Shonen is easily the biggest anime demographic around, and for good reason. With an age range that caters to younger viewers without alienating older ones, combined with the wide variety of their stories, shonen anime always have a level of accessibility that other anime demographics can’t match, and they’ve easily dominated the medium because of it.
With how prevalent shonen anime are, there are plenty that have struck a chord with people for generations due to their amazing combination of visual and narrative highs, and much of that fanfare can be narrowed down to specific moments in each show, as anime will almost always have one specific episode or moment that truly defines them as a hit. A few episodes like that especially stand out, and it’s easy to see each of them as being among the best episodes in all of anime.
10 One Piece Episode 1015: “Straw Hat Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the King of the Pirates!”
Premiered On April 24, 2022; Directed By Megumi Ishitani
In One Piece episode #1015, “Straw Hat Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the King of the Pirates!”, following the end of Yamato’s flashback to his time with Ace, Luffy and others finally made their way to the big fight with Kaido and Big Mom. The two continued to look down on Luffy, but thanks to Luffy’s recent training, he could knock Kaido down and hurt him for the first time before reiterating that he would become the Pirate King.
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Not only did episode #1015 feature some of the most gorgeous animation of legendary director Megumi Ishitani, but the catharsis of Luffy finally damaging Kaido was nothing short of amazing, especially when paired with an instrumental rendition of “We Are!” episode #1015 perfectly set the stage for the Wano arc’s climax, and it’s easy to see why it’s often called the best episode of One Piece.
9 Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Episode 6: “The Fire”
Premiered On November 15, 2022; Directed By Ema Saito
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- October 10, 2022
- Network
- TV Tokyo
- Showrunner
- Tite Kubo
- Franchise(s)
- Bleach
- Story By
- Tite Kubo
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode #6, “The Fire”, saw Yamamoto and Yhwach finally fight and Yamamoto finally use his Bankai, Zanka no Tachi. With his Bankai, Yamamoto seemingly killed Yhwach, but his opponent was soon revealed to be an imposter, and before Yamamoto could act, the real Yhwach stole his Bankai and killed him where he stood.
“The Fire” received an incredible amount of hype from the staff who worked on it, and it more than lived up to that. The animation given to Yamamoto’s fight scenes both before and after unveiling his Bankai was some of the best in all of Bleach, and capping it all off with Yamamoto dying an unceremonious death added a level of irony that sold the quality even further. It was a truly phenomenal episode that’s easily the best episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, if not Bleach, as a whole.
8 My Hero Academia Episode 61: “Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2”
Premiered On September 15, 2018; Directed By Masashi Abe And Shōji Ikeno
My Hero Academia
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- April 3, 2016
- Seasons
- 7
- Number of Episodes
- 159
- Production Company
- Bones
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
In My Hero Academia episode #61, “Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2”, Bakugo forced Izuku into a fight to see which of them was better, all of which stemmed from Bakugo’s guilt for the part he played in All Might’s retirement. Despite Izuku’s best efforts, Bakugo won the fight, but now Bakugo understood that All Might didn’t choose Izuku because of his power, and in the aftermath, the two slowly began to rebuild their long-lost friendship.
Izuku and Bakugo’s fight looking as good as it did is one thing, but between the emotional weight of Bakugo expressing his guilt and the way the episode develops his and Izuku’s relationship, My Hero Academia episode #61 is one of the anime’s best episodes for how effectively it pushes the narrative forward. Izuku and Bakugo’s relationship is at the heart of My Hero Academia, and no episode better exemplifies that than episode #61.
7 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Episode 26: “The Man Who Became God”
Premiered On April 6, 2013; Directed By Toshiyuki Kato
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- October 6, 2012
- Showrunner
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu
- Franchise(s)
- Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
In JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure episode #26, “The Man Who Became God”, with Kars surviving Joseph’s final gambit and even somehow obtaining Hamon, all seemed lost for Joseph and humanity as a whole. However, Joseph, moving on pure instinct, used the Red Stone of Aja to start a chain reaction of events to launch Kars into space, defeating him and putting an end to the Joestar family’s struggles for the time being.
After how hopeless the past few episodes had made things, seeing Kars be defeated in such an over-the-top way was nothing but cathartic, but more importantly, Joseph getting a happy ending after everything and getting to live with his friends and family made for the perfect ending to Battle Tendency. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s first two parts are underrated, but with how great Battle Tendency ended, it’s easy to see why they deserve more respect.
6 Dragon Quest: The Adventure Of Dai Episode 100: “Farewell! The Beloved Earth”
Premiered On October 22, 2022; Directed By Kazuya Karasawa
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai
Cast
Griffin Cork-
Atsumi Tanezaki
-
Toshiyuki Toyonaga
-
Ai Furihata
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- October 3, 2020
- Finale Year
- 2022
- Main Genre
- Anime
- Seasons
- 1
In Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai episode #100, “Farewell! The Beloved Earth”, after a long battle that pushed both parties to their limits, Dai finally emerged victorious in the fight with Vearn, but his victory was short-lived as Killvearn suddenly returned to finish Vearn’s plan to destroy the world. Dai was forced to sacrifice himself to save everyone, but everyone chose to believe Dai was still out there and sought to keep the world safe until his return.
Between the gorgeous animation, the bittersweet nature of Dai’s sacrifice, and the surprisingly optimistic and open ending, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai’s finale does as great a job of closing out its story as one could expect from an anime, shonen or otherwise. Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is criminally underrated, but even outside its finale, it continually delivered some of the best episodes in modern shonen, by far.
5 Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 64: “Deathbattle Concluded! A Final Full Power”
Premiered On January 22, 1994; Directed By Junya Koshiba
In Yu Yu Hakusho episode #64: “Deathbattle Concluded! A Final Full Power”, Toguro killed Kuwabara to draw out Yusuke’s full power, and Yusuke wasted no time in delivering one powerful blow after another to Toguro. It all came down to Yusuke’s final Spirit Gun, and despite Toguro giving himself another power boost, Yusuke finally defeated Toguro and won the Dark Tournament.
Not only did episode #64 continue the streak of gorgeous animation for Yusuke and Toguro’s fight, especially when Yusuke landed his massive punch on Toguro, but the emotional struggle Yusuke went through following Kuwabara’s death was great to watch, both for how sad it was and for the catharsis of him overcoming it and defeating Toguro. The end of Yusuke and Toguro’s fight is easily the best episode of Yu Yu Hakusho, and it’s probably what best defines the Dark Tournament as one of anime’s best tournament arcs.
4 Attack On Titan Episode 55: “Midnight Sun”
Premiered On June 3, 2019; Directed By Hiroyuki Tanaka And Shintarō Itoga
Attack On Titan
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- April 7, 2013
- Finale Year
- November 5, 2023
- Number of Episodes
- 94
- Creator
- Hajime Isayama
- Production Company
- Wit Studio, MAPPA
- Story By
- Hajime Isayama
- Streaming Service(s)
- Adult Swim
In Attack on Titan episode #55, “Midnight Sun”, with Armin barely surviving being burned alive by Bertholdt, Eren planned to save Armin by turning him into a Titan and having him eat Bertholdt. Unfortunately, Levi wanted to do the same with Erwin, and the two immediately fought over who to save, with Levi ultimately siding with Eren so Erwin wouldn’t have to keep fighting.
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While episode #55 wasn’t as action-heavy as the episodes that came before it, it more than made up for it with Eren and Levi’s conflict and how their debate had a perfect balance of narrative and personal stakes to it, all of which led to a dramatic conclusion people still can’t say was objectively the right choice. Attack on Titan episode #55 was easily the most dramatic episode of the series before season 4, and it still stands out as one of the anime’s best.
3 Dandadan Episode 7: “To A Kinder World”
Premiered On November 15, 2024; Directed By Kotaro Matsunaga
In Dandadan episode 7, “To a Kinder World”, while Momo and Okarun defeated Acrobatic Silky, Aira still died due to her inability to resist her power. Acrobatic Silky, not wanting Aira to die, used the last of her aura to revive Aira, and in doing so, Momo and Aira witnessed Acrobatic Silky’s past as a prostitute whose daughter was abducted by loan sharks before committing suicide.
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episode #7 is the best episode of the anime for how well its music and animation sell the tragedy of Acrobatic Silky’s story, with the choice to convey it with only minimal dialogue being the perfect way of emphasizing it all. Episode #7 helped solidify Dandadan as one of the best modern shonen anime of all time, and hopefully, it will continue to ride that goodwill into season 2 and beyond.
2 Naruto: Shippuden Episode 478: “Unison Sign”
Premiered On October 6, 2016; Directed By Toshiyuki Tsuru
In Naruto: Shippuden episode #478, “Unison Sign”, Naruto and Sasuke seemingly died in their final fight and ended up in a purgatory world, which allowed Sasuke to get a full view of Naruto’s life and why he refused to give up on reasoning with him. After awakening from that state, Naruto reaffirmed his refusal to abandon Sasuke, and Sasuke was brought to tears as he finally itted that Naruto’s way of doing things was right.
The last few episodes of Naruto: Shippuden wonderfully expanded on the last few chapters of the manga, and episode #478 was the best example of that, as Naruto: Shippuden episode #476’s stellar direction sold the emotional end to Naruto and Sasuke’s fight even better than the manga did. Naruto’s finale was nothing short of perfection, and episodes like episode #478 are a major part of why that is.
1 Dragon Ball Z Episode 95: “Transformed At Last!! Son Goku, the Legendary Super Saiyan”
Premiered On June 12, 1991; Directed By Yamauchi Shigeyasu
Dragon Ball Z
WHERE TO WATCH
- Release Date
- April 26, 1989
- Finale Year
- January 31, 1996
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Franchise(s)
- Dragon Ball
- Main Genre
- Action
- Creator(s)
- Akira Toriyama
- Number of Episodes
- 291
- Creator
- Akira Toriyama
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
In Dragon Ball Z episode 95, “Transformed At Last!! Son Goku, the Legendary Super Saiyan”, Frieza miraculously survived Goku’s Spirit Bomb, and he kicked off his dramatic return by brutally killing Krillin. Seeing his best friend murdered filled Goku with rage like never before, and that was the final trigger Goku needed to unlock Super Saiyan and become strong enough to defeat Frieza once and for all.
Goku becoming a Super Saiyan was something the Namek saga spent months setting up, and sure enough, the incredible visuals and directions used for the debut of Super Saiyan, combined with Goku’s rage-filled delivery in both English and Japanese, made it perfectly live up to the hype. The debut of Super Saiyan is one of Dragon Ball’s most iconic moments, and it easily makes Dragon Ball Z episode #95 the best episode of a shonen anime.
