Looking for an anime

[danzibr]

Not a specific one, btw.

So I was watching YuYu Hakusho with my 11 yo son. He was really into it at the beginning, then ask Yusuke gained powers, he commented he liked it back when Yusuke was an ordinary street thug.

With that said… any recommendations for anime appropriate for an 11 yo starring delinquents with no powers?

[Razade]

Great Teacher Onizuka? He's not a teen but it's about teens.

[Dragonus45]

Huh, I just realized every anime I could think of like this winds up with someone gaining powers or things becoming distinctly mystical and so on.

[Mechalich]

There are a number of well-regarded boxing anime, such as Hajime no Ippo. Kenichi, the Mightiest Disciple could also be appropriate. It's about a kid who apprentices to a bunch of martial arts masters against his will. There's high level of cheese, but no explicit supernatural abilities.

[Prime32]

So I was watching YuYu Hakusho with my 11 yo son. He was really into it at the beginning, then ask Yusuke gained powers, he commented he liked it back when Yusuke was an ordinary street thug.

Huh, I just realized every anime I could think of like this winds up with someone gaining powers or things becoming distinctly mystical and so on.

Just wanted to clarify...

YYH starts with the protagonist dying and becoming a ghost, but being offered a chance to return to life by doing good deeds. He succeeds and becomes alive again, but then the Spirit World hires him to fight supernatural beings on Earth.

I'm assuming that the second part was the issue, and it's okay to have supernatural elements as long as they're fairly grounded? I mean, Yusuke being a ghost was treated as less of a power, and more of a weird situation that a normal guy got stuck in. Whereas Yusuke as the Spirit Detective fist-fighting demons and shooting lasers from his fingers is an inherently weird person.

Though most of the stories that come to mind for me are either manga with no animated adaptations, or aimed at an older audience.

[Rynjin]

There are a number of well-regarded boxing anime, such as Hajime no Ippo. Kenichi, the Mightiest Disciple could also be appropriate. It's about a kid who apprentices to a bunch of martial arts masters against his will. There's high level of cheese, but no explicit supernatural abilities.

Hajime no Ippo is great, as is Kenichi. I rewatch the former on the regular (and am currently doing so now).

But as far as "no supernatural abilities" goes for Kenichi specifically that's pretty much a lie. The masters exhibit supernatural talents constantly.

Tokyo Revengers is a delinquent manga/anime with time travel elements, but those are the only supernatural parts.

There are a lot of good delinquent manga but few got anime adaptations, sadly. Angel Densetzu for example.

[danzibr]

Great Teacher Onizuka? He's not a teen but it's about teens.

Nice one!

Yeah I love GTO, definitely came to mind, but not quite what I'm after. Still... we'll give an episode or 2 a go.

Oh hmm a quick google reveals to me there's a 5-episode prequel. Definitely checking that out.

There are a number of well-regarded boxing anime, such as Hajime no Ippo. Kenichi, the Mightiest Disciple could also be appropriate. It's about a kid who apprentices to a bunch of martial arts masters against his will. There's high level of cheese, but no explicit supernatural abilities.

Hajime no Ippo, will do!

And as much as I like Kenichi, feels to me it doesn't fit the bill.

Hajime no Ippo is great, as is Kenichi. I rewatch the former on the regular (and am currently doing so now).

But as far as "no supernatural abilities" goes for Kenichi specifically that's pretty much a lie. The masters exhibit supernatural talents constantly.

Tokyo Revengers is a delinquent manga/anime with time travel elements, but those are the only supernatural parts.

There are a lot of good delinquent manga but few got anime adaptations, sadly. Angel Densetzu for example.

Tokyo Revengers, will look into it, thanks!

[Psyren]

From what I can tell, "Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto!" is about a badass normal character. Think One Punch Man but for social/high-school dynamics instead of superheroing.

I haven't watched all the way though so I can't promise it doesn't end up introducing supernatural elements, but I don't think it does?

He's sort of a non-delinquent delinquent that always defeats the delinquents, if that makes sense?

[erikun]

Not a delinquent, but I remember the Hikaru no Go manga being quite good. The anime was supposed to be good, as well. It's not quite in the same vein as Yu Yu Hakusho - more like a sports anime for story arcs - but it was good at handling Hikaru learning about and getting into playing Go. And the only supernatural component (as far as I got, anyway) was the ghost that followed Hikaru around.

You might also give the original Dragon Ball (not DBZ, DBGT, or DBS) a try. It has plenty of supernatural, but maybe the problem was not the supernatural component necessarily; maybe the issue was YYH turning into tournament arcs and overly grandiose plots about demon portals when Yusuke is supposed to just have been a detective. It might be worth giving it a try to see if he likes is.

Oh, and I have to recommend Medabots just out of principle.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

God of Highschool might work... if you squint a bit. The main character is definitely superhuman by the later seasons (quite a bit superhuman, in fact), but unlike most of the other characters, isn't using any actual magic or contracts with spirits or any of that, just martial arts that (because this is an anime) make him far stronger than any human has a right to be.

I should also add that I've only seen a few episodes of the anime and so can't really speak to its quality, but I have read most of the webtoon it's based on and that is quite good.

...Actually, he does get one outright supernatural power (the ability to make clones of himself), but he doesn't use it very often.

[Rynjin]

From what I've been told the God of High School anime completely borks the pacing (it goes waaaay too fast) and it makes it pretty much impossible to follow/appreciate the plot.

[Dragonus45]

God of Highschool might work... if you squint a bit. The main character is definitely superhuman by the later seasons (quite a bit superhuman, in fact), but unlike most of the other characters, isn't using any actual magic or contracts with spirits or any of that, just martial arts that (because this is an anime) make him far stronger than any human has a right to be.

I should also add that I've only seen a few episodes of the anime and so can't really speak to its quality, but I have read most of the webtoon it's based on and that is quite good.

...Actually, he does get one outright supernatural power (the ability to make clones of himself), but he doesn't use it very often.

I think is is true of the area the Anime covered kind of? The source material is… not that. Second to last arc basically ended

Spoiler

Show

with the main character, Sun Wukong, and Satan created a million clones at once to do battle inside the sun. And that wasn’t even the final arc.

[Rodin]

From what I've been told the God of High School anime completely borks the pacing (it goes waaaay too fast) and it makes it pretty much impossible to follow/appreciate the plot.

I'd have to hope so. It sets up a fun looking tournament arc and then ruins it by introducing absolutely insane superpowers out of the blue with almost no explanation. I haven't read the source material, but I can't imagine it being popular if the anime is at all similar.

Even so I don't think it fits the OP's request. Even the "normal" characters start well beyond peak human and are throwing around martial arts techniques that are effectively magical even if they aren't explicitly so. I only know the anime, but checking episode 1 again our main protagonists:

1)Ride a bicycle through a road barrier without slowing down/getting hurt, and ramp it off a mountain.

2)Ride said bicycle fast enough to keep up with a thief on a motorcycle.

3) Dig a wooden sword into the road so hard that it leaves a trench in the asphalt, all in order to make a sharp turn.

4) Tank a road sign at 90 mph with their face.

5) Punch the bike thief so hard he flies through the air and destroys a large truck.

------

Don't get me wrong, I found that whole sequence very entertaining, and its a shame the rest of the anime got so off track. But it doesn't exactly sound like the "no superpowers" that is being looked for. The starting power level of pretty much everyone is higher than your average Shonen anime, nevermind a more grounded show.

[Gnoman]

This might be a bit of a stretch for the age, but Assassination Classroom could fit the bill. I don't think there's anything particularly inappropriate, but that's your call.


Alternatively, and this might be a bit of a stretch for the "delinquents" part (and, depending the kid, the "boy" part), but Azumanga Daioh gets kind of zany with no supernatural elements at all.

[TeChameleon]

This is sort of tangential to the original request, but Hunter X Hunter by the same creator as Yu Yu Hakusho might be enjoyed- the characters aren't delinquents, and supernatural elements are present from the beginning, but explicit superpowers take a good while to enter the mix (at least for the protagonists) and it stays at least a little more grounded than YYH, at least for a good chunk of its run.

Eh, just a thought. Shonen anime with no superpowers are rarer than you'd think at first glance

[ben-zayb]

Is your son into sports? Because I can't recommend Slam Dunk enough. At least half of the main cast were/are delinquents, and it's widely regarded as a classic.

[Precure]

Eh, just a thought. Shonen anime with no superpowers are rarer than you'd think at first glance

Shonen is basically the japanese equivalent of superhero comics

[Ibrinar]

If Holyland had an anime I would recommend it, sadly it doesn't. Hmm can't remember one that quite fits atm. Cromartie has high school delinquents but as weird comedy it is another genre. School rumble also has some among its cast but is a romcom. Beelzebub escalates to more magical over time. Angel Densetsu has some delinquents and never escalates into magic, but also a different genre as a comedy.

[Razade]

Shonen is basically the japanese equivalent of superhero comics

It's really not. Shonen is just a demographic term. It's any manga that's targeted to young teen boys. Shonen can be any genre and there are tons that aren't super powered people doing super powered things. Those just happen to be the ones that break out and get popular outside of Japan.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

From what I've been told the God of High School anime completely borks the pacing (it goes waaaay too fast) and it makes it pretty much impossible to follow/appreciate the plot.

Dang, I was afraid the anime was going to go that way once I saw the showdown from Season 2 of the comic in the anime's Season 1 trailer. Shame.

[MinimanMidget]

Is your son into sports? Because I can't recommend Slam Dunk enough. At least half of the main cast were/are delinquents, and it's widely regarded as a classic.

Slam Dunk was my first thought too. If sports anime are on the table, Initial D might also fit the bill.

[danzibr]

Thanks for all the recommendations, folks! Got a nice excel doc going.

This is sort of tangential to the original request, but Hunter X Hunter by the same creator as Yu Yu Hakusho might be enjoyed- the characters aren't delinquents, and supernatural elements are present from the beginning, but explicit superpowers take a good while to enter the mix (at least for the protagonists) and it stays at least a little more grounded than YYH, at least for a good chunk of its run.

Eh, just a thought. Shonen anime with no superpowers are rarer than you'd think at first glance

Maybe I’ll watch Hunter X Hunter for my own purposes…

Is your son into sports? Because I can't recommend Slam Dunk enough. At least half of the main cast were/are delinquents, and it's widely regarded as a classic.

He is! Soccer in particular, but worth a shot.

[Rynjin]

Thanks for all the recommendations, folks! Got a nice excel doc going.

Maybe I’ll watch Hunter X Hunter for my own purposes…

He is! Soccer in particular, but worth a shot.

Sadly I think the only good soccer anime are really, really old and..."safe", like Captain Tsubasa.

[Gray Mage]

He is! Soccer in particular, but worth a shot.

I haven't seen the anime, but I love the manga, so I'd recommend Giant Killing. No exactly delinquent, but it's very grounded, usually more than other sports manga.

[Algeh]

If he's not particular about it being boy-targeted, one of my favorite "no powers" shojo anime series back in the late 90s (I think? maybe early 2000s?) was Kodomo no Omocha (I think it eventually got translated into an official US release as "Child's Toy?") in which the main character was an elementary school girl who was also a tv star but one of the other frequent characters was a boy who was pretty "delinquent". I mostly read the manga and only saw about half of the anime at the time, but maybe something to look into if your kid has the patience for something with more of a relationship-focus?

From other people's suggestions, both GTO and Initial D seem like maybe 11 would be a bit young from what I remember of plot/themes, but it's been more than a decade since I watched either so I could be wrong.

[Rynjin]

Initial D doesn't have anything particularly mature (*save one implied sexual assault dealt with in season...2 I think?), but GTO is very heavy on sexual jokes and themes, yes. Especially the OVA.

[Eldan]

Sadly I think the only good soccer anime are really, really old and..."safe", like Captain Tsubasa.

Yeah. I remember liking Captain Tsubasa when I was... ten or so? Despite not liking football much. Then thinking it was really lame when I was about 12 and my parents allowed me to watch cartoons that had cool stuff in them, like violence and robots.

[develux]

hi,wow cool, nice to see