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Category:Seinen: Difference between revisions
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{{IndexTrope}}
[[Seinen]] (Japanese for "young man" or "young men") is a [[Manga Demographics|demographic designation]] of [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] targeted at male audiences aged 18 to 40. It is
It is the older counterpart of [[Shonen]] and effectively makes for the majority of anime in the older demographic, since major [[Josei]] manga titles rarely get adapted on screen. Compared to shonen, seinen caters to a much smaller viewing crowd, since younger audiences have much more time to spare on anime, which makes them a more attractive target, and thus is slightly less known.
Thanks to the older target audience, seinen shows tend to be much more sophisticated and mature than their shonen counterparts. While sharing many of the same sub-genres and themes, they are commonly more [[Darker and Edgier|psychological, satirical, violent, and sexual]]. Much more attention is paid to the plot and the interaction between characters than to action and fights, which are the main attraction for the younger viewers, and the characters are well fleshed out. The latter trait often leads to confusion of seinen with [[Shojo]] but the key difference is that seinen [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|does not idealize romance, instead opting for more realistic and pragmatic approach to relationships]]. Realism is indeed the calling card of seinen shows, commonly earning them the acclaim for their depth and maturity and [[Multiple Demographic Appeal]]. On the other hand, one shouldn't forget that the vast majority of [[Hentai]] except [[Yaoi Guys|Yaoi]] is aimed at older male viewers as well. This is the other side of the realism coin.
A typical seinen protagonist -- if that phrase has any meaning<ref>One doesn't talk about "a typical Hollywood movie protagonist", after all.</ref> -- can be of any gender and [[Cool Old Guy|age]] (in stark contrast to shonen, whose protagonists are [[Claymore|al]][[Soul Eater|mo]][[Rurouni Kenshin|st]] exclusively young and male). Romance-wise, anything goes, from [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] to obscure examples of [[Boys Love]]. In fact, [[Schoolgirl Lesbians]] are a distinctive trait of [[Yuri Fanboy|seinen]], [[Bleach|rarely]] [[My-HiME|if]] [[Mai-Otome|ever]] [[Azumanga Daioh|present]] [[Mahou Sensei Negima|in]] shonen shows. Relationships are portrayed in a less idealistic light than in shojo, with many grays and uncertainties like in [[Real Life]], and don't tend to indulge the shonen over-simplification of "[[Betty and Veronica|which heroine]] will be [[Last-Minute Hookup|hooked up with the hero]]". There is a reverse side to this, too: ironically, seinen is most infamous for its sub-category of [[Fundamentally Female Cast]] and [[Harem Series]] that rely heavily on cutesy [[Moe]] [[Fan Service]] (again, juxtaposed to plain sex appeal of female characters in shonen; see [[Hot Shounen Mom]], for example) to attract viewers.
Recently, there has been a considerable influx of [[Shojo]] fans into the [[Seinen]] demographic, thanks to the latter's traditional thoroughness in relationships and, more importantly, general retraction from blatant [[Fan Service]]. This migration was particularly paved by such [[Gateway Series]] as ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', ''[[Kanon]]'', ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'', and ''[[AIR]]''.
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