Whoops, I didn't mean to start some sort of debate. Still, some are taking it seriously, so that's good. It is a fun debate, though one that is essentially flawed as Shonen by definition is a kids genre, but much like the comic book geeks in our western world, it has spread to older fans or held fans as they grew up. I respect someone who says "Yeah, it immature, but damn I love it!" a lot more than someone who goes "What? Me? No... I don't like a kids thing... it's, er, for adults! It is!!"
I'll admit that beyond very basic bad guy with tragic past eventually turns good stories, Dragon Ball is more about the great fight scenes, but hey... so what? If I went on a film forum and said I like martial arts films because of the well done and exciting fight scenes, not the story about someones master being killed by a rival school (AGAIN), it would be tolerated a lot more because martial arts films aren't aimed at children, yet it's the exact same thing.
Bleach on the other hand had an amazing run, the first establishing arc had its moments, but the Soul Society arc on the other hand had some great storytelling and a brilliant unexpected reveal to the plot at the end. Now the just finished Arrancar Arc on the other hand was more about the action, but by that point I already cared enough about the characters to want to see the show through to the end. Plus the action was damn good, and Kubo's artwork is often stunning.
One Piece I have only seen a little of, but it reminds me of early Dragon Ball, and that's a good thing. Naruto I've seen all the canon stuff from the first show, and I'm up to and currently watching vol. 3 of Shippuden, released by Manga, and its good. The lead character annoys the hell out of me and the show has some serious, DBZ-level pacing problems (the most recent example would be how long Naruto and Kakashi were running after Deidara in that canyon. It felt like forever!) but once again the show has its exciting moments, but never have I thought "This show is way more mature that those other Jump! shows I have!" No, the only time I've done that is for Death Note (how was that posted in Jump! ?)
I guess I better wrap this up before I do a paragraph on every other Shonen show I've seen. I guess I'll say that the Shonen genre is a fine thing to be a fan of, even if its just one show. Sure a Shonen fan like myself (not that I don't like other genres of anime) is more likely to be made fun of by someone who thinks his long list of obscure and/or mature anime somehow means he's "better" than me, despite the fact that I wonder if he's even watched half of his own collection at all, let alone more than once, which is just sad. "This anime is great, its gotten loads of press from this person and this person!" "Have you ever watched it?" "... once...." "Did you actually like it?" "Yeah... sure... I guess..."
It's like being a comic book fan in the middle of a classic reading group, I like both things, but since I like this less mature thing, I must be stupid.
