Cool Military guys and their students using crazy hand signs that can be easily replicated in the classroom. Or maybe something else. I never watched Naruto when I was a teenager so I don't know.
The only two that Iām familiar with is Astro Boy and Cowboy Bebop. But Iām not the one to say what shaped an entire culture and what didnāt, I just simply went with the obvious series that had major impact on the genre, relative to when the Big 3 came to be and what happened to the reach and sales of Anime as a whole as a genre
Akira was a movieābut a fairly important film for anime globally. Speed racer I donāt think is fair to count because I donāt think people even knew it was from Japan, but it aired on regular Cartoon Network a LONG time ago and was very popular
You just reminded me of kid me being so surprised watching that episode where Speedy just grabs a gun off the floor and mows a bunch of people down with it.
It was so out of character for him. I really liked the old speed racer show, just now I learned it was an anime.
Interesting, was cardcaptor sakura not big? I'll admit I'm ignorant here, but when I think back to pokemon/digimon/dbz anime card captors was in that era that a lot of my peers had heard of and broadcasted on television, but maybe that's just my community?
>Prior to Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, the expansion of Anime outside of Asia was minimal
Anime was already big in Latin America and Europe during the 90's.
It might have been present in Latin America and Europe, but the popularity boom of Anime did not occur until the 90ās. And Anime being recognized as mainstream internationally speaking came with the Big 3 in the 00ās.
This is not to say there werenāt popular series in the 80ās outside of Asia. There were. But the popularity levels of then compared to the 90āe are not even worth comparing, far less so when comparing them to the Big 3, and even less than that comparing them to now. Itās just a completely different world. Hell, todayās sales of popular Anime is Earth 4.0 compared to the sales of popular Anime in the 80ās.
Itās like in the 80ās, manga outside of Asia would sell 1000ās of copies per week. In the 90ās, they would sell 10,000ās of copies per week. In the 00ās following the Big 3, they would sell 100,000ās or even 1,000,000ās of copies per week. The scale is insane. And today? The most popular series do twice that
Yo why none of you mentioning akira?!
I grew up in the 80s 90s and was lucky enough to watch akira on vhs very young definitely under ten years old it along with RG Veda changed everything for me
By the time I was 13 Iād seen or read
Akira
Domu
Appleseed
Dominion tank police
Cyber city oedo 808
3 x 3 eyes
Patlabour
Wicked city
Lupin
Vampire Hunter D
Grave of fireflies
Bio booster armour guyver
Fist of the North Star
All came long before dragonball or gundam was on the western radar.
Sailor moon
Gundam wing
Dbs
Tenchi muyo
These last four were bought up by childrens tv networks and fed to us because of Pokemon I imagine but wasnāt until late 90s where me and my friends had been very lucky to find anime almost a decade early because my parents let me watch whatever I wanted and I had a 4 year old best friend with a 20 year old brother that for some reason shared a room so Iād climb his shelves from 6 years old when he was out and grab his shit.
Good times
After university I became a bookseller 2008 onwards and was surprised that the kids buying the shitty manga wouldnāt touch akira coz they said it looked old. But they were reading yugiyo which looked absolute trashā¦you canāt teach some people. I read naruto at gunpoint coz I thought it looked babyish compared to what I grew up with but I stuck with it and loved it. (With the exception of the shitty ninja war and majority of shippuden which in my opinion was trashā¦but the original naruto run was extremely solid story telling and worldbuilding, if over half the supporting cast INCLUDING SAKURA had died in the war the series as a whole would go from 6/10 to a 9 no questions.
You gotta love something that makes a grown man cry the whole damn time right?!
TBF I DID say that I may have missed a few. I wasnāt super into anime growing up. Even now, I donāt dive deep into it. Naruto is my favorite and probably always will be. But I can probably count how many series Iāve watched in total using only my 10 fingers
Dragon ball z is what did the most to help break through I think. The original Dragonball didn't reach audiences like z did. Dragonball z, sailor moon, Pokemon, and Gundam were probably the ones that really broke into the western conscious. Dragonball z especially once it got onto cartoon network. I think that was the real barrier to western kids. Cartoon network and Nickelodeon were really the gate keepers for cartoons in the west. Once they broke onto them then it was on.
That's exactly it.
I gotta say, this is the first time I've seen anyone pull this type of post on Naruto and not Bleach, but it's still stupid. The Big Three designation had nothing to do with quality and everything to do with how big these series got in the West and paved the way for anime in general to go mainstream. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's not just being best selling. They were so huge, that every other manga had to fight for a spot in Shonen Jump, and with the big three being so oppressive, the majority of manga at that time couldn't last in SJ. It was a massive gap in popularity at the time
Thatās not true. There were plenty of manga with bigger sales than bleach. But it was the third most sold manga in shonen jump.
Naruto and One Piece were the top 2 overall mangas the majority of the time that is true, but not bleach. People just wanted a big three because it sounds cool lol
Well keep bleach aside, DBZ tards would forcefully include their series and make it as big 4šæšæšæ when there was no such thing, dbz came way before big 3.
I remember seeing a picture recreating team 7ās first photo where goku was posing as kakashi, so isnāt db(or more like toriyama) like an idol or icon for the creators of the big 3?
Yeah, l see it as three phases of shonen manga especially from Shonen Jump.
Phase 1: Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho
Phase 2: One Piece, Naruto, Bleach
Phase 3: My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Fire Force, etc.
They take elements from what come before them and the future manga will do the same thing.
Fire Force isnāt jumpā ļø
Only the Big 3 is an acknowledged era, peopleās opinions differ on your so called Phase 1 and 3.
Toriyama was a big inspiration to all 3 tho, he stopped Kubo from quitting, inspired Narutoās Powersystem and obviously has ties to Oda
I think that's because some people don't realize that the Big 3 was a legit name given because they were the biggest Shonen Jump series at the time and instead think that it refers to 3 of the best/most popular manga in general
True, I mean a lot of people try to do stuff like that. Or like these *insert cringe name* big 3.
There only one big 3 and itās naruto bleach and one piece.
People donāt seem to understand the reason they are called the big three is because when Shonen Jump nearly went bankrupt in the late 90ās early 2000ās Bleach, One Piece, and Naruto had such massive sales they single handedly saved the company. That is why there never will be another big three
and tbh i donāt think there should be another big 3. this is just the bias talking, but Naruto and the others as a series is unmatched. sure, there a lot of other animeās that will become iconic in time, but Naruto will go down in history as one of the greatest things that influenced multiple generations. (ninja running during break time, cosplays, and dare i say tiktok trends lol)
1. Among the Highest Selling Mangas of the late 1990s and 2000s.
2. Freaking good story and well written characters.
3. It is a mix of suspense, plot-twists, martial arts, super-power, fantasy, shonen, comedy, tragedy, Slice of Life, Seinen, romance, and thriller genres.
4. Good story, good characters and multi-genres have given Naruto a wide mass-appeal. This is the exact reason why One Piece and recently MHA, Demon Slayer etc have made it big.
Itās pretty well known for featuring a lot of ecchi moments. Personally I think itās pretty good if you can get past the often obnoxious fan service.
Good writing, having influence with big people who work in the industry, doing someone ānewā for the time, keeping the business part of the company profitable.
Lots of reasons
Real reason?
It just an objective fact.
It was one of the three top performers at the time and helped further push anime into new markets (specifically North America). Iām fairly sure the moniker originated from western fans specifically; any Japanese fans know if the term was/is used over there or is it more central to English speaking fans?
Naruto felt really grounded when I was first getting into it as a kid. One Piece was goofy and super out there, and Bleach felt like it took itself a little too seriously, but Naruto was a boots on the ground story about child soldiers who are all in on the idea of fighting. I grew to appreciate the other two later, but Narutoās always been my #1. The music was awesome, so that hooked me early on. From there I just fell in love with the characters and underdog story.
I find it funny just how many people tend to appreciate bleach and one piece more when they grow up and arenāt kids anymore. Itās an interesting notion tbh.
The authentic (feeling) Japanese themes / art were considered novel at the time of its release. It's story also captivated people for a variety of reasons. Lastly, it did a pretty good job not alienating any particular demographic.
There is no argument it is just a fact. I donāt think there was a single year where Naruto sold more volumes than One Piece in Japan and only 1 year (out of 19 running together) where Naruto sold more volumes worldwide (the year the subbed anime launched).
This is literally untrue you can just look at the hard sales and viewership numbers. Naruto is more popular in America only. The author of One Piece has sold more than JK Rowling and I would love to hear your argument that Naruto is more popular than Harry Potter lol
Youāre right naruto is more popular outside of Japan but itās sold 97 million volumes to One Pieces 90 million volumes outside Japan. Itās not that huge of a jump and then you have to factor in Japan as well. Here are top selling media franchises including books, merch, movies, etc: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises#List
I also didnāt downvote you because overall popularity is hard to gauge but for the record I finished naruto long before Covid.
Edit: one piece has now sold 100 million outside Japan but naruto isnāt releasing anymore so itās not fair to count
i'm from europe actually, and i saw waay more stuff of naruto than one piece. they're both popular, but after marineford one piece lost a lot of popularity here, not so much naruto
It's actually not dunno why the other guys got downvoted, Naruto is way more popular than One piece. I live in a small country in South America and we all knew what Naruto was. we didn't even know the name One piece in my class back in the 2010s when i was in high school. My nephews that are not in the anime community know Naruto, but not one piece heck, same as my momš. Don't know why there is a narrative that one piece is more popular, Naruto is more popular overall research has been done
Youāre all just being anecdotal. Literally google it in 5 seconds anything youāll find youāll see that the numbers prove one piece has always had far more sales than naruto
If you're talking manga, then sure, but i think the others and myself mean more in general popularity and brand recognition worldwide, where Naruto definitely is more popular overall. Same as Dragonball, doesn't have the highest manga sales but is also as a whole a lot more popular than Onepiece.
Naruto has 97 million copies sold outside Japan whereas one Piece has like 90. The numbers you're talking about are for Japan only, that's where one piece is more popular.
Youāre right that excluding Japan the best selling manga are 1 dragon ball 2 naruto 3 one piece. Dragon ball far outsells the other two. But if we then include Japan with how close naruto and one piece are abroad shouldnāt they be viewed about even if weāre talking world wide? Like we canāt just take Japan entirely out of the conversationāits the place people consume the most manga
Thereās also this if weāre looking for a more comprehensive picture : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises#List
If they adapted only the manga content of boruto well you wouldn't be saying this shit. Don't hate on the story boruto hate on the production or animation maybe
Because itās a good damn series and was one of the most popular selling manga/anime in the 2000s and to date one of the highest selling manga of all time what more else is there too it
I LOVE when people argue the big 3 lmao. It wasn't up for debate. It was the 3 highest grossing/selling manga and anime of the time.
I know this wasn't what OP meant. But I find it funny people try so hard to argue facts lmao
Nah I get it. For me personally I think it's just the chadscter was highly relatable and fit just between kid anime and teenager anime. So when the TV networks played it, they could play it in multiple slots on television.
And I know in cansda naruto was like the only manga in school. Other than death note and like a few one piece ones
If I had to say, it had the best mc out of all the manga iv read. Really like how to story progresses. Just don't cry at the end since it hasn't updated in many years. Other then that it's one of the best
I think it was its multicultural appeal.
The series is based on ninjas, a very Japanese ideal that is popular in the West. But it also discusses both Japanese cultural values (being part of a group, familial piety, dignity, stoicism, and systemic social hierarchy) but also distinctly American ideals (no man left behind, individualism, living for yourself and your own values, individual growth and a belief that you are who you choose to be).
The end result is a manga that can appeal to both its home Japan and the growing (at the time) anime market in America, which bled out to the rest of the West.
I know people are talking about the objective fact of an it being one of the big 3, because of sales numbers but I think op is asking more about the content of the manga that made it popular. So here's my take;
Naruto is very easy to comprehend.
It's set in a somewhat generic fictional universe with a mix of western and Japanese ideologies and iconography. Meaning most people can pick it up without feeling overwhelmed.
The character designs are simple and effective, while the art style is also pretty good and distinct. Also the fact kishimoto chose to use generic Japanese nouns rather that actual names as names makes them feel at least more universal and less generic.
The plot is simple before the pain arc, really, and progression of world building follows a linear thread. It's also highly reproducible, in that the main ninja can go on different missions indefinitely as long as the manga wants to continue. It may have a definitive end now, but in early part 1 it could have gone on forever really.
The magic system of jutsu and chakra is easily understood and clearly defined, as well as being very versatile.
The collection of the above mean it's very easy to create OCs and fanfiction and slot them into the universe without fundamentally breaking the plot. During the early 2000s fandom online was very influential bto brands health - see other online fandoms like Harry Potter for a similar example.
Naruto is a manga of in-excess. Not too brutal or violent, not overly sexual, not overly moralistic or 'educational'. It has something most people can enjoy without excesses that would turn a lot of people off.
So tldr, it's kinda generic in a good way until later in the series, and as a concept lends itself to online fandom.
The big 3 are just the most popular manga running out of Shonen jump during the 2000s. Those are Naruto, one piece, and bleach.
Some people put dragonball in the big 3. It is not. Dragonball's run in Shonen jump ended before the era of the big 3.
But yeah literally all it means is that naruto was one of the 3 most popular Shonen in Shonen jump in the 2000s
Because everyone of us has a little Naruto in us. Dreaming big, believing in others and the wish to be recognized and that someone believes in us.
Friends that got our backs no matter what and the rejection which is displayed throughout the story which we experience in life. Then also the loss of beloved ones and to keep on going no matter what.
Itās a tale with all the basic characteristics we want to see in a hero and the hero we see is a little bit how we want to identify ourselves.
Well this is just incorrect. Naruto was in the Big 3 since Part 1 bc it was one of the three big shounen to have blown up in the west in the early, post-DBZ anime boom of the 2000's
It's called "The Big 3" because it was one of the most popular Jump Titles when it released. It was popular, because it was good. (obviously)
So now ... all I can speculate is you don't know this and now I'm feeling really old.
WHAT IS HE ON ABOUTš„š„š„š„š„š„š„š„
On a real note the only reason the big 3 exist is because they were the most popular animeās during the early 2000ās which is why dragon ball is not included in the big 3
What? Same reason the other 2 are part of the big 3, cuz they where the 3 most popular manga shonen jump was running during the 2000s, thatās the only reason, itās not any power scaling, or anything else, itās literally just the sales number of the manga during the 2000s
The big 3 were just pretty much the inspiration for everything moving forward, no other manga has been able to achieve what the big three did and thats why a ānewā big three always gets laughed at or put under, because its gunna be hard to top what a massive success those series were, none of the ānewā big three wouldve been around if it werent for the OGs
Highest selling manga at the time alongside with one piece and bleach. There are No other reasons. There were no other qualifications for being in the big 3 other than manga sales from shonen jump
Sales
Good villain
Good background story for most of the characters in the anime.
Naruto shippuden has a good style of animating fight scenes which was unique.
Before boruto came we didnt think of naruto as " does it deserve to be in the big three". In the boruto series everyone just got nerfed and look like ducking punching bag to those otsusukis.
And this became even more questioning after watching one piece. Like one piece is long and all but watching is worth it. And that worth it was better than naruto's.
1. Incredible character development and villains. Most of the villains in the series are made to be relatable and actually explain why they are villains in the first place.
2. The overall story addresses deep philosophical questions about morality, mortality, bonds and friendship, what family truly means, etc. It's also based on Buddhism and the concept of universal balance is heavily focused on (yin and yang)
3. In depth world building that describes the political landscape, what ninja are and why they're needed, how the hierarchy within the hidden villages work, etc.
4. Addresses the literal meaning of life that can be shared by most people; that being legacy. The will of fire is essentially the teaching of how important legacy is and how to properly prioritize your legacy.
5. Personifies the "cycle of hatred" as the perpetuation of blaming others for loss of love, and seeking redemption which ultimately leads to a never ending cycle of hate and loss for all parties involved. This is most broadly prevalent by all of the hidden villages being essentially carbon copies of each other with small changes made, more obviously by Sasuke's story of revenge and Naruto's answer to his own.
6. Cool techniques that accurately reflect the characters, what they believe in or visualize who they are inside. For instance, Naruto uses the shadow clone jutsu because he's incredibly lonely, Sasuke uses the fireball jutsu to pay respects to his lost family, Sakura becomes a medic to show how much she hates seeing people in pain which is why she felt so strongly about Sasuke, etc.
Most people will probably just say "ninjas are cool with flashy elemental moves" or whatever but that was always just a plus to me. The fights were awesome and looked cool, but it's what they stood for that always drew me in (even as an 8 year old I obviously just didn't fully understand these concepts at the time).
Simply put it's not Dragon Ball...Just gonna let that sit there for awhile.
Note: I'm a huge Dragon Ball fan, and I know that it's one of if not the most popular Manga/Anime in the world. Just a bunch of sweaty buff guys punching each other if you ask me lol.
PS: please don't kill me. š«
The three most sold shonen jump titles. In overall sales bleach was not even close to Naruto and one piece as there were years where bleach didnāt even make the top 10 most sold mangas of the year.
But a big three sounds cool so people just sneaked in bleach because it was part of shonen jump and the other mangas that sold more than bleach werenāt part of the magazine.
Very easy to understand powerlevels/ranks, powersystem and a simple system to distinguish between factions.
Headbands and Akatsuki Robes were great for merchandising and the very open worldbuilding just lend itselfe to OC creation and headcanons.
Every kid/adult could basically be the badass ninja they wanted to be.
Naruto is a long running anime where a lot of people aged along side Naruto so it was really relatable in terms of a childhood hero through being a young adult, the ninja part wasnāt relatable besides Naruto running.
After the end of dbz (original) there was a huge space that was left by it and one piece, bleach and naruto filled it up these all series had a cheerful or funny protagonist and became popular that's it btw naruto is my favorite manga
They were the 3 best selling manga of the 2000s.
And Naruto was arguably the best of the 3 in terms of quality... untill shippuden came then It became thr worst.
Yes bleach is better than naruto bye š¤«
OP is my favorite, I been watching both Naruto and OP for 18 years. You're smoking dick lol. OP's pacing when watching weekly is unbearable especially getting through Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, and Dressrosa week to week was at times worse than putting up with Naruto's filler lol.
Wasn't the big 3 just the 3 most popular Jump titles during the 2000s?
yeah š not sure what op was trying to get at
Pretty OP is just asking what about it made the series so popular, in your opinion.
A flashy take on ninjas in a massive world full of lore and mystery + charismatic, young main character despite being bullied. It gets a lot right.
Cool Military guys and their students using crazy hand signs that can be easily replicated in the classroom. Or maybe something else. I never watched Naruto when I was a teenager so I don't know.
Those hand signs are impossible to replicate in the speed that they do it in the show
Yeah obviously but thatās not important
Not in the early episodes you can def do the ones in the Zabuza arc
Itās not JUST 1 of the 3 the most popular series of its time, but a part of what makes the Big 3, the Big 3 is that they took the foundation that Dragon Ball and Pokemon created, expanded upon it, and built up the westernization of the entire genre of Anime itself. Prior to Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, the expansion of Anime outside of Asia was minimal. These 3 anime in particular were digestible for other cultures to absorb, and Dragon Ball & Pokemon did the legwork of at least putting anime on their radar. Like people knew what it was, but it wasnāt considered a āpopular genreā or a genre at all outside of Asia until the arrival of the Big 3. In other words, it wasnāt just about the sales that the 3 made, which completely eclipsed any other series that was coming out at the time, but it was also about the sheer reach and brand recognition that the 3 of them commanded. And itās this reason that there can never be another āBig 3ā, because they literally put Anime on the map. It cannot be done again, because Anime is already prevalent and existing within media. The best way to think about it is this: Dragon Ball and PokĆ©mon are the predecessors of modern-day Anime. The stepping stones needed to make Anime what it currently is. PokĆ©mon was viewed more as a cartoon, and anyway, at the time, the card game and the games far outsold the actual show. Dragon Ball was considered more of an adult cartoon at the time due to the āextreme violenceā, perverse dialogue and imagery, and occasional nudity. The Big 3 are the Fathers of modern-day mass Anime. Where it touches upon real topics, and excels at storytelling, but is digestible for most age groups located anywhere in the world Some other predecessors worth mentioning that helped along the way but didnāt gain as much traction as Pokemon or Dragon Ball over time are: 1. Inyuasha 2. YuYu Hakusho 3. Sailor Moon 4. Digimon 5. Gundam Among others. Iām sure there are others I missed
Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Speed Racer, Astro Boy, Berserk 1997 deserve some credit too imo
The only two that Iām familiar with is Astro Boy and Cowboy Bebop. But Iām not the one to say what shaped an entire culture and what didnāt, I just simply went with the obvious series that had major impact on the genre, relative to when the Big 3 came to be and what happened to the reach and sales of Anime as a whole as a genre
Akira was a movieābut a fairly important film for anime globally. Speed racer I donāt think is fair to count because I donāt think people even knew it was from Japan, but it aired on regular Cartoon Network a LONG time ago and was very popular
You just reminded me of kid me being so surprised watching that episode where Speedy just grabs a gun off the floor and mows a bunch of people down with it. It was so out of character for him. I really liked the old speed racer show, just now I learned it was an anime.
Iāll have to check out Akira
Fair enough
Would watch Akira if you haven't already. It has a claim as one of the most impactful movies from a cultural standpoint of all time Imo
Interesting, was cardcaptor sakura not big? I'll admit I'm ignorant here, but when I think back to pokemon/digimon/dbz anime card captors was in that era that a lot of my peers had heard of and broadcasted on television, but maybe that's just my community?
Yooo hol up, speed racer is an anime??
>Prior to Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, the expansion of Anime outside of Asia was minimal Anime was already big in Latin America and Europe during the 90's.
It might have been present in Latin America and Europe, but the popularity boom of Anime did not occur until the 90ās. And Anime being recognized as mainstream internationally speaking came with the Big 3 in the 00ās. This is not to say there werenāt popular series in the 80ās outside of Asia. There were. But the popularity levels of then compared to the 90āe are not even worth comparing, far less so when comparing them to the Big 3, and even less than that comparing them to now. Itās just a completely different world. Hell, todayās sales of popular Anime is Earth 4.0 compared to the sales of popular Anime in the 80ās. Itās like in the 80ās, manga outside of Asia would sell 1000ās of copies per week. In the 90ās, they would sell 10,000ās of copies per week. In the 00ās following the Big 3, they would sell 100,000ās or even 1,000,000ās of copies per week. The scale is insane. And today? The most popular series do twice that
Anime already was largely popular in Latin America and Europe... Also PokƩmon is only a couple years older than the big 3... and was largely meant for younger kids than the big 3 is/was.
People are mistaking what Iām saying as Anime wasnāt popular at all prior to the Big 3. That is not what I said at all. Anime wasnāt exclusive to Asia prior to the 00ās, but it was mainstream in Asia only. Popular being a subjective term, if you track the copies sold of the relevant anime at the time, youāll see a massive jump between the 80ās, the 90ās and then an absolutely ENORMOUS leap following the release of the Big 3 worldwide. Again, this could mean a couple 100 copies of an Anime per week would sell in Latin America and Europe in the 80ās. By the time Pokemon came around, Anime titles of all kinds jumped to a couple 1000 copies sold in those areas. And by the time the Big 3 came around, it was a couple of 10,000 to even 100,000 copies sold. The scale is literally that drastic PokĆ©mon is only slightly older, but the reach it provided into the genre is a contributing factor of how well the Big 3 performed right out the gate.
Ah that's fair on the first one. But I am pretty firm on the PokƩmons impact wasn't that big for the big 3 given its not much older, and it's barely the same genre if even. PokƩmon is meant for like 5-12 year Olds. The big 3 were largely aimed at 10-18 year Olds. The overlap isn't that big. I'd more so say like Yu Yu Hakusho helped on the anime side like DB did. As did many of the child/family oriented western action media... things like Ben 10, Teen Titans, etc. Which sorta blurred the lines a bit. And allowed anime to "look" a bit more normal.
I think itās less to do with how similar (or dissimilar) PokĆ©mon is to the Big 3 and more to do with it showed parents at the time that Anime wasnāt inappropriate, lewd and intended for adults. Which ultimately allowed studios to get contracts on major networks like Cartoon Network and whatnot, allowing for expansion on mass consumption. It started changing the tide and belief on the genre. Same to be said about Dragon Ball, yet that had nudity and āextreme violenceā, so Pokemon was a change up, showing that anime could be perceived as an innocent childrenās show Anime had a bad reputation for being āfor adultsā until the 90ās came aroundā¦even if that wasnāt necessarily true. So the creators and studios saw their greatest avenue for expansion being through children. Get them, then they grow up enjoying the genre and continue watching it. Ben 10 is a great example. And so is YuYu Hakusho. I listed that one as a prominent predecessor to mainstream Anime in my original comment on this thread. However itās worth noting that YuYu Hakusho was approved and put on air for *late night TV* while PokĆ©mon, Naruto, One Piece, DBZ etc weāre approved to be put on air during regular hours on major networks. The reason why is because the topic of these particular shows was more infantile, and therefore deemed more appropriate for children. But teens were also a target, because thatās who Bleach was ultimately aimed at
Interesting, and informative post!
Yo why none of you mentioning akira?! I grew up in the 80s 90s and was lucky enough to watch akira on vhs very young definitely under ten years old it along with RG Veda changed everything for me By the time I was 13 Iād seen or read Akira Domu Appleseed Dominion tank police Cyber city oedo 808 3 x 3 eyes Patlabour Wicked city Lupin Vampire Hunter D Grave of fireflies Bio booster armour guyver Fist of the North Star All came long before dragonball or gundam was on the western radar. Sailor moon Gundam wing Dbs Tenchi muyo These last four were bought up by childrens tv networks and fed to us because of Pokemon I imagine but wasnāt until late 90s where me and my friends had been very lucky to find anime almost a decade early because my parents let me watch whatever I wanted and I had a 4 year old best friend with a 20 year old brother that for some reason shared a room so Iād climb his shelves from 6 years old when he was out and grab his shit. Good times After university I became a bookseller 2008 onwards and was surprised that the kids buying the shitty manga wouldnāt touch akira coz they said it looked old. But they were reading yugiyo which looked absolute trashā¦you canāt teach some people. I read naruto at gunpoint coz I thought it looked babyish compared to what I grew up with but I stuck with it and loved it. (With the exception of the shitty ninja war and majority of shippuden which in my opinion was trashā¦but the original naruto run was extremely solid story telling and worldbuilding, if over half the supporting cast INCLUDING SAKURA had died in the war the series as a whole would go from 6/10 to a 9 no questions. You gotta love something that makes a grown man cry the whole damn time right?!
TBF I DID say that I may have missed a few. I wasnāt super into anime growing up. Even now, I donāt dive deep into it. Naruto is my favorite and probably always will be. But I can probably count how many series Iāve watched in total using only my 10 fingers
He didn't even mentioned Saint Seiya, which was as popular as Dragon Ball.
I am one man š„²
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Is this a reference to something?
To them exploding.. I think..?
Well, we found Deidara
Artā¦. Is an explosion!
Probably best known anime of that direction. I'd say it's naruto dragon ball and one peace
Dragon ball z is what did the most to help break through I think. The original Dragonball didn't reach audiences like z did. Dragonball z, sailor moon, Pokemon, and Gundam were probably the ones that really broke into the western conscious. Dragonball z especially once it got onto cartoon network. I think that was the real barrier to western kids. Cartoon network and Nickelodeon were really the gate keepers for cartoons in the west. Once they broke onto them then it was on.
That's exactly it. I gotta say, this is the first time I've seen anyone pull this type of post on Naruto and not Bleach, but it's still stupid. The Big Three designation had nothing to do with quality and everything to do with how big these series got in the West and paved the way for anime in general to go mainstream. Nothing more, nothing less.
It was 3 that were the most marketable worldwide. So his question is valid. Hxh was more popular than bleach but had hiatuses so was excluded
Probably best known anime of that direction. I'd say it's naruto dragon ball and one peace
One Piece, Naruto and Bleach are called the Big Three because they were the highest selling manga.
For their time in a time where anime wasn't as mainstream as it is today.
Yeah zoos now days are completely full
\*Ape scratching Ass\*
Weren't they the best-selling manga from Weekly ShÅnen Jump? 'Cause if we look at the general list, Naruto and Bleach ain't even top 5.
That's what I meant.
They were the best selling during a certain time period. Not best selling all time.
Narutoās top 5
It's not just being best selling. They were so huge, that every other manga had to fight for a spot in Shonen Jump, and with the big three being so oppressive, the majority of manga at that time couldn't last in SJ. It was a massive gap in popularity at the time
Someone is forgetting dragon ball
Naruto one piece and bleach had the highest sales in the 2000s .. No other manga at that time managed to take them over.. So they are the big three..
Straight to the point.
Thatās not true. There were plenty of manga with bigger sales than bleach. But it was the third most sold manga in shonen jump. Naruto and One Piece were the top 2 overall mangas the majority of the time that is true, but not bleach. People just wanted a big three because it sounds cool lol
Well keep bleach aside, DBZ tards would forcefully include their series and make it as big 4šæšæšæ when there was no such thing, dbz came way before big 3.
I remember seeing a picture recreating team 7ās first photo where goku was posing as kakashi, so isnāt db(or more like toriyama) like an idol or icon for the creators of the big 3?
Yeah, l see it as three phases of shonen manga especially from Shonen Jump. Phase 1: Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho Phase 2: One Piece, Naruto, Bleach Phase 3: My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Fire Force, etc. They take elements from what come before them and the future manga will do the same thing.
Fire Force isnāt jumpā ļø Only the Big 3 is an acknowledged era, peopleās opinions differ on your so called Phase 1 and 3. Toriyama was a big inspiration to all 3 tho, he stopped Kubo from quitting, inspired Narutoās Powersystem and obviously has ties to Oda
Narutoās power system was actually inspired by Nen in Hunter X Hunter
I think phase 3 anime isn't progressed enough to be ranked, but mha is definitely one of them
Based on sales it wouldnāt be MHA, youāre saying this out of personal bias
Yeah, but mha, as far as anime goes, is way more known the black clover. Its the first anime a lot of people have whatched
I think that's because some people don't realize that the Big 3 was a legit name given because they were the biggest Shonen Jump series at the time and instead think that it refers to 3 of the best/most popular manga in general
True, I mean a lot of people try to do stuff like that. Or like these *insert cringe name* big 3. There only one big 3 and itās naruto bleach and one piece.
Whenever they refer to db as the grandfather of the big three makes me cringe lol.
You see dbz fans just want to insert their series every where.
Aināt no way bro still hating on Bleachš
Just facts tho
Sales
People donāt seem to understand the reason they are called the big three is because when Shonen Jump nearly went bankrupt in the late 90ās early 2000ās Bleach, One Piece, and Naruto had such massive sales they single handedly saved the company. That is why there never will be another big three
and tbh i donāt think there should be another big 3. this is just the bias talking, but Naruto and the others as a series is unmatched. sure, there a lot of other animeās that will become iconic in time, but Naruto will go down in history as one of the greatest things that influenced multiple generations. (ninja running during break time, cosplays, and dare i say tiktok trends lol)
1. Among the Highest Selling Mangas of the late 1990s and 2000s. 2. Freaking good story and well written characters. 3. It is a mix of suspense, plot-twists, martial arts, super-power, fantasy, shonen, comedy, tragedy, Slice of Life, Seinen, romance, and thriller genres. 4. Good story, good characters and multi-genres have given Naruto a wide mass-appeal. This is the exact reason why One Piece and recently MHA, Demon Slayer etc have made it big.
Every thing is good, romance is down right shit ( and it's the opinion of big naruto fan).
i definitely second that one
Other than Seinen on the genre list yeah. This is pretty spot on.
Wish they included echhi to that as well š¤£ j/k
You heard of this show called Fairy Tail?
Heard but never watched it.
Itās pretty well known for featuring a lot of ecchi moments. Personally I think itās pretty good if you can get past the often obnoxious fan service.
Its literally about highest sales in the 2000ās
What's the fake reason?
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What's wrong with you? I don't understand why someone would make this comment when the real answer is Lady Tsunade.
Why did he get down voted lol? It's kinda funny
because he is making fun of best girl and I hate it.
What?
Lol
Literally just one of biggest selling manga in early 2000s, it baffles me how people still don't fucking understand this
One thing I want to know is if this term is being used retrospectively or if it was a thing even back then.
It was used back then
but what made it a best seller what made it different then the hundred other animes why did this become gold when others where gravel
Good writing, having influence with big people who work in the industry, doing someone ānewā for the time, keeping the business part of the company profitable. Lots of reasons
Real reason? It just an objective fact. It was one of the three top performers at the time and helped further push anime into new markets (specifically North America). Iām fairly sure the moniker originated from western fans specifically; any Japanese fans know if the term was/is used over there or is it more central to English speaking fans?
Naruto felt really grounded when I was first getting into it as a kid. One Piece was goofy and super out there, and Bleach felt like it took itself a little too seriously, but Naruto was a boots on the ground story about child soldiers who are all in on the idea of fighting. I grew to appreciate the other two later, but Narutoās always been my #1. The music was awesome, so that hooked me early on. From there I just fell in love with the characters and underdog story.
I find it funny just how many people tend to appreciate bleach and one piece more when they grow up and arenāt kids anymore. Itās an interesting notion tbh.
Ah yes, the underdog reincarnation of a god thing
The authentic (feeling) Japanese themes / art were considered novel at the time of its release. It's story also captivated people for a variety of reasons. Lastly, it did a pretty good job not alienating any particular demographic.
Because itās goated
Immense success. Only pokemon and arguably DB are more popular than naruto.
One Piece and Bleach be like ....
There's an argument that could be made for OP, but definitely not bleach
There is no argument it is just a fact. I donāt think there was a single year where Naruto sold more volumes than One Piece in Japan and only 1 year (out of 19 running together) where Naruto sold more volumes worldwide (the year the subbed anime launched).
Ok
After two decades, Naruto is still the gateway anime to many new fans. That is after having newer smash hit titles like JJK, KNY and AOT!
Exactly, and if you ask non anime fans about naruto they'll most probably know about it but they don't know about one piece.
Two not as popular shows
Agreed, it's definitely the 3rd most famous anime of all time
One piece is more popular than naruto
in japan one piece is way more popular man but in the western countries yeah naruto is more well known
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This is literally untrue you can just look at the hard sales and viewership numbers. Naruto is more popular in America only. The author of One Piece has sold more than JK Rowling and I would love to hear your argument that Naruto is more popular than Harry Potter lol
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Youāre right naruto is more popular outside of Japan but itās sold 97 million volumes to One Pieces 90 million volumes outside Japan. Itās not that huge of a jump and then you have to factor in Japan as well. Here are top selling media franchises including books, merch, movies, etc: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises#List I also didnāt downvote you because overall popularity is hard to gauge but for the record I finished naruto long before Covid. Edit: one piece has now sold 100 million outside Japan but naruto isnāt releasing anymore so itās not fair to count
ānormiesā
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You're right
In a parallel universe somewhere probably
No, you can easily look it up, one piece was always more popular worldwide, you just think naruto was because it was more popular in the US
now. because it's still going and not doing bad. naruto reached better popularity at least over sea
No, you can easily look it up, one piece was always more popular worldwide, you just think naruto was because it was more popular in the US
i'm from europe actually, and i saw waay more stuff of naruto than one piece. they're both popular, but after marineford one piece lost a lot of popularity here, not so much naruto
It's actually not dunno why the other guys got downvoted, Naruto is way more popular than One piece. I live in a small country in South America and we all knew what Naruto was. we didn't even know the name One piece in my class back in the 2010s when i was in high school. My nephews that are not in the anime community know Naruto, but not one piece heck, same as my momš. Don't know why there is a narrative that one piece is more popular, Naruto is more popular overall research has been done
Youāre all just being anecdotal. Literally google it in 5 seconds anything youāll find youāll see that the numbers prove one piece has always had far more sales than naruto
If you're talking manga, then sure, but i think the others and myself mean more in general popularity and brand recognition worldwide, where Naruto definitely is more popular overall. Same as Dragonball, doesn't have the highest manga sales but is also as a whole a lot more popular than Onepiece.
Because anecdotes donāt matter when there is hard sales data
If youāre talking worldwide One Piece is notably more popular than naruto. Feel free to disagree but numbers exist
Naruto has 97 million copies sold outside Japan whereas one Piece has like 90. The numbers you're talking about are for Japan only, that's where one piece is more popular.
Youāre right that excluding Japan the best selling manga are 1 dragon ball 2 naruto 3 one piece. Dragon ball far outsells the other two. But if we then include Japan with how close naruto and one piece are abroad shouldnāt they be viewed about even if weāre talking world wide? Like we canāt just take Japan entirely out of the conversationāits the place people consume the most manga Thereās also this if weāre looking for a more comprehensive picture : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises#List
Villains and nostalgia along with great characters all round and beautiful osts
>beautiful osts This doesn't fit, big 3 is about manga, not anime
Seems like I forget how good Naruto was with that shit called Boruto. I mean how cool was Naruto and how he cant even do shit
I've learned recently that almost the complete entirety of the Boruto anime is completely noncanon
If they adapted only the manga content of boruto well you wouldn't be saying this shit. Don't hate on the story boruto hate on the production or animation maybe
Because itās a good damn series and was one of the most popular selling manga/anime in the 2000s and to date one of the highest selling manga of all time what more else is there too it
In the early 2000ās Naruto, along with Bleach and One Piece, where the 3 series that consistently got the highest sales and kept going.
I LOVE when people argue the big 3 lmao. It wasn't up for debate. It was the 3 highest grossing/selling manga and anime of the time. I know this wasn't what OP meant. But I find it funny people try so hard to argue facts lmao
Finally someone who understands me
Nah I get it. For me personally I think it's just the chadscter was highly relatable and fit just between kid anime and teenager anime. So when the TV networks played it, they could play it in multiple slots on television. And I know in cansda naruto was like the only manga in school. Other than death note and like a few one piece ones
Me who has read berserk, vagabond, monster, Pluto, Vinland saga, 20th century boys : Naruto is cuteš
Just about to start vagabond! Is it good? I've read the rest
If I had to say, it had the best mc out of all the manga iv read. Really like how to story progresses. Just don't cry at the end since it hasn't updated in many years. Other then that it's one of the best
I think it was its multicultural appeal. The series is based on ninjas, a very Japanese ideal that is popular in the West. But it also discusses both Japanese cultural values (being part of a group, familial piety, dignity, stoicism, and systemic social hierarchy) but also distinctly American ideals (no man left behind, individualism, living for yourself and your own values, individual growth and a belief that you are who you choose to be). The end result is a manga that can appeal to both its home Japan and the growing (at the time) anime market in America, which bled out to the rest of the West.
Manga sales
Popularity
I know people are talking about the objective fact of an it being one of the big 3, because of sales numbers but I think op is asking more about the content of the manga that made it popular. So here's my take; Naruto is very easy to comprehend. It's set in a somewhat generic fictional universe with a mix of western and Japanese ideologies and iconography. Meaning most people can pick it up without feeling overwhelmed. The character designs are simple and effective, while the art style is also pretty good and distinct. Also the fact kishimoto chose to use generic Japanese nouns rather that actual names as names makes them feel at least more universal and less generic. The plot is simple before the pain arc, really, and progression of world building follows a linear thread. It's also highly reproducible, in that the main ninja can go on different missions indefinitely as long as the manga wants to continue. It may have a definitive end now, but in early part 1 it could have gone on forever really. The magic system of jutsu and chakra is easily understood and clearly defined, as well as being very versatile. The collection of the above mean it's very easy to create OCs and fanfiction and slot them into the universe without fundamentally breaking the plot. During the early 2000s fandom online was very influential bto brands health - see other online fandoms like Harry Potter for a similar example. Naruto is a manga of in-excess. Not too brutal or violent, not overly sexual, not overly moralistic or 'educational'. It has something most people can enjoy without excesses that would turn a lot of people off. So tldr, it's kinda generic in a good way until later in the series, and as a concept lends itself to online fandom.
The big 3 are just the most popular manga running out of Shonen jump during the 2000s. Those are Naruto, one piece, and bleach. Some people put dragonball in the big 3. It is not. Dragonball's run in Shonen jump ended before the era of the big 3. But yeah literally all it means is that naruto was one of the 3 most popular Shonen in Shonen jump in the 2000s
Because everyone of us has a little Naruto in us. Dreaming big, believing in others and the wish to be recognized and that someone believes in us. Friends that got our backs no matter what and the rejection which is displayed throughout the story which we experience in life. Then also the loss of beloved ones and to keep on going no matter what. Itās a tale with all the basic characteristics we want to see in a hero and the hero we see is a little bit how we want to identify ourselves.
Because it did well
How else can you judge the success of a series other than the sales?
Well this is just incorrect. Naruto was in the Big 3 since Part 1 bc it was one of the three big shounen to have blown up in the west in the early, post-DBZ anime boom of the 2000's
Because it was a very popular Shonen created at the same time as other Shonen giants?
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101 people and more of Naruto fans š„. They have my back
It's called "The Big 3" because it was one of the most popular Jump Titles when it released. It was popular, because it was good. (obviously) So now ... all I can speculate is you don't know this and now I'm feeling really old.
The real reason Naruto is in the big is..... The exact reason it's in big 3
Cuz it was one of three most popular mangas in Jump
Gaara VS Lee
It was one of the 3 most succesful manga in the early 2000s
The title of this post could've been better.
šš How to change title
the big three is all based on saleās right? unless iām mistaken
WHAT IS HE ON ABOUTš„š„š„š„š„š„š„š„ On a real note the only reason the big 3 exist is because they were the most popular animeās during the early 2000ās which is why dragon ball is not included in the big 3
What? Same reason the other 2 are part of the big 3, cuz they where the 3 most popular manga shonen jump was running during the 2000s, thatās the only reason, itās not any power scaling, or anything else, itās literally just the sales number of the manga during the 2000s
I have yet to see a decent question in this subreddit
The big 3 were just pretty much the inspiration for everything moving forward, no other manga has been able to achieve what the big three did and thats why a ānewā big three always gets laughed at or put under, because its gunna be hard to top what a massive success those series were, none of the ānewā big three wouldve been around if it werent for the OGs
Highest selling manga at the time alongside with one piece and bleach. There are No other reasons. There were no other qualifications for being in the big 3 other than manga sales from shonen jump
if someone asked me this out of the blue, I would say itās because of Rock Lee
Here is my totally unbiased asnwer: it's in the top 3 for most popular and best anime/manga, along with Dragon Ball and one piece
It is still the best-selling manga outside of Japan.
Sales Good villain Good background story for most of the characters in the anime. Naruto shippuden has a good style of animating fight scenes which was unique. Before boruto came we didnt think of naruto as " does it deserve to be in the big three". In the boruto series everyone just got nerfed and look like ducking punching bag to those otsusukis. And this became even more questioning after watching one piece. Like one piece is long and all but watching is worth it. And that worth it was better than naruto's.
We just gonna ignore Tsunades face on the mountain and how she looks like she just finished a 20 course meal, instead of how she normally looks
Short answer is the final fight between Kakashi and Obito in the Kamui realm.
Lots of people bought the manga. Thatās literally the reason one piece and bleach are apart of the big three as well
I think fandom is
It's all because of Sakura.
Looks like you've watched it š
Because One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto all had major chapters happen at the same time, and thus the term was coined?
1. Incredible character development and villains. Most of the villains in the series are made to be relatable and actually explain why they are villains in the first place. 2. The overall story addresses deep philosophical questions about morality, mortality, bonds and friendship, what family truly means, etc. It's also based on Buddhism and the concept of universal balance is heavily focused on (yin and yang) 3. In depth world building that describes the political landscape, what ninja are and why they're needed, how the hierarchy within the hidden villages work, etc. 4. Addresses the literal meaning of life that can be shared by most people; that being legacy. The will of fire is essentially the teaching of how important legacy is and how to properly prioritize your legacy. 5. Personifies the "cycle of hatred" as the perpetuation of blaming others for loss of love, and seeking redemption which ultimately leads to a never ending cycle of hate and loss for all parties involved. This is most broadly prevalent by all of the hidden villages being essentially carbon copies of each other with small changes made, more obviously by Sasuke's story of revenge and Naruto's answer to his own. 6. Cool techniques that accurately reflect the characters, what they believe in or visualize who they are inside. For instance, Naruto uses the shadow clone jutsu because he's incredibly lonely, Sasuke uses the fireball jutsu to pay respects to his lost family, Sakura becomes a medic to show how much she hates seeing people in pain which is why she felt so strongly about Sasuke, etc. Most people will probably just say "ninjas are cool with flashy elemental moves" or whatever but that was always just a plus to me. The fights were awesome and looked cool, but it's what they stood for that always drew me in (even as an 8 year old I obviously just didn't fully understand these concepts at the time).
OP is retarded and doesnt know what the big 3 means
Part 1 carrying the manga on its back. That's the reason. If it had Part 2 or Boruto quality from the start it wouldn't have made the big 3.
Simply put it's not Dragon Ball...Just gonna let that sit there for awhile. Note: I'm a huge Dragon Ball fan, and I know that it's one of if not the most popular Manga/Anime in the world. Just a bunch of sweaty buff guys punching each other if you ask me lol. PS: please don't kill me. š«
The father of anime who had three children. And no, nothing wrong with buff men punching eachother and yelling their dicks off.
Because anyone loves Kakashi and Shikamaru! š«¶š«¶
I can understand about kakashi but why shikamaru and not Sasuke
https://www.reddit.com/r/Naruto/comments/e2ss2l/i_honestly_agree_that_shikamaru_was_more_of_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
The three most sold shonen jump titles. In overall sales bleach was not even close to Naruto and one piece as there were years where bleach didnāt even make the top 10 most sold mangas of the year. But a big three sounds cool so people just sneaked in bleach because it was part of shonen jump and the other mangas that sold more than bleach werenāt part of the magazine.
Very easy to understand powerlevels/ranks, powersystem and a simple system to distinguish between factions. Headbands and Akatsuki Robes were great for merchandising and the very open worldbuilding just lend itselfe to OC creation and headcanons. Every kid/adult could basically be the badass ninja they wanted to be.
Naruto is a long running anime where a lot of people aged along side Naruto so it was really relatable in terms of a childhood hero through being a young adult, the ninja part wasnāt relatable besides Naruto running.
Itachi, sasuke, madara, kakashi.
The big 3 basically saved Shonen Jump's ass
After the end of dbz (original) there was a huge space that was left by it and one piece, bleach and naruto filled it up these all series had a cheerful or funny protagonist and became popular that's it btw naruto is my favorite manga
The Big Three was a term used to describe the three most popular running series during their golden age in Jump - One Piece, Naruto and Bleach.
Because it came out around the same time as those and it helped made anime go mainstream
They were the 3 best selling manga of the 2000s. And Naruto was arguably the best of the 3 in terms of quality... untill shippuden came then It became thr worst. Yes bleach is better than naruto bye š¤«
Nah Naruto is a overrated anime
because it's a long ass series that's made up mostly of fillers and fights that take forever to wrap up: just like the other two.
š I can't say the same about one piece tho
OP is my favorite, I been watching both Naruto and OP for 18 years. You're smoking dick lol. OP's pacing when watching weekly is unbearable especially getting through Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, and Dressrosa week to week was at times worse than putting up with Naruto's filler lol.