Anime's Big Three Sparks Viral Debate Over the Industry's Future

Back in the day, anime fans knew what the Big Three was without asking. As the medium continued its global rise, shonen dominated sales, and three series in particular shone above the rest. In recent years, the fandom has revisited the Big Three's legacy to see how they are holding up after all this time. So of course, we're not surprise a debate has gone viral of whether the Big Three need to be revised.

But this time, the debate has gone live thanks to a specific series. Attack on Titan season four has fans rallying for the anime to join the Big Three, but as you can see below, the fandom has a whole isn't quite sold.

Maturing is realizing that no anime will ever replace any of the Big three and they’re called that for a reason pic.twitter.com/dzKRqO9Uii

— ⭒ᴄᴊ™ (@notcjounin) February 7, 2022

For those unaware of the Big Three, the title does refer to three specific manga series from the mid-2000s. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach make up the Big Three and still do after all these years. The nickname was given as each of the manga consistently dueled with their sales figures, and their growing global appeal put them in the spotlight.

Over the years, these three series have seen their popularity go up and down or even fade after their finale. Bleach ended years ago, Naruto is living through its sequel, and One Piece is still chugging along. While others have pitched trios for a modern Big Three, Shonen Jump hasn't had this many ongoing series chomping at the bit since the 2000s. But as you can see below, newer series like Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba have fans debating about a Big Three revision.

What is your take on anime's Big Three? Do you think the roster changes by the year? Or should it immortalize the heyday of Shonen Jump? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.