When I heard about "shojo superman" I was intrigued, but skeptical. Now, I am a believer.
The fan discourse was right about its shojo sensibilities, but I keep finding dipshit articles people were paid to write calling it "Shonen inspired". This is why we can't have nice things!!!! If they just used the general "anime" it'd be less annoying, but they keep using "Shonen" specifically which is just LAME. It has a magical girl Transformation sequence come ONNNNN.
Yeah, there's a lot of overlap, especially in a hybrid East to West show like this, but GDI it's lame when something cranks up so many well loved features of shojo for a mainstream audience only to be misunderstood as shonen. I guess it's the action misleading people, but the pacing, character moments, and themes distinctly lean shojo. It feels like an episode of Sailor Moon before Yu Yu Hakusho. I'm keeping it retro for the comarisons cuz I think that was clearly the goal in production. The way it showcases tropes usually reserved for femmes characters and consumers, especially for western shows, for a legacy male character is part of what makes it feel so fresh and appealing. It all adds up to a nostalgic, romance hazed, optimistic take on Superman that works brilliantly.
Just on an "aesthetic level" the same way the 90's animated Superman and Batman banked on Art Deco futurism in its environments and settings, this show uses hazy lighting and a warm inviting city reminiscent of classic shojo.
Sorry, I'm not an expert in DC or Superman by any means, and with a character that's been around for almost 100 years, an "ideal adaptation" is kind of a fallacy in its own right. I have zero ill will towards Shonen on its own, only the way the industry prioritizes it at the expense of shojo cuz "stuff 'for girls' isn't profitable" and the cultural fallout from that. My Adventures With Superman flies in the face of that broke brain thinking with its unabashedly romantic, pink tinged success. I just adore shojo, so seeing something really hit a gender flaunting homer with its sensibilities getting mislabeled as shonen is lame.
