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Redemption arcs in shonen anime tend to be both iconic and controversial. While most of these arcs tend to be well-received, anime fans are more discerning or at least more prone to complaints.
Without hyperbole, there have been plenty of redemption arcs in shonen anime that captivated fans and generated conversation. This article lists redemptions that ultimately proved iconic for their series.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects only the author's opinion. Spoilers for all the anime listed. Content warning for discussions of violent deaths and abuse.
Itachi Uchiha, Ken Ichijouji and 8 other shonen anime characters with unforgettable redemption arcs
Honorable Mention: Robert E.O. Speedwagon turns from gangster to a dedicated friend (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
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Robert E.O. Speedwagon in the shonen anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood is a lifelong ally of the Joestar family. He started as a leader of a band of thieves, with a life so harsh that he could recognize good people by their smell.
Jonathan Joestar beat up Speedwagon after he refused to lead him to Dio's henchman. However, Speedwagon recognized Jonathan as a good man after he spared his men.
Since then, Speedwagon aided Jonathan across England in his battle against Dio. He also started the Speedwagon Foundation to aid the Joestars with intel and supplies.
From Battle Tendency to Stone Ocean, the Speedwagon Foundation aids all the direct Joestar descendants in any way they can.
10) Endeavor vows to be a better father (My Hero Academia)
To put it mildly, Endeavor from the shonen anime My Hero Academia isn't a good father. His first son became Dabi, and the rest of his children hated him after the abuse he put them and their mother through. His wife was forced into their marriage, and he used her just to get an heir. He also sent her to a psych ward after she burned Shoto's face.
Endeavor's redemption arc is at the bottom because of its relative newness. The iconography of a broken Endeavor begging for forgiveness made it into the hearts of both anime and manga fans. While some fans find it controversial, others see it as a good start.
What helps supporters with this redemption is the willingness of Endeavor to atone for his actions by helping Shoto with Dabi. Although Dabi and Shoto continued to battle in the final arc, Endeavor gave Shoto pointers for dealing with him.
9) Isabella lets the kids go (The Promised Neverland)
Another surprise that took people off guard was Isabella from the horror-shonen anime The Promised Neverland.
She was generally a terror to the kids in the orphanage throughout Season 1. This is especially true when they discover the truth about their "adoptions." Orphans that were “adopted” were fed to demons.
When the kids eventually did make their escape, Isabella didn't stop them. She reminisced on her own horrible life as an orphan and wished them luck. In Season 2, she betrayed the organization she worked for and helped the children escape further.
Isabella dies while saving Emma from a demon attack. She's forgiven by the children, as she did help protect them in the end.
This is one particularly shocking shonen anime redemption, given Isabella's prior coldness.
8) Greed goes down fighting (FMA: Brotherhood)
Nobody expects a full-on villain to attempt to atone for their actions. The Homunculus Greed from the shonen anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood did just that.
While Greed spent most of his time in a bid for immortality, he eventually redeemed himself after his soul was transplanted into Ling Yao's body.
It took the killing of one of his former comrades and a mental breakdown, but Greed was eventually convinced to aid everyone in fighting Father. While Greed managed to aid in killing Wrath, his soul was absorbed by Father.
This backfired on Father, as Greed’s abilities manipulated his body so that he was vulnerable. When the battle ended and the souls captured by Father were released, Greed's soul moved on to the afterlife.
Greed’s last thoughts were of his friends, Ling and Edward Elric.
7) Ken Ichijouji overcomes The Digimon Emperor (Digimon Adventure 02)
Ken Ichijouji lived in his brother Sam's shadow for a long time, resulting in Imposter Syndrome.
After his brother died, Ken lost faith in life and slid into the Digital World. He became the cold and ruthless Digimon Emperor, racist toward Digimon and seeing them all as just video games to be won and not as living creatures.
While the DigiDestined helped Ken come to his senses, he still had a long way to go. He mostly avoided the DigiDestined when they tried to befriend him, trying to do everything himself.
Ken also had a death wish that he thankfully overcame. He eventually came around to earning his Crest of Kindness. He proved a valuable ally against the reborn Myotismon.
Ken would also prove to be a good friend to the DigiDestined and even married one of them, Yolei Inoue. According to Yolei, Ken is a great detective but has trouble detecting when dishes need doing. This was seen as a great ending to his misery, as he finally had peace.
6) Nico Robin joins the Straw Hats (One Piece)
The current archaeologist of the Straw Hat Crew in the pirate shonen anime One Piece wasn't an ally at one point.
As the sole survivor of the Ohara massacre, Robin spent well over 20 years on the run from the World Government. Facing betrayal at every turn due to the World Government's lies about Ohara, she eventually came to stay in the kingdom of Arabasta with the Warlord Crocodile.
While in his employment, Robin was a co-conspirator in a plot to overthrow the Arabasta Kingdom. With the chaos that soon followed, she found herself backstabbed by Crocodile. Robin ended up joining the Straw Hats, albeit under suspicion by the rest. Alas, she betrayed them during the Enies Lobby Arc.
However, Robin rejoined them after iconically stating that she wished to live. This was followed by her shattering Spandam's back. He tortured her, so it was very cathartic.
Since then, Robin has been very helpful to the Straw Hats. Her own goal is to uncover the mystery of the Void Century, which the World Government destroyed Ohara for possessing.
5) Meruem discovers love (Hunter x Hunter)
The Chimera Ant leader in the shonen anime Hunter X Hunter was redeemed owing to his discovery of love.
During the Chimera Ant arc, Meruem was initially the main antagonist, cold and cruel towards humans. This was until he met a blind human girl named Komugi and began to care for her.
This change of heart was very gradual. At first, Mereum was sociopathic and viewed all life as beneath him. That was until Komugi kept beating him in Gungi. From then on, this shonen anime villain began respecting her and humanity.
This was to the point where he even tried to negotiate with Chairman Netero, but to no avail. After the duel saw Netero dead, Mereum tied up all loose ends as he died of radiation poisoning.
Mereum died content with Komugi by his side, a changed person.
4) Reiner Braun turns on Marley (Attack on Titan)
Upon first glance, Reiner Braun seems like he's an elite soldier and warrior who already has a chip on his shoulder.
As the action-horror shonen anime Attack on Titan wore on, more was revealed about this mysterious member of the three infiltrators of Eldia. Namely, he's not Marley-born at all. He was born in the Liberio Internment Zone, where Marley-born Eldians were segregated.
Reiner joined the Marley Warriors to give his mom a better life. He sallied forth with Bertholdt and Annie as the Armored Titan.
Their breach of Wall Maria kickstarted the events of the shonen anime. After their infiltration was discovered, Bertholdt died and Annie was captured. Reiner, on the other hand, returned home a broken man.
Reiner’s plans to flee Marley after yelling at his family that the Eldians weren't devils were blocked by Eren's massive counterassault.
After Marley's counterattack on Paradis failed, Reiner was brought before his former comrades in the 104th Scout Regiment. After an argument, the Warriors and Eldians decided on their new plan: stop the Rumbling.
3) Shouya Ishida's long road to redemption (A Silent Voice)
The majority of the shonen anime film A Silent Voice is focused on the atonement arc that Shouya Ishida goes through.
It's quite a sad story, as Shouya bullies deaf classmate Shouko Nishimiya in elementary school. This includes breaking her hearing aids and other manners of harassment.
Now, what happens afterward? Shouya is first forced to work hard to repay roughly 1.73 million yen for the hearing aids. He also loses all of his friends and goes into debt.
Flash forward to high school, and Shouya is friendless and broken down to the point where he nearly took his own life.
There's more to it than Ishida's poor treatment of Shouko, but the movie and manga tend to focus on Shouya's efforts to redeem himself.
Over a long time, Shouya not only gets the money back but also reconciles with Shouko. It's a strong and compelling redemption arc in a shonen anime movie and manga of all things.
2) Itachi Uchiha - Good guy all along (Naruto)
Though many fans of the shonen anime Naruto have since accepted Itachi Uchiha's redemption, it was not accepted upon first viewing. It took years worth of explanations and several flashback arcs before the audience warmed up to Itachi. Even today, some fans are harsher on his actions.
To summarize, Itachi never wanted to massacre his clan. As revealed through flashbacks in Itachi Shinden, he was forced into the massacre as a means of stopping a far larger war by Danzo Shimura.
Throughout the years, Itachi hated himself for that and for putting Sasuke through the Sharingan torture.
Ultimately, Itachi died from an illness while fighting Sasuke. When Itachi was revived, he told Sasuke everything he knew, shattering Sasuke's entire worldview.
Itachi, to put it simply, was the ultimate ideal of what a shinobi and spy should be for many shonen anime fans. Likewise, Sasuke did love his brother after realizing everything, and he eventually helped save the world in Itachi's name.
1) Vegeta - Villain to father (Dragon Ball Z)
When the most iconic of shonen anime anti-heroes and Prince of All Saiyans debuted, Vegeta was Frieza's ideal soldier. He conquered and destroyed planets alongside Nappa.
The status quo changed when Vegeta lost to Goku. Vegeta wanted to find out what happened to Planet Vegeta.
Upon gaining that knowledge, this shonen anime rival sought to beat Frieza by becoming a Super Saiyan. Not only did this fail and result in his first death, but Vegeta was also still an arrogant narcissist. Even after being stranded on Earth, he still expected everyone to cater to him, including not making his shirts pink.
Vegeta took a long time to stop being selfish. It took him getting beaten by Android 18, seeing Future Trunks nearly die due to Perfect Cell and blowing himself up to stop Majin Buu.
Since that iconic action, Vegeta has somewhat mellowed out and become one of Earth's protectors. It took him long enough, but there's a huge degree of maturity on his part from Dragon Ball Z to Super.
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