Substance use depictions in top-selling Shōnen and Seinen manga

Manga are imaginative graphic novels that often feature adventurous, motivational, and inspirational storylines. Manga genres are broadly categorized by their primary intended audience, as defined by age and gender. The two most popular are Shōnen, targeting male adolescents ages 12 to 17, and Seinen, targeting young male adults ages 18 to 30. These popular genres sometimes present content that depicts risk-taking behavior, such as substance use, which may have adverse effects on young readers. This study documents and compares substance use-related content in Shōnen and Seinen. The study sample consisted of 500 randomly selected chapters from a set of top-selling Shōnen and Seinen series. We used Fisher’s exact test to compare prevalence rates between the two genres. We found that 150 out of the 500 chapters (30%) had at least one depiction of substance use, related dialogue, or paraphernalia, with tobacco-related content comprising the majority of these depictions. Shōnen had more tobacco-related content than Seinen (p < 0.01), though the latter had more depictions of ashtrays (p < 0.01). Our sample presented no content related to vaping or prescription drug misuse. The nature and extent of this substance use-related content are generally consistent with current societal norms in Japan. Future research should examine whether young readers’ exposure to this content changes their beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions.