When it comes to longevity, few IPs can compete with Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, which has managed to remain popular for almost four decades now. Granted, there were some dark periods during that time such as the 18-year window between the end of Dragon Ball Z and the beginning of Dragon Ball Super. Likewise, it would be foolish to try and argue that every arc or episode of Dragon Ball has been of the highest quality. Even so, the franchise has still managed to remain hugely popular both in Japan and in the West.
It took a little longer for One Piece to establish itself in the West than it did for some of the other great Shonen anime series. Once it did though, it's never once struggled to keep Western audiences engaged. The same could be said of its popularity in Japan, with several generations having now grown up with the popular manga and anime series.
Mecha anime has been popular since the sixties and seventies, but it wasn't until the nineties that the genre really blew up. There were plenty of great mecha anime series unveiled throughout the decade, but none have proven to be anywhere near as popular nor quite as enduring as Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion and its various spin-offs and big-screen adaptations.
As far as anime adaptations go, they don't come much more faithful than Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Across its 64 episodes, it manages to remain remarkably true to the manga both in terms of the storylines that it covers and the look and feel of the visuals. Granted, as with pretty much all anime adaptations, there is a little bit of filler here and there, but it never once disrupts the narrative flow.
People sometimes complain that Cowboy Bebop is put up on a pedestal, and this may well be true to a certain degree. It's certainly not the perfect anime series, yet to ignore the impact that it's had on the medium would be an act of sheer folly. It's inspired countless other anime and manga series over the years, not to mention several Western movies and television shows.
Pokemon took the world by storm when it arrived on the scene in the mid-to-late nineties, with the TCG, video games, and anime all becoming incredibly popular almost overnight. Initially, many saw the anime as little more than a marketing tool to help garner interest in the wider Pokemon franchise. Over time, though, it grew and developed into one of the best anime series of all time
It's difficult to single out a single volume of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure because they're all pretty damn good. For fans of the popular seinen manga, the decision to create an anime adaptation to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary was met with some trepidation, yet the resulting series has thus far proven to be every bit as good as the source material. What's more, it has helped to introduce the world of JoJo to a whole new generation in the proces
Much like Dragon Ball, Naruto started life in the Japanese publication Weekly Shōnen Jump. Following its successful debut in 1999, it was eventually adapted into an anime in late 2002. The resulting series ran for 220 episodes, with the first 135 following the first part of the manga and the rest telling their own original story using unused plot elements from creator Masashi Kishimoto's original ideas.
Similar to the likes of Sword Art Online and the Fate series, Death Note is seen as something of a gateway anime. As a result, some seasoned anime fans seem to enjoy going out of their way to pick holes in its plot and pointing out all of the shows that are supposedly better than it. However, there's a very good reason why so many people are advised to try Death Note when first dipping their toes into the vast anime waters.
Demon Slayer may be relatively new, but that doesn't mean that it can't still be included in conversations surrounding the best anime series of all time. After all, it's been able to generate around $10 billion in revenue in the six years or so since its creation, which is around the same as more established media franchises such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Sesame Street; both of which have been around for well over half a century.