Young shonen heroes have a lot to learn before they begin their journeys to greatness. The wise mentors in their lives play a major role in shaping their lives, their morals and their abilities, shaping them into the eventual heroes they become. The sensei teaches the student how to fight, how to think, and even how to conduct themself as an updstanding member of society. These student/sensei relationship appear in nearly every shonen anime in some capacity, and they take learning beyond the practical and mere survival into the realm of living itself.

The most memorable student/sensei duos remain with anime fans because of the impact they had on their favorite heroes. Whether it is the bond the duo share, the lessons sensei teaches, or the rials they overcome together, there is something about these dynamic relationships that contribute to shonen anime and manga in ways that linger long after the story is told.

The student/sensei bond between Gray Fullbuster and Ur in Fairy Tail ranks last among the best in anime history mainly because it feels rather conventional by shonen standards and is rather obscure. That said, the student/sensei bond had some impressive emotional depth to give it more substance, which is often what Fairy Tail does to flesh out its otherwise cliched storylines.

The bond between Gray and his ice magic teacher, Ur, was fairly conventional, with the added element of Ur also acting in a warm and motherly role Gray needed. Fans could see Gray and his fellow student, Lyon Vastia, both struggling with and enjoying their training with Ur as kids in some flashback sequences, and Gray was heartbroken when Ur lost her life. That personal narrative came to the fore again when Gray fought Ur's daughter, the villain-turned-antihero Ultear Milkovich.

Some story arcs in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure relied more on training arcs than others, with the Battle Tendency having the most conventional training sequence in the entire anime. Back then, JoJo's was more typical of shonen action anime, which was both a plus and a downside compared to later arcs. Fans definitely enjoyed Joseph Joestar's training with Lisa Lisa, at least.

Lisa Lisa was a tough mentor, risking both Joseph's and Caesar's lives with the Hamon training, making it a tense do-or-die mission for those students. However, Joseph completed the training right on time, and Lisa Lisa was quite proud, even if she didn't always open her heart to her son. Realizing the truth of their familial link also added a cool new dimension to their student/sensei dynamic as the battle against Kars heated up, yet another cool plot twist to keep fans engaged.

For the most part, Monkey D. Luffy was a self-taught Devil Fruit user in One Piece. That made him a refreshingly independent and self-sufficient shonen hero. He even invented his Gears systems on his own, but after a point, Luffy hit a wall. Luffy spent two years training with Silvers Rayleigh on a rough island, and that paid off enormously.

Only bits of that lengthy training was seen, but the spectacular results spoke for themselves, with Luffy using incredible Haki after reuniting with his friends at the Sabaody Archipelago. Luffy also gained an X-shaped scar on his chest to mark his success, earning that scar with rigorous training against wild animals. Also, Silvers was the exact right sensei for Luffy, being easygoing and cool while also having the resolve to push Luffy into challenging, even lethal training like that.

The new anime series DAN DA DAN blends a variety of genres, including humor and romance, but there is still ample room for shonen-style action and training. So far, the main student/sensei duo in DAN DA DAN is between Momo Ayase and her grandmother Seiko, who are a classic comedy duo. They tend to annoy each other while also acting like true family members, understanding and loving each other deep down.

Of course, being so close as family also means Momo and Seiko know each other's flaws and can easily provoke each other, much to Ken Takakura's alarm. It's always fun and oddly heartwarming to see the grandmother and granddaughter both empower and infuriate each other, all while Ken feels a bit like an outsider during those domestic training sessions.

Most students and teachers understand each other as fellow demons in Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, with Asmodeus Alice in particular being a star student. Meanwhile, Iruma Suzuki is a student in disguise who resorts to clever yet awkward means of blending in, which tends to irritate Naberius Kalego. Even in the best of times, Kalego is a stern and humorless teacher at Babyls.

For comedy's sake, Iruma tends to bring out the worst in Kalego, confusing and frustrating that demon teacher with his antics. The main example was how Iruma accidentally formed a summoner pact with Kalego, turning the latter into a little chibi version of himself anytime Iruma summons him. It's even funnier because Iruma never even means to upset his teacher -- it's all by accident because Iruma barely knows what he's doing.

The student/sensei dynamic between Edward Elric and Izumi Curtis in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ranks in the middle because it does some of everything well. This may not be an iconic or legendary student/sensei duo, but this relationship still does everything right, starting with how Izumi is a tough yet caring teacher who tends to throw her students into the deep end because she trusts them.

What is more, Izumi has a balanced perspective on alchemy and reality, encouraging Ed and Al to not just use alchemy, but also appreciate the reality of the world around them. That means Ed sees alchemy as a tool to take seriously, not a toy to throw around just because he can. Also, Izumi sees Ed and Al as her sons, which is touching since Ed and Al had recently lost their own mother Trisha around that time.

There may not have been a personal angle between Ichigo Kurosaki and the scientist swordsman Kisuke Urahara in Bleach, but they still had a delightful dynamic to make them one of the best student/sensei duos in anime. That is mainly because Ichigo got a rude awakening about Kisuke's true power, with Ichigo taking Kisuke too lightly at first.

Both Ichigo and the viewer learned the shocking truth about Kisuke's skill and knowledge as the training arc began, with Ichigo suddenly panicking as the reality of Kisuke's methods sank in. Kisuke was also rather serious and menacing at the time, an excellent contrast with his normally goofy, carefree self. Ichigo finally got with the program and responded well to the training, awakening his true zanpakuto as a satisfied Kisuke watched.

No matter its grim tone as a part of the "dark trio," the Jujutsu Kaisen anime always finds a chance to goof off and amuse viewers, most of all with characters like Yuji Itadori and Satoru Gojo. Right away, the two of them became good friends, thriving off their shared love of humor and fun, almost acting like brothers at times. That even reflected in their unusual training scenes together.

Satoru surprised Yuji and anime fans when he offered movie DVDs for the training, asking Yuji to watch emotional scenes while regulating his own flow of emotions. Beyond that, Yuji and Satoru pranked everyone with Yuji's unexpected return, a heartwarming scene of two goofballs being on the same wavelength as student/sensei and best buds. It was some much-needed fun before the story became too serious for such things.

It's true Deku and the symbol of peace All Might had a heartwarming father/son style bond in My Hero Academia's early arcs, but All Might actually wasn't that effective as a coach. All Might was too self-absorbed with his own power and career, so he wisely handed off Deku to the retired pro hero Gran Torino, whose intuitive training methods far outstripped Deku's own.

It wasn't enough that Gran Torino rapidly accelerated Deku's training with One For All via some clever methods. Amusingly, Gran Torino had a Yoda vibe to him, posing as a confused little goofball before showing his enlightened side as a perfect mentor. That was one of many examples of My Hero Academia paying homage to the Star Wars movies, letting Deku know how Luke Skywalker felt when meeting the oddball Yoda on Dagobah.

In some ways, the student/sensei bond between Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya is rather conventional, but that doesn't stop it from being the single best student/sensei bond in all of anime. In Naruto's Chunin Exam story arc, Naruto found Jiraiya annoying, which led to some great comedy, and then Jiraiya showed his true colors as the wise toad sage who knew all about jutsu.

From there, the bond kept growing, and fans were delighted to see the lonely orphan Naruto embrace Jiraiya as a father figure, a fine example of how emotionally resonant the Naruto anime can be. Jiraiya was also the one who helped Naruto get a much-needed glow up after the Naruto Shippuden time skip, and finally, it was Jiraiya who passed on the idealistic dream of world peace to Naruto, a dream that changed everything.