Forum - View topic"No one gets left behind"
|
|
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Boomerang Flash
 Posts: 1021 |
|
||
|
I was looking through some anime/manga reviews (professional, para-professional, or reader), and an often delivered criticism is that the title is "generic shounen tripe." The criticism is often used as an umbrella phrase that is meant to carry a large set of connotations--one of which seems to be that the title in question is an action series, usually involving combat dominated by cold weaponry--and is often without further justification. There are some entries which delve into the matter further. The contents vary, but a disturbing number of them cites the following as part of being "generically shounen": "The protagonist is an energetic, determined young person." Often, "person" is replaced by "male or male with breasts," but even without the snide substitution, it's just too hard to take these people seriously.
A related criticism, however, is much more difficult to dismiss: "The protagonist chooses to sacrifice his mission and endanger his life in order to save his friend, his ally, an innocent bystander, or even a villain." This happens often enough that I can't help but expect that the protagonist, after declaring that he is not leaving his friend behind, should cross his forearm with a nearby ally and shout "hoo-ah"--probably because I'm a cynic (and a strategy game fan) who believes in sacrifices. Which brings me to the following question: What are some shounen action titles where the main character does not follow the belief of "no one left behind"? This, of course, requires the presence of situations where the protagonist has to make such a choice--and choosing to leave the other behind means sacrificing him rather than simply leaving him against a reasonably evenly matched opposition to save time. [Edit] Hahaha, what a forgetful fool I have been. The manga adaptation of one of my favorite games falls into the type of title I sought. Then again, perhaps it is not so surprising, since the greatness of the game made me too used to thinking of it strictly in that medium, and I didn't read the manga--the English version not being available when I first heard of it. The title is Taspoiler[Tactics Ogre.] I believe the manga follows spoiler[the law route of the game, where Denim chooses to massacre the civilians of Baramus in order to frame the Gargastans and unite the people of Walsta in an uprising.] It was truly an act that spoiler[would make Machiavelli proud.] |
|||
|
|||
|
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
|
||
If so, it would be more likely to be categorized as a seinen title instead of shōnen. The major difference between seinen and shōnen is that while readers of the former look for similarities of the protagonist in themselves ("This guy and me have X things in common" or "Hey I've had the same ecchi thought back in high school. How nostalgic."), readers of the latter take the protagonist as a role model ("I wanna be as strong/capable as him!"). In the case you mentioned, the fantasy is "Even if he has done so many stupid things along the path, I know he'll still win in the end! And everybody will be his friends and thank him! That's so COOOOL!!!" When shōnen manga readers grow older they would start to realize that wouldn't happen in real life; most would drop the hobby and move to other forms of entertainment, while others will move on to seinen manga. |
|||
|
|||
Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
|
||
|
What about Highschool of the Dead? It's not really shonen, but it falls into an interesting category for the mission vs. friends priority, in that the mission is to protect each other.
Early on, the core group recognizes that they can't save everyone, so they make the decision that they won't try to save others in need of help if it puts them in danger. Granted, Alice spoiler[causes them to violate this tennant pretty quickly, but that's because she's a 10-year old girl (possibly younger), and it would have just been cruel to let the zombies get her.] On the other hand, they spoiler[reluctantly abandon Saya's parents while the Takagi's estate is being overrun.] Also, Takashi and Rei essentially condemn a man to death by leaving him wounded and surrounded by zombies while they escape on motorcycle (granted, he was probably going to rape Rei if Takashi hadn't shot him). |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group