Affirmative action

Looking back through the license requests to date, I realize that I’ve neglected the shônen category almost entirely. I could defend myself on this front by noting that there’s no shortage of shônen readily available, and that would certainly be true. But let’s be honest: it’s just not where my primary interests reside. There are plenty of shônen titles that I really like, but given the choice between a young man with a dream and a young woman with a scheme, you know which I’ll end up plonking down at the checkout counter, don’t you?

But balance is a good thing, so please recommend some as-yet-unlicensed shônen titles for future installments of License Request Day. Please don’t restrict yourself based on the length, vintage, taste level, narrative coherence, or marketability of the title, because you know I try not to be hindered by such paltry concerns. Fire away!

And here’s the running tally with some links:

  • Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo!! Masaru-san, written and illustrated by Kyosuke Usata, serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shônen Jump (Wikipedia)
  • Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar, written and illustrated by Kyosuke Usata, serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shônen Jump (Wikipedia)
  • Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro, written and illustrated by Yûsei Matsui, serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shônen Jump (Wikipedia)
  • Locke the Superman, written and illustrated by Yuki Hijiri, serialized by Shônen Gahosha in Shônen King (Wikipedia)
  • Nurarihyon no Mago, written and illustrated by Hiroshi Shiibashi, serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shônen Jump (Wikipedia)
  • 1/2 Prince, written by Yu Wo and illustrated by Choi Hong Chong, published by Tong Li (Wikipedia)
  • Shiki, based on a novel by Fuyumi Ono, illustrated by Ryu Fujisaki, serialized by Shueisha in Jump SQ
  • Fourteen Years, written and illustrated by Kazuo Umezu, serialized by Shogakukan in Big Comic Spirits
  • Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil, written and illustrated by Kazuo Umezu, originally published by Shogakukan
  • History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi, written and illustrated by Syun Matsuena, serialized by Shogakukan in Shônen Sunday (Wikipedia)