Reborn Vongolia x Tsunayoshi Sawada

Battle Shonen vs. Old School Heroes

Battle shonen is a fairly new type of storytelling, which has emerged in the late 70's and early 80's. It's a hero genre, where the stories focus on a hero who saves other people, goes on a journey, defeats an evil opponent, etc. Hero stories have been around for ages, since the times of BC and the ancients. Those who study myths still look back on these old stories and will tell you that they are important. Shonen battle, being new also bring in new themes that are different from those ancient stories.

In ancient stories, the bad guys and even the rivals were animal-like human beings or animals. This was a big theme in old school hero stories. The hero would defeat a dragon or a bull or a centaur or something. That represents people overcoming their animal-like desires, the ones that the opponent has.

In battle shonen, these bad guys are usually people. We have new themes, people getting in other people's way. This reflects today's world. We're not worrying about our animal selves or people who are animal-like. We're worried about people as people, who are villianous.

I'll use Hitman Reborn as a new school example. The heroes use box weapons which are animals that fight for them. This is like using your animal instincts at will to achieve goals. It's a new school idea. Back in the ancient times they weren't thinking about that, not without technology. The bad guys are usually people who can become like animals but they still keep their intelligence as people. Compared to old school bad guys these bad guys are super powered, they can use their animal instincts at will and even use the most brutal animal attributes to fight.

What I'm Watching These Days

Translation:
My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi also known as good for nothing Tsuna. Until a baby named Reborn appeared. I'm going to be a Mafia boss? Hitman Tutor Reborn starts soon!

Thoughts and Summary:
To be honest I couldn't get into this show when it first came out. The prospect of a baby teaching a teenager how to be a mafia boss seemed too imaginative even for me. But Chansu kept watching it and when he got up to episode one hundred and so he told me I had to watch it, so here I am. It's pretty good once you get used to the story. Tsuna was the kid in the class that everyone looked down on. He's skinny and he's pretty weak plus he fails math frequently. Until he finds out that a baby named Reborn is going to train him to be a mafia boss. With this mysterious baby's magic bullets (literally) Tsuna is given powers and shown how to unlock his own powers by using his maximum potential. But Tsuna still has to get over his old thoughts about being useless and powerless or he can't survive in such a world... Along with his new powers he's coaxed by Reborn to make friends and even befriend the girl he's had a crush on. But with all his new power and status comes the real mafia bosses who are looking for trouble...