9 Shonen Anime So Good, You’ll Realize One Piece is Overrated

Suggesting that One Piece is anything less than a flawless masterpiece is usually considered a crime in the anime community these days, but even the most loyal Straw Hat fans have to admit the series has its flaws. Although the Grand Line world is expansive, the sheer dedication of more than a thousand episodes can result in the story becoming too disconnected and can be tedious to follow even for the most loyal fans.

The “sunk cost fallacy” can also lead to the community not being able to concede that a decade-long story inherently has a pacing problem and visual continuity that has been addressed by shorter series in recent times. The “Pirate King” might own the sales charts, but the following titles own the actual craft of storytelling. A number of Shōnen masterpieces have mastered the technique of narrative efficiency and provide world-shattering stakes in a fraction of the time compared to spending decades on perfecting one grand storyline.

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9

Demon Slayer

When we discuss animation so well, it makes it look like the rest of the series are mid-tier, there is no denying the fact that Demon Slayer is the new king. The unlimited budget strategy by Ufotable made a fairly average Shōnen story a worldwide hit. The Hinokami Kagura sequence in Episode 19 did not simply trend, but it has reinvented what was expected in the entire industry. When you draw the parallels between the visual clarity and smooth choreography of the water breathing in Tanjiro versus the weekly grind of One Piece that is usually cluttered and shaky in its animation, there is no competition whatsoever.

The simplicity of the story and its emotional nature make it a strong one. In contrast with the heavy and overwhelming lore of the Void Century, Demon Slayer centers around a simple and high-stakes mission: to save a sister. This emphasis offers the opportunity to have a close storyline, which holds the reader till the end. The level of popularity it established within the meme and anime community is unprecedented, and it demonstrates that high production value coupled with an honest and well-timed story can beat a legacy giant any day of the week.

8

Jujutsu Kaisen

In the modern era, “mid” animation is a death sentence, and Jujutsu Kaisen is the executioner. The Shibuya arc is one of the best prime examples of how well a fast-paced shōnen anime can work if it’s written well. The battles are smooth enough to pass off as movies and the curse techniques are so uniquely strange, imaginative and entertaining to observe. It does not take twenty episodes to develop into a fight; it throws you right away into the fray and lets the action speak volumes.

The series also breaks the convention of the main cast’s plot armor and makes the stakes legitimately real, with the story not hesitant to have the favorite characters be permanently killed off. This gives it a feeling of danger which would otherwise be lacking in the older shōnen series, where the main characters are invincible no matter the amount of danger. A combination of fast-paced action with a more cynical, darker view of the world makes the series appeal to the fandom that demanded something more intense and stunningly violent than the usual adventure formula.

7

Mob Psycho 100

As One Piece deals with the outer world journey of becoming King, Mob Psycho 100 deals with the inner world journey of becoming a good person. The protagonist, Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, is arguably the most well-written Shōnen character, grappling with the horrifying existence of god-like power through the prism of social anxiety and emotional development. The interaction between Mob and his mentor Reigen is a more subtle approach to growth than any master-pupil relationship on the Grand Line.

The show is aesthetically an experimental masterpiece. Studio BONES flexed their most creative, psychedelic styles of animation on Mob Psycho, to make battle scenes more expressive and unique than the usual big punch endings of One Piece. It is praised by the community as being sincere and sending the message that special powers do not actually make you special, a welcome subversion that makes the tropes of the Chosen One of other series look dated.

6

Chainsaw Man

This anime resembles a fever dream that somebody made into an anime with a big budget. The protagonist does not intend to change the world, he simply needs a hug and a good meal. This basic human ambition makes all the unreasonable hunter-of-the-devil activity much closer and more amusing. It is unpredictable, bloody and has a strangely cool film atmosphere that makes it appear like a new Hollywood film. It is the ideal series for those who feel Shōnen has become too predictable.

It is so fast-paced and has dark and sharp humor. It is a parody of the typical “grandiose speech about dreams” that we find in series like One Piece and you are placed in the middle of the smash and bang. Each episode is a surprise and the animation by MAPPA is of the highest quality. It is an adventure, short, and sweet trip that delivers more characters in a dozen episodes than most series can deliver in a hundred episodes.

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5

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Rather than being guided by the person who screams the most or has the strongest willpower to overcome the enemy, the Nen system requires viewers to think with the characters. This turns any confrontation into a game of chess where an ingenious limitation can help defeat an enormous difference in pure strength and the fight becomes much more satisfying than a typical brawl. During the progress of the story, its tone and genre are constantly changed, and this demonstrates that the Shōnen series can address the problem of psychological horror and political drama with the same prowess as it addresses the problem of adventure.

The writing is the brightest with the help of the antagonists who, in many cases, have inner lives and motivations no less complicated than the main characters. It is in the Chimera Ant arc where the distinction between hero and monster is blurred to the point where the viewer is left wondering what is morally wrong with the whole mission. This degree of development is a refreshing breath to go through with those fans who are sick and tired of the same old Save the Kingdom loop, which this degree of development has a mature approach to growth and consequences that seem to be far ahead.

4

Vinland Saga

Although it later changed to Seinen, the first season of Vinland Saga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine left a mark on character development that is rarely achieved. The plot of Thorfinn becoming a revenge-obsessed husk and realizing the emptiness of being violent into someone that has no enemies and wishes to be free from all hatred is a deep one that renders the Shōnen objectives so empty. The world-building is historical, and it is strict and atmospheric, with its basis in the harsh reality of the Viking Age as opposed to the whimsical anything-goes reasoning of the world of Oda.

The reason why Vinland Saga has become so famous and why it gets the love it deserves is due to the maturity of the message it gives. It trusts the intelligence of the viewer, and develops themes of pacifism and leadership through its characters in ways that transform the political challenges of kings and queens in One Piece into fairy tales. For those fans who have become weary of the formulaic villain-of-the-week formula, the psychological insight and visceral animation of Wit Studios offer an adult alternative that makes One Piece’s story look pale in comparison.

3

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Most series start with their cast embarking on an epic journey to defeat the big bad villain, but not this story. Frieren starts off brilliantly because it dwells on the consequences of victory once the heroes have already won. The fandom is given a tale in which world-building is no longer determined by an epic map of uncharted islands, but by the layers of history and the decayed statues that are the remnant of a lost age.

Rather than one thousand chapters to create a legacy, the audience observes the richness of the world through the shifting faces of former friends and the gradual corrosion of battlefields that used to be known. The effect of this kind of scale is more dramatic and approachable, and it proves that the real weight of a journey is not a matter of the number of places one visits, but the emotion it evokes. The impressive animation and slow but thoughtful pacing, with characters written so incredibly well makes this series a recent shōnen masterpiece which every anime fan needs to see.

2

Attack on Titan

It is the mystery that drives this story, and the manner in which the lore is unveiled makes sure to keep the fandom in a constant, attentive state. All the alarming truths regarding the Titans and the reality outside the walls had been predicted many years prior, which demonstrates the high degree of foresight that is often lost in series, which are bound to continue eternally. The plot itself is mercilessly fast-moving, swapping the charm of an epic adventure with a world-weary tragedy where no one is safe from the collateral damage.

The onscreen work of both WIT and MAPPA creates a precedent of cinematic action that weekly long-runners can just never sustain without occasional lapses in quality. The fluid choreography of the scouts flying through the urban setting is just so fluid that the old days of power-up sequences that remained stagnant on the screen seemed archaic in comparison. Due to the promise of a conclusive, world-changing ending, the series gives it a feeling of finality and impact, which is hard to achieve in stories that are expected to span decades.

The idea of Equivalent Exchange is not merely a power system, but also can be said to offer a kind of narrative discipline that ensures that the wanderings of the Elric brothers are kept strictly on track. This is what fans frequently feel is missing in a story with an open narrative loop as compared to a story that continuously extends its limits without a definite conclusion. The purpose behind every alchemy rule shown at the beginning of the story is just as important and true in the final confrontation, so that fans do not get the impression that the plot is being improvised as the journey unfolds.

The sentimentality of the series is also consistent, as each side character is given a fully developed arc that is earned instead of being forced on due to the need to create some world-building. This story does not require hundreds of moving parts that sometimes do not go anywhere, but rather provides a complete experience in which the end result is a logical step. There is no filler to make sure that the tension does not drop, and the fandom can remain completely engaged in the political intrigues of Amestris without the recap after every three episodes.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)

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