15 Tropes You Can Find In Any Shonen Anime

There's a lot to love about shonen anime. From the relatable characters, to the mesmerizing action sequences, to the slew of hilarious anime gags, watching a great shonen series can bring out the warm fuzzies in fans both new and old. However, the shonen formula can at times be tiring, and it's hard to get excited about yet another loudmouth hero who's oblivious to the feelings of his childhood girlfriend, as he's too busy trying to outdo his stuck-up rival best friend. When the viewer finds out that the hero has a golden final form, their true power is never as surprising as the creators might have hoped. Even the most trope-ridden shows can still be fantastic (after all, who doesn't enjoy the occasional episode of Dragon Ball Z?), but once you see the patterns emerge in the genre, they're amazingly hard to ignore.