Shounen Anime are a major staple within the anime industry. They are many people's entryway into the wonderfully strange world of waifus and samurai and are easily its most financially successful industry. It is a world full of its own pillars and standards that many still try to subvert if not, at least, emulate.
As the recent decade comes to close with many new shounen series peeking out the door, fans are now living in a transitional period that will rake in a new crop of shounen heroes while saying goodbye to a few others. Being a crystal ball looking into the future of the industry, this list will look at a few anime that will almost assuredly be around for the next decade (& a few that will probably disappear completely).
10 Disappear: The Promised Neverland
A sad prediction, especially given this series' rising success as manga as well as its early success as anime, it is just not in this series' DNA to be an industry giant for the next decade. The most obvious reason being that it's already ending soon.
Not an adventure that likes to stop and smell the roses, this series was on a steady track for a clear ending by its creators' design. Only planned for around 20 or 30 manga volumes, this series will almost assuredly be a fun and memorable ride but not one that will likely see fans off at the end of the decade.
9 Stay: Dragon Ball
This prediction is purely based on the idea that Shueisha, Toei, and any other industry willing to put its hand on it will try to milk the adventures of Goku and the Z Fighters for as long as they can. It was surprising enough that this series was revitalized into a successful movie and even more so when those were used to fuel a continuation of the manga and anime.
For better or worse, Dragon Ball has become more franchise than story; and while that means plenty more content to come from this decade and possibly the next, the quality is still kind of left in the weeds. Here's to over 9000 years of Dragon Ball to come.
8 Disappear: We Never Learn
This isn't to say that We Never Learn is a bad or dying series as is. It currently ranks as Shounen Jump's top comedy series, and its anime adaptations seem to be coming in quick succession. However, as much success as the series has at the moment, there really isn't strong evidence that it as a comedy/romance series could last very long.
Series like this outside of Jump have a hard time lasting just a couple of seasons. Even Nisekoi, Shounen Jump's past giant for a comedy series, hasn't been renewed for a Season 3, with Season 2 growing older and much more forgotten as years go by. Just going by history, one should try and appreciate the tutoring days of Nariyuki and friends while they can. They may be graduating sooner than later.
7 Stay: Black Clover
Black Clover, right out of the gates, received massive season orders and gotten an early cult following as one of the shounen elite's most promising series. It consistently still ranks among the top of Shounen Jump's weekly rankings and has already surpassed 100 episodes within the anime.
While Asta and his magical adventures with the Black Bulls show no signs of stopping, it is only customary that studios will try to keep the train running as long as they can.
6 Disappear: Fairy Tail
Though Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is still ongoing and there is plenty of reason to see it getting adapted into an anime the same way Fairy Tail has, plenty of fan fatigue and a wide range of new series don't really bode well for much of it getting past the next few years. While its initial run was full of plenty of action-packed and heartfelt memories for is faithful fans, Fairy Tail always had a hard time standing out as an elite series deserving of consistent funding.
While studios could certainly be satisfied with the faithful that have stuck with the series thus far, there is significantly more potential with going after more of the modern age's strong wave of fresh, original titles.
5 Stay: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Bursting out of the gates of the past decade with a widely beloved anime, consistent top rankings with Weekly Shounen Jump, and even a rare instance of surpassing One Piece in yearly sales, everyone will want to keep Demon Slayer around as long as possible. This fantastical adventure calls back to the stoic era of Japanese samurai, blending old-world sensibilities with refreshing, supernatural lore of its own.
With a compelling story and unique characters meeting animation production to blow anyone's mind, there's not much to suggest that Demon Slayer will even be ending by the end of the new decade.
4 Disappear: The Seven Deadly Sins
To be fair, The Seven Deadly Sins has had a tumultuous production history. While partnering with Netflix may have initially seemed like a good idea, it inevitably restricted its core audience while also stifling release on a competitive basis. That's not even mentioning the wide gap between Season 1 and 2 and the disappointing production and pacing elements that resulted from it.
The Seven Deadly Sins is certainly a fan favorite whose manga alone could fuel fans throughout the years; but with the anime not doing it much favors, the tale of Meliodas and his talking pig may not exactly be a priority to keep around long term.
3 Stay: One Piece
Eiichiro Oda and his editors recently have projected the series to end within the next five years, with current developments within the current arc suggesting that the decades-long adventure to find Gold Roger's treasure may really be within its endgame. However, this isn't the first time that Oda has promised to end One Piece within 5 years.
That was his initial goal, and he's been adding years on top every time he gets a new idea. That's not even mentioning the extended stories of Naruto and Dragon Ball. One Piece being the most successful shounen series of all time, there is no way that companies are letting the experience die just when the initial story does. Fans should expect the anime to go on for some time as well as a couple of prologue movies and, in all likeliness, a spin-off.
2 Disappear: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Going the way of Dragon Ball GT, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations just hasn't landed quite the same as the old series did. While the anime may still be going strong, it still doesn't have the same buzz to match the other smash hits of every year. The manga itself has also been dragging competitively.
Where Naruto once lived comfortably around the top 10's and once as part of the Big Three in manga sales, his son can only dream of one day breaking the 10's. Though it has been a fun continuation of a fan favorite, don't expect the same, long-running success moving forward.
1 Stay: My Hero Academia
Standing at the top of Shonen Jump's and Studio Bones' priority list is the "smash" hit series that has taken the world by storm. The story of the aspiring hero Deku, as he tries to move past his human failings and work with the inherited will of the world's greatest hero, is one that has enraptured fans with its colorful world, "quirky" characters, and a ton of that anime action we all love to see done with some pretty high tier animation.
This series has had some of the most successful and successive season orders ever seen within the modern generation, and it's been bulking up as a franchise with a variety of new games and movies coming out every year. Suffice to say, My Hero Academia won't be going down without a fight.