Welcome, one and all to my latest poll! Now, before we get into this one, we need to have a look back at the last poll. There, I asked, Which Was The Best Console Generation? Well, the votes are in and the results show that, despite there being some love the sixth generation, it’s the fourth generation that won out. 16-Bit gaming for the win!
So, this time, we’re going to look at the ‘big three’ Shonen anime. There have been some excellent anime in the genre over the years, including the likes of the ever-popular Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball Z. Generally though, there are three that most turn to as the primary examples of the genre: Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. But which of these is the best? Let’s have a look at each.
Bleach is based on the manga by Tite Kubo, and originally aired from October 2004 to March 2012. The series tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a high school student who becomes a substitute Soul Reaper after a battle between a Hollow and the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki. With 366 episodes and 4 films, the series remained popular, even when running lengthy filler arcs. Often praised for its action and humour, Bleach is still a favourite for many people, even though it’s the only one of these three that isn’t still airing new episodes. That is about to change, however, as it was recently announced that a new series would be airing, covering the final arc of the manga.
Naruto is based on the manga by Masashi Kishimoto, and has gone through several incarnations since it began. The original 220 episodes ran from October 2002 to February 2007, then transitioned into the 500 episodes long Shippuden, which lasted until March 2017. Now, the follow-up series Boruto is airing and currently sits at 183 episodes. The story, which follows Naruto Uzumaki, a young boy who hosts the fox spirit Nine-Tails, as he tries to become the Hokage of Konoha. Praised for both its action and character interactions, Naruto has been both popular and influential. After all, I’m sure most of us have seen someone doing the ‘Naruto run’.
One Piece is based on the manga by Eiichiro Oda. Telling the story of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew as they try to hunt down the legendary One Piece, it has aired a whopping 959 episodes since its debut in October 1999. That makes it not only the longest but the oldest entry of the three. That it has endured so well can be put down to it offering up a fun high-seas adventure while not quite feeling like a typical pirate story. As it stands, it shows no signs of stopping either, nor does it look set to lose its popularity.
So the question is, which one of these shows do you enjoy the most? Will you go with the first one you watched? Maybe you stuck with one and skipped the others. Vote in the poll below to have your say. You can even leave a comment to let me know why you voted the way you did. Until next time, stay safe, and have fun out there!
Matt Doyle Media 
I think Naruto had the strongest start by far out of all 3 and was the first to truly catch my interest during my teens. Bleach on the other hand had the most appealing art style and character design. Its characters just had this cool factor that I haven’t seen since Murata got ahold of One’s OPM. But One Piece is telling the best stories and has the most longevity of all. One Piece is the king of manga for a good reason.
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I haven’t read One Piece for ages now. I used to enjoy reading it when my local comic shop got me physical copies of Shonen Jump, mind you. For me, Bleach was the one that grabbed me in the anime, and the at style had a lot to do with that.
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I’m gonna say Naruto because it’s the only one I’ve read and seen out of the three. I don’t have any interest in Bleach and probably won’t pick up One Piece due its sheer size lol.
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LOL. The size is aprt of why I haven’t done more with One Piece since Shonen Jump stopped being sold in physical issues over here.
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Gotta be Bleach – then again that’s also the only one of the Big 3 I managed to get into so I’m a little biased.
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Me too on that one. I didn’t dislike the manga versions of Naruto or One Piece, but never really got into the anime. Bleach, I stuck with.
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Strange how we get different impressions of similar shows. Bleach just grabbed me from ep 1 whereas when I tried the others I just never connected.
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It’s part of the great thing with anime, I think. Even within the same genre, there’s usually something for everyone.
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Absolutely. It is a good reason not to generalise because even though I would mostly say I don’t like slice of life, if we go through the list of anime I’ve positively reviewed there are most definitely a number of slice of life titles in there.
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I’m the same like that. A lot of slice of life just never appealed, but then in recent years, I found a bunch that I really enjoyed.
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I’ve seen all 3 anime but I can’t help but feel that Bleach had always been the most special one out of the Big 3. I’ll never forget my excitement whenever they used their Bankais and stuff. Soul Society arc was AMAZING! One Piece takes 2nd but only loses out because of how draggy it gets in the anime. Naruto takes 3rd because I’ve always favoured the adventure aspect of One Piece more! Too bad Naruto’s world-building were mostly fillers.
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Bleach is my top choice too. The whole thing felt really fresh to me, and was one of the first shows I caught on the now defunct Anime Channel.
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Naruto
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Cool. What makes you pick Naruto?
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Yes there is a lot of things, every characters from naruto taught me something about our daily struggling life. Every characters has their unique personality with deep broken stories of life. “Every villains just die for something good reason and that’s touched my heart.”
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Awesome. I’m glad it resonated with you in that way. Given its popularity, I’d guess you aren’t alone in that either.
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😊🤗✅yeah right
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