However, as we transition into the 2020s, there's been a market correction. Consumers have grown weary of these superficial stories, realizing their lack of substance and intrinsic value to the point where they shouldn't exist. It's a strange era of entertainment that's thankfully fading, as people become desensitized to excessive shock-value content.
And One standout example that marked this trend's demise is "Chainsaw Man". hyped as the ultimate shonen but ultimately fell short as nothing more than a shock-value story that lacks depth and is permanently stuck in the shadow of JJK & DS.
Anyways, Let's dissect its elements starting with the main character. The protagonist isn't a true protagonist but rather a supporting character, the character in every story that is just there and never gets the spotlight or romantic conquest typical of main characters. This is why people say he is not your typical Shonen MC without realizing it because of the simple fact that he is the sidekick to a lead.
This narrative choice was not great, and the author believed it was since it hadn't been done before without understanding the reasons why certain character dynamics exists, like a Batman is batman and a Robin is robin.
The supporting cast is forgettable, lacking depth or development. The story, plot, and world feel pieced together as if generated by a machine instructed to combine elements from successful manga tropes. In essence, there's a glaring absence of genuine effort, with the narrative relying heavily on borrowed references from movies, TV shows, archetypes, and characters from other notable IPs. The author's unapologetic admission to this practice further underscores the lack of creativity, mistakenly perceived as ingenuity.
Perhaps this is why corporations are eager to integrate AI into the creative process, as we approach a point where AI could generate similar stories in seconds, bypassing the months of research and development spent by uninspired writers sifting through fandom wikis.
