While food, drugs and shōnen manga are not normally considered in the same conversation, they do share a number of interesting links according to one prominent Kodansha manga editor. Whether as a theme, plot device, or an aspect of a character's development, food and drugs are common elements of manga. However, as introduced by Kodansha Senior Editor Akira Kanai, food and drugs can also serve as an insightful analogy to the state of contemporary manga.
Shōnen manga caters to male adolescents and older kids, while seinen manga is aimed at older male teenagers and young adult men.
In a May 2024 interview with the community-driven manga fan project Manga Passion, Kanai shared his opinion on various topics within the manga industry, drawing from his experience as both a creator and an insider. Kanai's thoughts on the connections between food, drugs, and manga came as a response to a question asking why he thought Weekly Afternoon was special and his opinion on the magazine's position within the Japanese manga industry.
Nowadays, Shōnen Manga Is Like a Happy Meal For The Mind
Weekly Afternoon Doesn't Deal With Bland"Cookie-cutter" Manga
While Kanai makes clear his appreciation of the continuing popularity of his magazine, he also takes pains to point out that his perspective emanates from his perch in seinen manga as opposed to shonen. According to Kanai, seinen is a bit more resistant to market-driven elements of the manga business, and more accepting of less popular but more interesting content. Accordingly, Kanai argues that what makes his magazine special is its focus on delivering quality content - like the "delicious food" one gets in a fine dining establishment. In doing so, it has avoided the industry's focus on producing easy and convenient "fast food" content.
I think that Japanese publishers – because those manga sell so well – want to be like a fast food chain.
Under Kanai's analysis, the rush to monetize the growing demand for manga has led to more than a few publishers and content creators trying to get as much content out as soon as they can. He likens this to the fast food industry - where the focus is not on creating quality, hand-crafted meals with as much individualization as possible, but rather on creating easily replicated meals that are addictively tasty but ultimately have no nutritional value. The appropriate manga equivalent would be creating a dazzling story that a fan forgets minutes after they finish reading it.
Kanai: Today's Mangas Are Great But Keep The Reader Craving More
Expanding on the addictive nature of fast food, Kanai further argues that the current state of the industry makes manga akin to a drug and that the current trend in the industry is to "push" out titles that give readers a momentary euphoria. While it may feel satisfying at the moment, it does not contribute to the intellectual growth of the manga fan or follower. Prolonged engagement in this behavior could potentially cause more harm than good.
Of course, it's like drugs or fast food. These works sell very well and become big hits because they stimulate the libido of the readers, and that's perfectly fine. But if you consume it all day, every day, then you probably stop thinking.
Kanai argues that there's plenty of quality content that's being ignored by the industry's focus on big and popular franchises. On the one hand, it is detrimental to smaller, less promoted titles. On the other hand, it can delude readers into seeing real life in the same absolute terms that are common in manga stories.
Children or readers are probably educated in such a way that they can only take sides when a problem arises.
Ultimately, Kanai suggests, these types of stories can be reduced if publishers have the wherewithal to simply say no. Naturally, this is a “hard ask” when a title is doing so well commercially.
To resist this pressure, Kanai draws attention to his Weekly Afternoon magazine. While keeping the goal of making money in mind, he and his editorial staff place a higher focus on quality entertainment. That entertainment includes telling stories that don't always have happy endings, where good doesn't always triumph over evil, and the girl doesn't always get the guy in the end. While "happily ever after" stories can be fun, Kanai argues, they "are lies". Conversely, Weekly Afternoon focuses on offering "the real deal" stories for anyone willing to take the chance to enjoy them. It's the perfect opportunity for manga to wholesomely expand its footprint - sustainably.
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