The argument fanboys have at every convention, ever

[laceblade]

For n00bs to the anime scene: "Shounen" (or shonen) manga is that which is marketed toward boys. The girls are often voluptuous and useless and kidnapped, and the protagonist boys have EPIC ANGST that must be overcome. This angst is always overcome by fighting, be it ninja-style or ghost-killing style. The protagonist's goal is usually to level up a lot and generally pwn n00bs.

Is the separation of shoujo and shounen manga sexist? This should be the topic of another post.

Anyway, so I'm only 3 volumes into Bleach, but I'm ready to list the reasons why it's better than Naruto (of which I read ~32 volumes):

-- The narrative pacing is actual...narrative pacing.
-- Girls do things other than whine about Sasuke
-- It's a personal preference, but I like the art style more
-- A single fight does not take 6 volumes to reach its conclusion
-- Characters do not spend entire fights explaining the flow of their chakra, or explaining in great detail how their SEKRIT ULTIMATE MOVE works. I like this. I don't care about the schemantics behind somebody's bad-ass fight move. I care about who gets hit, who hit them, how cool it looks, and who dies afterward.
-- It's actually funny, when it tries to be funny
-- The characterization that protagonist Ichigo gets in volume 3 makes me care about him a lot more than I ever cared about the protagonist of Naruto.


Of course, all these things could soon change.

Feel free to use the comments to weigh in on how you feel about Bleach v. Naruto.

Comments

[sir-hellsing.livejournal.com]

You're right on this. *coughs*Hellsing atm focused on girls* Although Alucard never counted as a "man" 100% when he can and DOES turn into loli.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I need to start reading Hellsing. Vampire stories don't do much for me in general, but I've heard good things about Hellsing.

[sir-hellsing.livejournal.com]

Hellsing has many, many flaws (Hirano is completely forgetful about continuity) but in the female character department, it certainly has an edge to many other Manga. I feel that OVA version didn't give them justice (the designer is UNABLE to draw Integra and decides to make Seras too fanservice like) while TV series, even with focus on Seras, didn't portray their strength at fullest because of the many changes.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've been reading Clamp, Kaori Yuki and You Higuri all this year. I'm getting used to continuity being forgetten.

[sir-hellsing.livejournal.com]

WOO. AS icon. *g*

The sunrise happens FOUR times in the same day forgotten continuity we're talking about.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*uses other AS icon*

*Needs Kira/Alexiel icon. And Belial/Universe.*

Can you at least keep track of who's dead, who's alive, and who'se really someone else?

[sir-hellsing.livejournal.com]

I ONLY HAVE ONE. =( I used to have a lot of Kira&Lucifer/Alexiel plus Belial, Belial/Kurai ones when I had 100 slots. *sniffs*

Yes. BEWARE ABOUT STUPID PLOTTWISTS involving Major, Anderson and Walter. At least Integra's consistently hot and Pip&Seras are adorable together?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*looks at profile*

I do not understand! How do people live with only 6 icon slots?

stop having so many of my fandoms and pairings

[sir-hellsing.livejournal.com]

I survived and I'm cheap. =(

Wee. Really?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'm cheap too, but I consider icons to be an essential part of life!

Yeah, pretty much. Fandoms at least. I don't do shipping/pairings enough for more than some canon overlapping...

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

OMF HELLSING!

It's like crack, but dripping with blood. Also, bullets.

[dimensionwitch.livejournal.com]

And guts.