Many people may be familiar with the following names: Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z. These listed names are part of the shonen sub genre. Shonen is one of the most popular sub genres of anime. This sub genre in particular contains high-action, often humorous plots that feature male protagonists and themes of martial arts, robots, sci-fi, sports, horror or mythological creatures.

The camaraderie between boys/men on sports teams, fighting squads, and the like are often stressed. Protagonists of such manga often feature an ongoing desire to better themselves and often face challenges to their abilities, skills and maturity, where self-perfection, austere self-discipline, sacrifice in the cause of duty and honorable service to society, community, family and friends are stressed. Anime expert Dorrie from YouTube channel Get in the Robot breaks down the origins of the Shonen sub genre below.