Welcome t the weekend. Short one today!
The following is a three hour video that covers the delinquent genre of manga. It starts from the beginning and purports to be definitive as it is meant to go through the the past to the present. In a sense it does because the creator covers a lot of material to the point where it's actually a bit overwhelming to watch the full thing.
That said, I don't actually recommend watching the entire thing. The first third of the video about the beginnings of the genre and what is considered a "delinquent" manga is the best material. After that the creator gets far too opinionated and misunderstands the appeal of many genre staples (and misses many crossover hits that expands said definition) because he has a very narrow view and specific set of expectations he wants out of it. So if you are interested in learning about what the delinquent genre is and its appeal, you're not going to get much out of watching the whole. Particularly if you've read some of the series covers and find his opinions on them off or bizarre.
But the first hour or so is very informative and a good sum up on where it came from and what the general appeal is. It also show the difference from other forms of delinquent culture across the world.
You see much of the appeal of delinquent stories isn't from bad kids doing bad things but from teenagers learning what it means to live in a world that doesn't have much use for masculine behavior, leaving the young stranded and alienated on how they are supposed to fit in. This atomized feeling is that heart of the genre which then can lead in any direction: from the split between good and bad kids, to traveling down the wrong path, or even learning to channel that energy in a direction that benefits everyone.
You can go in many directions, and the genre definitely has over the years. It's how you get entries as varied as Ashita no Joe, Akira, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tora Dora, and Slam Dunk, and characters from other related and bordering genres like One Punch Man, School Rumble, Fruits Basket, and Saiki K. Its themes are universal enough to be folded into even series that don't focus on delinquents. They remain an important staple in their stories.
The closest equivalent I can imagine in the West would be the works of S. E. Hinton. Most other stories over here tend to miss the appeal of these sorts of stories or characters, opting instead to make them heartless monsters or generic villains. Probably because we tend to see such characters as "bullies" and bullies are treated as very one dimensional. But while there can be overlap, they are usually not the same archetype. Regardless, that is usually how they are used and they always strike me as being very boring characters with not much to say.
That is a shame, because in my opinion, these kinds of characters always end up being my favorites, and I assume they do for many others as well. Feels like a missed opportunity.
Not to say Japan always does them well either. A large chunk of them simply stop at making said character a loud idiot with no redeeming features, and that's as far as it goes. But dig a little deeper and you usually find, in my eyes, the character who always ends up being the best one. I would be ecstatic if we would write more characters like these over here. In case you are wondering, yes, I actually do have many characters like this. And I probably always will. They highlight a specific failing of modernity that more writers need to touch on.
Plus they are always the coolest and funniest characters. There has to be a reason for that! Why else would they be such an important staple in so many stories?
Anyway, that's all for this week. In case you missed it, check out the new post from earlier in the week! It's a good one.
Have yourself a good weekend and I will see you next time!
Reminder that I will be in the next issue of Silence & Starsong coming out in just under two weeks! You can preorder it here!
The delinquent genre is another pop culture artifact that's explained well by Fourth Turning theory. Masculine characters living in a time created by weak men and ruled by women are feared and shunned as wolves when they're really sheep dogs. And their strugle is to realize that calling.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very big part of the appeal. The modern world has a very specific and narrow frame of what acceptable behavior is and the younger generation coming up has to struggle to find that balance and their place in the world. There both the criminals and the heroes mix and merge in a jambalaya of confused morals and ambitions. It's almost like a combination of western and gangster story with a moral bent.
ReplyDeleteIt's a genre that can only exist in an era of social ennui where the almighty god of materialism is not enough to satiate. You implicitly know you have to aim for higher things than just this. But what does that mean in a world where none of the people you are supposed to look up to even seem to understand what you're talking about. It highlights a lot of the alienation and atomization central to modern life.
That is one of the reasons it is a big part of what I write. It's a foe that's been staring us down a long time and doesn't seem like it will be defeated anytime soon. But just like the delinquents in a fight: you can't give up! That's not what a man does.