Home Cinema I think the next big shonen animates is exactly what industry needs to stay fresh

I think the next big shonen animates is exactly what industry needs to stay fresh

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I think the next big shonen animates is exactly what industry needs to stay fresh


Shonen is not a real genre in anime and manga, but this demographic connotation immediately evokes many images. Most fans associate Shonen with brands such as Dragon Ballon,, One piece And Demon tubeAnd it is also considered to be synonymous with action / adventure stories. This is not always the case, however, and a next anime adaptation will help to redefine what the word means for a generation.

Akane-Banashi This is not at all that most anime / manga fans would expect a Shonen story, and it is completely different from the usual brands based on the battle that remain popular in the world. Instead, he focuses on a lost Japanese narration art that could very well come back to fashion thanks to the next Akane-Banashi Anime. This will help to ensure that Sonen anime signify more than power-ups and combat scenes, while putting an aspect of Japanese culture on the map.

The next big shonen animates has an unexpected story

Akane poses as she practices Rakugo in the Akane-Banashi Manga series.
Akane poses as she practices Rakugo in Akane-Banashi.
Image via Shueisha

Start your race in 2022, Akane-Banashi is a Weekly Shonen jump Manga drawn by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. Always in progress and apparently with no sign of slowdown soon, he currently has 17 volumes of TankoBon manga finished after being initially published in Weekly Shonen jump13 of which were located in English. The story follows a young woman named Akane, the daughter of a mangaka who once worked like Rakugoka.

Rakugo is a form of Japanese art formerly notable in which Rakugoka would essentially play a piece by themselves, telling a story while sitting and playing several characters both by differentiating roles with different voices and movements. Unfortunately, when she was younger, her father and colleagues were expelled from the school where they were supposed to receive their highest ranking in the profession. Now, after receiving his own training, Akane proposes to prove Rakugo’s validity in a culture that has largely passed it.

With Akane and her family, many characters Akane-Banashi are linked to the Arakawa school, with masters and students. Each of them has its own weaknesses, stories and specialties. This is in particular a character who bases his performances around famous musicians and a Rakugoka which is incredibly particular on the height of his seat during his performances.

These different aspects and levels of talent make history somewhat comparable to the elements usually observed in the manga of martial arts for the demography of Shonen, which could be the reason why the series was so successful. Many have praised the character of Akane, and his status as a real prodigy makes her unique among the protagonists of Shonen manga. Overall, however, it is certainly something different from what shonen aficionados are used to, which is why the continuous success of Akane-Banashi is honestly so surprising.

The new adaptation of anime Shonen has the most niche concept

Akane poses with a fan in front of the distribution of the Akane-Banashi Manga series
Akane poses with a fan in front of the distribution of the manga Akane-Banashi.
Image via Shueisha

The biggest shock about Akane-Banashi This is how a popular shonen manga remained, although it does not seem at all like something that would appeal to this demography. He has no range of action-adventure, and this is what shonen manga are generally based. Although there are obviously exceptions, it is almost bizarre that an undoubtedly banal concept would be the central idea in a major shonen manga.

After all, Rakugo is not exactly animated among the young generations in Japan, to be frank. Although it is certainly a cultural touch stone, it has lost a lot of momentum, with the cocovio-19 pandemic, which aggravates this. Thus, taking something that is undoubtedly niche even in Japan and being the subject of a shonen manga is a rather inspired and creative choice. More importantly, this obtains a shonen manga as a whole further from its more generic connotations. Battle Shonen Manga still defines Shonen Manga in general, with the arcs of the tournament popularized by Dragon Ballon Stay the choice for these types of stories.

Dragon Ballon Did not create many of these ideas, but in the eyes of the many fans of the emblematic brand, in particular consumers of anime in the West, it could as well have, with most manga and similar anime who have followed its traces since. Even in new works such as Demon tube And Jujutsu KaisenThere is always an overwhelming action-adventure orientation, which undoubtedly makes sense given the target audience. However, it’s a good thing that Akane-Banashi Go in a different direction, even if it is intended for the same audience. This reflects other recent successes such as Blue box, This being a romantic drama based on sport. Given this scope and art, he presents himself almost as a manga shojo.

Due to its popularity and the similar success of Akane-BanashiHowever, Shonen Manga really makes sense in terms of providing more diverse forms of narration. Now, a little more than three years after the manga started its race, an anime adaptation of Akane-Banashi has now been announced. It is produced by Zexcs, a studio composed mainly of former members of JC staff (the studio behind successes such as Man suddenly and other major anime), with the adaptation taking place in first in 2026. This will allow him to reach an even greater audience than ever, while popularizing Japanese culture like never before.

How Akane-Banashi kisses Japanese culture

The protagonist of Akane-Banashi.
The protagonist of Akane-Banashi.
Image via Shueisha

As indicated, the emphasis on Rakugo separates Akane-Banashi Most manga, shonen or otherwise. There is a certain universal element to several of the largest anime and manga franchises, and that extends to the characters. Many of them, whatever their Japanese names, seem anything but in terms of ethnicity, and the cultural concepts exposed are at best superficial, allowing the public of the world to cross what makes these stories cool.

The extent of real Japanese culture generally implies terms such as Senpai, even those which were not relevant when English or other international dubs are taken into account. Compared to these works, Akane-Banashi Use a central idea which is undeniably of Japanese nature, and although it can be compared to the acts of itinerant Vaudeville in the West, these performances are a culturally out of the past, especially for the target audience of the manga. This will allow him to really focus on Japanese culture in a way that most anime and manga do not, especially once the anime will come out.

Streaming services such as Crunchyroll are always looking for the next big franchise to organize on their applications and websites, and other streamers are in competition by trying to acquire as many major anime as possible. This concept has particularly become the case since the early 2020s, 2024, seeing the launch of tubes such as the Solo Anime. Since then, it’s a big outing after a big outing, and since it is based on a shonen manga, Akane-Banashi could be in this number. If this happens, more people than Rakugo’s art will know, and it will be thanks to the most unlikely manga / shonen tumors.

Chihayafuru main cast holding Karuta cards under cherry blossom trees
Chihayafuru main cast holding Karuta cards under cherry blossom trees
Image via Studio Madhouse

Akane-Banashi can be compared to ChihayafuruWith the manga incarnation of this franchise taking place from 2007 to 2022. Chihayafuru Focused on and alone is responsible for the recovery of interest in the Japanese game of Karuta, this in fact classifying him as a “sports manga”. Many in the West would find him much closer to a card game or a board game, and for a while, it was not even so popular in Japan.

Thanks to the manga and its anime, however, Karuta is much better known among young Japanese. Similarly, the global growth of anime and manga means that the game has now found an international audience, transforming a former niche aspect of Japanese culture into a game played in the world. This helps that the anime as a whole is currently experiencing the greatest success and popularity of the whole world that he has ever had, with almost any concept of manga or anime capable of being transformed into a deductible.

Despite their similarities, Chihayafuru is a josei manga, contract Akane-Banashi Be a shonen manga. Again, it illustrates how unique the premise and scope are, and it is difficult not to see its next anime adaptation as a major victory for the medium. There has never been more receptive time to something like Akane-BanashiWhether in Japan or in other countries, because fans are now ready to give more likely a chance if it is in the form of a manga or anime.

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