Top 10 Anime Fights We Waited Years To See

Top 10 Anime Fights We Waited Years To See

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Anime Fights We Waited Years To See. For this list, we’re looking at the battles across anime that took forever to finally arrive, and for the most part proved to be worth the wait! Is there an anime slugfest you’re still holding out for? Let us know in the comments!

“Tokyo Ghoul:re” (2018) Root A had a lot of things wrong with it, but one of its biggest transgressions is off-screening the final fight between super-Ghoul Kaneki and the ultimate CCG soldier in the form of Arima. Thankfully this was later rectified during the latter half of its sequel series. With Kaneki reclaiming his memory and returning to the home team, he’s forced to battle against the man he once considered a father figure. It was a long time coming, but we finally got to see the kagune vs quinque battle we had been waiting for! Okay Re, you get one point for that!

“Sword Art Online Alicization - War of Underworld” (2019-20) Remember Laughing Coffin? That group of players who were dead set on taking PVP to new extremes In Sword Art Online? Well after many years we’d finally see their leader again during the final arc of the battle for Underworld. Unlike his lackeys, POH is a tough SOB, making the ideal foe to herald the return of Kirito. While his ferocity nearly gets the better of the Black Swordsman, the sudden return to his SAO OP status quickly turns the tide. After such a lethal spree of trolling, being turned into a tree for eternity seems like a fitting end.

#8: Luffy vs. Doflamingo

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“One Piece” (1999-) Every time the Straw Hats set sail, you can always count on a new villainous buccaneer to show up, though none had as much build up as the self-proclaimed King of Dressrosa! Starting off as a mischievous side character during the battle at Marineford, to a weapon smuggler unafraid to use children as test subjects, and finally as a tyrannical overlord who wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter his own citizens to get what he wanted. Doflamingo was a special kind of scumbag. Thankfully, karma came back to bite him courtesy of Luffy’s Gear Fourth, resulting in one of the franchise’s best battles to date.

“Gintama” (2006-18) In-between the crass comedy and fourth wall breaks, Gintoki still found time to slide in some intense drama and brutal sword fights, and no character brought both to the surface quite as much as the Black Beast. Lurking in the shadows and causing no end of trouble, we finally were given the chance to see just how dangerous he was when he and Gin clashed blades during the attempt on the Shogun’s life. There was nothing funny about seeing these two nearly rip each other apart, but it was epic.

#6: Natsu vs. Zeref

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“Fairy Tail” (2009-19) The primary evil responsible for pretty much everything heinous in the series up until that point. A duel between the dark mage and the Salamander was bound to happen sooner or later, and while their first bout may have ended in Zeref flexing his immortality, it did show us just how powerful Natsu had become during his years of training. Armed with Fire Dragon King Mode, the only thing more devastating that Natsu’s punch was him hearing the truth about END.

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack” (1988) They’ve nearly blown each other to pieces in their respective Mobile Suits, speared each other in an impromptu fencing match, and roasted each other through their temporary team up throughout Zeta. And yet fans still wanted to see this legendary rivalry flare up one last time. With Char gone off the deep end and fully committed to destroying the Earth, it falls to Amuro and his all-powerful Nu Gundam to ensure that history repeats itself once more with a final mecha showdown. Now that’s how you go out swinging!

#4: Ash vs. Gary

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“Pokémon” (1997-) There was only so many “smell you later’s” that Ash was going to take before he pushed back, and what better way to settle things than in a six vs six Poke-Battle where the world could see who the true Pallet Town prodigy was! With a diverse team of heavy hitters, it’s one of the few times were the anime truly captured the spirit of the classic games, especially with the final bout involving Charizard against Blastoise. Screw type advantages, it was worth it to see Gary’s dreams crumble!

#3: Ichigo vs. Aizen

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“Bleach” (2004-12) It may have all been part of Aizen’s plan, but that didn’t stop this long-awaited clash from being a spectacle. From the moment a fully Hollowfied Ichigo unleashed his first attack against the traitor Captain, fans braced themselves for the ingenious way the strawberry was going to dethrone the nigh unstoppable sociopath. The answer was the Final Getsuga Tenshou, and while that was not exactly what we had been hoping for, the deus ex machina was almost worth it to see Aizen and his mullet get sliced in half.

#2: Goku vs. Gohan

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“Dragon Ball Super” (2015-18) They’ve trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, they’ve had a few non-canon fights across GT, but this was the one that FINALLY gave Gohan a bit of his credit back. Not since his battle against Cell had we seen him channel his inner Saiyan this ferociously, and it's in a practise match against his papa of all things. On the eve of the Tournament of Power, father and son clash without pulling any punches. Sure, as soon as Super Saiyan Blue was triggered, Gohan got wasted, but at least he demonstrated he’s not become totally useless later in life!

#1: Naruto vs. Sasuke

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Top 10 Naruto and Sasuke Team-Up Fights

“Naruto Shippuden” (2007-17) These two have had more confrontations than most rivals out there, and yet each bout continued to build and build in quality and complexity, all culminating in a long-awaited return to the Valley of the End, where they received to blow our collective minds. Now armed with the power of the Rinnegan and the Sage of the Six Paths, Naruto and Sasuke reduced everything to rubble with their god tier jutsu, paving the way for an emotional and exhaustive round of fisty cuffs to conclude their decade’s long ordeal.