Welcome to another full-page edition of the Icebox. As a lot of readers may know, I am very interested in anime. Recently, I realized I have never actually made a list of anime fights that I enjoyed. Some fights are so short that they leave a viewer wanting more. Other fights are irritatingly lengthy.
While this may be a hot take, I personally think a lot of the fight scenes in “Naruto” are terrible because they are interrupted by flashbacks and other cuts in the plot. Another anime which I have repeatedly failed to enjoy is “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” The fight scenes are drawn out in such a way that you lose focus on the action itself. It also doesn’t help that the anime is essentially a bunch of burly men yelling and screaming at each other.
Before I dive into my favorite anime fights, it’s important to discuss some criteria for what makes a good scene. First, the fight should involve at least two opposing parties who are powerful enough to put on a show.
Second, the fight should absolutely be well-animated and shown on screen without any major breaks. Nothing is more infuriating than watching a really good action sequence that suddenly cuts to a different part of the story for several minutes. Sometimes, the break that happens during a fight ends up being several episodes.
Third, the fight should be shown start-to-finish only if the characters involved in the fight are essential to the overall story. Sometimes, I find myself getting bored by a fight between characters who are irrelevant.
Fourth, the villain of the fight should generally be stronger than the hero at the start. Nobody likes watching a hero absolutely “blitz” a villain that was previously hyped up. Yes, I am looking at you, Sung Jin-woo from “Solo Leveling.” There are, of course, some exceptions to this. For example, Saitama from “One Punch Man” is one of my favorite protagonists despite the fact that he defeats all of his opponents in just one punch. It’s the satire and irony behind his character that prevents him from being boring. Another example is Levi Ackerman from “Attack on Titan.” It’s clear that he is a hardened soldier from experience, so watching him do what he does best is enjoyable.
Finally, the production of the fight should be done well. Either the manga should be drawn with great detail or the anime should do the scene justice. Good production of anime usually involves a wide range of colors, lots of moving parts, detailed sound design and a killer soundtrack that matches the scene perfectly.
With that basic, watered-down criteria accounted for. It’s time to introduce what I consider to be the greatest and most memorable fights. Note that some fights are actually better in their raw, manga form than when they were adapted to anime.
Cosmic Garou vs. Saitama from “One Punch Man” is an immediate fight to mention. This is the first time that Saitama truly has to go above and beyond to defeat an opponent. At the same time, the upcoming villain Garou reaches full potential and unlocks the power of God, thereby becoming a universal-level threat. It was during this fight that Saitama’s ability to infinitely become more powerful was revealed. The manga is called “One Punch Man” because Saitama will always be able to level up his strength so that exactly one punch becomes enough to defeat any opponent of any strength. The fight ends with Saitama discovering “zero punch,” where his fist rewinds time and punches Garou in the past. He technically wins with zero punches!
Ryo Shimazaki vs. almost everyone in “Mob Psycho 100” was especially insane because Ryo is blind. Shimazaki’s special psychic ability is simply teleportation. Everything else he does is literally just close-combat. He successfully takes down Mob, the protagonist and most powerful psychic, and all of Mob’s friends who have different powers. They try to use several different strategies to defeat Shimazaki, but he repeatedly escapes and fights all of them at once. In the end, Shimazaki doesn’t even lose. He decides he had enough fun and leaves!
Levi Ackerman, as mentioned before, is an incredible character in “Attack on Titan.” His fight against Zeke, the Beast Titan, had a lot of buildup. When it finally happens, it’s after Levi Ackerman loses his commander and is put into a rage. He slams an entire army of titans by himself and then proceeds to take down the ominous Beast Titan. Although the titan does not die at this point due to plot reasons, Levi does end up killing him by the end of the story. Actually, Zeke requests that if he should die it would be at the hands of the highly skilled Levi Ackerman.
Ash Greninja vs. Alain’s Mega Charizard X is a fight you probably weren’t expecting to see in this list. Believe it or not, the Pokémon anime have some of the most inspiring fights you will ever see. The amount of training that Ash Ketchum does with his Pokémon and the result when they stand together is just too great to go by unnoticed. In “Pokémon: XYZ,” Ash synchronizes with his Greninja in a fashion that goes beyond mega evolution. Thus, his “Ash Greninja” is an all-powerful shinobi of legend. Even though it loses the fight against Alain’s Charizard, it’s still a personal favorite of mine. I would also recommend seeing the finales of both “Sun and Moon” and “Legends” where Ash wins his first league and becomes the world champion, respectively.
One fight that had absolutely blown me away was Roronoa Zoro vs. King of the Animal Kingdom Pirates in “One Piece.” This fight was just completely jaw-dropping. I legitimately could not believe what I had just witnessed after seeing it for the first time. The visuals, sound designs, attacks and “demon awakening” of the pirate hunter, Zoro, were all just incredible. I frequently return to this scene to enjoy it again. Each time, I get goosebumps. If you haven’t already picked up “One Piece,” you’re missing out on a goldmine of story, fights and well-designed characters.
Another fight to mention from “One Piece” is, of course, Gear Five Luffy vs. Kaido of the Animal Kingdom Pirates. This is a fight in which words can’t do it justice. The entire sequence is a burst of hope and emotion for the viewers. I admit I was actually in tears when I first heard the “drums of liberation.” Just writing about it gives me goosebumps! Again, you should absolutely get into “One Piece” before it’s too late!
Now that I have decided to put together a list of fights, I realize there have been quite a few that I enjoyed over the years. Stick around for the second part of this list in the next issue of the Icebox. Until then, start watching “One Piece” Do it!