Most people that watch anime sometimes cannot stop talking about their favorite op characters. These characters are often good at fighting and are considered to be powerful when it comes to their skills. They usually belong to the action genre, which contains an abundant amount of fight scenes that often leave us in awe. Not only this, but these characters can either lean towards being a hero or a villain. Regardless, their combat skills are loved and acknowledged by many.
Although most of them have superpowers, the characters that take on martial arts as their fighting style are considered to be on another level. Using Martial arts as a form of offense and defense is something that is backed up by years of training. However, some characters have innate skills for winning fights in hand-to-hand combat. Below mentioned are ten anime with the best hand-to-hand combat scenes. Before we get into the list, please note that this article may contain heavy spoilers.
Baki
When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, Baki is the first anime that comes to mind. Although it has been adapted before, this anime has some of the most brutal combat scenes out there. The characters, too, are ruthless most of the time but are acknowledged regardless of the things they do. It is an anime adapted from a manga created by Keisuke Itagaki.
Baki is an anime that contains a lot of hand-to-hand combat action because it tells us the story of Baki Hanma, a character training to be the best martial artist. As mentioned, we are introduced to Baki Hanma, who has a knack for fighting in secret arenas, thanks to his father. In order to surpass his father, Baki takes part in many tournaments, which can be deadly if things go wrong. These tournaments usually have a “kill or get killed”atmosphere that is mostly responsible for most of the best combat scenes we get.
The God of Highschool
The next anime was adapted from a webtoon manhwa named God of Highschool. It was written and illustrated by Park Yongje in 2011. This manhwa has since then become so famous that it even got its Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game which includes battles between various characters. God of Highschool introduces us to a fantasy world consisting of three realms, The Human Realm, The Sage Realm, and The Heaven Realm. As expected, the inhabitants of these realms consist of humans, mystical creatures, and gods. To protect themselves from demons, Humans are allowed to borrow powers from these gods.
Among these humans is the character Jin Mori who specializes in martial arts. Because of this skill, he joins the “God of Highschool” tournament, which allows him to showcase his talents in intense combats. The battles in these tournaments may not be as gore as in Baki. However, the hand-to-hand combats are definitely something that can get you to cheer for your favorite characters.
Hajime no Ippo
Another Anime that includes boxing and tournaments is Hajime no Ippo. Hajime no Ippo is a series adapted from a manga written and illustrated by George Morikawa. However, instead of focusing more on bloody fights, it focuses on the character development of its main protagonist Makunouchi Ippo. Ippo is portrayed as a good character that helps his mother run the family fishery business. Besides this, he is a timid character who usually keeps to himself. This, however, also makes him an easy target for bullies.
One day when he got badly injured in a bullying case, he was taken by a boxer named Takamura Mamoru to a boxing gym. When the athlete let him use a sandbag as a way to remove his anger and frustrations, he got the taste of his love for boxing for the first time. Eventually, he began training and turned out to be a quick learner, ready to fight in tournaments. Coming across various challenges, including winning the acknowledgment of skilled fighters, he indulges in many intense hand-to-hand combats. With this, Ippo builds his way to the top, fighting not only many intense battles in the ring but also all the challenges that come his way.
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Yawara!
Another series similar to Hajime no Ippo is the anime Yawara! However, the main character is a girl named Inokuma Yawara. The anime, thus, focuses on the development of Yawara, who wishes to be an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. However, because of her strict grandfather, she is made to practice Judo every day even though she hates it. Her grandfather makes her do so because she is skilled in the art and can be capable of being the best in Judo. Unfortunately, she doesn’t appreciate Judo as much as her grandfather does.
It is not until when she practices every day that she begins getting attached to Judo. After a while, she becomes focused and takes her judo practice more seriously. Being an old anime, the animation of the fight scenes may not be appealing to most of the viewers. Regardless, Yawara! is an anime that contains intense fights that the main character takes on.
Fist of the North Star
Also known as Fist of the Big Dipper, the anime introduces us to a post-apocalyptic world wherein people rob and cheat as means of survival. The story is adapted from a manga by Buronson and Tetsuro Hara. It introduces us to the protagonist Kenshiro who is a skilled martial artist. However, his form of attack involves hitting the opponents’ vital points in their bodies. Kenshiro was a man who wanted to live a peaceful life with his fiance.
However, after they were separated by some gangs, he decided to take it upon himself to beat these gangs up and defend those who were weak. He travels and comes across the characters Bat and Lin. They all then travel as a team as they come across many rivals. This anime includes many hand-to-hand combat skills are have “hit or miss” vibes.
Kengan Ashura
Set in the Edo period of Japan, the next anime introduces us to gladiator-style hand-to-hand combats. In this world, wealthy men put their money on gladiators to fight in an arena. These fights are called Kengan Matches which mostly consist of deathmatches. The winners are offered huge prices. It is a story adapted from a manga written and illustrated by Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon, respectively. Kengan Ashura focuses on the character Tokita Ohma aka Ashura, who is picked by the CEO of Nogi Group to fight in these arenas. As expected, Ashura turns out to be the best fighter out there as he crushes his opponents. Not only this, but other businessmen wish to hire him to fight on their behalf.
Along with indulging in intense hand-to-hand matches, Ashura also is shown battling with his past as he is trying to figure out things for himself. This anime, like the ones mentioned above, has many gore battles that are very intense to watch.
One-Punch Man
As the name suggests, the protagonist of the anime, Saitama, uses punches to destroy his enemies. However, this is also one of the main reasons for Saitama’s boredom, as all of his opponents are destroyed with a single punch. Frustrated himself, Saitama, who claims to be a hero for fun, looks for opponents who are stronger than him. What excites Saitama the most besides finding a person like that is the combat that follows.
Although initially, the anime does not have many satisfying hand-to-hand combat scenes, as the anime progresses, we get to see him fight stronger opponents than he is. Thus, One-Punch Man is definitely an anime that can get intense with hand-to-hand combat battles with extremely op characters.
Naruto Series
Although having characters with powers, most hand-to-hand combat in the series either leaves us in awe or emotional. Naruto is a famous series that has managed to captivate many fans because of its intriguing stories, characters as well as fights. It is a series created by Kishimoto Masashi.
Among most of the ninjas who use powerful Jutsu, Rock Lee and his sensei Guy are best known for their hand-to-hand combat skills. Incredibly enough, it is a skill that, at one point, was the most useful one against a powerful enemy. As for the emotional aspects, Sasuke and Naruto’s fight at the valley had many uses of powerful Jutsu. However, towards the end, they use hand-to-hand combat to punch each other. This scene becomes emotional for the viewers as two friends are seen not fighting but using each other as a punching bag to take out their frustrations. A similar combat scene is seen when Kakashi fights Obito.
Cowboy Bebop
Set in a futuristic world that gives off major western themes vibes is the anime Cowboy Bebop. After an attack that almost destroyed Earth, humans tried to fit into their new environment for survival. The main character of the anime, Spike Spiegel, is a bounty hunter that helps the police catch criminals. Along with his bounty hunter friends, he works from a spaceship called Bebop.
The original story comes from the studio Bandai Namco Filmworks, Inc. as a 26 episodes anime. Since this anime includes many “cat and mouse chase” scenes, it has a good amount of fight scenes. However, the most intriguing hand-to-hand combat battle takes place between Spike and the character Vicious towards the end of the anime.
One Piece
Lastly, the anime with the most intense battles is One Piece. It is one of the longest-running anime that has managed to gain many fans for its intriguing story as well as interesting characters. The anime was adapted from a manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It tells us the story of the character Luffy who accidentally eats a Devil Fruit, which gives him a rubber body. However, the main goal of Luffy isn’t to turn his body back to normal but to find the world’s ultimate treasure, aka “One Piece”.
This anime has become one of the greatest series ever made, and it is given that fans are attached to the characters from here. However, this anime has some of the best fight scenes that can make its viewers cheer for their favorite characters or mourn their deaths.
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