Forum - View topicWhich are the best seinen anime?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eduardo Xavier
 Posts: 3 |
|
|||||
|
Hello everyone.
I want to watch new series and I am aiming to a different kind, I am 29 years old... in the last years I have watched shoujos, shonens, mechas, adventure and action animes, but not so many seinens, in fact I don't know if KimiNozo, Evangelion, EF a tale of memories/melodies are seinens or not... So, i'll be glad if anyone of you teach me about seinen and tell me which are the best series of this genre, based in the critical reception. Thanks. |
||||||
|
||||||
Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
|||||
|
Seinen is an age demographic describing shows of multiple genres aimed at adults. It can mean both mature sophistication and complexity of storylines like Monster that are more at an adult level or mature graphic detailed violence or depictions of nudity or sex like one would find in an R-Rated movie such as shows like Sekirei. If you want to know if something is seinen or not the best indication is what magazine the source material was published in which are aimed at specific demographics like shounen or Seinen. Another good indications are the age of the characters, the complicity of the story, and the content the story deals with. It's not exactly an accurate science.
All of them may not Seinen, but you could go through this list I made a while ago that lists some of more mature and sophisticated titles I've seen which should help. This is a good method for you to find the first type. For the second type the graphically violent or over-sexed you probably have to look at the magazine the anime's source material was based on. Last edited by Kruszer on Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:02 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||
|
||||||
EmbraceMe
 Posts: 2017 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
|
|||||
|
Seinen are targeted towards 18-30 year old males, and often have complex stories. They can deal with themes such as tragedies, drama, etc. Some tend to have mature content such as sex. But they usually emphasize on reality and have better developed storylines compared to Shonen. Most do not focus on action, but on the development of the story/characters/themes.
Here's a list of some notable seinen type anime/manga: (Wikipedia as a source) Gantz Ghost In The Shell 009-1 Berserk Fate/Stay Night Bokurano X/1999 (?) I'm unsure about X/1999, the story seems to be seinen, though the art is more shojo. Edit: Took out B Gata H Kei from list due to the discussions below. Last edited by EmbraceMe on Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Kruszer
Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
|||||
|
X TV is a bit heavier in it's content and more violent than your average shounen. This and other titles like Claymore, and Death Note are like "honorary seinen" I'd say.
|
||||||
|
||||||
killmyself
 Posts: 168 |
|
|||||
|
Does something like B Gata H Kei actually qualify as Seinen? It is goofy ecchi tease anime I can't imagine that being targeted at any age group other than high schoolers.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Mai Yukino
 Posts: 217 |
|
|||||
|
A few favorite seinen style series I enjoyed are Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Cowboy Bebop, and Le Chavalier D'Eon worth noting as being the best in what seinen anime has to offer.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Sanosuke_Inara
 Posts: 1662 |
|
|||||
It all comes down to personal preference, honestly. Last edited by Sanosuke_Inara on Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Kruszer
Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
|||||
It is a fact that Adult Swim's comedy block also exists to target these same adults, so yeah, I'd say yes. Last edited by Kruszer on Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
|
|||||
One of them surely doesn't belong there. If they really targeted adults with B H Kei, then that explains why the discs sold quite bad. Last edited by egoist on Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
|
EmbraceMe
Posts: 2017 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
|
|||||
I have not watched the series yet, so I honestly don't know. But, quoting this from Wikipedia with "Spring 2010 Anime Review" as a source:
I guess it can qualify as seinen if it actually focuses on the topic of being sexually active. Don't trust my list since I used Wikipedia as a source. Out of the series I listed, the only ones I've watched were bits of Fate/Stay Night and Gantz, while I finished X/1999 and Bokurano. I know Bokurano is definitely a seinen because of the content involved. Edit: Some typos. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
egoist
Posts: 7762 |
|
|||||
|
Not much about teens being sexually active. It's the opposite. Teens afraid of becoming sexually active.
Maybe the op isn't talking about what's general seinen, but maybe the core seinen stuff, like Naruto/Bleach in shonen. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Kruszer
Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
|
|||||
|
Of course by average American standards at least you do realize that absolutely anything dealing the other S word (spoiler[sex]) apparently qualifies it for being "adult" and "mature" in the minds of most people even if it's not. Especially animation because that's "for kids" remember? [/END SARCASM]
Last edited by Kruszer on Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:30 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||
|
||||||
naninanino
 Posts: 680 |
|
|||||
X is shoujo. Seriously, people shouldn't look at the demogrpahic that much. If it's more serious storytelling one is after there are better ways to phrase it. Some high profile seinen with such storytelling are Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, Mushishi, Monster and Ghost in the Shell: SAC etc. I also enjoy other kinds of seinen such as Aria and Azumanga Daioh. TC has probably watched tons of seinen without realizing it. Even this season has around eight or so. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
killmyself
Posts: 168 |
|
|||||
Eh, Seitokai Yakuindomo had way dirtier jokes throughout and was basically nothing but sexual jokes and references and is considered Shounen. I guess if you paint it in a way that it is supposed to be a reflection of the societal or peer pressure for teens to have sex you can possibly justify it. That isn't what the show was though. At no point were those kinds of motivations established. The story is basically a sex obsessed virgin decides to lose her virginity to an inexperienced guy but ends up falling for him and wacky scenarios and teases that something will happen between them ensue. It is just your typical romantic comedy with a bunch of sex jokes. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||||
|
Kruszer, you forgot about Zipang. There's only one regular female speaking role (and even then she doesn't actually get very many lines), and the series is almost completely humourless and without fanservice (of the sexual kind). Military tactics, military hardware, military history and military politics all are important to the story and given a look, and the show delves into ideas of nationhood, patriotism and selfishly changing the present to affect the future.
I mean, if that isn't Seinen, I don't know what the heck is. Last edited by dtm42 on Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group