My Top 10 favorite shonen [Eng-Esp].

Anime for many years has been, without a doubt, one of my favorite forms of entertainment, I have spent seasons in which I watch two or three anime in the same week and although lately this rhythm has slowed down considerably, I always keep in mind to watch one a month so as not to miss any jewel that may be out there. Commonly when talking about anime there are several series that come to everyone's mind and I think depending on the generation they belong to, the most common ones to stand out are: Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Naruto, Shingeki no Kyojin and more recently Kimetsu no Yaiba, it is rare to find a person with access to a TV or computer who has not seen or heard of Goku, come on, even the merchandise of these series has been so great that surely even those who are not aware of this type of entertainment have seen them once in the streets, because there is something that all these globally recognized anime have in common, and is that most of them are classified within the SHONEN genre.

Shonen is a genre of anime and manga within which series aimed at a young male audience are cataloged, you could say that basically it is for teenage boys, they are usually full of epic fights and simple themes, although there are several that break that mold and are closer to Seinen (genre aimed at young-adults). During my childhood years I was bombarded by anime of this genre, what kid growing up in the 90's didn't watch Dragon Ball, The Knights of the Zodiac or Samurai X, of course there were also the almighty Sailor Moon and the dramatic Candy Candy, which are aimed at girls, but Shonen had something that attracted me and that is something that remained for many years, even today I still enjoy them from time to time, although nowadays I prefer a good Seinen.

One of the characteristics that makes the Shonen genre great is the agility with which the story is handled, there are no complicated themes and they usually focus on a protagonist who wants to reach a goal and trains to exhaustion until he gets it, however, this could also be the great weakness of this kind of series, because most of them become too predictable, to me at the beginning this didn't bother me or maybe I paid so much attention to it, however, as the years went by my tastes changed and now I realize how repetitive many Shonen can be, but in spite of that if they have good fights and good animation they will always have a space on my screen.

A couple of weeks ago I was discussing with my husband about which anime we like the most in this genre and although we agreed on the first place in this list, in the others we went completely different ways, yes, many names were repeated because being of the same generation we were exposed to almost the same series. At first my idea was simply to make a Top 5, but when I started to list series there were many that I didn't want to leave out, so I extended it to a top 10, although honestly I could do a Top 20, but I think that would be too much. I want to tell you that this list is my personal opinion, I'm not saying that one is better than the other, I just like them more, in fact there are some elements that I know are not the best of the best, but I'm too fond of them and I couldn't leave them out, that's why the list is called "Top 10 - Shonen favorites" and not "Top 10 best Shonen ever". Now let's start with the countdown.

It tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a rebellious young man who discovers he has a great power, so he trains hard to get to know the mystery behind his origin and, well, to get out of the trouble he gets into. It's a classic fighting anime and remember that character description because it's basically that of every shonen protagonist. This was one of the anime I enjoyed the most when I was a teenager, I remember it was broadcasted on CN and many times I would stay awake to watch it.

The best thing about Yuyu Hakusho is undoubtedly its fights, good action, it is one of those anime in which there are arcs or sagas of fighting tournaments, so the fights are quite entertaining. The characters are the classic shonen characters: the heroic protagonist, the crazy and funny, a sensitive with a great hidden power and a serious guy who ends up being very powerful, in general it is not a complex story at all, on the contrary, I think it is one of the simplest on this list, perhaps that is why it is at number 10, but that does not take away the merit of having a good dose of action, comedy and even has elements of Japanese culture that manage to enrich the story a little, plus it has one of my favorite openings of all those on this list. In the visual aspect it has a classic 80s-90s animation that I find quite attractive, although that may be because it generates some nostalgia in me.

Recently, I watched it again and I must say that it aged like fine wine, I think it has become a classic of the genre, although perhaps it is not as popular as others.

Tanjiro is a young demon hunter who seeks revenge for a fateful event he lived in his childhood, after a hard training he manages to start his long way to get rid of all the demons that plague humanity, little by little he will discover something inside him that is different and that makes him question his origin and that of his family.

I know that here many will disagree with me, some will say that it should be at number one, while others probably think it should not even be on this list, but to me its seasons have seemed pretty decent and entertaining, enough to generate a great expectation before the arrival of a new arc, although I will not deny that it has a fairly simple story and basically focuses on the struggle of good against evil, something very present in the shonen, which although not necessarily bad, it is not very innovative to say. So far what I have seen of this anime regarding the story is good, pigeonholed within the genre, but quite entertaining, it has had touching moments and that make the viewer think, because they show us the reality that not everything is black and white, although the demons are the villains, there are humans who behave as such as the bad guys and have led them to become those beings.

The main characters are really fun although again pigeonholed within shonen characters, the ones that stand out for me are the "pillars" who are like leaders within the demon hunters, some are quite eccentric (not to say all) and can become really entertaining.

I think the most outstanding aspect of Kimetsu is its fantastic animation, in fact, that's why I have ranked it in this list, visually it is BEAUTIFUL, one of the shonen with the best animation I have seen lately, especially the third season, the only thing I would like is that the story is not so generic, because even though I have not seen it complete, I assure you that the ending will be as predictable as in most of the series of this genre.

Shigeo is a young man with a rather regular appearance and personality, who does not stand out among his classmates or his family, but the reality is that "Mob", as he is also known, is a powerful psychic. Because of his striking power, he gets involved in all kinds of dangerous situations and must face terrible enemies.

Few new anime have hooked me like this one, maybe its premise is not the most interesting, but once I started watching it I could not stop, not only it has tremendously interesting fights, good animation and an excellent soundtrack, but the comedy that is handled during its two seasons is great and makes the chapters flow like water, in fact I think it is one of the strengths of this series, besides the charm of its main character.

Saitama is the strongest hero in the world, he can defeat any enemy with a single blow, but due to his appearance and his apathetic attitude, everyone thinks he is a fraud.

Some time ago I did a review of this anime in which I told you how much I enjoyed it, since I did it I have watched it once again and I really think it is one of the funniest shonen there is nowadays, actually the fights are not a big deal because you know that Saitama will arrive and with one punch he will save the day, but the way it mocks and satirizes the genre it belongs to is wonderful, it's predictable just to make fun of other shonen, because as I told you this genre has very established patterns and here they take care of ridiculing them all.

One of the greatest things about One-Punch man is Saitama himself, I will never get tired of saying how much I like the fact that he has such a common and non-threatening appearance because this completely breaks with the stereotypes of action heroes. I must admit that at first I didn't understand much, but once I realized that all the characters were there just to make fun of a stereotype, I loved it and started to simply enjoy and laugh at the witticisms of this series.

What would happen if we find a book in which if you write the name of a person dies a few seconds later? This is what happens to the young high school student Yagami Light, he finds a Death Note, which is the notebook with which the Shinigamis skew the lives of humans, however, Light is not an ordinary young man, he is a genius who will seek to use the notebook to free the world from criminals and evil people.

I must confess that I did not want to put this anime on the list, it is not the classic action and fighting anime, on the contrary, it is basically a Thriller and if you had asked me a couple of years ago I would have definitely classified it as a seinen, but after watching it earlier this year I definitely realize that it is aimed at a teenage audience. While the story is really interesting and turns into a crime drama almost from its first few chapters, I found the development of its characters to be completely childish.

I remember the first time I watched it I thought it was excellent, I even read the manga, excited by how much I had liked it, but this one really didn't survive the passage of time very well for me, the plot twists are still interesting and in general the premise of the story is still very good, but it has a very weak point from my point of view: the characters, the motivations of these seem quite implausible to me and there are even decisions made by them that I feel are completely out of the context that had been established for each one, nonsense and exaggerated attitudes are the order of the day in Death Note, sometimes I even felt pity for how the characters behaved, completely removed from reality and yes, I know it is an anime, but it is supposedly based in the real world and the characters, leaving out the Shinigamis, are real people who should have attitudes of real people.

Despite all the negative points I can mention about the characters, it's a pretty interesting series, which I enjoyed a lot and still enjoy, although now to a lesser extent, I think it's a great approach to more mature themes for an audience that is used to simple fighting plots.

Kenshin Himura es un virtuoso samurai retirado que busca superar su pasado y resarcir las atrocidades que cometió durante la guerra civil de la restauración Meiji en Japón. Retirado y arrepentido de sus asesinatos, Kenshin se convierte en un vagabundo que viaja intentando pasar desapercibido, mientras que ayuda a personas necesitadas, como forma de redención por todos sus asesinatos, en uno de esos encuentros conoce a la joven Kaoaru Kamiya, quien cambiará por completo su vida.

Mejor conocido en Latinoamérica como Samurai X, Rurouni Kenshin es uno de los animes que más veces he visto en mi vida y también uno de mis favoritos. Está ambientado en el siglo XIX en un Japón cambiante y conflictuado por las guerras, lo cual da pie a grandes enfrentamientos con espadas y técnicas ninjas y este sin duda es mi aspecto favorito de esta serie, las peleas son EXCELENTES, hay un arco muy famoso entre los fans llamado Kyoto-hen, que creo que tiene las peleas con espadas más emocionantes de todo el anime.

Al ser un anime basado en acontecimientos reales, las motivaciones de los personajes permiten al espectador identificarse con ellas, algunos buscan una vida sencilla, otros solamente sobrevivir la mala racha que están teniendo y la mayoría quiere adaptarse a todos los cambios sociales y políticos que está atravesando su país, incluso hay personajes basados en personas que realmente existieron, uno de ellos es el protagonista, que si bien en la serie no usan el mismo nombre, varios detalles en la historia indican que se trató de un samurái real.

Actualmente, se encuentra en desarrollo una nueva versión de este anime y aunque es uno de mis favoritos, creo que una nueva adaptación es completamente innecesaria, ya que esta versión es perfecta, la historia sigue siendo atractiva al igual que los personajes y la animación ha envejecido bastante bien a pesar de haber sido desarrollada en los años 90s, pero bueno, a pesar de considerarla innecesaria la veré para saber qué han hecho con esta historia tan bonita.

Kenshin Himura is a virtuous retired samurai who seeks to overcome his past and make amends for the atrocities he committed during the civil war of the Meiji restoration in Japan. Retired and repentant of his murders, Kenshin becomes a wanderer who travels trying to go unnoticed, while helping people in need, as a form of redemption for all his murders, in one of these encounters he meets the young Kaoaru Kamiya, who will completely change his life.

Better known in Latin America as Samurai X, Rurouni Kenshin is one of the anime that I have seen more times in my life and also one of my favorites. It is set in the 19th century in a changing and conflicted by wars Japan, which gives rise to great confrontations with swords and ninja techniques and this is undoubtedly my favorite aspect of this series, the fights are EXCELLENT, there is a very famous arc among fans called Kyoto-hen, which I think has the most exciting sword fights of all the anime.

Being an anime based on real events, the motivations of the characters allow the viewer to identify with them, some seek a simple life, others just survive the bad patch they are having and most want to adapt to all the social and political changes that their country is going through, there are even characters based on people who really existed, one of them is the protagonist, that although in the series do not use the same name, several details in the story indicate that it was a real samurai.

Currently, a new version of this anime is in development and although it is one of my favorites, I think a new adaptation is completely unnecessary, since this version is perfect, the story is still attractive as well as the characters and the animation has aged quite well despite having been developed in the 90s, but well, despite considering it unnecessary I will watch it to see what they have done with this beautiful story.

It tells the story of Seiya, a young orphan in charge of protecting Saori, the representation of the goddess Athena on earth, he and his other friends, the bronze knights, fight tirelessly against the evil that rises in the sanctuary and against anyone who seeks to disturb the peace of the earth.

This, without a doubt, is the anime I am most fond of and it is one that I have watched ad nauseam. It was present during my childhood and as I grew up I continued to watch it and now that I have a son I am just waiting for him to be old enough to introduce him to Seiya and his companions. The story is simple, but has elements that make it very attractive, such as the armor, the representation of the constellations and the presence of Greek mythology, in fact I think it was with this series that I first heard about the Greek gods, as you can imagine I was a child when I started watching it.

Although the plot is quite predictable and the characters somewhat generic, I love it because it represents in a very noble way the value of friendship and perseverance, which are reflected in every combat in which the knights of Athena are involved. One of the best things of this anime, if not the best, is its soundtrack, it is simply beautiful, the openings have certainly become classics and the themes that accompany the fights have a spectacular rhythm, but the ones that really stand out for me are the songs of the sad or melancholic moments, definitely the best and make the moments even more emotional, if Cowboy Bebop and its soundtrack GOD did not exist, this would be my favorite soundtrack of an anime series.

The earth is plagued by huge monsters that eat humans called "titans", which has forced mankind to take refuge inside large walled cities managing to lead a peaceful life inside for years, but one terrible day the titans managed to break through these walls and chaos and destruction came to the lives of all its inhabitants.

SNK is undoubtedly one of the most famous and recognized anime of recent years and with good reason. For me honestly it is on the borderline between shonen and seinen, although the truth is that you could say that the first seasons are aimed at a youth audience, while the later ones are clearly for a much more mature audience and this is what I love about Shingeki at the beginning we can have the idea that it is shonen more than it is just about human vs. titans fights, but as the seasons go by the plot gets more complicated and falls into a very interesting social-political conflict, although I understand that there are those who find the current course a bit boring, but I think it is excellent that they have not only stayed in an anime about fighting, but they have gone beyond and sought to do something different.

In addition to the interesting story, the characters mature throughout the seasons, they start as children until they become young adults, this transition is something that is very well captured and that makes the viewer get involved with them and feel empathy towards their problems and experiences, even though it is a completely fictitious world.

One of the things I like the most about this anime are the fights, the way the humans fight in the series to confront the titans is quite interesting, although this is where you can tell that it is a shonen and not a seinen, because despite being a fairly violent series it does not reach the grotesque to be considered for adults. Another strong point of SNK is undoubtedly the animation, perhaps not as outstanding as that of Kimetsu no Yaiba, but it is undoubtedly one of the best there is today in terms of visuals, plus the design of the characters and the titans makes it more attractive.

Definitely, it is a series that has earned its good reputation and although many compare it to Evangelion, I think it has its own merit.

Gon is a very skilled and determined boy who tirelessly seeks to become a hunter in order to meet his father, on the way he will find great adversities, but also great friends who will accompany him not only to become a hunter, but to live great adventures.

Leaving HxH in second place has cost me a lot because it is an anime that I have a great affection for the endearing of its characters, especially Gon, the protagonist, is one of the few protagonists of fighting anime that I do not dislike and that's because he is a charming boy and because the reason for his fight (to meet his dad) seems too tender, although as the story progresses the series becomes increasingly murky for our protagonists.

There are characters that are absurdly strong and here comes a point that I love about HxH, Gon is not the most powerful of them all, not even close, he is simply a kid with a lot of determination and potential, unlike most anime he is not the hero that saves the day and the responsibility of protecting everyone does not fall on his shoulders, this is something completely refreshing and different from all shonen where the protagonist is the big hero and the others can't do anything without him.

One of the things I like most about HxH is the way they portray friendship, most of the main characters have no family or belong to highly dysfunctional families, which makes them find in their companions a family by choice, making clear to us the importance of friendship and solidarity. In addition to that it teaches us the value of perseverance, in fact I think the latter is something that characterizes the protagonist and without that the series would lose much of its charm.

After losing their mother, the Elric brothers turn to alchemy to try to revive her, but in doing so they break the law of exchange equivalence, which causes them to suffer devastating consequences that will force them to search for the only thing that could help them: the philosopher's stone.

There could not be another anime in the first place, as much as I love HxH and I feel that Gon is like my son, the truth is that FMA is simply a marvel from start to finish, the world they present in which alchemy exists is tremendously interesting because not only are they limited to present fights with magic, but there is also a whole political and military conflict behind the actions of most of the characters which greatly enriches the development of the series.

The characters are presented in a simple but well defined way, with motivations and a background that makes us interested in them and empathize with many of the situations they go through. It is undoubtedly a reference when it comes to touching moments and full of nostalgia, having moments that have marked the anime fandom and that those of us who watched it will always remember.

Although it is a very good series, I must accept that I have only seen it a couple of times because although the story is a gem, it is also quite cruel and sad because practically everything that happens to those poor children from the first chapter are horrors and misfortunes, although it is certainly a series that sooner or later I will end up watching many more times because of its fantastic fights and excellent characters.

I think I don't need to give any explanation about the plot of DBZ, since most of you must be familiar with it, and if you are not, you are living under a rock. The reason why it does not have a specific place in the list is simple: it would not be fair to the others, this anime does hold a special place in the memory of many, whether you like or dislike anime you have most likely seen the adventures of Goku, I certainly did and although I do not currently consider it a great work, I must recognize that it is the father of many other stories that I enjoy, besides serving as a path opener for the shonen invasion in the West. Whether we like it or not, the reality is that it is a classic that should be respected as such, that's why I wanted to give it a special place, because without its influence, several of those I mention here might not even have existed.

And so friends we have reached the end of this extensive list, I hope you enjoyed it and comment, what are your favorite shonen?