There are an indecent number of anime and manga genres, but one of the most prominent is shonen. The focus is on violence and action, and the pauses between battles are diluted with humor or fleeting drama – all led by striking visuals.
Shigeo Kageyama, known as Mob, attends an ordinary Japanese school and looks no different from his peers: average grades, no hobbies, few friends and no talent. The only thing unusual about him is his job – he makes his living helping the star of the paranormal world, Arataka Reigen.
But that's not all: Mob has telekinesis and psychic abilities that allow him to easily perform exorcisms and even change the world at will. The boy doesn't like to use his powers, but when he falls in love with one of his classmates, everything changes.
After death, everyone goes to Quindecim – a bar outside of time and space with two elevators, one leading to heaven, to rebirth, and the other to hell, to eternal oblivion.
Every day the bar has new visitors: sometimes they are strangers, sometimes they are couples or relatives. The newcomers have to play the bartender's game, to determine who gets into which elevator.
These games are never repeated, but are created for each specific couple to identify the unworthy. Besides bartender Decim, there are several other people in the bar, but almost nothing is known about their work.
One day, parasites arrived on Earth. There was no loud invasion, as organisms do not like to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Gradually, alien creatures began crawling across the planet, taking over the bodies of humans and animals for food and camouflage.
Schoolboy Shinichi Izumi turned out to be special: the parasyte Migi could not reach his brain, but only absorbed part of his right hand. The catch is that both will die if they decide to separate.
The two find a way to coexist in one body and even become good friends over time. But this idyll does not last long: the other parasites are not so kind to their victims and do not support such an alliance.
4. Hell's Paradise, 2023-...
At the end of his life, the shogun realizes that he cannot rule forever, so he studies the legends of the mysterious island that holds the elixir of immortality. But all the expeditions he has sent have failed.
The shogun is preparing a new expedition: this time, the ruler decides to send notorious criminals, sentenced to death, in search of the mysterious drink. Whoever returns with the elixir will be pardoned.
One of the members of the expedition is the invulnerable samurai Gabimaru. To prevent the group of criminals from scattering along the way, each of them is accompanied by an executioner from a noble clan.
Ancient Japan, where wars rage and people starve. In order to protect his domain, ensure prosperity for his people, and gain additional power, a feudal lord makes a deal with demons.
The monsters agree to give the lord what he wants on the condition that he sacrifices his newborn son, Hayakkimaru. The spirits literally take the boy apart piece by piece, stripping him of all his vital organs and body parts. Lord's subject floats the remaining shell down the river, but the baby is found by a blacksmith from a neighboring village.
The man nurses the boy and even makes him prosthetic limbs. Growing up, Hayakkimaru left home to fulfill his destiny – to kill demons whose deaths will give the young man back what he lost. Along the way, he meets Dororo – a faithful friend with whom he now destroys evil creatures.
The most memorable examples of the genre.
There are an indecent number of anime and manga genres, but one of the most prominent is shonen. The focus is on violence and action, and the pauses between battles are diluted with humor or fleeting drama – all led by striking visuals.
Shigeo Kageyama, known as Mob, attends an ordinary Japanese school and looks no different from his peers: average grades, no hobbies, few friends and no talent. The only thing unusual about him is his job – he makes his living helping the star of the paranormal world, Arataka Reigen.
But that's not all: Mob has telekinesis and psychic abilities that allow him to easily perform exorcisms and even change the world at will. The boy doesn't like to use his powers, but when he falls in love with one of his classmates, everything changes.
After death, everyone goes to Quindecim – a bar outside of time and space with two elevators, one leading to heaven, to rebirth, and the other to hell, to eternal oblivion.
Every day the bar has new visitors: sometimes they are strangers, sometimes they are couples or relatives. The newcomers have to play the bartender's game, to determine who gets into which elevator.
These games are never repeated, but are created for each specific couple to identify the unworthy. Besides bartender Decim, there are several other people in the bar, but almost nothing is known about their work.
One day, parasites arrived on Earth. There was no loud invasion, as organisms do not like to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Gradually, alien creatures began crawling across the planet, taking over the bodies of humans and animals for food and camouflage.
Schoolboy Shinichi Izumi turned out to be special: the parasyte Migi could not reach his brain, but only absorbed part of his right hand. The catch is that both will die if they decide to separate.
The two find a way to coexist in one body and even become good friends over time. But this idyll does not last long: the other parasites are not so kind to their victims and do not support such an alliance.
4. Hell's Paradise, 2023-...
At the end of his life, the shogun realizes that he cannot rule forever, so he studies the legends of the mysterious island that holds the elixir of immortality. But all the expeditions he has sent have failed.
The shogun is preparing a new expedition: this time, the ruler decides to send notorious criminals, sentenced to death, in search of the mysterious drink. Whoever returns with the elixir will be pardoned.
One of the members of the expedition is the invulnerable samurai Gabimaru. To prevent the group of criminals from scattering along the way, each of them is accompanied by an executioner from a noble clan.
Ancient Japan, where wars rage and people starve. In order to protect his domain, ensure prosperity for his people, and gain additional power, a feudal lord makes a deal with demons.
The monsters agree to give the lord what he wants on the condition that he sacrifices his newborn son, Hayakkimaru. The spirits literally take the boy apart piece by piece, stripping him of all his vital organs and body parts. Lord's subject floats the remaining shell down the river, but the baby is found by a blacksmith from a neighboring village.
The man nurses the boy and even makes him prosthetic limbs. Growing up, Hayakkimaru left home to fulfill his destiny – to kill demons whose deaths will give the young man back what he lost. Along the way, he meets Dororo – a faithful friend with whom he now destroys evil creatures.
