The shonen anime world features some of anime's best series and protagonists, including legendary titles such as Dragon Ball Z and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, among others. These shonen heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and so do their unique powers and outfits, from bankai to the Rasengan to alchemy.
Shonen heroes always need something to wear, and their costumes help make them more visually distinct or even iconic. The hero should always stand out, and plenty of them have costumes or unique outfits to give them some visual flair. Some of these costumes are much more dazzling or practical than others.
10 Inosuke Hashibra's Outfit Is Rugged And Wild (Demon Slayer)
Most demon slayers wear an official uniform, and the flashier ones might wear a unique coat or cape over it, such as Kyojuro Rengoku's white coat with flame patterns. But where unique costumes are concerned, nothing in Demon Slayer can beat the rugged simplicity of Inosuke Hashibira's getup.
Inosukne doesn't wear anything from the actual demon slayer uniform. Instead, he crafted his own outfit consisting of animal fur pants, simple sandals, a bare chest, and most of all, that boar head to serve as a helmet and disguise. He really stands out in any scene, such an outfit is easy to move and fight in.
9 Joseph Joestar's First Outfit Is Cool And Honors His Friend (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
The second JoJo hero is the wily Joseph Joestar, and he has one of the most practical and creative outfits among the six Joestar heroes in the anime. Joseph's attire is made up of a tank top, a cool and colorful scarf, fingerless leather gloves, cool pants, and boots. But there's more.
Later on, after Caesar Zeppeli died to the Pillar Men, Joseph donned that fallen hero's colorful headband to honor his memory and vow vengeance against those Aztec vampires. Joseph's outfit became truly complete after that.
8 Raphtalia's Outfit Is Both Cute & Practical (The Rising Of The Shield Hero)
The tanuki girl Raphtalia chose an outfit that smartly balances aesthetics with function. On a visual level, her outfit is charmingly girly and colorful without being gaudy, since her attire has a short skirt and some red fabric while also featuring drab colors for contrast. She also wears tall laced boots that are both charming and easy to move in.
Raphtalia's attire is rugged and appropriate for long treks on the road, and based on her agile movements in battle, Raphtalia isn't hampered by this outfit at all. She can easily run, jump, and duck while wearing this charming outfit, and that's how she's survived all these Waves.
7 Yor Forger Has A Cool Black Dress (Spy X Family)
The deadly thorn princess, Yor Forger, wears a stunning outfit when undertaking missions for her clients. Unlike her colorful day clothes, Yor's assassination getup is solid black with a few gold accessories in her hair, making her like a well-dressed grim reaper. Beautiful, but deadly.
Yor's outfit, like Raphtalia's, is visually stunning while also being easy to move around in. Yor can leap, tumble, spring, and duck in this attire with no trouble, and even her high heels are barely an issue. She did break a heel once, but that was an exception. Otherwise, it's the perfect assassination getup.
6 Naruto Uzumaki's First Outfit Is Iconic (Naruto)
On one level, it's rather strange for a shinobi to wear a bright orange jumpsuit, but based on the Konoha 11's other outfits in part 1, being colorful is evidently not an issue at all. Just look at Sakura's bright red getup and Ino's violet clothes. So, Naruto's colors help make him distinct rather than foolish during a mission.
Naruto's outfit, as expected, is easy for him to move around in, with nothing snagging or getting torn while he performs incredible feats of taijutsu. Naruto's attire also includes his iconic Leaf Village headband and, of course, some spiral shapes to allude to his mother's native ninja clan.
5 Erza Scarlet's Default Armor Looks Good (Fairy Tail)
Some members of the Fairy Tail guild have rather silly or gimmicky outfits, such as Evergreen's Tinkerbell-like costume or Gray's habit of stripping to his underwear. Then there's the mighty Erza Scarlet, an S-ranked wizard who is always ready for battle.
Erza has many outfits and armor suits, but by default, she wears stylish and practical armor from the waist up. Then she has a knee-length blue skirt with knee-high black boots, an outfit that helps her stand out without looking gaudy. It's clearly very comfortable, too.
4 Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai Outfit Is Just Too Cool (Bleach)
Bleach's star, Ichigo Kurosaki, lives a double life and has a wardrobe to match. He wears school uniforms and cool street clothes outside of combat, and when he journeys to the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo to fight, he'll be in his Soul form and wears costumes to match.
Whenever Ichigo activates his bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, his outfit changes into a sleek, cooler version of the standard Soul Reaper uniform. Ichigo's iconic bankai outfit includes a tuxedo-like top half and a long black cape with a ragged hem, and most of all, he can move very easily in this attire. His bankai is all about speed.
3 Edward Elric Dresses Sharply (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
The young state alchemist Edward Elric never wears an Amestris military uniform in the story of FMA: Brotherhood. Instead, Edward chose his own shonen costume, starting with his black jacket, his dark pants, and his slightly oversized leather boots. He also sometimes wears white gloves.
Most of all, Edward's cool getup includes his bright red coat, which makes him more visually distinct while also bearing Nicholas Flamel's symbol on the back. This anime is all about arcane symbology, after all, from transmutation circles to the ouroboros.
2 Goku's Gi Outfit Is Legendary (Dragon Ball Z)
The famed shonen hero Son Goku sometimes wears ordinary human clothes, as will Vegeta, but he won't wear a Hawaiian shirt into battle. Instead, Goku is best known for wearing his turtle school gi outfit, an orange and blue ensemble that is perfect for mortal combat.
Goku's gi outfit is almost like light armor at times, and it's very easy and comfortable for this Saiyan hero to move around in, which is essential. And of course, this outfit's vivid colors and kanji patches make it even more iconic and beloved in the anime community.
1 Katsuki Bakugo Designed His Costume Wisely (My Hero Academia)
The superhero anime My Hero Academia is packed with cool hero and villain costumes, as expected. The very best costume belongs to Katsuki Bakugo, who had both aesthetics and function in mind when he submitted his design schematics. This costume is easily one of shonen's best.
Bakugo's hero costume is aggressive and colorful, with black, green, and orange patterns all over it and a cool face mask to match. This costume is easy to move around in and even includes cool boots, and most of all, it features two grenade-shaped bracers that store Bakugo's sweat-fuel while also augmenting his Explosion Quirk – an amazing costume all around.