Quote from Randomfart

No no no.
You guys need to get this through your heads.

If something is POPULAR, it means that it INTERESTS a large number of people.
This means that many people find it INTERESTING.

Look at Twillight for example.
It is shit writing.
Yet, it is batshit crazy popular.
Why?
Because silly little teenage girls all over the world find it INTERESTING (only God knows why)

The rest of the world may not share the same tastes as you do.
GET.THIS.THROUGH.YOUR.HEADS.

In essence you're contradicting yourself here, by denying a universal view. However i doubt that was your original intention.

blah blah blah

Also there are certain problems with using the logic that comes with "something is of interest (interests), hence it's interesting". I might for example have an interest for food, not because i find it interesting but because i like to be able to make tasty food for myself.

Funny how you're saying I'm contradicting myself here.

Still not convinced?

Here's a google dictionary definition of the word (just so it's easier for you to understand):

interesting /'ɪntrestɪŋ/
adjective: sapid, amusing, entertaining
If you find something interesting, it attracts your attention, for example because you think it is exciting or unusual.

Hint: Entertaining.

In the same manner a viewer might have an interest for an anime because he likes the humor in it, but might consider the anime in general "uninteresting".

...What a silly viewer that person may be...but I'll argue anyway.
Even if one watches a particular show for only one element, does it still not pique his interest?
Does that not then, in fact, make it "interesting" ?

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Everyday I'm tumblin'

I didn't read all the comments so I don't know if this has already been mentioned but most shounen series, Jump in particular are designed to be long. The goal is to create a story interesting enough that it lasts for a long time.
Most Jump manga that are short end quickly because the weren't popular enough and had to be wrapped off quickly (which is why their endings usually suck).

It's just how it's always been.

Shoujos are short because they're usually about romance. No one wants a romance to drag on for 50 volumes or more- you'll get tired of the characters never getting together.

Shounens aren't restricted by that- they can do whatever they want and have it drag on forever as long as its popular. Popular manga brings in cash, so the publishers have the authors drag it on as long as possible. If it wasn't any good or popular it would get canceled.

The same can happen to shoujo too, it just depends on the publishers.

Doing nothing is very hard to do. You never know when you're done.

Quote from Scyfon

Funny how you're saying I'm contradicting myself here.

Are you implying i too contradict myself? If you'd care to elaborate.

Still not convinced?

Here's a google dictionary definition of the word (just so it's easier for you to understand):

interesting /'ɪntrestɪŋ/
adjective: sapid, amusing, entertaining
If you find something interesting, it attracts your attention, for example because you think it is exciting or unusual.

Hint: Entertaining.

Heh, no need to be so combative. Are you in turn aware that the very same word means:

1. arousing curiosity or attention: arousing curiosity, attracting or holding attention, or provoking thought
2. not boring: enjoyable because of being varied, challenging, stimulating,engaging or exciting

There's always some problems with just browsing google for word explanations in cases like these. First, you can simply choose the one that most closely matches the desired effect. Second, in English there can simply be too much variation to accurately prove it being one or the other. Which is exactly the reason i didn't simply slap this text on you in my previous comment and tried to give the thought some context.

About the hint. Entertaining and interesting are sometimes viewed as synonyms. Doesn't necessarily mean they're the same thing. Could be they're simply similiar which i did mention in my last post. I wouldn't however define interesting with entertaining you should find it quite rare, but perhaps the other way around though. Did a quick scan through google but could not find any such definitions. Mind giving me a link just for my personal interest.

...What a silly viewer that person may be...but I'll argue anyway.
Even if one watches a particular show for only one element, does it still not pique his interest?
Does that not then, in fact, make it "interesting" ?

I have no idea why said viewer would have to be silly. I myself for instance read Naruto these days solely to see how the romances will play out and for the sake of some closure. I lost interest for everything else after part 2 started. For the actual query, that would have to depend on the element in question. But I think interesting might be a bit more dependant on the whole. I might like the characters but the plot may be shallow, hence I will not find the series interesting. Then there could be a series that's interesting because it does things very different or is centered around something unique or might just have a general fresh outlook on things, something like "Gurren Lagann". There is no general consensus but i do know not all popular anime/manga are considered interesting even by their respective readers/viewers.

Really it's not uncommon to come across complaints about anime in particular being too generic nowadays. Suprisingly the most used reply tends to be along the lines of "I know but that's how i like it". And as long as it's popular they will undoubtably continue to produce this "generic" anime/manga.

The "pique his interest" thought should be sufficiently explained in my earlier post.

I findt his whole matter really quite insignificant. In the beginning I had intended to veer a conversation (if there was any to be had) into quite a different direction. I would not want to get stuck on a word. So even if you disagree with how I use the word i hope you at least understand what my general point was/is.

Regarding the actual topic which I've foolishly derailed. I believe someone adequately put that the question is about money. Of course they will milk the cow as long as there's milk. Not that there's anything wrong with a long series I'd rather read 500 pages of a great series than 50. It's really a win-win situation as long as there's a story to tell.

Hahaha
Ok let's end this.
You got me at Naruto 🤣
(I read it for closure too)

My bad, I'm sorry 😛

And to be safely on topic yet repeating for the hundredth time of what others have been saying:

Shounen manga is a money milking business. A long running series would ultimately earn more money than a shorter running series - especially with merchandising and what not.
In some ways, it's less about the story and more about the money.

Also...why is "American" still in the title? 😕

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Everyday I'm tumblin'

Because certain guys like Eichiro Oda cant control themselves, hes been saying that One Piece is at the halfway point for years now (and it was only supposed to last 5 years), the guy just cant control the urge to add more stuff.

I will turn your name into a synonym for weakness

Money, Money oh and yeah Money 😎

The Bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame.

They're more popular. So they're milked more for their worth. ;P

I can give you a clean answer... and it may sound bad to girls but... maybe Shounen plots may apeal interesting for a lot longer to male readers than shoujo to girls. As guys have diferent tastes they have ways to look at things in a different way... most shounen dont have " love " as main plot so having a plot with action seems to keep people interested for more time than those mangas with love as a base By example... look at Skip beat its a shoujo yet it is long and even if it does have " love" u cant really say its based in it and maybe thats why it keeps girls interested and long.

Yet thats may male view of it. And thats the reason i can came up with about why shounen stay popular for a longer time to its readers compared to shoujo.

Quote from joshflip1989

Money, Money oh and yeah Money 😎

Agree, agree! If not for money, what's the point to make them so long 🤢 ?

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Calling it an "american popular shounen" is a bit odd. You should just call it "cliche" shounen instead. Long standing shounen titles like DBZ, one piece, naruto, bleach, etc are all very long because they can be. They gain popularity and maintain popularity in japan so they don't get the axe (whereas many manga series that do get the axe end up making very short and abrupt-patched together endings). No manga publishing company is going to want to end a series while its still making plenty of money, most shounen mangas are designed so that they can allow for long adventures.

Unlike the shoujos you like so much, the cliche action/adventure shounen that are so popular are filled with "epic" style characters, while tending to lack with any romantic commitments. This way, the protagonist isn't pinned or forced into a relationship unless it serves an actual plotline purpose like the continuation of generations in DBZ. In fact, most protagonists for shounens seem to be completely ignorant to romance, such as one piece, or lack the courage to move forward with their romance despite being able to pretty much take on the world.

The "epic" style character that I speak of is not that they are designed quite well, or that they are dynamic in any particular way, but almost all shounens seem to possess the "never give up" and "big dream" attitude. At the same time, a key to extending the serie's life is to have them develop epic abilities, skills or techniques that make the reader go "cool". Naruto's rasengan to elemental rasengan, or bleach's bankai release are just examples.

Lastly, the plot design. While shoujo's tend to focus on the romantic tellings of two people and the people around them (aside from a few action shoujos), shounens on the other hand are "adventure" style, and therefore they can technically go on forever. They adopt the "story arc" style that often divides the segments of the story in seasons. For example, DBZ has the vegeta arc, namek arc, buu arc, etc. Naruto has the water nation arc, the chounin examination arc, the orochimaru arc, etc. Bleach has the initial shinigami arc, the soul society arc, the vizard arc, etc.

The beauty about arcs is that aside from the character development, the stories do not have to relate whatsoever. They can put together two completely different plots like defending earth from vegeta to flying to a different planet altogether, and all they have to do is string together a few plot blenders at the end of one arc and the start of another. Because adventures tend to be long and patched together with arcs, it's so easy to make these shounens last forever, and the only thing that will kill them is typically a loss of popularity, or rarely, the mangaka decides to finish it on their own.

In the end, adventure shounens, the popular ones, are designed to go on forever and thanks to their setup they can. Shounen harems, or comedies on the other hand tend to run out of ideas quickly without repeating the same idea. After all, you can only add so many cliche female templates before you have them all in a harem.

The first titles that come to mind are Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece (which are also all very popular in Japan) .To be honest, the plots Naruto and Bleach seem to actually winding down to their conclusions at the moment. For now, that is.

One Piece has never had any coherent narrative direction to me, and IMO is designed to go on forever.

In Naruto, he's doing his final training to face his destined rival, blah blah blah. But even after he wins, I bet they'll just come up with a new story arc for Naruto to become Hokage.

In Bleach, it looks like we're building up to the final showdown... but then again, it's Bleach, and even if it really IS the final showdown, it will take literally dozens of chapters to build up to a cliffhanger "defeat," followed by an immediate resurrection/powerup of some kind, because nobody ever dies in Bleach.

As A Shouen fanboy
SHOUJUS ARE BORING.
As a Human.
its a moneymaker keep squeezing till you can't squeeze no more >.>

Don't some shonen manga magazines have 2 chapters of some manga instead of one? I think Shonen Jump does that with Naruto (this is my faint recollection, tho). Also, many shonen manga are in weekly manga magazine (Ranma 1/2 was in Shonen Sunday). Doing this makes a manga last for a much shorter period of time, so manga-ka keep writing. It probably entertains fans of the manga for as long as an average-length shojo manga runs in a magazine. The shojo manga industry tried to do weekly magazines in 1963, but it failed.

"If you think being eaten by a carnivorous tree is something that only happens to someone else, then think again."
--Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde

huh?..I thought it was because shounen mangas has a deeper/interesting plot(?)(most of the time) than shoujo mangas.
Since I used to read shoujo manga for years but I noticed how unoriginal the plot/storys are..well the majority of them(excluding some) kept repeating the same typical plot (especially in romance). But, when I read shounen manga they are at least a bit more original compared to the unoriginality with the worlds and etc...
not all popular shounen manga are long, usually people would see shoujo manga as a love-triangle drama love sort of thing and shounen as men beating the snot out of each other and saving the world. (maybe I'm wrong)
uhh-I lost what I was about to say....well why popular shounen mangas are long is because people like it to continue and it's interesting. It's just like popular shoujo manga they're long too (ex. skip beat)....
(I never thought of money being the reason until someone mentioned it)

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I hear you say "Why?" Always "Why?" You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"