The Reason Behind the Popularity of Shounen Fighting Series
(Note: I use masculine third-person pronouns simply because shounen is targeted towards boys)

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When talking about anime and manga and the popularity of certain titles, the following question 
constantly comes up: What makes shounen fighting series so popular?  

Now, the reason people ask this question is generally due to three complaints.  First, is their length.  
The standard shounen fighting series goes on for at least one or two years if not longer.  Dragon Ball, 
Saint Seiya, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and Hokuto no Ken all boast extremely long lives (some of 
which still see no sign of ending).  Second, is the fact that the plots tend to only be excuses for a 
story's Good Guys to fight Bad Guys.  Third, is the tendency to have a very simple goal to drive the 
story, such as Naruto's dream of being Hokage.  

I believe the most important recurring trait of shounen fighting manga that keeps readers enthralled 
is an ever-evolving sense of progress.  

I acknowledge that this can sound ridiculous at first.  What progress could there possibly be?  In such 
a series, a hero typically attempts to defeat his opponent with a special move, but it doesn't work. A 
power up is met by a power up, a counter met by another counter, and at the end of every episode 
the villain has still not been defeated.  How can anyone call this "progress"?

To begin my explanation, I will start off talking not about anime or manga, but about Thomas Edison.  
Edison, when asked about if he felt he had wasted time getting no results from unsuccessful filaments 
for his lightbulb responded, "Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways 
something won't work, I haven't failed."  If we look at shounen fighting in this manner, there is progress. 
One event leads to the other, and even if the latest attack has not worked, the viewer now knows that 
the villain is able to defend against said attack and an alternative is required.  

In doing this, an internal continuity is established.  For instance, a person cannot significantly rearrange 
the order of episodes in Dragon Ball Z, as they come together to form a cohesive, if very long story. 
With a show like this, it is not necessary to watch every single episode, but a viewer cannot watch an 
episode of Goku becoming a Super Saiyan and then watch the episode where Piccolo merges with his 
fellow Namekian Nail in order to fight Freeza.  It would not make sense to do this.  

Eventually, the villain is defeated after an epic battle spanning countless episodes. This cohesive, 
progressive, fighting-based universe sets off a kid's imagination, and he wonders how many 
other powerful aliens can fight Goku, what varieties of ninjas can Naruto meet, and who knows what 
new powers Ichigo might get.  Then, this young viewer says to himself, "I wish there were more episodes."  
The kid's imagination runs wild coming up with his own ideas for sequels.  Suddenly, to his amazement, 
there ARE new episodes to watch and new chapters to read, and it seems like this wonderful fantasy 
universe will never end.

It's simple: A series becomes long because it's popular, not the other way around.  

Not only that, but once the adventure has continued, it is built directly upon what has happened in the 
past.  This is significant, particularly in the way it captures many American fans due to the way it 
contrasts with similar media for the same demographic.  Looking at many American cartoons and comic 
books, this type of progress is rare. 

Traditionally, in American cartoons, episodes are designed to be shown in any order without ill effect. 
Kimba the White Lion, created by the God of Manga Osamu Tezuka, suffered from this concept.  
In trying to get funds from NBC to help produce the show in color, Tezuka was ordered to make a 
cartoon where Kimba never grows up (as he does in the comic), and to make sure that the episodes 
could be showed out of order in syndication with no detriment to the plot.

In traditional American comics, i.e. super hero comics or even select newspaper serials, there is a 
sense of continuity, but it is different on a vital level.  American comics have continuity in that one 
story arc is supposed to take place after another.  Also, there exists a greater "Continuity with a 
capital 'C'" that says everything that happens takes place in the context of a single comic book 
universe, and that an event in one comic may have consequences in a completely different title.  
What this Continuity lacks, though, is improvement by the characters.  Because super heroes tend 
to be so iconic, many of them fail to improve.  Perhaps they will change costumes, lose a loved one, 
get new powers, or any number of things, but it is difficult to say if Batman becomes more intelligent 
in a later story arc compared to a previous one.  The sense that a character like Batman gives is that 
he is already smart enough, and he does not need to "improve" to defeat his opponents.  Sure, he 
may have to be pushed to the limits to succeed, but once he's won it's essentially back to square one.  
Until the next threat, that is.

However, in Dragon Ball for example, once Goku learns Genkidama he never forgets it. Goku, if he is too weak 
to defeat the enemy, trains and powers up until he can win. That training does not go away. He doesn't 
suddenly lose power for the next threat.

Even a more "god-like" character in the context of his story like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star 
learns from his victories (which tend to be somewhat one-sided victories). In a battle with Raoh, Kenshiro 
reveals that he knows Hokuto Shinken's strongest technique, Musou Tensei (Nil-Thought Reincarnation). 
Hokuto Shinken is mentioned in the series as the strongest martial art in existence with its approximately 
2,000 year history, and this ultimate technique, Musou Tensei, can only be learned through experiencing true 
sadness, and Kenshiro is the first in the history of Hokuto Shinken to learn it. Kenshiro's experiences in 
helping to ease the suffering of the down-trodden, as well as his understanding of the deep emotional pain of 
even his most bitter of enemies, combine with the traumatic events of Kenshiro's own life, and give him an 
unparalleled sense of empathy.  

In both cases, Goku and Kenshiro's, they have both built upon their past experiences and have improved 
themselves. They have made progress as characters.

The simple goals of shounen fighting series, like Naruto becoming Hokage, or Luffy becoming King of 
the Pirates, are indeed there to present a simple goal.  The viewer does not know when that ending is 
coming, but what he does know is that with every action taken, the main character gets one step 
closer to his goal.  

To look at these shows from the perspective of a person who knows just how long they go on is not seeing 
it from the proper perspective.  To someone who has no knowledge of a show's length, there is no guarantee 
when a series will end.  However, the viewer  does know that episode 1 has to come before episode 2, and 
that the past affects the future, so to speak. A lot of what draws people to anime and its standard 
conventions, like the large variety of characters, the interesting animation, and the idea that there's a 
beginning, middle, and end (until the next beginning), are all present in a good shounen fighting series.  
The awe and inspiration of a shounen fighting series lies in its continual progress that acknowledges its 
own past.