Demon Slayer was an anime that took shounen fans by a storm. Even those who weren’t fans or had never watched the series, knew of it simply because of how often its fanart, quotes, and gifs were shared on popular social media sites. Although the story is nothing unique that can be boasted about, the strength of the anime lies in its solid animation and its gripping narrative.
For those fans who are done watching the show and feel a void in their lives, they needn’t worry anymore. This list will discuss the 10 best recommendations that are closest to their fav shounen anime!
10 Dororo
This is yet another extremely popular shounen show, which aired very recently. It focuses on the life of a young boy, who is abandoned by his father because of his greed, and has all his senses snatched from him by demons.
When he grows up, he swears revenge on everyone who has wronged him, including the demons. With every demon he defeats, he regains a part of himself. On his quest, he finds a little boy called Dororo. Taking pity on the boy, he decides to look after him, and thus begins an unusual partnership between these two lonely souls.
9 Hunter X Hunter (2011)
The protagonist of this anime is an extremely young (12 year old) Gon Freecss, whose only aim is to become the best Hunter (a sort of a bounty hunter) there is out there. With hopes of finding his father (who had abandoned him as a child), Gon soon realizes things aren’t as easy as he had assumed.
On his journey, the little boy comes across some quirky characters like ex-assassin Killua, the vengeful Kurapika and the talkative doctor-in-training Leorio. Together, they decide to take the Hunter Exam, and while doing so, they constantly face many (mis)adventures.
8 Attack On Titan
Even if one is a casual anime fan, it is hard to not know about Attack on Titan, which is arguably one of the most popular exports of Japan to the Western world. The story is set in an alternate reality, where humanity is brought to its near-extinction because of giant humanoid creatures called Titans.
Humans now live behind walls, afraid to set their foot into the world beyond. Within these walls, humanity is protected by the Survey Corps, an elite military unit, which our protagonist Eren decides to join in order to serve humanity. But all is not as it seems, and Eren soon realizes there are forces much bigger than he is aware of, who are out there, wanting to destroy the last traces of humanity.
7 Black Clover
Yuno and Asta were orphans who were raised together. As young kids, they always dreamt of becoming the Wizard King (the strongest mage in their country). When they grew up, differences arise between the two due to the fact that Yuno is clearly a more gifted mage.
One day, Yuno is attacked and in his bid to save his friend, Asta unleashes his inner emotions. In a fit of rage, he’s able to defeat the enemy and he is gifted the Black Clover, which is a five-leaf clover Grimoire. After that fight, the two best friends sort out their differences and once again set out on a journey to become the Wizard King.
6 Blue Exorcist
Teenager Rin Okumura lives an ordinary life by all accounts, till one day his world turns upside down when demons decide to ambush him and his family. As he is the son of Satan, the demons want him to return to his father to help him conquer more worlds.
However, Rin refuses to help his father and is hell bent on holding on to his human half. Thus, he decides to train in order to become an exorcist, just like his over-achieving honor-student elder brother, Yukio Okumura. Watch this one for its fantastic animation, if not for anything else!
5 D.Gray-man
The Millennium Earl resurrects the souls of the dead, called Akuma. The only way to save such souls is to exorcise them, and Allen Walker is a young man who is part of the General Cross, an organization dedicated to exorcising such souls.
Blessed with an eye that can immediately see the suffering souls of an Akuma, as well as an arm that is a weapon in itself, Allen and his friends go on a massively dangerous mission to stop the Earl once and for all.
4 Bleach
The day, when a spirit attacks Ichigo Kurosak’s family, is the day he decides to become a Soul Reaper. He has only one goal in mind – to annihilate evil spirits. Guided by his mentor Rukia Kuchiki (who protected his family and offered to give her powers to Ichigo), the young man embarks on his mission.
He is joined by his friends Uryuu Ishida, Yasutora Sado and Orihime Inoue, all of whom have different sets of abilities that help track down and defeat as many Hollows (evil spirits) as he can.
3 Claymore
This is an excellent choice for those who are tired of seeing women being driven to the sidelines in shoune shows, while young boys get to do all the exciting fights and adventure seeking. Claymore focuses on a group of artificially created super-girls (who are part yoma), whose only job is to protect villagers from evil spirits and monsters, in exchange for money.
However, one day the Claymore Clare’s life changes forever when she saves young Raki’s life and the young boy decides to tag along with her on her journey.
2 Seraph Of The End
Vampire lovers can rejoice, for this is an anime that not only has vampires but a lot of magical weapons and action filled fight sequences as well. In a world where vampires treat humans as humans used to treat their cattle, a group of humans decide to fight back.
However, the protagonist Yuuichirou has an ulterior motive – to “save” his childhood friend Mikaela Hyakuya who is now a vampire. Will he end up betraying his human friends in order to protect one vampire friend?
1 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The biggest thread of commonality between FMA:B and Demon Slayer is the fact that in both series, the protagonist is motivated by the love of a sibling, where he makes it his life’s purpose to save them no matter what the cost.
While the FMA:B anime is serious in its entirety, it does have its lighthearted moments (and a touch of romance as well). Well written characters, a fast paced action-thriller and amazing fight sequences is what makes this show worth a watch.