10 Shonen Anime With The Best Character Development
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By far the most popular of all anime demographics, shonen is a diverse and multifaceted genre that covers everything from action-adventure to fantasy to romance. Shonen anime has been dominating the market for a long time, producing countless iconic series beloved by fans worldwide. While the demographic itself doesn’t tie to any specific kind of story, in the public eye, shonen has always been closely associated with bombastic action spectacles and magical adventures filled to the brim with explosive fights, supernatural threats, and straightforward yet lovable characters.
As such, the heroes of shonen anime have an unfortunate reputation for lacking dimension, often falling into repetitive archetypes and predictable development arcs. However, not every shonen story foregoes inventive characterization in favor of formulaic dramatics. In fact, anime’s most beloved genre features some of the best character arcs in the medium, their development beaming with heart, emotion, and creativity.
Just as Attack on Titan’s world undergoes massive transformations over the series’ run, morphing from a survival fantasy to a political thriller to an apocalyptic horror, the characters inhabiting this hostile setting change drastically due to the terrors they experience. Each member of AoT’s main cast has to sacrifice a part of themselves to survive in this cruel world and protect their similarly shifting ideals.
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