Shonen Tapes

Today we revisit the Alabasta Arc from One Piece. The majority of you probably watched this forever ago, but we’re new to One Piece here at the Shonen Tapes, and you get to see our fresh perspectives. We went from totally torn down the middle to pretty much landing in the same spot.  Were our critiques valid, or are we yapping?? COMMENT BELOW. Enjoying the Shonen Tapes Podcast? Hit that subscribe...

We watched the first episode of the Rick and Morty Anime so you don’t have to. No surprise that we mostly feel the same about the show as the rest of the internet, but is all the hate really warranted…?  Yes. Yes it was. We got our full reaction to episode 1 locked and loaded. How did you guys feel about the show?? Get ready for The Rick and Morty Anime Tape—let’s get it! Links to everything HERE...

Today we are diving into the world of Shojo with the ladies from Shoujo Sundae! We tasked Shoujo Sundae with recommending some Shojo that YOU LOT might like, given your tastes in Shonen. We overall have a fun and insightful discussion where we dive into the world of Shojo Sundae, learning about their show and the unique perspectives they bring to the anime community. Aside from learning about thei...

It's time for part two of the Hashira Training Arc. The internet's reaction to this season was just average, and we're going to see if there's any truth behind that.  In part one, we ranked our favorite Hashira with the intent of revisiting it at the end of the season to see if how the list changed up. We'll see if any of our predictions came true and then make some predic...

Finally getting to Tokyo Ghoul! We tried to keep it as high level as we could since  there was so much going on in such a short amount of episodes.  We focus on our favorite fights, characters, high points, low points, and ultimately what was it that made fans so upset at the anime while comparing it to the manga.  How did you guys feel about this show? Links to everything HERE !

WHO GOT THAT DAWG IN EM?! Who physically cannot take an L? Oozing with confidence? Consistently standing on business? Sit back as we explain.  We pick some of our favorite shows and popular anime in general and both agree on not only who got that dawg in em…but also who has a little puppy…and rabies?  There’s zero chance we named all we could, so do us a favor and drop the ones we missed in the co...

Suicide Squad? Dope. Isekai? Dope. Suicide Squad Isekai? NOPE. We watched the first 4 episodes and gave an honest of a reaction as we could. We keep it light from a spoiler perspective, so you can still watch this review without feeling like you need to watch the show first. It was a miss for many reasons, with few redeemable qualities in sight. We break those down in this video with the good, bad...

We are replacing every member of the Justice League today with characters from different anime. The rules are simple... We take turns picking on anime character to replace each member. No person can pick multiple characters from the same show. New new Justice League characters retains their personality, but loses their powers from whatever anime they came from.  We took a WILDLY different approach...

This week, we're discussing Defining Peak Moments in Anime ; or at least our favorite ones. These are the scenes that left us speechless, crazy battles worth rewatching, and the moments that stuck with us far after they were over. What really is Peak ? Is that phrase thrown around willy-nilly? Usually it’s the climax, but honestly not always. It could be huge moments of character development,...

This week, we’re diving into the almost indescribable concept of auras. Who has the best kind, and who’s lackin’? What makes a character stand out? Is it their presence, their charisma, or something more intangible? In this episode, we break down what we mean by "aura" and discuss characters who are oozing with it—and those who don't. From the commanding presence of characters you j...

New generation anime is dope, but does it have enough soul? Do you feel deeply connected to these characters and their arcs, or do you just enjoy the concept, artwork, and fight scenes? In this episode, we’re diving into the world of SOUL within Anime. We have a hunch that older generation anime had a lot more soul, and we're breaking down why that is. We’ll be naming examples of both soulful...

How would you improve Death Note? It's no secret that the series took a notable dip between seasons 1 and 2—but why exactly? Was it the introduction of Near and Mello? Not enough action? In this episode, we tackle these questions and more in one of our Improvement Tapes. We take turns discussing where we think Death Note faltered and how we’d make it better. From character development to plot...

Today, we’re diving into some controversial territory. We’re talking about the anime that get all the hype but, in our opinion, just don’t deserve it. We’re naming the four most overrated anime of all time. We each pick two anime that we think are way overhyped, then try to agree on the most overrated anime. This episode is made of some hot takes and strong opinions, so we want to hear from you! L...

Today we’re diving headfirst into the new season of Demon Slayer with and react to Episodes 1 and 2. We explore the internet’s reactions to the start of the season and share our own thoughts on both episodes. Who's your top Hashira? We reveal our Hashira rankings and discuss who we think stands out this to start the season. Plus, we make some season predictions. Of course, we also share our f...

Today's episode is an open conversation about the prodigy who the Dragon Ball torch was supposed to be passed to - Gohan. He went from an underdog with a ton of potential, winning our hearts versus Cell, to rolling our eyes as he pounced around as The Great Saiyaman. Is he a well developed character? How could we improve him? What do we think his future holds? Favorite fights and moments from...

Time for another showdown! Today we pit these two titans against each other and rank them with same criteria to see which clocks more points. Most points win.   Although each show has its pros and cons, we objectively pick which show is better based on protagonists, storylines, villains, side characters, and a few other things.  Obviously opinion-based, so results may vary, but please jump on the...

The very thing that tipped the scale of Dragon Ball world for Goku to reach new heights, is the legendary super saiyan prophecy that Beerus had in his dream, aka Yamoshi. This man single handedly created a butterfly effect that would eventually lead to Goku and Vegeta becoming gods, but who is this man, and how can Dragon Ball Super progress his story? Today, we cover the backstory of what we know...

Here's the deal, these two have fought FIVE TIMES throughout Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. It's a mix of forgettable fights and crazy showdowns, so we decided we'd rank them from best to worst. We break down the fights between how much it impacted the story, the choreography, the excitement, and the result. Here are the fights in order:  1. Ninja Academy 2. Rooftop 3. Valley of the E...

Like we always say, where there is smoke...there is usually fire. Is that the case with this show though? It has been talk of the internet, so we watched it from start to finish and are giving our immediate reactions.  As good as it is, we have a few observations and uncovered a few things that are missing about the show. Overall though, we do think it knocked it out of the park. Are ya'll ro...

Although the show is fire, there is always room for improvements! It's no secret that we were not fans of season 1, but we actually uncovered so many things they could have done in the following seasons to make the show even better. We won't beat a dead horse for the issues we had with the exposition dump and lame dialogue, but we focus on character development misses, episode numbers, d...

What's poppin tapeworms?! Today we talk who about who is the OVERALL character between these two juggernauts. Goku obviously washes Naruto in a fight, but was he as entertaining? Did he have a more interesting backstory? Who had the bigger impact? To be honest, neither of us expected the results of this episode. Although Naruto (the show) has the better writing....does that apply to Naruto (t...

We deep dive into the super popular show Ninja Kamui today, and make our case and point on why we think this is show is incredibly overrated and lacking overall.    HEAR US OUT before you dislike and tear us a new one. The show is oddly overrated, and has a lot of glaring issues that the Anime community seems to have given a pass on.  Is the story compelling? What about the characters? The dialogu...

So this episode was a hard one, but it felt wrong not addressing. We honor the late great Akira Toriyama. After his sudden passing, we discuss Akira Toriyama’s greatest creation, Dragon Ball, and analyze how it has influenced our lives and ultimately impacted our personalities and values.  We realize pretty quickly into the episode was that his influences go way deeper than either of us thought. T...

Have you other thought objectively, who are the TOP characters in Dragon Ball? Everyone has their favorite, but who's on the Mount Rushmore (plus 1) of the Dragon Ball world? To help us decide, we are joined by a very special guest, BlvcBulmaa! For those of you that don't know her, she is a super active contributor to Dragon Ball news, knowledge, and driving conversation all over Instagr...

In today's episode, we go over two extremely similar villains from My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen (respectively). It's pretty clear Mahito took some inspiration from Shigaraki - but did he follow the JJK trend of getting inspired on something and overall improving on it? The match up actually ended up being super close. Fighting skills, better written character, aesthetics, personal...