There are no universal answers, so not two people are exactly alike. Always let your heart choose your path. This is good advice from one that fought in the last Shaman Fight 500 years ago

This is my second reread of the Shaman King manga, I watched it from start to the end when I was little. Read it from a fanscan site through start to finish, reread it in that same fanscan and finally reread properly now and it is safe to say it is one of my favorite series ever.

I wouldn't call Shaman King underrated anywhere except English speaking spaces, but I guess it is at some point. Originally running in the 00s Jump, the author had to take a break due to health reasons, and eventually returned to finish the story in a way he desired.

Shaman King focuses on Yoh Asakura and his spirit, the samurai Amidamaru, and their journey through the tournament to choose the Shaman King. The winner would become one to the King of the Spirits and become nothing less of a God. Yoh desires to become the Shaman King in order to live a carefree life (with a bit of familial duties on the side). Possibly one of my favorite versions of the all loving hero, Yoh chooses to see the best in people, claiming that someone who can see spirits cannot be that bad, and he sticks to these ideals even after meeting participants who directly oppose to his ideals. His motto "everything will work out" will be key for making allies through the Shaman Fight, as well as key for Yoh to endure the trials that come with family legacies and the Big Bad of the series. Although it is expanded better in the Zero prequel, it is key to notice that Yoh chooses to love instead of hate, and that he chooses to never fight with hate on his heart. In combination with his fun personality, it's what makes characters like Manta, Anna or even Ren get drawn to him.

One of the key charms of Shaman King is the diversity from the characters, Tao Jun, who's Ren's sister is a daoshi and uses talismans. Faust is a necromancer. Lyserg is British (kidding, but his technique is also unique to him). The X-Laws use angels, you get the point. Even though it is far from perfect like Joco's design and the whole indio subplot, the universality of the characters serves to explores shamanism and sorcery their own unique way.

One of my favorite aspects of the series is the relationship between Yoh and Anna, while through most series the romance subplot happens at the end, Anna gets introduced immediately as Yoh's bossy fiance. A lot of their more tender moments happen in the extras, but despite her tough personality it is clear that they love each other. Mt. Osore La Voile expands on this relationship, a short flashback that goes back to when they first met and I consider it one of the best parts of the series.

The supporting cast is charming as well, Ren Tao is a Chinese Shaman who gets introduced as an antagonist and then becomes an ally and friend who looks for atonement for his past sins, HoroHoro is an Ainu Shaman, whose speciality is Ice and has a native spirit as a partner, Lyserg who joined the Shaman Fight out of revenge and is always torn between his desire of revenge and his friends, Joco who uses the laughter (he's awful at comedy) to heal people's hearts and is one of the strongest of the series. Even characters like Ryu and Faust, who I am torn between wanting to see more of them or enjoying their involvement as far as it went are enjoyable.

However, my favorite character other than Yoh is the main antagonist and final boss of the series, Hao Asakura. A mysterious character who looks like Yoh (You definitely know what's going on at this point, but I won't reveal the connection for the sake to not spoil too much) and is the founder of the Asakura family as well as their biggest enemy. Both the founder and the destroyer of his family, every time I saw him on screen it reminded me of Goya's Saturn Eating His Children painting. His cruelty towards his enemies and how it seems that he is impossible to beat makes him menacing, while the relationship between him and his team gives place to a "softer" side. However, despite many characters consider him a monster (rightfully so) in his backstory it is explained that him wanting to destroy humanity because of his hate reinforces how human he is. How to deal with Hao is one of the points where ideologies clash, and neither side is particularly right or wrong about it, both are valid.

The reason why it is not a 10 (other than I don't really give things a 10) is because I feel the final stretch of the series feels...weird and a bit repetitive even before facing Hao and I wish characters like Faust had been used more. Other than that, it is one of my favorite series, and I think you should give it a chance despite the mediocre reboot it got.

PS - the 2001 anime is canon divergent and it does a pretty poor job with characters like Lyserg and Joco, but the two openings and the second ending are excellent. You should definitely check those out.