Depending on who one asks, shonen anime is either extremely suspenseful or extremely poorly-paced. Shonen battles often span several or more episodes, and the longevity and general "dragging on" of fights and storylines for weeks at a time is a major genre pitfall. Even so, at times even the most drawn-out battles keep audiences watching on bated breath.
The best shonen arcs are not always the most suspenseful, and the most suspenseful ones aren't always the best. But sometimes by the grace of good writing or an amazing production, even shonen manages to tick both boxes at once.
11 Pain's Assault Proves Riveting (Naruto Shippuden)
Shippuden wasn't typically an example of a show with great pacing, but occasionally it delivered genuinely suspenseful storytelling. Pain is among the most interesting Akatsuki and he chooses to instigate a direct attack on Naruto's home. When Pain decides to attack Konoha, he's attacking a place fans have come to see as a sanctuary, and real peril comes to Konoha's denizens.
The arc culminates in Naruto returning to a decimated home, mistakenly believing Hinata has been killed, and losing control in a catastrophic fashion as he dukes it out with Pain in a battle for the ages. Can Naruto control himself and save Konoha, or will he lose to the monster inside him?
10 The Dark Tournament Elevates Yu Yu Hakusho To New Heights
Shonen loves nothing more than an excuse to pit characters against one another, and a tournament framework does the trick nicely. A good tournament arc should have high stakes, provide ample chances for character development, and prove more meaningful by the end than it does at the beginning. The Dark Tournament Saga checks all these boxes.
Fans see real character development from Kurama and Hiei, and Yusuke finds himself humbled in a confrontation with Toguro. Even the side characters are interesting and each battle is well-balanced. And when fans think the tournament is finally over, the suspense ramps up once again when a bomb goes off in the stadium.
9 The Hideout Raid Arc Finally Raises The Stakes (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia has dominated the shonen scene for years now. The characters are likable and diverse, the superpowers are inventive, and the fight scenes have been animated to perfection by Bones. Still, pacing isn't one of the show's strong suits.
Yet when Bakugo is kidnapped by the league of villains, things turn up a notch. While few viewers actually believe Bakugo will agree to join the bad guys, the heroes are confronted with the possible murder of a classmate. The stakes are suddenly higher than they were during school competitions, and students take matters into their own hands despite the warnings of Pro Heroes.
8 Enies Lobby Is One Piece In Peak Form
One Piece isn't known for good pacing. Quite the opposite, in fact. But Enies Lobby proved an exception. Robin, usually the most cool-headed cast member, is suddenly caught up in her own past and feels she deserves to suffer for it. Suddenly, the most reliable hero is the one who needs saving.
The shock of seeing Robin lose her cool, Luffy's Gear Second reveal, breaking into the Tower of Justice, and the eventual loss of the Going Merry, only help ratchet up the suspense as the Straw Hats declare war on the entire world government. It's a bold step forward for the stories and characters and truly gold-standard entertainment.
7 YorkNew City Helps Hunter x Hunter Grow Up
The first several arcs of the Hunter x Hunter anime (2011) are impeccably paced until the Chimera Ant Arc trips things up a bit. Long before that happens, fans are treated to the YorkNew City Arc and Kurapika's quest for vengeance.
The threat of danger is persistent, given the gritty setting and all the factions in play: Chrollo, Hisoka, and the phantom troupe who destroyed Kurapika's clan, the shadow beasts, and the Mafia. When an underground auction turns into a bloodbath, that's only the beginning of the most intense arc the show has to offer.
6 Disaster Feels Inevitable During The Grace Field House Escape (The Promised Neverland)
Fans are still smarting at all the wasted potential of The Promised Neverland's second season, and for good reason. The pacing wasn't perfect in the first season, but the storytelling was much tighter, both more evocative and more compelling. While the build-up to escaping Grace Field House does drag at first, eventually revelations about the central cast members, Mama's role in the operation, and the paralyzing truth of the outside world make leaving the house behind the only option left.
Any fool could guess that not every child will be spared a terrible end, and waiting to see which orphans get caught makes every episode especially tense.
5 Short & Perfectly-Paced, Gurren Lagann Deserves The Hype
Shorter shonen have an advantage when it comes to creating suspenseful pacing. Still, crediting Gurren Lagann for its tense storytelling is a no-brainer.
At just twenty-seven episodes, there's no filler to speak of in Gurren Lagann, and as an original anime, the writers worked hard to make every single episode feel vital to the overall story. By the time a major character dies, unexpectedly, in episode eight, fans know there are no lengths the show won't go to when it came to raising the stakes. And somehow, Gurren Lagann just gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until the whole universe is at stake.
4 Re: Zero's Time Loop Episodes Are A Real Nail-Biter
Groundhog Day isn't really remembered for being suspenseful, and yet the premise of being trapped in a time loop has the potential to be nailbiting torment. Re: Zero masterfully redefines this premise as a real sort of fridge-horror purgatory, as audiences watch the protagonist fail in a dozen scenarios to save his friends or himself.
Especially tense is the string of episodes when Subaru dies and respawns repeatedly but can't figure out what's causing his death and why he can't escape it. Eventually, viewers find themselves, like Subaru, expecting brutal death around each and every corner.
3 Shiratorizawa vs. Karasuno Keeps Audiences On Their Feet
By impeccably balancing characterization, timely flashbacks, and tense and complex gameplay, Haikyuu!! truly knows how to get the most out of every confrontation, serve, spike, and miss.
It helps that even the opposing teams are written with care and charisma. There may be more lovable teams than Shiratorizawa, but Ushiwaka is among the most intimidating players in the series. The match between Karasuno and Shiratorizawa is intense and rewarding enough that it had an entire season to itself, and never once lost its footing.
2 Return to Shinganshina Is A Return To Form (Attack on Titan)
Attack on Titan relies heavily on suspense to keep its audience hooked. The stakes are eternally deadly, and even if some characters feel exempt from death, they don't feel exempt from physical or psychological damage. Fans come to expect the worst, and by all rights, at some point, the worst should no longer be shocking.
Yet one of the most stressful arcs in anime history happens three seasons into a long-running series, during the Return to Shinganshina arc. Episodes "Perfect Game," "Hero," and "Midnight Sun" form an absolutely harrowing mini-arc of entertainment, culminating in characters having to make an impossible decision: to save Erwin or Armin?
1 Part One of Death Note Remains One For the Books
Credit where credit is due: even fifteen years later, no shonen series has nailed suspense like Death Note. That the show sustains an atmosphere of anxiety for so long —arguably for its entire run leading up to L's demise— is no simple feat. But that comes down to good writing, and specifically the rules that govern Light's life and the death note's usage.
To operate the Death Note, Light needs a person's real name, to have seen their face, and must give details of the death lest the person dies instead of a heart attack. Without these governing rules, the story wouldn't be the complex and satisfying knot of twists and murder it becomes.
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