Top 10 Surprising Anime Victories (ft. Todd Haberkorn)
For this list, we'll be looking at the times where anime characters pulled off a win that we really weren't expecting. We're not throwing any shade at the fights in question or their outcomes, it's just that if I were a betting man, I would totally be out a hundred Haberdollars by this point.
#10: Vetto Gets A Taste of the Black Bulls
“Black Clover” (2018-) If you couldn’t tell by looking at him, Vetto is a killing machine whose speed and strength can easily decimate the most advanced of mages. As it happens, that kind of power can’t measure up to the stubbornness of the Black Bulls. Despite being made to eat dirt earlier on, our loud mouthed protagonist makes quite the comeback, with help from his fellow underachievers Finral and Vanessa. Their combined strength puts on one hell of a fight all before Asta finishes the job by letting his inner demon run wild. Considering they topped one of the high-ranking members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, we’d say that’s well beyond beginner’s luck.
#9: The Quinx Squad Best Noro
Top 10 Fire Power Users in Anime (ft. Todd Haberkorn)
“Tokyo Ghoul:re” (2018) Ah yes, Noro…the masked menace, Aogori Tree’s secret weapon, a Ghoul of such immense power that he could wipe out anything with minimal effort. Yeah, he got himself owned by two members of Quinx. They may have been trained by the One Eyed Ghoul God that is Ken Kaneki, but we were still expecting something a lot more…impressive. Maybe it wouldn’t have seen so shocking if Noro hadn’t been built up as this unkillable beast, as it stands, we’re calling Habercrap on those power levels!
#8: Touma Puts the Breaks On Accelerator
“A Certain Magical Index” (2008-) What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object? Well, in this case the unstoppable force is cancelled out by the immovable object’s right arm and gets socked in the face for its troubles. While Touma’s Imagine Breaker can get the best of any Esper, we at least thought the guy who can make gravity bend to his will would have a way around it. Nope. Turns out when the chips are down, this serial killer just wasn’t capable of handling the likes of Touma’s Unlucky Punch. No wonder he switched alignments.
#7: Akagi Owns The Yakuza
“Akagi” (2005-06) We’re sure that in do or die situations a person could pull a small miracle out of the bag. However, when a thirteen-year-old boy who has never played a game of mah-jong in his life randomly walks into a game ran by the Yakuza and manages to obliterate them…you have officially jumped the shark fifty times on a unicycle. We’re not sure what’s more unbelievable in this scenario, that Akagi managed to pick up the rules of one of the most complicated tile-based games in existence at lightspeed, or the fact he sassed up a storm to a group of killers all throughout. Dude must have balls made of brass!
#6: Midoriya, Todoroki & Iida vs. Stain
Every Midoriya Fight Ranked (My Hero Academia)
“My Hero Academia” (2016-) Hero Killer Stain made quite the name for himself by butchering up professional Caped Crusaders left and right. With his mad knife skills, ability to free victims after ingesting their blood and a creed he was fiercely devoted to, it looked like there was no-one who could put a stop to his rampages. Save for these three students, of course. Sure, these three have some pretty amazing Quirks of their own and their teamwork was on point, but again, this guy took apart peeps from the big leagues, you would have thought he could handle a few adolescents!
#5: Yomi Triumphs Over Yusuke
“Yu Yu Hakusho” (1992-94) Need we remind you that this is Yusuke freakin’ Urameshi: Spirit Detective extraordinaire, anime’s favourite punk, the guy who eats demons for breakfast. Oh sure, he’s been knocked down by true monsters like Toguro and Sensui, but he still found a way to come back swinging. You don’t expect someone like that to lose. Alas, Yomi apparently proved to be too much for even Yusuke to handle, since he ended up losing against him in a demonic tournament. Kind of a sour note to end on bud.
#4: Boruto Defeats Momoshiki
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“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” (2017-) You want to see an awesome battle between godlike beings? Look no further. Much like Kaguya, Momoshiki was an entity capable of creating jutsus powerful enough to bust up planets, albeit with a majorly inflated ego. No surprise that the only ones capable of holding a candle to him would be former frenemies Naruto and Sasuke, whose own top tier abilities turned their clash into one of modern anime’s greatest spectacles. And yet Boruto was the one to come in last minute and clinch the win? Yeah, we know, it’s all about passing on the torch, following your ninja way, all that good stuff. Still kind of feels like that the other two did most of the work here.
#3: Escanor Takes Out Two Commandments
“The Seven Deadly Sins” (2014-2018) I guess when faced with overwhelming muscles, a masterful moustache and an unholy helping of pride – Faith and Truth just aren’t enough to cut it. By this point, it had been established that the members of the Ten Commandments were not to be messed with, especially considering the fact they took out Meliodas. Taking on just one was suicide, and yet Escanor managed to rise to the occasion and best two of them. Oh sorry, I mean his overwhelming manliness proved to be so blinding that he evaporated an entire lake and sent them to god knows where. Now that’s how you make an impact.
#2: Rafael Outplays Yugi
“Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters” (2000-04) So, there’s this guy called Yugi; he plays a children’s card game for a living, one that often decides the fact of the world. In fact, he’s so good that not even the likes of Ancient Egyptian evils or the actual rules are enough to best him. But apparently a filler villain is. Scratch that, a filler villain’s lackey! We’re not sure if Yugi was having an off day or just really fancied a roundabout way of pissing Kaiba off, but him suddenly succumbing to evil and losing a duel is so out of character that even Capsule Monsters seems more canon by this point!
#1: Android 17 Is The MVP!
“Dragon Ball Super” (2015-) The greatest warriors from all the dimensions in the multiverse, including Goku, and the one to outlast them all was a former genocidal android who now works as a national park ranger. Got to admit, I didn’t see that coming. After the awesomeness that was Goku and Frieza vs Jiren, we figured that the Saiyan would be last man standing, but nope, 17 is apparently Universe 7’s lucky number. Admittedly, he’s just really good at camping out while the actual battle goes on, but who cares? A win is a win!