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One Piece is a classic, long-running shonen anime. It’s full of crazy, never-ending adventures, amazing fights, and fascinating heroes and villains alike. As a highly popular manga and anime series, the One Piece franchise is nothing to sneeze at. However, there are other anime that rival One Piece for popularity.
While One Piece is undeniably a classic, there are many other anime that fans can enjoy even more than One Piece. These series have more cohesive plots, realistic characters, and a clear goal in mind when it comes to storytelling.
10 Yu Gi Oh! — Card Games Come To Life
Yu Gi Oh! follows the adventures of Yugi Moto, who possesses a millennium puzzle that holds his alter ego, a skilled Egyptian games master. Yugi and his friends embark on numerous adventures involving the magical card game, Duel Monsters, which often result in the fate of the world on their shoulders. Yu Gi Oh! may have dragged on at times, but fans enjoy watching the trading card game come to life.
9 Attack On Titan — Everyone’s Favorite These Days
Attack on Titan follows the mold of anime like Hunter x Hunter where it retains many of the classic elements of shonen anime while concurrently deconstructing it. Attack on Titan follows the story of Eren Yeager as he is caught up in the destruction caused by rampaging titans.
Attack on Titan starts out in a traditional way and seemingly goes on course to follow a fairly predictable path to other shonen anime. However, Attack on Titan takes so many different twists and turns that it really becomes its own genre.
8 The Prince Of Tennis — An Incredible Sports Anime
The Prince of Tennis is an important anime because it ushered in a craze of sports-themed anime. It uses many of the tropes present in shonen anime in terms of wielding power and employing interesting moves, but places it in the context of sports. In The Prince of Tennis, master tennis students hone their skills and employ their strategy the same way ninjas in Naruto would.
7 Shaman King — A Forgotten Classic
Shaman King follows Yoh Akusara and his ability to summon super-powerful beings known as Shamans. The fights that ensue are incredible, stunning, and downright fun to watch.
Many fans enjoy how Shaman King incorporates mythology and culture into the anime, namely with the shaman-wielding experience. It feels like the viewers learn something new and interesting in every fight.
6 Bleach — Amazing Fights With An Equally Awesome Story
Although Bleach has a lot of filler Bleach is still one of the most popular shonen series out there. Admittedly, many of its themes and ideas aren't new to the genre — teens wielding supernatural powers, etc.
However, it was how Bleach is created that makes it special. It depicts highly stylized fight scenes which are a thrill to watch and has an amazing story. Bleach is an emotional rollercoaster throughout the entire journey.
5 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood — A Shonen Everyone Agrees is Amazing
Many anime fans claim that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the best anime of all time. It follows the trend of shonen anime that don't try to act so much like a shonen. It always had a look and feel to it that was unique and like no other anime at the time.
In a lot of ways, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the antithesis to One Piece. At 64 episodes, there is no filler whatsoever; each episode is integral to the story. When there are anime that go on and on, a smaller number of episodes can be quite refreshing.
4 Dragon Ball — An Anime Classic
In many ways, Dragon Ball was the anime series that started them all. It set the template for how shonen would be made for years to come: extensive training and power at all costs — but learning to use that power responsibly and to use it to help your comrades.
Mangaka Akira Toriyama split Dragon Ball into different parts, as the characters age and go through new stages of their lives.
3 Naruto — The Current Generation’s Dragon Ball
Naruto came dangerously close to what One Piece did — that is, go on with its story until there was seemingly no end in sight. Fans worried about this, but Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto decided to end the series after a nearly twenty-year run.
Fans were satisfied with Naruto's conclusion. Kishimoto decided to continue the series with a sequel — Boruto — which follows the lives of Naruto's next generation.
2 Hunter X Hunter — A Togashi Classic
While the Hunter x Hunter manga is longer, the Hunter x Hunter anime is a relatively short shonen that many fans consider to be the best of them all. From three-dimensional characters, themes of teamwork, overcoming the odds, and captivating villains and anti-heroes, Hunter x Hunter has something for everyone. Hunter x Hunter is benefited by its razor-sharp detail regarding the dominant power system, Nen.
1 Yu Yu Hakusho — The Greatest Shonen Anime
Yu Yu Hakusho proved that an anime does not need to be excessively long to be good. In fact, it can be rather short, even for shonen standards. At around 140 episodes, Yu Yu Hakusho is a shonen anime that encompasses amazing characterizations, wickedly entertaining story arcs, and meaningful moments in a short span.
Yu Yu Hakusho is a triumph of anime that is seeing a resurgence in popularity; a Netflix live-action adaption is in the works.