I am the classic American case of someone who got into anime to begin with through watching DBZ on TV, and that show remains one of my all-time favourites even after rewatching it recently. Many critique the genre as being "style over substance", however I find this argument misguided as I don't believe it proper to gauge animated works based solely on writing quality; the visual element of a visual medium is very important and these shows tend to excel at that, even if you ignore that there are several battle shounen that also have engrossing narratives. It isn't easy to come up with superb animation, satisfying fight choreography, and good visual direction even if the show has nothing else going for it.
Anywho, rant aside, I'll get into the main meat and bones of the post now.
SOME REVIEWS
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My relation with this "series" is rather estranged at the moment, as I view everything from the post-Battle of Gods revival to be largely pretty bad and soulless material that exists mainly to sell toys. Toriyama-sensei's death has softened my outright virtriol a little though, as I am glad we got to get more stuff from him before he passed on. The original manga is of course incredible and absolutely stands the test of time.
I am not as much of a manga reader, and one common issue I encounter with a lot of them is that they overuse speedlines and other particle effects to the point where it becomes difficult to parse what is going on which can then break your focus and take you out of a scene. This is doubly so with action-oriented anime since combat is fast-paced so if you zone out it really kills the mood. This will never happen to you while reading Dragon Ball though, because every panel is so easy to follow and understand while containing very creative and engrossing fight sequences.
For the anime adaptations, the original Funimation dubs are iconic but with respect for their actual quality somewhat lack and mischaracterise the dialog. The most egregious example is probably Goku, who has many of his lines changed to fit in line more with the typical characterisation of Western superheroes which is not very true to his actual personality. The original 1980s tv shows also suffer from ridiculously dragged out pacing, see the infamous "5 Minutes" for proof of that.
If you're interested in getting into the show, I would personally suggest watching a fan recut of the 1986 TV anime which you can find pre-patched on Nyaa. Then watch Dragon Ball Kai, which is basically an official recut of Z. Kai's dub is also substantially more accurate, if you want to have that for the oldfag experience. The writing can be a bit spotty at times, though I think the plot "holes" tend to be rather overstated as they only really crop up when the time travel shenangians and Buu arc shenangians come into the story and even there they are relatively few in number.
The show also underutilises it's human cast and devolves a bit into Saiyan wank by the time the Cell and especially Buu arcs roll around. This is due to Toriyama writing himself into a corner with the power levels, which he then proceeded to make worse by introducing zenkai boosts and the SSJ multipliers. The early going of the series pioneers the concept of the "tournament arc" (I know about Kinnikuman, but it isn't used the same way there as it is here), where martial arts contestants compete hand-to-hand in a controlled environment. All 3 of the DB arcs are fantastic, and seeing the fights gradually increase in scale and scope while still remaining confined to the format is very entertaining. I do also like how early DB fights are more much strategic, relying on the mastery of technique rather than the ki-blast/punch spam.
Yu Yu Hakusho
This is probably my favourite battle series of all-time, edging out Dragon Ball by a hair. I watched this for the first time in 2024 and went through 100 episodes in 6 days (including 33 in one day), a binge high score that I am not likely to ever top. This was Yasuhiro Togashi's first series, and compared to his later work focuses more on delivering engrossing combat and character writing as opposed to a grand overarching narrative or the copious amounts of worldbuilding present in HxH.
The anime is almost the definitive way to watch this one, as it adds material that helps soften the unfortunate ending. Togashi later in the production process of this began to suffer from health issues, which caused him to cut the final arc short. The concept of the Three Kings arc is truly incredible, and it is such a shame that we never got to see it fully play out.
As far as the combat goes, this one is probably the most like Dragon Ball that I've found. Ridiculous power escalation that comes out of nowhere but is incredibly kino and adds a lot of stakes to the fights? Check. Tournament arcs? Well it has the best tournament arc ever, so check. Technique-based combat that actually feels dynamic and up in the air similar to early DB? Very much a check. A great example of this is the Hiei vs Zeru fight, where Zeru is clearly conventionally stronger but Hiei is able to pull out the match off the back of technique mastery. It's essentially all of the good from DB with none of the bad.
The show also contains engrossing sequences and fight choreography, and strong visual direction thanks to the efforts of Noriyuki Abe who is also known for his work on Ninku and Bleach. The characters themselves are also very interesting and multifaceted compared to most titles in this genre, with all of the big 4 being very good in their own unique way. You never really get the sense that any of their power is unearned, they all have to overcome their own personal demons in order to reach the heights that they do.
This one is almost everything I'd ever want in a battle series. Were it not for the unfortunate rushjob that is the final arc, I would consider this a 10/10 series but as is I'll still afford it a 9.5. If you have any interest at all in battle shounen, this one is a must watch and it has a basically perfect, filler-free anime adaptation to boot.
Soul Eater
Soul Eater was the third anime that I ever watched, and in my eyes it's 1st OP remains unsurpassed 15 years and 2000 hours of watchtime later. Featuring awesome halloweeny aesthetics and later receiving a pretty solid English dub, it's no surprise that this one got so popular in the West while the scene and emo craze was still in vogue. The animation work was done by the always-incredible Bones; though 2008 was still somewhat early for digital animation, this one puts most shows that released last season to shame.
Not only does it look great and sound amazing with it's stylish OST in addition to the banger OPs and EDs, the characters are also very likeable as well. It's to my knowledge the only fairly popular battle series with a female lead (as in LEAD LEAD, she's basically the main character), and Maka is a great character with very human problems.
Not only is the main core cast of Maka/Soul, Death/Thompson Sisters, and Black Star/Tsubaki awesome, but the side characters also are really interesting. Crona is, unfortunately, literally me. Dr Stein is fucking awesome holy fuck how on earth do they make a side character with as much development as he gets? Pretty much all of the side characters even outside of these two obvious highlights have one distinctive quality or another. Medusa is a fanastic villain that really makes you hate her. The humour is also great at times, and having 3 competing factions isn't something you often see in a Battle Shounen; it's usually just 1 good team vs 1 bad team at most. This creates a real sense of hecticness and frenzy when shit gets real.
The show is criticised for diverging from the manga (which I admittedly have not read yet, so keep that in mind), but personally I think that most of the anime-original stuff is pretty awesome. Like seriously, I want you mangafags to look me in the eye and tell me the Death City mecha scece isn't the coolest shit on Earth.
I will admit that the ending is perhaps a bit unsatsifying as it's well known that Bones ran out of budget and had to wrap it up earlier than they wanted to. But I think the calling it the worst ending ever and stuff like people used to (still do?) is a bit overblown. If you approach it from a solely power-scaling/logical perspective... I guess sure? But I never really thought that was Soul Eater's appeal to begin with, and I think the ending does serve the main thematic purpose of the Optimisim vs Pessimism dichtohomy underlying the madness of the show quite well.
Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin has got some of the very best storytelling I've seen in one of these shows. The earlygoing (of the 1996 anime, don't bother with the remake) is a bit slow paced, with the first 30 episodes of the anime essentially being Monster-of-the-Week set in Meiji-era Japan. But once Saito appears in the story, shit quickly gets real.
Kenshin is absolutely one of the best-written protagonists in shounen, and the rest of the cast is also quite likeable. Saito essentially serves as a foil to his worldview, which was formulated by his time as a hired assassin during the Boshin War. The duality of Kenshin's light-hearted character and his exceptional combat sense is great, as is his refusal to renege on his principles even when they come at a disadvantage to himself in a life or death situation. But it does not solely fellate these principles either, it is sure to point out that this stubborn refusal of his, while admirable, also comes at great risk to himself and others that he cares about.
Okita and especially Shishio are also fascinating villain characters. Kenshin in general tends to explore more "mature" thematics in it's story, such as the morality of killing and also the morality of Kenshin's pacifism, adjusting to a new era as history continues it's long march/the necessity to kill the past, and Shishio's starkly contrasting worldview of natural selection. It does this without sacrificing much of anything visually compared to it's peers, with very awesome and strategic fight sequences.
In Shishio you perhaps see what Kenshin may have become if not for the decisions he made. And of course, this entire time I've been dancing around the OVAs, which take on a much more grave tone than the tv series deos . They were directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who puts together one of the most engrossing directing performances I've ever seen in both Reflection and Trust and Betrayal chock full of symbolism, appropriate shots and absolutely gorgeous frames. This crash course in anime directorship is backed by absolutely incredible high budget cel-art that we will probably never see anything like again.
If you're not sold from the description I gave here of the '96 anime, go put on Trust and Betrayal and watch it's 2 hour runtime to completion. You're technically supposed to watch it after the first 62 of the 1996 anime, but it works standalone if you really don't want to. I don't think it's an exaggeration to call Trust and Betrayal my favourite animated work of all-time, true perfection in every sense of the word. Reflection is pretty awesome as well.
Unfortunately, Rurouni Kenshin never received a proper full adaptation. The remake aims to do this, but still has not made it to the unadapted arc yet and is a massive step down in every facet compared to the original anime. The original anime unfortunately got stuck in filler hell after the Kyoto Arc (ends at episode 62), shitting out 34 rather lacklustre episodes before being cancelled before it could adapt the final story arc. The proper watch order is as follows -
Rurouni Kenshin 1996 - Episode 1-62 (there are technically a few more filler eps in here that you could skip, but most are reasonably high quality and don't seem out of place compared to the trash that comes later. Episode 63 also isn't bad if you want a little more finality.)
Rurouni Kenshin OVA - Trust and Betrayal (prequel, but appears in the manga after the anime ends to serve as setup for the Jinchu arc)
Ruruoni Kenshin Reflection OVA - (Anime original ending made in lieu of the tv show's cancellation. This one's a bit controversial but personally I enjoyed it and think the hate is overblown.)
Since I have not yet finished Kenshin's final arc, I struggle a bit with where to rank this but it's definitely at least in my overall anime top 10. Watch it! I'll have to come back and make a follow up post on this one whenever I finally get around to reading it's final arc via the manga.
REVIEW END
Whew.. and here I wanted to keep this section to brief summaries. Guess when I get started talking about my favourite anime I can't seem to stop! Lol. I plan to use this thread as a way to force myself to review other battle shounen as well, and will be posting more opinion pieces on these shows in the future but I wanted to get my 4 favourites out of the way first.
Currently I am reading Slam Dunk, which is incredible and seems to be poised to soon form a sort of Battle Shounen quintfecta with the 4 in this OP soon at the rate that it's going. I watched the 101 episode anime in 2024, and honestly I do not think the adaptation does it justice. It's amazing and I can't wait to leave a review for it. Feel free to leave your own opinions or thoughts on other shounen series, or to comment on mine. See ya in other world!
