Anime/Manga: Orginality Vs Shounen [OT!]

[Cataferal]

IRT Wiseman - Lets see here....

- Does it have at least 4 girls after the main protagonist? Sort of. There are 4 girls, but only one is actually after him.
- Are the girls at least 4 of the following?: childhood friend, nice girl that cooks wonders, violent girl, kendo girl, loli, clumsy girl, smart girl with glasses I check the childhood friend, violent girl and clumsy girl...oh and a loli, in fact. So yes
- Is the protagonist a loser, a newb, or at least, not interested on any of the girls at first? No, but he's your average joe, who seems to occasonally get hit whenever he accidentally see's something he shouldnt
- Do they live in a residence together? Miraculously, yes
- Does it have wild amounts of fanservice, and an episode where you can see all of them in swimsuits or underwear besides fanservice?It has fanservice, but where-ever there would be a panty shot or beach swimsuit suit scene, they just have outright nudity

But despite these likenesses, its hard to classify the anime as a harem shounen since there are other much more prominant themes in process which completely undermine these similarities. For example, one of the younger female characters seeks refuge in the the aforementioned residence because she was sexually abused by her step-father, which you see in disturbing process as well. So, in concept, it may look like a shounen, but the darker context takes it away from those cliches.
Its easily the most distrubing anime ive seen since Perfect Blue.

[Xhell]

hmm, would Elfen Lied be acknowledged as a Shounen anime? It's an odd one though, for the storyline itself is actually very dark, and relates to the potential extinction of mankind by a superior species of horned-human...things. However, diluting the storyline is an abundance of side-storys and references to the love realtionships being established between other characters (and yeah, there is one seemingly stereotypical relationship in which is the guy whose parents were killed, and the girl who was a childhood friend (and a cousin......) of the guy, loves him, and also remembers a promise the boy made to her even though he's forgotten. she also beats him up a lot as well.). Although, this goes a little deeper into a "love competition" situation, in which the childhood sweetheart, and another woman (of whom possesses an intimate love for the male character, but because of a past experience between them (that shall not be mentioned for spoiling purposes) they can never truly be together) both love the male character. Although there isn't a conspicuous competition between the female characters (i.e. like in Tenchi Muyo), they both seem to want a piece of the male chap........and yeah, there's a lot more but it gets fairly complicated.

Would this kind of anime correspond to the Shounen steretype? I'm not certain myself, since most animes I've witnessed have usually been somewhat more active and thought-provoking then the afformentioned type of "love" anime.

[Cataferal]

No it wouldnt, the literal definition of Shounen is "young boy", and its specifically targeted towards young male viewers. Elfen Lied is directed towards peoples of age 15 and over, as frequently noticed in its introduction as a warning to older guardians, due to its explicit content.

[Xhell]

I see, thanks. Yeah, Elfen Lied is a brilliant anime......but the first episode imposed the worst impression of any anime ever!
Even fully grown men with broad chests, chizelled muscles and a long, luxurious moustache would be disturbed.

[Xhell]

I'm currently watching Air. This appears to be proceeding towards the stereotype of a shounen anime.......but, as Cataferal mentioned before, THE FREAKING GUY SMACKS THE GIRLS! This was hilarious! At first I thought it could be percieved as cruel, but then I realised that the assaulted girl was in fact accusing the male character relentlessly about sex-related offenses that he hadn't even commited.........so the judo chop to the skull was completely justified.......even if he did do it twice........EEeee