• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Favorite story arcs in Shonen manga/anime?

FartOfWar

Banned
When Hotomaki's engorged neck throbs and pulses and writhes with blood lust for a full thirty seconds as he stares down the school headmaster, then that priceless cut to Matahachi in the stands muttering, "He's unbuckled" but clearly meant to say unhinged and then Hotomaki's suppressed rage spurts across the headmaster but then the headmaster bows before the blow.
 
The climactic finale of Zaipachi! Kaidoku School of Blu-Ray Resurfacing! had me pumping my fist as no other shonen ever has. If you want to see a truly titanic struggle between two equally powerful warriors, look no further than the fight between struggling Blu-Ray resurfacer Zaipachi Hinamaki and his nemesis, Blockbuster Kizashi. With bulging veins and throbbing hearts they pummel each other mercilessly, repetitively, until with one final eruption of power Zaipachi pins the enemy! AAAAAGH YESSSS

Wut?
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
The Desunoko arc in Tedoku No Gumi MataHonchi XI had me in hysterics and tears by turns. When Yumi learns to harness his mitochondria to skip the ninth chi level and ascend to Chiyaki-hood without having to bother with ablution rituals beneath the seven veils falls and then goes on to DEMOLISH the Seiti team as if it was nothing? Is there a moment in all of manga more sublime than this?

Still can't believe Bakamachi was actually able to trick the Infinity Jester into releasing the Seiti's Yamanoko seal. Dude always seemed oblivious to any and all things and then he outsmarts an omni-dimensional trickster deity like it's fuckimg nothing.
 

FartOfWar

Banned
Still can't believe Bakamachi was actually able to trick the Infinity Jester into releasing the Seiti's Yamanoko seal. Dude always seemed oblivious to any and all things and then he outsmarts an omni-dimensional trickster deity like it's fuckimg nothing.

You can't make this shit up. The writer is an artist.
 
There's a moment in DOEGATSU: DEVIL POET JISHUZIKA where Grand Devil Kagura and the protagonist Ken grasp hands, and for thirty solid minutes grunt and thrust against one another's power. Their forearm muscles rippling, ropey veins covering every turgid inch, by the time the episode ends you feel as exhausted as the warriors themselves!
 
I've really enjoyed the HxH and DBZ arcs listed earlier.

Does anyone know of a book or at least article that details the origins of Shounen style manga storytelling? I mean, most of these manga use some pretty repetitive tropes and structure that are well worn but effective, is there a common source? I could say more about what I mean but I'll leave it at that.

Osamu Tezuka is all you need to know about the origins of Shounen style.

You can search up more but here is a good place to start.

Other authors such as Akira Toriyama (DB Dr. Slump and DBZ) and Masami Kurumada (Saint Seiya and Ring ni Kakero) added their own flavor of shounen over the years.

There is also new Shounen you could say with the new explosion of Food based manga and other types of Shounen manga.

The most popular pure Shounen right now is One Piece by Oda with Naruto by Kishimoto and Bleach by Kubo following respectively.

It can get stale if you have been reading manga for over 10 years but authors seem to make it work. You just have to be very picky about which mangas to read lol.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
Personal favorite would be the Kyoto arc from Kenshin though. Especially the episodes leading up to the main Shishio fight.
 

beastmode

Member
The Freeza arc in Dragon Ball is dope. I love that a real-estate speculator is the ultimate evil. Mr. Satan's story has the most heart, though. Fun series for kids.
 
I wanted to gush about MAR's chess piece tournament but Shawn has made me self conscious :( But seriously though, when Dorthy busts out Toto? Come on, who wasn't impressed?
 

Pein

Banned
Naruto Pein arc, my dude Naruto is finally the top dog. From the brat no one liked to the hero. Epic feels all around. Also sejutsu training was neat, I think Kishimoto does training pretty well.

Bleach Soul society

One Piece - toss up between Enies Lobby and the latter half of the summit war chapters, for me one piece has gotten so boring after the whole ace fiasco.

Rurouni Kenshin Kyoto arc

YuYu Hakusho Dark tournament

Dragonball Frieza
 
Gintama's Yoshiwara and Four Devas Arc
Medaka Box's Minus Arc
Naruto's Land of Waves Arc
Slam Dunk's Final Game
Hikaru trying to become a pro player
HxH's Chimera Ant Arc
 

Dead

well not really...yet
I havent read it in years, but I remember at the time, the Yorkshin City arc in Hunter x Hunter was fucking incredible.
 

Toxi

Banned
King Bradley versus the world.
Sooooo gooooood.

The fight with Bradley did a great job of making everyone look awesome, especially Bradley himself, and you could see how each character's contribution helped. The way the fight ended was also some good old fashioned poetic justice.
 

Quesa

Member
The season four Gintyoniska clash in MaMaReshu defied belief at the time. Seriously, even the most seasoned viewers claimed that the outcome of that match was practically impossible given Hyonsai's Chi impediment through eps S414-S422
Hyonsai used Takuan's own sandal strap to throttle him into sumbission without resorting to a single summon
Neither here nor there but in the scheme of shonen, it remains top rank for those in the know.

I'm not gonna say this again; MaMaReshu is effectively Shinchoi Garuga watered down for the masses, copping all the interesting philosophical bits (like the repercussions of infusing a female android with the libido of a pygmy chimpanzee -- sound familar?) and replacing the volume-long games of Risk with scene after scene of beachwear-related acts of eye-rolling genocide. Not to mention that Hyonsai's chi problem was lifted directly from Haruko's temporary disillusionment with the competitive scene after losing her haunted cavalry piece.
 
marineford arc in OP, benizakura, yoshiwara, four devas, and courtesan arc in gintama, yorkshin in hxh, first arc of naruto, kyoto arc in kenshin. there's alot more.
 

Skittles

Member
gantz: vampire arc, most def one of my favs out of gantz. Had so many tense moments in it
jojo's bizarre adventure: Part 2 find it to be the best out of the arcs i've read so far. probably because it still has the ripple
 

Arment

Member
The whole Zabuza arc in Naruto is just so quality and chock-full of emotions.

I can't pick a DBZ arc easily. They're all so good. Cell saga might win out for me, that's my gut anyways.

Bleach...The Arrancar Arc.
 

Westlo

Member
Yorknew - Hunter X Hunter
Kyoto - Rurouni Kenshin
Andriod/Cell - Dragonball Z (Going by anime, manga without the massive amount of padding the Freiza arc had might make me change my mind)
Chunin Exams - Naruto
Minus - Medaka Box (Kumagawa da gawd)
Soul Society - Bleach
Golden Week - Hayate
Phantom Lord - Fairy Tail
Kyoto - Nurarihyon no Mago

I really need to get back into One Piece (only seen the first 8 or 9 eps), as well as check out YYH. (which I still don't know why I haven't watched since I really rate Hunter and enjoyed the shit out of Level E)
 
Bleach
Soul Society arc
Hueco Mundo arc
1000 year blood war arc.

Naruto
Chunin exam arc (Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight one of the best fights ever)
Retrieve Sasuke arc
Pain arc.

one piece
Water 7 arc.

Soul Eater
Free Kishin arc
Brew arc

D-Grey man
Noah invasion arc and the arc before it. I miss D-Grey man :(

HXH
Yorknew city arc
Chimera ant arc
Save Gon arc

Reborn
Shimon family arc
Last arc, ending not withstanding.

Magi
Current arc
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Enies Lobby arc in One Piece and Chimera Ant arc in Hunter x Hunter are just too great. Medaka Box's Minus arc and Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament arc also spring to mind.

I enjoyed the Cell Games arc in DBZ... Despite the ridiculous pacing issues.

Soul Society and Chuunin exam arc in Bleach and Naruto were also pretty cool. It sucks so much what these two have become since then.
 

BatDan

Bane? Get them on board, I'll call it in.
One Piece:
Water 7/Enies Lobby
Dressrosa is shaping up nicely
Arlong Park
Alabasta
Sabaody
Marineford

... I'm a bit of a fan yes.

Jojo:
Stardust Crusaders finale (the entire Jotaro vs Dio fight, unf)
All of Battle Tendency

Soul Eater:
Baba Yaga's Castle
Finale on the Moon

Yu Yu Hakusho:
Dark Tournament
Chapter Black

Hunter x Hunter:
Yorknew
Chimera Ant
 
The Kyoto arc in Samurai X. First long running arc I was fully invested in in any tv show, long before the "golden age" of television. It's practically perfect. Back then in Trinidad everyone had those Kenshin/ Shishio shirts with the track pants as fashion.
 

Heroman

Banned
Db: king piccolo
Dbz: Buu saga
Bleach: Soul Society
These are not Shonen but are shonen like
Kingdom :Zhao war arc
One punch man: Hero hunting arc
 

Nephtis

Member
This is absolutely amazing, though I've never considered Juuni Kokki to be a shounen.

Yeah I guess it might fall more in the seinen category. I've always considered it shounen though, since to me something like Kingdom (キングダム) seems more apt for the seinen genre.
 
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable in general. If I had to narrow it down I'd probably pick the whole Bite the Dust section since Kira was such a great villain.
 
Choujin Gakuen. First real arc is great.

Considering I've read/watched way too much damn shounen, there's definitely a lot more that I love, but that's the first that came to mind.
 

Brickhunt

Member
Everyone likes to talk about Frieza and Cell Games. But I feel the Saiyan invasion was the best.

It builds up to everyone failing against Nappa until Goku's arrival, who then defeats Nappa and proceeds to take on Vegeta and push him to his limits. Then Vegeta turns Ozaroo, proceeds to wreck Goku until Yajirobe manages to cut his tail. Then, Goku is too wounded to fight and is up to Gohan and Krillin take out a weakened Vegeta.

In the end, everyone played a part in Vegeta's defeat. Krillin was just one second away from finishing Vegeta once and for all.(It would had been perfect had Vegeta be defeated by the Spirit Bomb). I wonder how the rest of the show would have gone had Krillin finished him.

I like the other arcs, but the main character being the only able to take the big bad doesn't compare with a huge teamwork like it took to defeat Vegeta at the Saiyan Invasion.
 
1. Water 7/Ennies Lobby - One Piece
This was the arc that made me fall in love with One Piece. Everything prior to this had been pretty good, but this arc cemented One Piece as my favorite manga.

2. Chimera Ant arc - Hunter X Hunter
No words are really coming to mind for this one. I'll just say I love the Chimera Ant arc.

3. Ojo White Knights vs Demion Devil Bats - Eyeshield 21
Damn this one was really good. I love the atmosphere in this one. Definitely my favorite art in any manga

4. Shinryūji Nagas vs Deimon Devil Bats - Eyeshield 21
Again not much to say, but that I really liked this arc as well.

5. Pain arc - Naruto
The only arc from Part 2 that I really do like. Part 2 had been pretty hit or miss for me but this on was just great, too bad that it was also the last Naruto arc I enjoyed.

Honorable mention - Soul Society arc from Bleach
Reading this arc always leaves me disappointed in Bleach. I can't believe Kubo created something so great, yet was never able to come close to this again.
 

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
When the Big Five trapped Yugi and Friends in the Video Game World.

And then when they went back to fight against Kaiba's long-lost brother, Noa.

Don't even care if it was "filler", it ruled.
 

PirateKing

Junior Member
Berserk- Golden Arc

Nothing even comes close.

EDIT: I don't even know if Berserk is part of Shonen. Wait, I don't even know what Shonen means.
 
Berserk- Golden Arc

Nothing even comes close.

EDIT: I don't even know if Berserk is part of Shonen. Wait, I don't even know what Shonen means.

I thought about posting this aswell. But I don't think Berserk can be considered Shonen...especially not the Golden Age arc.

That being said it is definitely the best arc in the series :) .
 

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Berserk- Golden Arc

Nothing even comes close.

EDIT: I don't even know if Berserk is part of Shonen. Wait, I don't even know what Shonen means.

Shonen's basically an age group classification, I believe it's like 7-13 or so, so pre-teens mainly. Beyond that, Shonen usually are idealistic in nature, focusing on friendship, getting stronger through training, and stuff like that.

Berserk is Seinen I believe, aimed at older teens.
 
Top Bottom