Top 10 Anime Moments That Broke The Internet

“My Hero Academia” (2016-) Just when you thought Kirishima had set himself up nicely as the MVP of the season, along comes Midoriya to steal it right back in a battle that not only put Overhaul out to pasture but set the likes of Twitter on fire. With Eri’s uncontrollable Quirk allowing him to sustain One for All at a hundred percent, Deku was able to lay the mother of all smackdowns on the ruthless wannabe yakuza in a blinding display of animation and awesomeness. This shounen juggernaut is already beloved by many, but this battle turned out to be just the boosted needed to push it into the mainstream’s eye.

“Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” (2015-) An anime fad making its way into a newspaper like the Daily Mail is already bizarre enough, but when it’s as weird as a tiny goddess’ failing fashion, it’s somewhat astounding. While we’re sure many were caught off guard by her heavenly assets, infatuation with Belle and mile a minute mouth, apparently a lot of fans couldn’t get over the ribbon under her chest that seemed to serve no function other than to keep her proportions as high as possible. Apparently, some fans took to it and started trying to pull off the same look!

“Death Note” (2006-07) Arguably one of the earliest anime scenes to ever become prime meme material, the way in which Light Yagami seems to randomly grab and bite down on a potato chip in the middle of committing supernatural mass murder is somehow both out of place yet intrinsically tied to the scene itself. After all, even Gods of the New World like to snack. What makes it so enjoyable is just how into it Light seems to be as he monologues about eating it while writing names in the Death Note, prompting the internet to spam the hell out of it!

#7: Rejected Rem

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“Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World” (2016-) We’re not going to say that Subaru chose the wrong girl…it’s just that one half of the internet thought he chose the wrong girl. Despite Rem professing her love for the isekai-er and having amazing chemistry with him, Subaru ultimately chooses to give his heart to the half-elf Emilia. And just like that, the otaku world lost their collective shit. On one side you had the Army of Rem, declaring that the oni was the greatest waifu of them all and that Emilia should be burned at the stake for daring to infringe upon her territory. Then you have Emilia’s defenders who bit back hard, stating she was being unfairly attacked just because Rem got dumped!

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans” (2015-17) That’s right, remember that heart-breaking death scene where the charismatic leader of Tekkadan was gunned down in the street? Turns out Japanese fans found it so damn hilarious they decided to meme the hell out of it. From break dancing, raising all kinds of flags, flying off into space, Japanese audiences showed Orga no mercy as his bullet-ridden corpse was put through the online wringer over and over again, to the point where western anime memes were starting to look downright sweet by comparison! Hearts of stone, the lot of them!

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (2019) A long-running series managing to make it into the mainstream conscious? Impressive but not unheard of. A brand-new anime soaring all the way to become the number one global trending topic? Either Muzan Kibutsuji has been infecting a lot more people, or the battle between Tanjiro and the Lower Demon Moon was just that breath-taking. With its gorgeous animation, pitch perfect soundtrack and emotional high, this stellar clash was truly one of the purest examples of how modern anime can exceed expectations. Now whether that Ninja guy felt the same way, or he was just jumping on the bandwagon remains to be seen.

“Yuri on Ice” (2016) Don’t you just love it when something so overwhelmingly positive and heartfelt manages to bring people together? And all it took was one vibrant display of effection. After executing a magnificent routine, Yuuri and his trainer Victor are naturally overjoyed at the result, though we doubt the former was expecting the silver haired pro to launch himself at him, press them onto the ice, all before locking lips with the eyes of the world watching. The faces of the fans were very much the same as those in the stadium witnessing the mini-love session unfold!

#3: Naruto & Sasuke vs. Momoshiki

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“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” (2017-) While it remains to be seen if Boruto and his pals will ever manage to incite the internet with their awesome antics, the same can’t be said of their pops. Once again stepping into the spotlight and showing the young’uns how true shinobi roll, Naruto and Sasuke’s combined assault against Kaguya’s clan member proved to be one of the highest octane and exhilarating anime showdowns in recent memory, standing shoulder to shoulder with the franchise’s greatest moments. From the fluid hand to hand combat all the way to the top tier jutsu, the only thing that did more for Naruto’s credibility other than this fight was when people tried to ninja run into Area 51.

#2: Ash Wins the Alola League

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“Pokémon” (1997-) It happened. It actually happened. The eternal ten year old managed to win himself a championship, and all it took was twenty years of humiliating defeats. By this point Ash losing tournament finales was as much a part of the series as Brock getting rejected and Team Rocket blasting off again. You don’t expect the show to suddenly go against the grain, but apparently all that Alola fresh air gave Ash just the right nudge to actually win! Congratulations Ash, you’ve taken your first step to completing what every Pokemon fan succeeded in doing all the way back in the 90s.

“Dragon Ball Super” (2015-18) There’s something oddly beautiful about a Dragon Ball battle garnering so many watchers that, on the day of release, it managed to crash streaming servers everywhere. Apparently, Crunchyroll was unable to handle the sheer weight of Goku showing off his newfound power of Ultra Instinct. Not that we can blame them, watching Goku once again reach a higher form while taking on the unbeatable Jiren was both nostalgic and a feast for the eyes, one that seemed to send anime fans way past their tipping point.