90s Era Big 3 VS 2000s Era Big 3

[Yoshi]

Essentially Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Slam Dunk VS One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach.

I am of the opinion that even though Naruto and Bleach fall off after Part I and Soul Society and even Pain and Aizen, both are actually better than 2010 Shonen in general, but they still don’t have the consistent quality of Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho, even if those two don’t have the same highs as early Naruto and early Bleach.

Slam Dunk and One Piece are the two best Manga of the six. I would have to hand this to Slam Dunk however, since while One Piece definitely doesn’t fall off as hard as Naruto and Bleach do, it has suffered from serious story arc fatigue in Part II, which actually has more filler than Part I Arcs do.

90s Big 3 >>> 2000s Big 3

Slam Dunk > One Piece > Dragon Ball > Yu Yu Hakusho > Naruto > Bleach

 

[Papasmurf]

SD is the only manga among the six that knew when to end it. Nothing could have topped the final Sannoh game, so even The First Slam Dunk just adapts the Sannoh game essentially, despite adding a lot more to the character lore (esp in Miyagi). DB is much more consistent in quality than any of the "2000s shonen" but definitely fell off after Freeza, wasn't that great in RRA and Boo was meh. YYH should've ended at the Dark Tournament or, at the latest, shortly after the Chapter Black arc. Making the Three Kings arc DT 2.0 was definitely its undoing, it didn't leave when people clapped for it to get off the stage while it was ahead.

Naruto and Bleach are both abysmal, they lost their luster after Pain and Soul Society respectively and the Arrancar/Hueco Mundo arc and Fullbring onwards were just... so bad. Not even the good animation of the new anime is saving the plot (nothing can really). OP has definite franchise fatigue, Oda needs to take more hiatuses :togashit

 

[DBZAOTA482]

I thought Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was one of the 90s big 3 alongside Dragon Ball and Yuu Yu Hakusho.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I thought Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was one of the 90s big 3 alongside Dragon Ball and Yuu Yu Hakusho.

Jo-Jo was one of WSJ’s lowest selling titles at the time IIRC.

 

[Yoshi]

Both Rurouni Kenshin and Toriko filled in the gap made by Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach respectively. And both authors were pedophiles.

 

[Father]

The older gen is still coveted as the golden era of Shounen despite One Pieces success.

Naruto peaked during Part 1, and Bleach
isn’t really competition.

 

[Yoshi]

What if we throw in the 2010s Big Three Anime (My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen)?

 

[Warmmedown]

Gen 1 stood the test of time in terms of popularity. Looking at quality, DBZ has some of the best fights still, physically, as in ignoring the backstories. YYH felt generic for me, but I didn't get far. I think it falls into the trap of having the MC be the strongest always. Slam Dunk is a good sports anime, but not sure how it compares to Haikyuu because I watched them nearly a decade apart.

Gen 2 Bleach's relevancy fell off I think. One Piece and Naruto are still very relevant. Quality-wise One Piece is unwatchable now but all of that is Toei's fault, whereas the manga only fell off a bit. Naruto supposedly fell off a cliff, Bleach started below sea level.

Gen 3 MHA is pretty fun and a few characters stay relevant and get real fights and the MC isn't the strongest, even amongst his age cohort. Demon Slayer and Kaisen are edgier than all the others, not watched them to know if they pull it off though.

Demon Slayer's animu started in 2019 and JJK's in 2020. They're not really 2010s.

 

[Yoshi]

I believe that Bleach has gotten more popular during the 2020s compared to the 2010s, but that may be because of the Quincy War Anime and the apparently upcoming Hell Arc. It will never reach Dragon Ball, Naruto, or One Piece level popularity again since Aizen’s defeat, however.

 

[Symbiote]

I like the 90s anime more just because of nostalgia since I’m old.