5 Overrated Shonen Anime on Crunchyroll

For countless anime fans, Crunchyroll is the streaming platform for this medium. Crunchyroll is home to countless anime, from must-see legends like Attack on Titan to modern hits like Jujutsu Kaisen and stellar remakes, such as Fruits Basket. Crunchyroll’s top-ranked anime make this platform worth the price of admission, while other titles in Crunchyroll’s library are also good — but not quite as much.

Some anime on Crunchyroll are almost as popular as the iconic legends, but don’t have the same quality. These anime are overrated, with their reputations and online ratings being inflated. That’s not to say these are bad anime — they’re not — but there’s still a gap between how good fans say they are, and how good they actually are. The gap might be a narrow one at times, which is another reason to watch these fun anime anyway, but viewers ought to keep in mind that the sheer hype won’t always tell the whole story.

Solo Leveling and its OP Hero Love to Aura Farm

Jinwoo is About 80% as Cool as He Looks

Few anime stirred up more debate than the flashy Solo Leveling series. Its defenders laud Solo Leveling as an instant classic with enough aura farming to shut the haters up, while the detractors say the aura farming is just noise. There’s no denying that Jinwoo Sung’s aura farming, and that of the entire anime, helped Solo Leveling stand out. Whether that’s an asset for the anime or just a shiny coat of paint is the real controversy, and it’s easy to see how this leads to criticism of the anime.

Solo Leveling is refreshingly straightforward as a power fantasy that takes itself rather seriously, which makes it worth watching at least once. Fans enjoy a stone-cold badass line Jinwoo Sung who has come a long way since his E-ranked days, but then again, that’s all he’s doing. Jinwoo may feel more serious than the likes of Luffy, Goku, and even Deku, but cool-guy aura farming can only do so much. Otherwise, Solo Leveling simply doesn’t hit hard enough with the emotional impact, worldbuilding, or shocking plot twists — not yet, anyway.

Demon Slayer is Solid, But it’s Not “Big Three” Material

Demon Slayer is Leaner But Not Meaner Than Bleach

Demon Slayer is one of many examples of an overrated anime on Crunchyroll that’s not worth calling the best anime of all time, but is still worth watching at least once. Fans might say it’s good, but not that good, and that should suffice for most casual to intermediate viewers. Demon Slayer delivers exactly what it promises and little more, which reflects in its sharp pacing. This anime looks great and keeps moving, not wasting any time with filler or padding aside from some charming comedy routines. And of course, the emotional side delivers.

Aside from all that, Demon Slayer really is carried by its stellar animation and some hard-hitting character moments, which makes it strong but not a true legend in the industry. On one hand, Demon Slayer is a compressed and efficient version of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, but shedding so much excess weight also comes at a cost. Unlike Bleach, which had room for all kinds of philosophical musings, Demon Slayer is a fast-moving shonen roller coaster. It offers great momentum but not quite enough depth along the way.

Sword Art Online Needs to be Much More Than a Gamer Power Fantasy

The Isekai Boom Has Left Kirito Behind

Sword Art Online is remarkably similar to Solo Leveling in many ways, with both being gamer-oriented action anime with a cool, badass hero who keeps powering up beyond all expectations. In the early 2010s, Kirito was the Jinwoo Sung of his MMORPG world, which helped make isekai more mainstream. Years later, fans can safely say that other isekai titles such as That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Re:Zero left Sword Art Online in their dust, and it’s too late for Kirito to catch up.

The premise of Sword Art Online felt exciting and gripping up front, with thousands of gamers forced to fight for their very survival once their virtual gaming adventure became all too real. Before long, the idea started to unravel between bland character designs, gratuitous harems, repetitive action, and problematic treatment of the female cast. Over time, Sword Art Online did try to expand its storytelling, such as Asuna fighting to rescue Kirito from the Underworld while fighting battles in real life. As a whole, though, Sword Art Online is too self-indulgent and weighed down with too many clunky narrative/design choices to be as good as the diehard fans say.

One Piece is Stronger in Manga Form

There’s a Reason the One Pace Fan Project Exists

The actual story and lore of One Piece is definitely not overrated. What author Eiichiro Oda envisioned deserves its incredible reputation as one of the best shonen sagas ever told across the islands of the Grand Line. The only variable here is how the story is told, which leads to mixed results. The weakest version of One Piece is the anime, which is a shame since anime is evidently even more popular than manga is. One Piece’s anime does a lot well, but it also hobbles itself with notoriously sluggish pacing that will test anyone’s patience. As an animated product, One Piece is too bloated and heavy, no matter how compelling the actual story is.

That’s why the One Piece franchise shines brightest in manga form. Even then, the famous length may scare off new fans, but at least the anime’s atrocious pacing is absent. Fans are not subjected to the same animations or actions a dozen times in one arc — the manga keeps moving and gives itself enough room for all the best plot twists. It’s true fans can try out the One Pace fan project to speed up the anime experience, but it’s a worrying sign that such a thing had to exist at all.

Dragon Ball Super is More of the Same, For Both Good and Ill

Goku’s Adventure Keeps Going in Circles With the Illusion of Growth

More and more often, the Dragon Ball franchise has to flash its “I invented modern shonen” badge to remain relevant. That, and the sheer momentum of this long-running, legendary franchise is needed to keep it going. As for the actual quality, anime like Dragon Ball Super do have something to offer, since watching this anime isn’t just force of habit. To its credit, Dragon Ball Super treated fans to genuinely creative and memorable arcs, such as the Terminator-flavored Future Trunks saga. Not to mention the delightfully bizarre matchups found in the Universe 6 saga, such as Vegeta vs Auta Magetta.

Otherwise, Dragon Ball Super is more of the same, which is great for diehard fans and is somewhat less impressive for the rest of the anime fandom. There’s nothing actually terrible about this formula, but then again, it’s a shame to watch this franchise go in circles so many times. Half of the power-ups and action sequences feel performative, such as two fighters holding back for the sake of extending the runtime. Or the familiar issue of how each power-up is supposed to be an exciting game-changer, only to promptly become obsolete once the next, even stronger villain pops in.