Considered a classic staple shonen series for many old-school anime fans, Kinnikuman has, despite running for over 40 years, has maintained a devoted fanbase that stirred back to life with the announcement that the beloved hero would be getting a brand-new anime series in 2024. The revival series, titled Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc, aired during the summer 2024 season, but went under the radar for mainstream anime fans, with even dedicated fans of the franchise not paying much mind to the series as it aired. Despite the series’ legacy, the news of the series low popularity, especially overseas, broke the heart of the original creative duo behind the original series.
The original creative duo behind Kinnikuman, who call themselves Yudetamago, were discouraged seeing how low the shonen classic’s new anime ended up placing on the popular anime/manga ranking site, MyAnimeList, following its conclusion. Takashi Shimada, one half of the duo, took to Twitter to lament the series placing 47th on MAL by saying: “I don’t really get it, maybe I should quit being a manga creator.” The tweet continued by linking to an article from Yahoo! Japan celebrating the success of Oshi no Ko around the globe.
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He followed up his tweet by asking fans how the series had good ratings on television and Netflix in Japan, but ended up ranking so low compared to other anime released in the same year. Thankfully, despite his comments about retiring, he did clarify to fans that he has no plans of actually retiring anytime soon.
Did Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Fail To Resonate With Modern Anime Fans?
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc scored only a 6.84 on MyAnimeList – which, for many users of the site, typically indicates that the series was mediocre at best. Produced by Production I.G. and airing between July 14 and Sept. 22 2024, Perfect Origin Arc follows an epic series of battles between several factions of Choujin – beings that have been gifted with supernatural strength from all corners of the galaxy. The series’ main focus is on the Seigi Choujin, led by Terryman fighting for the safety and protection of an entire galaxy after a group of seven “Perfect Choujin” turn their back on a previously-sworn peace treaty to terrorize and invade Japan.
Based on MyAnimeList’s user-posted reviews about the series, fans of the original franchise and new fans agreed that the fight scenes were incredibly exciting and turns up the over-the-top action to a degree that makes the series easy to follow along with despite the story’s inherent eccentricities. However, when compared to other shows that aired during the summer 2025, it’s not all that surprising to see some potential reasons why Kinnikuman went unnoticed.
The revival series was pit against heavy-hitters like Oshi no Ko Season 2, Tower of God Season 2, the breakout fantasy hit Wistoria: Wand and Sword, and brand-new romcoms like Makeine and Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian. Though unfortunate, and despite its zany plot, Kinnikuman, most likely, just struggled to standout to mainstream fans compared to these other highly anticipated series. Hope isn’t lost, though, as Perfect Origin Arc did get greenlit for a second season which is slated to begin airing in January 2025.
