6.Bleach

Bleach is another one of those hugely popular shounens I don't watch, but that I put here because its popularity makes it unavoidable at conventions and other gatherings of anime fans (orgies, Satanic rituals, potlucks, etc.). Anyway, I have watched some of it, but it didn't appeal to me that much. It was just some angry redhead guy swinging a giant sword at some supernatural thingies that weren't too scary. It was hard not to watch Bleach when I had Adult Swim, but I never got why it's so popular. I still don't. Feel free to speculate on this one in the comments section. But I can't ignore its popularity and success, so that is why it's on the list.

5. Yu-Gi-Oh!

A very successful anime, trading card game, and spoof series making fun of said anime, Yu-Gi-Oh! is either as a game, anime, or spoof series, is very near and dear to many fans' hearts. For some, it was probably their first anime. It gets some crap for being similar to Pokemon, but it is very different as well. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, a modern-day card game called Duel Monsters is the result of a weird bit of ancient Egyptian soap opera drama. Yugi Moto and various other characters have special destinies because of their relation to these events in the past. The magic, the mystery, and the monsters all make this show very entertaining. Also, the Abridged Series is just hysterical, and probably caused a recent resurgence of the popularity of the franchise.

4. The Dragon Ball Franchise

Basically, this is the show that started it all for the shounen genre. Got a protagonist with weird spiky hair in Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, etc.? Started here with Goku. Got a protagonist who eats a lot? Started with Goku. Got a girl who is smarter than the main character and scolds him whenever he does something stupid? She was based on Bulma. Got a weird, perverted, but ultimately loyal mentor figure? He's based on Master Roshi. The Dragon Ball franchise created many character tropes and archetypes we still see today.

The mythological basis of this story is Chinese, with characters being based on characters in the epic Chinese story, Journey to the West. That's where the name Son Goku comes from, as well as many other elements, such as the main character riding on a flying cloud. A Chinese-style dragon is also the one in charge of the wish-granting that comes from gathering the eponymous dragon balls.

So, not only is this franchise important because it's popular, but because it's been so influential to other anime, especially the shounen and martial arts genres. One of my favorite animes, Yu Yu Hakusho, could be seen as a reboot of the show with a more contemporary feel and more grit, especially since they had many of the same English voice actors. There's no overstating how influential Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z have been.

3. Naruto and Naruto Shippuden

I like this series, but my main beef is that it shits on everything to do with historical ninjas. Ninjas, in real historical Japan, were silent assassins trained to sneak into and out of heavily guarded castles, sometimes by using disguises, sometimes by using highly advanced climbing equipment and martial arts techniques focused on silent sneaking. NARUTO IS TOO LOUD. Ninjitsu, stealth. Ninjitsu in the Naruto universe, yelling and doing a lot of weird hand gestures. Sure, the gestures come from real meditation techniques about aligning the chakras, or spiritual energy centers believed to exist in the body, but goddamn, could they be any more different from real historical ninjas? I'd really prefer it if they'd called them "mages" or something.

But beyond the ninja gripe I have (blaze orange for a silent assassin, really?), the show is interesting and fun to watch usually. I'll give them credit, Shippuden really helped me like this show more because it lessened some characters' most annoying traits. Like with other big-name shounens, it's so popular that it's hard to ignore, and like it or not, it's probably not going away. Believe it!

(Ugh, I did not just say that.)

2. Sailor Moon

Like the Gundam and Dragon Ball franchises, it wasn't the first in its genre, but it was that which most successfully launched internationally, and that which acted as a trope codifier, influencing a lot of character types and tropes that would show up in later anime.

What's interesting to me is that, while the planets and other celestial bodies (sorry Pluto) are invoked, what they're really doing is using elemental magic. The other weird thing? Bubbles. Sorry Amy, I just think that's a weird thing to expect to kill anyone. Like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon has a great abridged series. Also like the other shows on the list, this franchise commands a large following in the US. It got a reboot, Sailor Moon Crystal, which has newer animation and stays closer to the original manga than the first anime, which came out in the early 90's. For me, Sailor Moon is always a breathtaking emotional experience, even if sometimes it's also a little goofy.

1. Pokémon

This series came across the Pacific in the mid-'90s and America will never be the same. It's caused controversy, debate, speculation, and even total insanity. There are millions of fans worldwide, and it has been hugely influential as both anime and video games, and is also popular with many fans as a trading card game.

Pokémon is about, at its core, the special bond formed between humans and non-human life forms. It's about the love farmers have for their cattle, about the love city dwellers have for their designer half-poodles, about the love that a child who saves a baby sparrow has for it. It's a powerful feeling. It's also about responsible stewardship of animals and nature. Yes, in the franchise, humans use Pokemon and Pokemon obey humans, but the idea of this is that it is a mutually beneficial partnership. That way, it's a nice way to teach kids about responsibility.