| I often hear people (mainly on Youtube) talk about the big shounen series. Usually when they use that term or a similar term, they don't just mean the Big 3. So which series could actually be called big battle shounens? Now obviously there isn't really an objective answer, but I love making lists so I started researching and made my own list, by my own standards. Here it is: One Piece Naruto Bleach My Hero Academia Fairy Tail Hunter x Hunter Black Clover Dragon Ball JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Gintama Inuyasha Saint Seiya The Seven Deadly Sins Ranma 1/2 Magi Fist of the North Star Attack on Titan Fullmetal Alchemist Blue Exorcist Yu-Gi-Oh! Astro Boy GeGeGe no Kitaro Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Toriko Rurouni Kenshin And then a list of some series that I think you could reasonably argue belong on the list, but that I felt didn't belong for one reason or another: Demon Slayer Soul Eater Death Note Assassination Classroom Dr. Stone Yu Yu Hakusho Jujutsu Kaisen Pokemon Adventures Rave Master Edens Zero World Trigger Detective Conan Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken Before I start explaining my list, I should first give you my criteria for a series to be included. 1. It must have a significant amount of fighting. This doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be pure action from start to finish, but it should at least involve fights for lots of important moments. The easiest way for me to tell whether a series met this criteria (since I haven't watched/read all of these) was to check the genre tags and make sure action is one of them, but in some cases I did put series on the list despite them not having the action tag because the synopsis says otherwise. 2. It must have some level of popularity. Basically all this means is that it just has to be a fairly recognizable/well-known series. 3. It has to be shounen. This is pretty obvious, but it's got to be a shounen series to count. Like with the first criteria, I usually just checked for the shounen tag. 4. It needs to be pretty long. Not all series on the list are necessarily as long as One Piece, but generally speaking I think they need to be around 25 volumes/100 episodes long. This is just a general principle though, so keep that in mind. (**I originally said 300 chapters, but I've changed to a volume count**) 5. I'm only including series with sci-fi, fantasy, or supernatural elements. Technically you COULD include realistic series, but they aren't really the kind of thing most people mean when using the term. Finally, I'm going to explain my reasoning for my choices of series that did and didn't make the list, skipping over the obvious ones. Gintama- Although Gintama definitely has less action than the other series listed, it's still a pretty significant part of the series, particularly towards the end, so I think it counts. Blue Exorcist- It only has 37 episodes, but that's only because the adaptation seems to be pretty far behind. Demon Slayer- I's just not a long enough series, with only 207 chapters. Soul Eater- Not long enough. Death Note- Not long enough. Assassination Classroom- Not long enough. Dr. Stone- Not long enough, technically it isn't finished yet so it could become long enough eventually, but seeing as the manga is on its last arc, that's pretty unlikely. Yu Yu Hakusho- Not long enough. Jujutsu Kaisen- Not long enough yet, but as it isn't finished it could become long enough eventually. Pokemon Adventures- It has the length, but Pokemon Adventures just isn't popular enough; despite the insane overall popularity of Pokemon, many fans of the series aren't even aware that Adventures exists. Rave Master- Just barely long enough to make the list, but I don't think it has enough popularity to make it. Edens Zero- Not long enough yet, but it probably will be by the time it's finished. World Trigger- It just isn't popular enough or long enough. Detective Conan- It's set in a realistic world, so I'm not including it. Dragon Quest- Dai no Daibouken- Not popular enough. So there you go, that's my list and the reason behind it! Please tell me if I made any mistakes or left out any series that should be included, and also share your version of the list :) |
phantomic109Sep 30, 2021 8:06 PM
  "Truth is always a cruel thing." |
triplepsycho said: And then a list of some series that I think you could reasonably argue belong on the list, but that I felt didn't belong for one reason or another A few of these have less fighting than Gintama. If your only reason for rejecting Death Note is "not long enough," then you definitely need to add Detective Conan. It's as long as One Piece, and far more popular than Pokemon Adventures. It doesn't have much action, but neither does Death Note. I believe Ranma 1/2 and Magi fit all 4 of your criteria. https://myanimelist.net/manga/23/Ranma_%C2%BD https://myanimelist.net/manga/14790/Magi |
| その目だれの目？ |
Lucifrost said: triplepsycho said: And then a list of some series that I think you could reasonably argue belong on the list, but that I felt didn't belong for one reason or another A few of these have less fighting than Gintama. If your only reason for rejecting Death Note is "not long enough," then you definitely need to add Detective Conan. It's as long as One Piece, and far more popular than Pokemon Adventures. It doesn't have much action, but neither does Death Note. I believe Ranma 1/2 and Magi fit all 4 of your criteria. https://myanimelist.net/manga/23/Ranma_%C2%BD https://myanimelist.net/manga/14790/Magi Well, length wasn't the ONLY reason I left out Death Note, it was just the most easy reason for me to list since I haven't actually watched it myself. As for your suggestions to add, I'll definitely add Ranma and Magi, they certainly fit the criteria! Detective Conan I'm going to add to the second list (series that I'm not adding but that would still be fair options), since it takes place in a realistic world, as far as I'm aware. That's something I didn't even realize with my list, I was only including series that have some kind of sci-fi, fantasy, or supernatural elements. Anyways, thanks for your thoughts :) |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
| Biggest battle shounen I know is One Piece. |
 |
| My Kingdom So far he's fighting every antagonist and get payback also. |
| "When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice." |
| Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020) Battle shounen fans should stop sleeping on this anime |
| Imagine how boring this world would be without Japan - a comment at youtube |
AcD4c said: Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020) Battle shounen fans should stop sleeping on this anime Thanks for the suggestion! It isn't popular enough to make the list, but I'll put it on the other list :) |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
| You should not determine the length of a manga with the number of chapters. Some manga are weekly, some others are monthly or more, with different number of pages per chapter between them. FMA and AoT have more than 20 volumes. |
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare. But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !" |
triplepsycho said: Pokemon adventures is not a shonen, its a kids show.Pokemon Adventures- It has the length, but Pokemon Adventures just isn't popular enough; despite the insane overall popularity of Pokemon, many fans of the series aren't even aware that Adventures exists. |
| Detective Conan One piece Black clover imo |
 For your Information: |
Jim_Heart said: You should not determine the length of a manga with the number of chapters. Some manga are weekly, some others are monthly or more, with different number of pages per chapter between them. FMA and AoT have more than 20 volumes. I totally agree with you, but without having read/watched all these series myself, that's the best method I have for estimating length. That being said, both FMA and AOT have under 100 episodes, which was my second way of measuring length, so I'm personally not going to include them. |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
The_Villian_X said: triplepsycho said: Pokemon adventures is not a shonen, its a kids show.Pokemon Adventures- It has the length, but Pokemon Adventures just isn't popular enough; despite the insane overall popularity of Pokemon, many fans of the series aren't even aware that Adventures exists. No, you're thinking of the Pokemon anime. The manga is completely different and I would say is a shounen. |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
triplepsycho said: The_Villian_X said: Pokemon adventures is not a shonen, its a kids show. No, you're thinking of the Pokemon anime. The manga is completely different and I would say is a shounen. triplepsycho said: I checked it on MAL. The manga named Pokemon Adventures's demographic was 'kids'.The_Villian_X said: Pokemon adventures is not a shonen, its a kids show. No, you're thinking of the Pokemon anime. The manga is completely different and I would say is a shounen. |
triplepsycho said: AcD4c said: Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020) Battle shounen fans should stop sleeping on this anime Thanks for the suggestion! It isn't popular enough to make the list, but I'll put it on the other list :) I forgot about that one, as Dragon Quest isn't very popular outside Japan. I think this manga may be in the same situation as the Pokemon manga. Even thought I've played Dragon Quest, I didn't know the franchise had a manga before the recent anime began airing. I thought of more examples of "big battle shounen." The most obvious being Fist of the North Star. https://myanimelist.net/manga/1149/Hokuto_no_Ken I would also like to nominate the demographic's 1st ever bestsellers! With their creators both dead and their legacies spanning several decades before we were born, it can be easy to overlook just how massive these franchises are. https://myanimelist.net/manga/728/Tetsuwan_Atom https://myanimelist.net/manga/10499/GeGeGe_no_Kitarou |
| その目だれの目？ |
| Biggest battle shounen, it should be One piece as it's the longest running one. |
triplepsycho said: Jim_Heart said: You should not determine the length of a manga with the number of chapters. Some manga are weekly, some others are monthly or more, with different number of pages per chapter between them. FMA and AoT have more than 20 volumes. I totally agree with you, but without having read/watched all these series myself, that's the best method I have for estimating length. That being said, both FMA and AOT have under 100 episodes, which was my second way of measuring length, so I'm personally not going to include them. Nah, it is easy if you just determine it by the number of volumes, not chapters. Each volume of manga usually have similar number of pages, more or less about 200 pages per volume. |
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare. But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !" |
The_Villian_X said: triplepsycho said: No, you're thinking of the Pokemon anime. The manga is completely different and I would say is a shounen. triplepsycho said: I checked it on MAL. The manga named Pokemon Adventures's demographic was 'kids'.No, you're thinking of the Pokemon anime. The manga is completely different and I would say is a shounen. Huh, you're right. As someone who read it myself, I've always thought of it as a shounen series. Guess I'll have to update the list haha |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
Lucifrost said: triplepsycho said: Thanks for the suggestion! It isn't popular enough to make the list, but I'll put it on the other list :) I forgot about that one, as Dragon Quest isn't very popular outside Japan. I think this manga may be in the same situation as the Pokemon manga. Even thought I've played Dragon Quest, I didn't know the franchise had a manga before the recent anime began airing. I thought of more examples of "big battle shounen." The most obvious being Fist of the North Star. https://myanimelist.net/manga/1149/Hokuto_no_Ken I would also like to nominate the demographic's 1st ever bestsellers! With their creators both dead and their legacies spanning several decades before we were born, it can be easy to overlook just how massive these franchises are. https://myanimelist.net/manga/728/Tetsuwan_Atom https://myanimelist.net/manga/10499/GeGeGe_no_Kitarou Thank you again! I added Fist of the North Star to the list :) |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
triplepsycho said: MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! It is because Togashi has the free reins given by Jump to do whatever he wants after his biggest hit Yu Yu Hakushu gave them lots of money. HxH varies in genre from arc to arc. It has only two arcs that can be considered somewhat battle shonen and those tend to deconstruct the genre. Refer to pic for reference: No problem. People tend to forget that Yu-Gi-Oh is a battle shonen and a Shonen Jump series that is very well respected in Japan duo to the whole 4Kids circumstances it could never escape from. |
Jim_Heart said: triplepsycho said: I totally agree with you, but without having read/watched all these series myself, that's the best method I have for estimating length. That being said, both FMA and AOT have under 100 episodes, which was my second way of measuring length, so I'm personally not going to include them. Nah, it is easy if you just determine it by the number of volumes, not chapters. Each volume of manga usually have similar number of pages, more or less about 200 pages per volume. Thanks for the help! I've updated the list using volumes instead of chapters to decide! |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
8bite2 said: triplepsycho said: MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! It is because Togashi has the free reins given by Jump to do whatever he wants after his biggest hit Yu Yu Hakushu gave them lots of money. HxH varies in genre from arc to arc. It has only two arcs that can be considered somewhat battle shonen and those tend to deconstruct the genre. Refer to pic for reference: No problem. People tend to forget that Yu-Gi-Oh is a battle shonen and a Shonen Jump series that is very well respected in Japan duo to the whole 4Kids circumstances it could never escape from. Funny how the arc that barely consists of fighting and defeating bad guys who threaten the world (Hunter Exam) is the "battle shounen"-like one, and the one that indeed follows that structure (Chimera Ant) is not... |
SoldierDream said: 8bite2 said: It is because Togashi has the free reins given by Jump to do whatever he wants after his biggest hit Yu Yu Hakushu gave them lots of money. HxH varies in genre from arc to arc. It has only two arcs that can be considered somewhat battle shonen and those tend to deconstruct the genre. Refer to pic for reference: No problem. People tend to forget that Yu-Gi-Oh is a battle shonen and a Shonen Jump series that is very well respected in Japan duo to the whole 4Kids circumstances it could never escape from. Funny how the arc that barely consists of fighting and defeating bad guys who threaten the world (Hunter Exam) is the "battle shounen"-like one, and the one that indeed follows that structure (Chimera Ant) is not... I don't see what you mean. There were no "bad guys" as you put it. Both sides were equally right and just and there were no winners at the end, both Chimera Ants and Humans ended up coexisting with one another. The Hunter Exam follows all the shonen staples of Battle Shonen exam, tournament arcs and flips them upside down. Just for a quick example from the very beginning, where there was quiz with a granny of whom would the person save if provided the choice: "Their Lover" or "Their Mother" in which the correct response was silence. That is as far removed from a typical battle shonen as you can get. |
triplepsycho said: Astro Boy- It's not quite long enough for me to include it. GeGeGe no Kitaro- Not really long enough to make the list. Not popular enough either if MAL stats are anything to go by, but it's supposedly a bestselling series, so I think MAL might just be inaccurate. I know I only linked the manga, but you should have checked the anime pages too. GeGeGe no Kitaro gets a reboot every decade, often airing for over 100 episodes at a time. You just never hear about them because only the most recent one is available in English. The 1960s Astro Boy ran for almost 200 episodes. Most of those episodes were dubbed into English back in the day. |
| その目だれの目？ |
8bite2 said: I don't see what you mean. There were no "bad guys" as you put it. Both sides were equally right and just and there were no winners at the end, both Chimera Ants and Humans ended up coexisting with one another. lol, that’s not what happened at all. Please @Hrybami we need more sanity in this discussion. |
| その目だれの目？ |
8bite2 said: I don't see what you mean. There were no "bad guys" as you put it. Both sides were equally right and just and there were no winners at the end, both Chimera Ants and Humans ended up coexisting with one another. Sorry but, did you even watch the series or not? Because I can't help but question that when you deny the condition of antagonists of the ants... |
| By that logic, I can think of a few -Katekyo Hitman Reborn -Toriko -Rurouni Kenshin -Fist Of The North Star -City Hunter |
PoutyWeebNov 22, 2021 3:11 PM
| just lurking around |
| Oh my god. I shit my pants everytime someone tries to undemonize the chimera ants. That sounds like the same people who would unironically say Griffith did nothing wrong. |
triplepsycho said: MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! Don't listen to him. By his definition One Piece wouldn't be battle shounen either. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
FMmatron said: triplepsycho said: MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! Don't listen to him. By his definition One Piece wouldn't be battle shounen either. What does soft seinen even mean? lol |
| The Genre "Fighting Shounen" does not exist. Shounen is just demographic and that's it. There is nothing that makes "Fighting Shounen" special. |
 |
8bite2 said: triplepsycho said: MAL lists it as shounen and it runs in Shounen Jump, so I'm including it. Thanks for reminding me to add Yu-Gi-Oh, that one completely slipped my mind! It is because Togashi has the free reins given by Jump to do whatever he wants after his biggest hit Yu Yu Hakushu gave them lots of money. HxH varies in genre from arc to arc. It has only two arcs that can be considered somewhat battle shonen and those tend to deconstruct the genre. Refer to pic for reference: No problem. People tend to forget that Yu-Gi-Oh is a battle shonen and a Shonen Jump series that is very well respected in Japan duo to the whole 4Kids circumstances it could never escape from. It still is a shounen though. Gon and Killua are little kids purposely to appeal to the target demographic. It has plenty of shounen elements regardless of how you label arcs, and if it would've been seinen half the questionable things in HxH wouldn't have been there to begin with. |
A term used by teens who're too embarrassed to admit that their favorite series is a mere shounen. It doesn't mean much beyond that  |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
Rad_Scientist said: The Genre "Fighting Shounen" does not exist. Shounen is just demographic and that's it. There is nothing that makes "Fighting Shounen" special. Technically you're right. It's not really a defined thing. But it still is used by a lot of people, so I wanted to come up with my own definition of it. |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
PoutyWeeb said: By that logic, I can think of a few -Katekyo Hitman Reborn -Toriko -Rurouni Kenshin -Fist Or The North Star -City Hunter Thank you, I've added some of these :) |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
Lucifrost said: triplepsycho said: Astro Boy- It's not quite long enough for me to include it. GeGeGe no Kitaro- Not really long enough to make the list. Not popular enough either if MAL stats are anything to go by, but it's supposedly a bestselling series, so I think MAL might just be inaccurate. I know I only linked the manga, but you should have checked the anime pages too. GeGeGe no Kitaro gets a reboot every decade, often airing for over 100 episodes at a time. You just never hear about them because only the most recent one is available in English. The 1960s Astro Boy ran for almost 200 episodes. Most of those episodes were dubbed into English back in the day. I see, in that case I'll add them, thanks! |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
FMmatron said: A term used by teens who're too embarrassed to admit that their favorite series is a mere shounen. It doesn't mean much beyond that Yo what's up with that list, it's so random. I love it! |
8bite2 said: They can be considered antagonists from the point of view of humanity, but they are also not human and human laws can not apply to their actions. The whole thing was morally gray. Besides, was proven not all of them are "bad", did you even watch the show? Four of the good guys were [redacted] from that arc. This could be a word for word description of Dragon Ball Z. |
| その目だれの目？ |
triplepsycho said: No problem man! You can always look at what’s published on Weekly Shounen JUMP to see if anything else there interests you.PoutyWeeb said: By that logic, I can think of a few -Katekyo Hitman Reborn -Toriko -Rurouni Kenshin -Fist Of The North Star -City Hunter Thank you, I've added some of these :) |
PoutyWeebNov 22, 2021 3:10 PM
| just lurking around |
Eziprez said: You said Yu Yu Hakusho was too short but it's 112 episodes It's >100 so shouldn't that mean it's long enough? Yeah, but I also take volumes into account, and it only has 19 volumes. It's definitely right at the line though lol |
"Truth is always a cruel thing." |
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