Top 10 Refuse-To-Die Moments in Anime

Top 10 Refuse to Die Anime Moments

For these guys, going down was not an option. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Refuse to Die Anime Moments.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the times where anime characters were pushed to the brink of death, yet somehow managed to find a way survive thanks to sheer force of willpower!

#10: Goblin Slayer Unleashed

“Goblin Slayer” (2018)

Turns out that not every roll can be a critical. After finding themselves overrun by goblins, the stoic, monotone dispenser of little green heads found himself punching well above his armour rating when a Goblin Champion entered the ring, promptly crushing the majority of his body with a single swing. You’d think that would be the end of it, however, thanks to a last second gamble by the hands of fate and his constant, burning need to slaughter everything with the word goblin in it – the slayer somehow garnered the strength to strangle the shit out of the bulky beast with just some string.

#9: 1,000,000% Delaware Detroit Smash

“My Hero Academia” (2016-)

The future Symbol of Peace has been through more than his fair share of scraps. However, without a doubt, the one that nearly ended his superhero career early was his little tussle with Muscular. Desperate to protect Koda from harm, Deku put everything on the line in order to best the League of Villains recruit…even if it meant having One for All shatter his arms in the process. In spite of the fear of being crushed by Muscular’s flesh torrents, the agony of using his own Quirk, and the regret of not living up to All Might, Deku somehow managed to overcome it all in order to land an uber-knuckle sandwich on that villainous ball of tendons.

#8: Ikoma Goes Metal

“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress” (2016)

While originally over the moon that his handmade gun bolt proved to be a guaranteed Kabane killer, things went south for Ikoma when he discovered he’d been bitten and was seconds away from rapidly converting into one himself. So what does he do? Cauterizes the wound, nailguns a slab of metal around the infected area, then hangs himself until the corruption leaves his body. Sure, the end result left him as a zombie hybrid with a punk rock hair style, but watching this steampunk scientist pull all that off with no hesitation is still metal as heck!

#7: Hajime’s Survival

“Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest” (2019)

How to go from a nobody to a badass edgelord in five easy steps. Plummet to the bottom of an endless chasm, get a ligament torn off, go through an early midlife crisis and adopt a “screw the world” attitude, eat some demon meat that grants you superpowers and craft yourself a magic gun. And just like that Hajime went from victim to hardcore survivor, pretty much pulling himself up to the rank of apex predator one freshly devoured carcass at a time. It landed him a harem by the end of it so he must have done something right!

#6: Tanjiro’s Last Stand

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (2019)

Pretty sure this guy could lose both his arms and legs and would STILL find a way to cut himself out of a bad situation, especially if his battle with Rui is anything to go by. When even the final form of his Water Breathing style proves ineffective against the webs of the Lower Fifth Kizuki, it looks like game over for the katana-wielding moral Jesus…at least until he recalls the parting words of his father, triggering a sudden shift in his sword style and kickstarting the moment that sent the anime flying into the mainstream conscious. You know you’re in trouble when a shounen protagonist’s force of will sets fire to water.

#5: Mereoleona’s Fiery Will

“Black Clover” (2017-)

And you thought the flaming matriarch of the Crimson Lion squad was a badass before. With the elf convergence in full swing, not to mention her decision to send Asta and Zora on without her, the stage was set for the untameable lioness to have it out with five high-ranking members of the thought-dead race, which turned out to be just a bit too much for her to handle. Not that she didn’t give it her all, since her flames not only kept the winged insurrectionists on their toes, but even after she was bested – she pulled a Whitebeard and passed out standing up. Even in defeat, Mereo is something else.

#4: Kenshin’s Do or Die Moment

“Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal” (1999)

If there ever was a time where Kenshin truly lived up to his moniker of the Manslayer, it’s in this desperate, final struggle. Despite being on the verge of death, the desire to find his newfound lover pretty much turned Kenshin into a one man death machine that no number of swordsman can hope to overcome. There’s no reverse blade shenanigans here, only pure carnage. Even with his wounds slowing him down, Kenshin is able to slaughter his way through any and all opposition. The bloodshed made all the more twisted when you realise that he’s trying to save the woman whose husband he killed and who has been plotting his downfall ever since…

#3: Garou Refuses to Surrender

“One-Punch Man” (2015-19)

After this little fiasco, these caped crusaders can pretty much forget about those S-Ranks. Hell, they’d be lucky to keep their A-Ranks. In a bid to gain more recognition, the likes of Death Gatling and company launch a combined assault on the Hero Hunter, who by this point is already feeling the pain from an earlier scuffle. Not that it does them much good, since his martial art prowess and rather noble goal to protect an innocent kid caught in the crossfire was more than enough to wreck their shit. He literally punched through a machinegun barrage and lived to tell the tale!

#2: The Immortal Sugimoto

“Golden Kamuy” (2018-)

As if Sugimoto the Immortal was going to give up on life after something as minor as getting captured, tortured and having chopsticks impaled through both his cheeks. Just as the sadistic twins think they’ve got a clear shot at finding their way to the Ainu gold, they get a front row demonstration of how ferocious the scarred soldier can be when you push him into a corner. Somersaulting his way out of a chair, locking one of the twins in a death-choke and refusing to let go – even as the sibling impales him with a knife. The man just can’t be stopped.

#1: Guts Goes Berserk

“Berserk” (1997-98)

Technically you could just summarize Gut’s entire life and it would still qualify as a refusal to die moment. His youth, his days as child mercenary, the warzones he frequented with the Band of the Hawk, all the otherworldly encounters with Apostles, it just goes on. In this instance, we’re handing it over to the time where Guts single-handedly took on a hundred enemy troops, all in one night, and won. Oh sure, he got slabbed and sliced to such an extent that it made the fight with Zodd look tame, but he still found a way to pull through. We’re guessing it ha something to do with Casca, wink wink.