2022 has been a great year for anime fans as it brought forth many exciting shows. From new heavy hitters like Chainsaw Man and SpyxFamily to the final season of Mob Psycho 100, 2022 was a year that remained entertaining throughout its run. But as with everything good, the year has also finally come to a close, and there could not be a better time to look back and reminisce at some of the older anime that turned a decade old this year.
Over the past decade, there have been many popular shows that have kept the shonen genre going strong, like Black Clover and Jujutsu Kaisen, etc., but 2012 in and of itself was a year filled with action-packed series aimed towards young boys. Here are some of the best shonen series released near the start of 2012 or in 2012 that are now officially a decade old.
5 Blast of Tempest
2012 was a year that saw the release of many acclaimed shonen series, but where some shows rose to become the staple of the genre, others got pushed under the rug. Blast of Tempest is one such show that got overshadowed by other mainstream anime at the time. Produced by Studio Bones, Blast of Tempest is a supernatural mystery filled with action that follows an ordinary boy named Yoshino Takigawa.
Yoshino was secretly dating his best friend Mahiro's little sister Aika, but one day Aika mysteriously dies and Mahiro disappears vowing to kill her sister's murderer. Things take a turn for the worse when a month later Yoshino and Mahiro get tangled into stopping a world-ending catastrophe with the aid of a witch named Hakaze Kusaribe. The show holds a score of 7.92 on MyAnimeList.
4 K
Released in Fall 2022, K is a supernatural action anime set in a world where some individuals possess incredible abilities. Known as Kings, these individuals recruit other people into their clans, thus becoming their ruler. Protecting every clansman's life is an integral part of every King's duties.
One day a member of the Red King's clan get heinously murdered and the video of the event goes viral. Protagonist Yashiro Isana gets caught up amidst the chaos and becomes wanted for the murder of the red clansman. As Yashiro tries to find the truth a greater conspiracy starts to reveal itself, and he has to struggle to prove his innocence before the Kings go for an all-out war. K has a rating of 7.33 on MyAnimeList.
3 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, as the name suggests, is one of the most bizarre anime shows to achieve mainstream popularity. Over the years there have many interconnected installations within this franchise, but it all started with first Jojo's Bizarre Adventure in 2012. In 1868 an English nobleman George Joestar was tricked into becoming indebted to a man named Dario Brando after a carriage incident. 12 years later, George was living happily with his son Jonathon Joestar, but then a boy named Dio Brando, son of Dario Brando, entered their lives.
Hoping to repay his debt, George ended up adopting Dio as his son, and this single decision leads to the doom of the Joestar family. The years that followed saw Dio always being at odds with the gentle Jonathan, but when Dio goes too far, Jonathan decides to put an end to his antics once and for all. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure holds a score of 7.90 on MyAnimeList.
2 Kuroko's Basketball
Kuroko's Basketball is one of the most popular and influential sports anime to date. This basketball-centered, action-packed shonen show started airing in April of 2012 and quickly developed a massive fan following. A decade later and the show still remains largely unmatched in its quality and popularity. Kuruko's Basketball stars a boy names Kuroko who was once a member of Teikou Middle School's famous basketball team.
The team was known as the Generation of Miracles and consisted of five extraordinary players, with Kuruko being the "Phantom Sixth Man". Upon reaching High School, however, the team went their separate ways. Now having been admitted into the Seirin High School Kuroko and one other freshman, Taiga Kagami, get picked up by the school's basketball team. Together with his new partners, Kuruko wants to prove to the world that he is strong in his own way. Kuroko's Basketball holds a rating of 8.07 on MyAnimeList.
1 Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is one of the most popular anime series ever created, having been ranked 5th in the popularity charts on MyAnimeList, and is credited as being the first Isekai-themed show to garner mainstream attraction. The craze of the Isekai genre can easily be traced back to the release of Sword Art Online in July of 2012. A decade later this genre may have become oversaturated with mid-tier shows, but Sword Art Online still holds up decently due to its interesting premise and originality.
Weirdly enough, the show is set in the year 2022, a time when virtual reality technology has revolutionized the gaming medium. With the release of the innovative NerveGear, players from across the world can immerse themselves in amazing VR fantasy worlds and play like never before. However, this dreamlike sensation soon turns into a nightmare when an incident leaves protagonist Kazuto Kirigaya and thousands of other players trapped within the Sword Art Online game, unable to log out. The show has a rating of 7.20 on MyAnimeList.