Shonen Style Manga (Artists: Tite Kubo, Takeshi Obata, and Hajime Isayama)

Shonen manga is a genre that targets mainly boys, which also may appeal to girls as well, for audience typically ages 13 and older. An action-packed, and sometimes humorous, plot usually characterizes Shonen manga. Most shonen series revolve around sports, adventure, or fighting.

One of the most notable publishing companies for shonen manga is Shonen Jump, which also publishes their series by chapter weekly in Japan (Weekly Shonen Jump), and multiple chapters monthly in the United States of America (Shonen Jump Magazine). The magazines also include a variety of articles that go along with the published series, the correlating animes, and any other news that the editors think their audience might enjoy; such as news on card games, video games, and conventions.

Japanese cover for Weekly Shonen Jump 2009 Issue 48

Tite Kubo

Noriaki Kubo was born on June 26, 1977 in Hiroshima, Japan. He is better known by his pen name Tite Kubo. He is mangaka, being he is both the writer and artist of manga. He published his first manga short, or one-shot, in 1996 titled “Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine.” At age 18, he submitted his the concept of his first series, Zombiepowder, multiple times before Shonen Jump accepted it in 1999, and ran for four volumes until 2000. In 2001, Tite Kubo began his next series, and the one that would rise to popularity, Bleach.

Tite Kubo’s Bleach is one of the longest running manga series to date with 552 chapters and over 60 volumes to date and is still an on going series. Bleach is an excellent show of how Tite Kubo’s art style has evolved over the years, and how it has matured. The human proportions have improved, as well as the definitions in the face and muscle structure. Bleach falls under the genre of shonen manga due to its action-filled adventure and comedic moments.

Bleach is the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a young man that just happens to see the souls of the dearly departed. He life changes from being relatively normal after a strange woman appears dressed in black. This encounter spawns a chain of events that cause Ichigo to gain the woman, Rukia Kuchiki’s soul reaper abilities in order to save his family. Their meeting alters Ichigo’s fate, thrusting him in to a mystery filled with betrayal and blood, which leads to war and death.

Takeshi Obata

Born on February 11, 1969 in Japan, Takeshi Obata is a manga artist, meaning he mainly collaborates with writers to create manga. He worked with Yumi Hotta to create Hikaru no Go, and Tsugumi Ohba to create Death Note, and later on again to create their current series Bakuman. Obata also has worked on the character design for Castlevania: Judgment for the Nintendo Wii. He has also become a mentor for several other manga artists, and mangaka.

Death Note illustration by Takeshi Obata

Together with writer Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata created the hit series Death Note. His art style itself is very detail oriented, and is vital in telling the mystery that is Death Note. Death Note is published under the Shonen Jump sub-lable, Shonen Jump Advanced, because of its psychological aspects. It is not the typical shonen manga, as it lacks actual physical action for the most part. Death Note is filled with more of a ‘battle of wits’ storyline. Obata’s style brings each little clue and piece of evidence to life in the battle of L versus Kira.

Death Note is about a top of his class high school boy who finds a supernatural book that allows him to kill anyone just by simply writing the victim’s name in it. The mysterious book called the Deathnote belongs to a Shingami, a god of death. The high school boy, Light Yagami, then decides to use the book for good by killing off horrible criminals. Unfortunately, a detective by the name of L decides that by killing all of these people, that the publically acclaimed murder, Kira, is evil, and begins to hunt him down.

Hajime Isayama

Hajime Isayama was born on August 29, 1986. He is the author and artist of the series Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan. His series is jam-packed with fight sequences and gore. It is also very tragic. The series began in 2009,and has 50 chapters to date. The characters and gore are very realistic. Isayama’s love for tragedy really show when he gruesomely shows the characters loved ones half eaten by the titans.

Attack on Titan illustration by Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan is the tale of humans fighting against horrible giant monsters called Titans. The story mainly follows the journey of Eren and his companions as the fight these Titans to uncover the mystery behind them.