Pokémonand One piece out there, fans might say that shonen is the face of anime, so it's a big deal whenever the demographic of shonen changes for the better or worse. Or shonen anime might change in more subjective ways, and that will fuel fan debate on topics like whether shonen is becoming too dark, like the popular "dark trio."

There is a balancing act that shonen manga and anime must achieve, and while fans have different opinions and preferences on this, it is clear that if shonen skews too much one way or the other, there can be problems. For example, there is a growing trend for shonen anime series to be dark, tackling dark themes and using horror to tell a story. When used in moderation, this trend results in fantastic series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw man, but darkness should be the exception to shonen, not the rule. No matter how modern dark shonen may be, it shouldn't take over and become the new norm.

Why Shonen is usually light and cheerful, not dark

Fans need something refreshing and hopeful to watch

Even the most light-hearted and entertaining shonen anime series sometimes keep the narrative grounded in a few relatively dark scenes or stories – no anime is naive enough to act as if such things never exist. Still, these series are predominantly light and positive, with dark stories and scenes being the exception to the rule, and this has been the norm for shonen anime. These series add a bit of darkness to give the series some emotional and thematic weight here and there, giving more depth to the story and making the characters feel more rounded or layered.

Examples abound, from Naruto Uzumaki’s suffering in the Hidden Leaf Village to Ash Ketchum tearfully letting his Pokémon go to find their own future elsewhere. In fact, these scenes sometimes become fan favorites because they stand out in an otherwise lighthearted narrative. There are good reasons why shonen anime is mostly lighthearted, at least in older generations. Shonen anime, like its Japanese name, is aimed at a younger male audience, the equivalent of kids watching Saturday morning cartoons where comedy, fun, and adventure define the narrative, not tears or suffering.

Shonen manga and anime writers don’t patronize their audiences and treat them as if they’re completely naïve, but even so, these creators know that their audience wants something fun and inspiring to watch, stories of heroes saving the day by defeating evil. Thus, shonen anime favors lighthearted, positive narratives over darker ones, making only small concessions to grim realities about failure, death, heartbreak, and so on. Positive shonen anime series will respect their audience and acknowledge these things, but they won’t dwell on them for too long.

It may not be a hard and fast rule that shonen manga/anime must be about lovable heroes who regularly save the day from villains and energize viewers with cartoonish action scenes, but it is certainly the norm, and anime fans of all ages have come to expect it. In Pokemon, for example, young heroes like Ash Ketchum travel the world in a shonen trio and delight fans with their victories over villains and bullies time and time again. Ash proves that friendship, honest work, and love are always stronger than exploitation or arrogance in his Pokémon battles, and that's just the beginning.

Naruto It may have famous dark scenes like the Pain arc and Jiraiya's death, but in that shonen anime, kindness and love always defeat evil and hatred, from Naruto redeeming Gaara with his famous talking jutsu to the world achieving true peace through understanding instead of Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi. In short, anime fans of all ages watch shonen anime because they want good vibes, and based on industry norms, shonen is the most reliable way to get those vibes.

Shonen anime is a refreshing break from the moral ambiguity, hardship, and complexity of real life, giving fans a serious sense of escapism as lovable heroes use friendship and hope to defeat evil and save the day. For younger fans, it’s a great way to learn empowering lessons, and for older anime fans, it’s an outlet and may even inspire them to face the challenges in their own lives with refreshing optimism and vigor. Despite this paradigm, there’s still a growing trend of dark shonen.

Dark Anime Series Challenges Shonen Norms and Balance

Darkness should be the exception in Shonen, not the rule

The dark shonen anime series does not completely has taken over the demographic, but fans have certainly noticed that some of the most popular and memorable new shonen series are predominantly dark, with the light ones being the exceptions. This flips the shonen formula on its head, and when done in moderation, can be an exciting experiment in the demographic while also giving fans something new to watch. That's why there's a new dark trio as a counterpart to the classic shonen big three, and that's not all.

The dark trio launches this trend with Chainsaw man, Jujutsu Kaisenhabit Heaven from Hellwhile fans can even add Demon Slayer as the fourth member of this group. Demon Slayer may have more comedy and a cartoonish visual style, but it's still pretty dark, with the premiere episode "Cruelty" being a nightmarish introduction to Demon Slayer world. The existence and popularity of these newer shonen anime series prove that the shonen demographic benefits from adding a touch of darkness to keep things grounded and more rounded, but the real question is how much is enough.

On the one hand, shonen anime could go through an identity crisis if darkness becomes the new norm, especially action/adventure anime where violence and pain are easy to write. It’s a balancing act between light and dark, and ideally, predominantly dark anime will remain the minority and exist only to make mainstream light anime shine that much brighter as the norm. Not every new action anime needs to be the next Chainsaw man or Jujutsu Kaisenespecially since not everyone is interested in it.

Fans of lighter, more traditional shonen action anime also need something to watch, so the industry should be careful to continue producing these series alongside the darker ones. In a way, producing new, darker shonen action anime is an act of subversion, even if a given series isn't intended to be subversive. Chainsaw man is. With light being the rule of shonen, writing a dark but compelling anime like Jujutsu Kaisen It's a partial subversion, a twist not on the content of shonen anime but on its tone.

The trick is to do it in moderation and well, so darkness in shonen anime remains the exception to prove the rule and nothing more. Thus, it is essential for the industry to keep anime lighthearted for the most part and ensure that each anime season and year features plenty of lighter, more uplifting shonen action anime in the same vein as comedy. dragon ball and even Pokémon. Gen Z anime fans, millennials and older, have now grown up enough to appreciate the darkness in anime and have put aside their Pokemon days, but each new year and decade brings younger anime fans who need an Ash Ketchum to root for, not a Denji.

The anime industry has new, light anime to keep the darkness at bay

It is important to keep this rule in place.

The shonen anime industry is still producing many action/adventure series that keep the rule alive with positive, inspiring and often comical narratives in a vein more or less similar to Pokémon and dragon ball, even though these series also have their dark and serious side to keep things grounded. These series do not patronize their viewers with simplistic “good versus evil” narratives like shows like Freeze demonstrate with its emotional weight.

Darkness will always be present in shonen, but the key is that darkness is only a small element of what makes these shonen anime series work. Several recent examples put friendship, hope, comedy, and adventure at the forefront, and that's what anime needs. Given the moderate to high popularity of these series, it's clear that not all new shonen series need to be predominantly dark, nor should they be.

An example is Spy x Family, which combines a variety of genres into one, from the found family trope to spy intrigue and high school life, and there's hardly any darkness to be found, just jokes about peanuts and Yor's terrible housekeeping skills. Then there's Mashle: Magic and Muscles, a comedy that challenges the world's muggle discrimination with refreshing hope, vigor and friendship with its himbo hero, Mash Burnedead. Even the Freeze: Journey's End The anime, which made fans cry in its first episode, is about friendship, love and finding a positive purpose in life, not sinking into despair.

Frieren the elf takes control of her eternal life’s happiness by finding value in friends like Fern and Stark, meaning this anime knows how to tame her darkness rather than turn it into a gratuitous selling point. Something similar can be said about the comedy Undead Luck, with protagonists who each sought their own death at one point. Ultimately, the core demographic of shonen anime is boys, and there's no need to instill in them a sense of cynicism and darkness when heroes like Deku, Naruto, Luffy, and Goku are out there trying to be a light.