Discover which are the most important Japanese shonen series to watch.
anime is a animation genre very concrete that has its origin in the Japanese manga. The themes are very varied, although stories of action, romance or science fiction. The first are aimed at a young male audience in a traditional way. Called shōnen and they have large doses of action, where you can find titles like One Piece, Dragon Ball, Death Note and many more. It is currently the most prolific genre and here is a list with the best action anime of history.
Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda are two referring mangakas in the action genre. They have opened the way for other series that are successful today and with fewer chapters behind their backs. A good example of this is Attack on Titan or Demon Slayer. Within this type of series we can distinguish fighting and fighting anime, since the confrontations are a fundamental element in the plot. In the following selection you have the best action anime you can watchboth classic and current.
Top 10 best action anime you can watch
The history of Japanese animation is full of many successes that you can’t miss. Here are some of the longest unfinished series, as well as the best finished anime like Death Note or Fullmetal Alchemist.
Death Note
The protagonist of Death Note has a peculiar black notebook
Rare is the one who doesn’t know Death Note. A Shinigami named Ryuk he is bored and drops his notebook on Earth. There he is picked up by a high school student who soon discovers the amazing powers from the notebook. She has the ability to kill anyone after writing her name on it. Light Yagami uses it to do justice in the worldbut little by little it gets out of hand and he becomes a serial killer.
The famous detective l. will begin a chase through the mind of the murderer to discover his true identity. The anime has a big debate about the human instincts, evil and that narrow line between sanity and madness. death note is a very short series which can be seen in a week and will not leave you indifferent.
full metal alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Edward Elric Prepared For Battle
The story of Fullmetal Alchemist is so well designed that it has become a timeless classic. The Elric brothers study alchemy at home. one day his mother seriously ill and they cannot prevent his death. Young people want to use the power of alchemy to resurrect his motherregardless of the law of equivalent exchange.
So the process fails and big brother Edward loses his left leg, while the little one loses the whole body. Edward ends up sacrificing his arm to save your brother’s soul and now they seek the Philosopher’s Stone to reverse the effects.
My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero)
My Hero Academia is made up of heroes and villains
Boku no Hero takes place in a world where 80% of the population has developed superpowers known as Quirks. The other 20% are normal human beings, among which is the protagonist Izuku Midoriya. This event has caused heroes and villains to appear all over the world who constantly fight, so Midoriya is clear which side do you want to be on?.
He dreams of becoming best hero in the world, but without gift it is difficult to get into UA high school. It is a academy where they train users with Quirk. One day, his hero All Might gives him his Quirk: the one for all. This allows you to enter school, the first step in reaching your goals.
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Mikasa shocked by the massacre she sees in the Attack on Titan war
Attack on Titan is a very raw story It takes place in an apocalyptic world. The Titans have destroyed part of humanity and just a few survivors they face them. They built huge walls to defend the population until one day the biggest titan ever seen and attacked the city. Eren Jaeger, Mikasa and Armin saw the bloody denouement and they promised that they would eliminate all the titans.
The three friends enlist in the Survey Corps. They manage to graduate and face their first titans, whose only weak point is the nape. It is not known the rise of the titans, but more and more intelligent creatures appear that have a strategy. Attack on Titan has a fascinating narrative and good doses of action.
one piece
One Piece is a pirate story
One of our favorite series could not be missing from this list. Eiichiro Oda created One Piece and it already has more than 1000 chapters, but it is not finished. The public execution of Goal D.Roger began the great Age of Piracy by discovering that there is a treasure called One Piece. No one has ever seen it, but everyone takes to the sea in search of wealth and fame.
Monkey D Luffy he wants to follow in the footsteps of Gol D. Roger and his friend Shanks, a renowned pirate. He accidentally eats one Devil Fruit which gives you incredible abilities. It makes his body rubbery and at the same time loses his ability to swim. The child will become an adult and form a crew to embark on the greatest adventure.
Naruto
Naruto is the great protagonist of his homonymous anime and manga
If you are looking for action, Naruto it’s a good option. Although the series ended years ago, now the story of Boruto is being told. Naruto Uzumaki is a young man feared and hated in his village because the Nine-Tailed Fox is locked inside. This demon devastated the village 12 years ago and the leader sacrificed himself to seal the demon inside Naruto.
The young man wants to become the best shinobi of history and be the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village. He thus begins his training to graduate from the ninja academy, where to learn very powerful techniques. Then he will form a group with his friends sasuke and sakura that will accompany you for a good part of your adventure.
dragonball
Goku has transcended through time, becoming the icon of the Shonen genre
It’s okay, Dragon Ball needs no introduction. It is a series that still airing, but their seasons can be viewed independently. It is divided into various sagas that follow the experiences of Goku, an alien boy who arrives on Earth when he is just a baby. In Dragon Ball he begins training him in Martial Artsbeing a series very focused on the fight.
The first season chronicles the search for the Dragon Balls, an artifact that can grant wishes. Over the years, Goku grows up and becomes the strongest saiyan. Earth is often threatened by villains like Cell, Frieza or the Androidswhich will face both the protagonist and his friends.
cowboy bebop
Cowboy Bebop is a classic of the science fiction and action genre.
Among the oldest anime, there is a essential jewel called Cowboy Bebop. An old school series inspired by the detective cinema mixed with science fiction. Spike Spiegel is a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who now pilots the Bebop ship. He is a bounty hunter who travels through the solar system in search of new missions.
Little by little, he meets new members of his crew as Faye Valentine or Ed. The action takes place in the year 2071, but 50 years ago an explosion smashed half the moon. This cataclysm killed millions of people and created the first colonies to escape from Earth.
bleach
Ichigo is the protagonist of Bleach.
If you like the Japanese folklore and mysticism, Bleach is a perfect adventure. Ichigo Kurosaki is a teenager with a strange capacity, since he can interact with spirits. But one night she meets a shinigami named Rukia Kuchiki who is surprised to see that Ichigo can see her. Rukia is an embodiment of God of Deathso it takes care of transfer the soul of the dead to the afterlife
A hollow suddenly appears, seriously damaging Rukia. Get transfer their powers to Ichigo, something that is forbidden for shinigami. When the members of the Soul Society find out what has happened, they send a capture order for Rukia. That is where the plot of Bleach really begins, a very extensive series made up of 7 seasons.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Tanjiro and Nezuko learn to use their abilities
Other very current series that all anime fans liked. Tanjiro Kamada is in charge of bringing home income, since his father disappeared years ago. One day, Tanjiro returns home and his family has been attacked by a demon. Everybody have been killed, except for his sister Nezuko. Although she has been bitten by the devil, she still retains the thought of her and human emotions.
Tanjiro’s goal will be find a cure for her sister and become a demon hunter. A legend tells that there is a man who wanders at night to kill these monsters. They can only be beheaded with weapons made from a special alloy which is not found everywhere.
Jujutsu Kaisen
So are the characters of Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen has been a true revelation. It still has few seasons and a movie, so you can see it in a few days. The living beings of Jujutsu Kaisen emanate a cursed energy that arises from the negative emotions that each individual has. Over time, this energy can become cursesa race of sinister entities that cause harm to humanity.
A group of friends are interested in these beings until they have to save a friend of being possessed. As a consequence, the Curse ends within Yuji Itadori who manages to maintain control of his body. From that moment she will try look for a solution to remove the curse from his life.
These are not all action anime that exist, but they are essential recommendations. If you are looking for more series to watch, do not hesitate to consult the 90 Best Recommended Anime By Genre to find more ideas. Many of them are available on streaming platforms and subscription pages such as Crunchyroll, Netflix or Select Vision.