#IMAGINE JUST NATSU HAVING THESE GIANT ICE FISTS

[squicky-fannish-discourse]

the real reason why we don’t have pro hero natsuo is cos this man will bring about the next ice-age with those beefy hands 

[dragonshost]

Gajeel x Lyon + challenge

Two years after his first, Gajeel found himself participating in the Grand Magic Games once again.  The preliminaries had been beyond easy this year, but somehow Fairy Tail’s other team that had been entered had failed it - and had nearly drowned in the process.  Luckily, Gajeel had had plenty of experience nearly being drowned by Juvia over the years - not to mention that aquatic demon from Tartaros - so passing had been a simple matter for him.

He was greatly looking forward to showing off this time around.  Natsu’s stunt during their double battle still stung the iron dragon slayer’s pride, and he intended to rectify the slight in this go around.  So it was little surprise to anyone on the team that he volunteered for the first group event, a game called simply “Glacier.”

Entering the arena to a decent amount of fanfare, Gajeel carefully sized up his fellow competitors for the event.  He didn’t recognize half of them, but the ones he did he knew he needed to watch out for.  There was the swordswoman from Mermaid Heel - the one with gravity defying magic that had nearly fought Erza on equal terms two years ago.  The snow mage from Blue Pegasus, a former Rune Knight like Gajeel.  And the ice wizard from Lamia Scale, the one that had pursued Juvia relentlessly.

“Now that all participants are on the field, it’s time to announce the rules of the game!” the pumpkin headed referee stated with glee, bouncing from foot to foot.  “In ‘Glacier,’ we have a special treat for you all...”  With a wave of his hand, Mato ushered in four glowing magic circles.  From within them, sprouted towering columns... of beautiful, gleaming blue ice.

“Your task is to carve these into whatever you choose!” Mato informed them.  “Make anything you want!  The sky is the limit!  Within reason, that is.  Please do not abuse the contest creators’ goodwill by making something crass.  Aside from that, let your imaginations flow!  But keep in mind that the judges each have their own particular taste, and that will affect their decisions accordingly.”

Frowning, the ice wizard contemplated the pillars.  “Excuse me, if we will each be carving these, why are there only half as many as there is participants?  Will some of us not be allowed to carve?”

“An excellent question!  The reason is that, for this game... you will have to cooperate with someone in order to get it accomplished!  Drawing straws will determine the matchups, and the points awarded will be split evenly between you.  Winning team gains ten points, second place gains six, third place gains two, and last place gains none.  Individually, that’s five, three, one, and zero points you may gain for your guild.”

“Interesting,” the Blue Pegasus mage said.  “I chose to participate because of the event’s name, but I might be at a disadvantage here. However... if my partner is sufficiently skilled, we can sill potentially gain the top place.”

“Correct!” Mato exclaimed.  “Now, without further ado, let’s decide the teams.”

Gajeel stepped forward first, with a triumphant grin on his face.  “Let’s see if my partner can even keep up with my first-rate artistry.”

“An excellent attitude!” Mato stated.  “Once everyone is finished drawing, find the other participant with the same number, and the ice block that is labeled the same.”

He came away clutching a straw that blinked with a magical 4.  Walking over to the block, he was soon joined by the ice wizard from Lamia Scale.

“Hello there.  I don’t believe we’ve ever spoken before,” the white-haired man said congenially.  “I’m Lyon Vastia, of Lamia Scale, and an Ice-Make mage.”

“Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer.  From Fairy Tail,” Gajeel responded, shaking the other man’s proffered hand.  “With your magic, I bet you’re pretty good at things like this.”

Lyon nodded.  “Indeed, I am.  With your ability to cut the ice easily, this challenge is as good as won.”

Their conversation was cut short by Chapati announcing the partnerships for this challenge.  “On Column One, we have quite the cute team-up!  Mattan Ginger and Nalshe Mikagura from Twilight Ogre and TItan Nose make quite the beautiful team, wouldn’t you say?”

“Quite so,” agreed Arcadios, the second judge on the panel.  Yajima had declined to be a judge this year, claiming his age made the endeavor more difficult with each passing year.  So instead, the knight was chosen to fulfill the vacant spot.  “Although they do pale in comparison to the princess, in my humble opinion.  What do you think, Mr. Roderick?”

Roderick Snodden, renowned art critic and guest judge for the first day, nodded solemnly.  “They are indeed easy on the eyes.  But can they bring forth beauty through a vastly different medium, such as this?  I’m looking forward to seeing what they will bring forth from the ice.”

The women waved enthusiastically at the crowd, all smiles and charm, and the stadium went absolutely wild as Mattan blew them a kiss.

“On Column Two,” continued Chapati, moving along, “we have Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel and Dobengal of Sabertooth.  I must say that I’m really looking forward to this one.  Both of them are renowned fighters, after all, with similarly serious dispositions.  I’m sure whatever they carve, it will be amazingly detailed.”

“Their matching aesthetics in terms of their wardrobe is also quite promising to me,” commented Roderick.

“I agree as well,” stated Arcadios.

“On Column Three, we have the male counter to the team up on Column One!  With Eve Tearm of Blue Pegasus and Mace Orlando of Phoenix Grave, the male gender is certainly being well represented in the beauty department as well!”

“Indeed,” Arcadios and Roderick said in unison, pleased smiles on their faces, not able to get much in edgewise around the fevered screaming that had erupted from the stands.  Both of the male contestants had quite the following.

“And finally, on Column Four, we have... Gajeel Redfox representing Fairy Tail, and Lyon Vastia representing Lamia Scale.”

“Is it just me,” Lyon commented under his breath, “or was our team’s announcement lacking the vigor of the others?”

“I must say that Gajeel doesn’t particularly strike me as the artistic type,” Roderick stated bluntly, disinterest written clearly on his face.

“Perhaps his partner will balance it out somewhat,” interjected Arcadios.  “He is, after all, a maker mage.  Imagination and craftmanship go hand in hand, there.”

“So long as the brute doesn’t drag him down.”

The dragon slayer spluttered, and shook a fist at the judges box.  “No artistic sense?!  I’ll show you artistic sense!  Get down here and I’ll make real pretty work of your faces!”

“Calm down,” cajoled Lyon, sweat running down his face at the display.  “We need to win this for our guilds, so lets not lose sight of that goal.  Besides, the best revenge would be to shock and amaze them, wouldn’t you agree?”

Although he grumbled, Gajeel backed down.  “Alright, let’s do this.”

Introductions completed, Mato raised his arm, a giant timer appearing above the stadium.  “Teams!  Begin on my mark...”  The mascot dropped his arm.  “Go!”

The teams conferred briefly, but it wasn’t long until ice chips began to fly through the air as the carving contest got under way.  The judges began to commentate on the progress of the groups.

Meanwhile, Lyon and Gajeel found themselves at an impasse.

“We have to consider the column’s dimensions,” Lyon informed Gajeel, his brows furrowing in his irritation.  “So there’s no way we can make the things you suggested.  I think we should go with a crane, and to avoid making mistakes, you’ll do the carving, while I direct you.”

“Oh hell no.”  Gajeel’s lips twisted into a sneer.  “No way am I doing all the hard work while you just stand there, and no way am I making some prissy-ass bird.  I say we make a guitar, that would be much more cooler, and shows off my musical soul.”

“A guitar?”  Disgust filled Lyon’s face.  “We’ll be judged based on difficulty and artistry, you realize.  What’s artistic about a guitar?”

Gajeel bristled at the heinous insult the ice make mage had just delivered.  “You wanna say that again, pal?”

“I’ll say it as many times as I need to,” Lyon retorted.  “It’s far too simplistic of a design to win us first place, and not really pleasing to the eye.”

“I take it you have zero experience with rock n’ roll fans,” Gajeel stated bluntly.  “You don’t look like you have a musical bone in your body.”

Lyon took deep offense at that.  “I’ll have you know that I-”

“Uh oh.  Look’s like there’s trouble over on Column Four!” Chapati announced.  “Seems like they haven’t even started yet, and are still arguing over what to make!”

So engrossed in their discussion, Lyon and Gajeel both failed to take heed of the the judge’s commentary.

In fact, their argument became so heated that they failed to notice as the timer continued to tick down, down, down...

“Aaaaaand, time’s up!” Mato called out, signalling the end of the challenge with a blow of his whistle.  “Everyone stop carving and step away from your creations.”

Gajeel and Lyon looked towards their untouched pillar of ice, cold dread welling up inside their chests and bullets of sweat running down their faces as they faced their grave error.

“Let’s begin the judging phase,” Mato stated, gesturing towards where Column One had previously stood.

“Mattan Ginger’s fire and ice powers were quite the sight to behold during the carving phase, and very unique in terms of technique,” Arcadios observed.  “Although I must confess that I’m not very artistically inclined myself, so I have... no idea what this sculpture is intended to be.”

“Fool!” declared Roderick, stars shining in his eyes.  “It’s clearly a willow tree!  Such a beautiful one, too.  With the melted and refrozen ice it lends the sculpture the illusion of waving fronds.  I absolutely love it.  If it were marble, I’d have purchased it and had it shipped to my home already.”

“You’ll just have to settle for photographs of it, I’m afraid,” Chapati remarked.  “I definitely see what you’re talking about though, and I must say that I am also suitably impressed.”

Mattan and Nalshe exchanged a high-five, happy with the results thus far and what they had accomplished in such little time.

They wrote down their evaluations, hiding the final score until the reveal at the end, and then turned to judging the second team.

Kagura and Dobengal stood proud of their work, and Arcadios beamed at their creation.  “A sword!” he declared.  “What an excellent inspiration.”

Roderick hummed and frowned.  “I must say that I’m not particularly impressed with this one.  The detail work on the finer points deserves some merit, however, I’m afraid that the subject matter just does not entrance me.”

“I think it looks fantastic.”  Chapati nodded to himself.  “It’s easily recognizable for what it is, and the detail work is stunning.  I say well done.”

Also pleased with how their work had been received, both Kagura and Dobengal bowed to the judges, and then to each other.

Likewise with the second pair, the third seemed immensely pleased with themselves.  And unlike the first two teams, they had somehow procured a cloth to cover up their creation for what would hopefully be a dramatic reveal.

“I’m excited to unveil this sculpture!” remarked Chapati.  “What could lie beneath the cloth?!”

Mato pulled back the covering, the cloth sliding down to pool at the sculpture’s base.

There stood a gargantuan, eerily lifelike and incredibly detailed bust of Ichiya’s face.

Dead silence filled the stadium.

“I call it, A Reflection Of Perfection,” Eve stated, a hand clutched over his heart.  “A tribute to my amazing teacher and guide in life, Sir Ichiya.”

Profuse, incredibly loud sobbing erupted from the Blue Pegasus gallery, as Ichiya broke down with joy over the sculpture, snot and tears dribbling freely down his face.

“I must admit that I’m a fan of the classics,” admitted Mace.  “And Ichiya of Blue Pegasus has to have one of the most classic visages I have ever encountered, so it was a pleasure to pay it homage.”

“...Strikingly detailed,” Roderick stated, though his voice was much more subdued than it had been for the previous sculptures.  “I can see the stubble, even from the judges box.  And the tribute to classicism is much appreciated.”

“It can certainly be said that it rendered us all speechless,” Chapati offered, somewhat weakly.  “

Arcadios appeared to be as frozen as the sculpture was.

“...And finally, Column Four,” Chapati said, drawing the topic away from the bust of Ichiya.  “Unfortunately, it would appear as if this team was too busy arguing to work on the carving at all.  Their ice appears to be completely untouched.”

“A pity,” Arcadios said.  “Teamwork was a key component of this challenge, and in lacking that, they have failed to create anything at all.”

Shame burned through Lyon and Gajeel in equal measure, their faces stained with red.

“Hold on,” commanded Roderick, the art critic holding up a hand to prevent the other two from handing down a judgement of failure.  “I don’t think you two see it.”

“See... what, precisely?” Chapati threw Roderick a questioning look.  “Nothing was done to the ice block.”

The man slammed his fist down on the table.  “Precisely!” he shouted, causing the other two judges to draw back slightly in surprise.  “Don’t you see?  That’s why it is perfection itself!”

“Perhaps you could explain it, then,” suggested Arcadios, sharing a brief, confused glance with Chapati.

“It’s a blank slate,” Roderick told them, his eyes shining with the force of the awe that he felt.  “The block of ice stands there, proud and unyielding, like a monolith.  A monolith of potential, for every possible thing it could become remains inside it still!  Hundreds of sculptures, existing simultaneously!  It bursts with imagination, for anything it could become!”  Tears began to gather in the man’s eyes, and he gave a heavy sniff.  “I have never, in all my career, seen anything quite so beautiful as this.  Day in and day out, I gaze upon gorgeous things.  Perhaps that has made me a little unappreciative of them all.  But now, I see the light.  For the first time in years, my eyes are wide open to the beauty of possibility.  I thank you, good sirs, for showing me something so wonderful on this day.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!”

When the final scores were handed down, Gajeel and Lyon were not surprised in the least to find that they had taken last place, with zero points.  After all, despite how much one judge had liked it, the other two still saw the block of ice as a failure to complete the challenge’s objectives.

But it was worth it, afterword, when Roderick approached Gajeel and Lyon behind the scenes to enthusiastically shake their hands and thank them profusely once again.

Gajeel had changed the man’s opinion of him, which was what he had wanted to do in the first place.

And Lyon?  Lyon reflected that this was an opportunity in the making, for self-growth and friendship.

So he invited Gajeel to carve one with him for real, this time.  Or maybe several.  Everything they had wanted to create, they could attempt after all.

Gajeel accepted, wholeheartedly.

[d-dumais-blog]

Top 10 Tournaments in Anime

My Hero Academia is easily the hottest show right now.  It dominates my twitter timeline, cosplayers are showing up in force for it at conventions, and it’s popular with critics and a mainstream audience.  Its popularity far exceeds that of the first season, and there are a few reasons why.  First off, the production of this season was handled much better, giving the entire staff more time per episode.  The show is also better paced this season, progressing at a steady clip and not falling into shounen trappings of too much recap to waste time; something memorable happens in every episode.  Third and most importantly season two kicked off with a tournament! TOURNAMENT ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels like tournaments are built for anime, and anime is built for tournaments.  The structure of a tournament allows several characters to be highlighted, provides an established reason for conflict, and almost guarantees that our two strongest fighters are going to face off against one another at some point because they will both progress further into the tournament. It’s perfect and really every show should have one.  Tournament arcs are often the best arc of whichever show they appear in, and some series have built their entire show around tournaments.  I’m going to talking about and ranking my favorite tournaments in anime of all time.

Judging Criteria

·         Tournament structure

·         Quality of participants, how many do I know and care about, and how                   much do I care about them

·         Quality of the fights, both for the main character, and side characters

·         Resolution to the tournament: how different is the world for our main                     characters after the tournament

·         I will be ranking based solely on anime and not on manga

.         I will be judging animation quality, direction, music, and all parts that make          an anime unique from other media.  

·        Only one tournament per franchise.  It doesn’t matter how the franchise is            split up in anime form, there can be only one. I don’t want this whole list to           be two shows.

·        This should be obvious but I have to have seen the tournament in anime              form, sorry Dressrosa arc

With that out of the way let’s take a look at the list!

#10: Mobile Fighter G Gundam

The heart wants what the heart wants, and despite its numerous problems I still love G Gundam. It was one of my first giant robot shows growing up, and I became immediately hooked.  I thought Shining Finger was the coolest attack ever, and really twenty years later it’s still pretty damn cool.  The premise in G Gundam is that there’s a tournament held between Neo Japan, Neo American and all the other neo countries that now exist as space colonies.  Basically they send Gundam pilots down to earth to fight robot battles and the winning country gets controlling interest in space government.  The show is exactly as absurd as it sounds, and it’s filled with even more terrible stereotypes than you could possibly imagine.  This tournament gets points for its absurd premise and great characters, no matter how terribly offensive they are.  There are also a number of great fights in the series, such as the fight between current and previous King of Hearts, Domon in the Shining Gundam and Master Asia in his Master Gundam.  The show lasts far too long and the stereotypes are HIGHLY offensive, but it’s still a fun romp through 90s mecha that all revolves around an absurdly beautiful tournament.  

#9: Kill La Kill: Naturals Election Tournament

Kill La Kill is bad ass, every aspect of it is awesome.  The series breaks into a tournament starting in episode eight and lasting through twelve and it is every bit as awesome as the rest of the series.  The tournament format is simple, free for all with five ascending platforms; those that reach the top of these platforms compete in a king of the hill tournament.   Basically Ryuko has to work her way through all four members of the elite four with the promise of information on her father’s death if she wins.  As she progresses through the gauntlet we bear witness to some of the best fights the series has to offer, and a surprise fifth opponent shows her face at the end which acts as the catalyst into the show switching focus to events and characters outside the school.  The four major fights in this tournament are excellent.  Each is beautifully animated, and the accompanying music elevates the fights to unforgettable status, especially in the fight with Nonon. All of the fights with the elite four also provide a setting for a more in depth character introduction through well executed flashbacks and great character moments taking place both in and out of the ring.  I’m a sucker for a good gauntlet, and it’s a tournament thrown in the middle of one of my favorite modern anime; it scores major marks there.  It however loses points for the lack of motivation and overall impact on story.  This tournament acts primarily as a transition between arcs more than its own individual story.  

#8: Fairy Tail: Grand Magic Games

Do you guys remember when Fairy Tail was good? I sure do, this arc was great, you know until it was interrupted by another far worse arc…. Regardless I really enjoyed the Grand Magic Games.  It’s split into various stages, multiple of which have their highlights, but the tournament is best when the ensemble cast is given ample opportunity to fight amongst each other.  Stand outs include: Jellal vs. Jura, Natsu & Gajil vs. twin dragons Sting & Rogue, and my personal favorite, Laxus vs. the entirety of Raven Tail.  The arc introduces us to the Sabertooth guild, and reunites our main characters with returning supporting cast from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and others.  If this arc hadn’t ended in the extremely disappointing Dragon Festival arc it probably would have ranked higher.  This arc distills the Fairy Tail experience; extremely large ensemble cast with some fun ideas and good fights, but given enough time it will disappoint you.  

#7: Hunter X Hunter (2011): Heaven’s Arena

The first series where choosing a single tournament is a little tough, and that’s no surprise since it comes from famed mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi.  I’m a big fan of the Hunter Exam arc, but this arc dwarfs it entirely.  This tournament is the first example on this list of powering up during the tournament. This arc introduces nen, the primary power system in Hunter X Hunter.  Gon and Killua increase in strength exponentially during this arc and it acts as a baseline for their growth and abilities for the remainder of the show.  This tournament loses some points on tournament structure in that it’s not really a tournament.  The Heaven’s Arena is a tower of 250 floors where contestants compete for money until reaching floor 200; at which points all battles are fought strictly for glory. The highlight of this arc comes when Gon and Hisoka fight in an epic fist fight almost entirely void of super natural nonsense.  Nen is only used to bring the two fighters closer together so that there are only ever fists flying.  There’s even the much awaited first hit to Hisoka’s face at which point Gon returns his badge from the Hunter Exam, an excellent callback.  This series just barely misses out on the top five because of technicality.  While I love it, there’s no denying this isn’t a real tournament, and Gon and Killua only enter to earn money and train, but still earns its spot for phenomenal fights and great character growth.  

#6: Fate Zero

Let’s round out the bottom half with the best thing to ever come out of the highly popular Type Moon franchise.  The Fourth Holy Grail War takes place before any of the games and is written by Gen Urobuchi, setting it apart from the rest of the franchise’s many adaptations.  The story revolves around teams of two in an all out free for all using any means at their disposal to take out their opponents as they fight across 1990’s Japan.  The teams are comprised of a magic user and a summoned heroic spirit who is a reincarnation of legends of history and myth.  Gilgamesh, Alexander the Great, the knight king Arthur Pendragon all gather to fight one another.  This tournament is full of collusion, underhanded tricks, and betrayals. This is easily the darkest entry on the list, and that’s no surprise considering its author’s famed nickname, Gen the butcher.  It’s also the establishing anime for studio Ufotable who is now largely considered one of the best in 3D animation.  Gorgeous visuals, excellent music, expert fight choreography, phenomenal writing both in storytelling and conversational dialogue all add up to an unforgettable tournament.  The battle between Kiritsugu Emiya and Kirei Kotomine ranks among the best fights in anime of all time.  The end of the tournament asks more questions than it answers, but it still works as a standalone experience and sets the stage for the rest of the Fate series to take place.  

#5: Naruto: Chunin Exam

We head into the top five with the shounen big three.  Despite the original manga ending back in 2014, the series has lived on in new manga, anime and even light novels.  It’s been nearly eighteen years since the manga’s launch and it’s still, in my opinion, never gotten better than this gym from the original Naruto anime.  This tournament takes place before power levels get silly, and the cast is at a reasonable enough size where you can be invested in all of the major characters.  It’s also our introduction to so many of the most important characters in the franchise such as Negi, Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Gaara.  It’s also the first introduction of another jinchuriki. The test has three stages: a written exam, a survival game, and then finally an all out one on one tournament. The three on three nature of the first two phases are fun and all three of our main protagonists at this point in the story are given a chance to shine, but the tournament at the end is the icing on the cake.  Naruto has some good fights, especially his match against Neji, but Sasuke steals the show. Sasuke finally starts learning to use his sharingan and learns his signature chidori attack, and he also gets the final match against Gaara.  The arc ends in catastrophe and the first major battle to take place in the Leaf since before the events of the show.  Both arenas the tournament takes place in are awesome, with the second providing a large crowd for the entire village to watch.  This tournament gets points all around, great fights, great contestants, simple and yet elegant structure.  It only misses out on a higher position because of the strength of our next four entries.

#4: Dragon Ball: 23 World Martial Arts Tournament

Would it really be a list of the best tournaments without a Dragon Ball tournament on here? Talk about a tough choice, Dragon Ball is probably more famous for its tournaments than any other anime.  Just missing out on the top three spots, we’ve got my favorite tournament in all of Dragon Ball.  The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, or as it’s known in English, the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament is the final arc in Dragon Ball prior to the release of Dragon Ball Z, and what a fitting end it is.  Throughout this arc Goku defeats the previous champion who defeated him in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tien, defeats the demon king Piccolo, and marries his childhood sweetheart Chi-chi. It’s also notable for being the only world martial arts tournament that Goku ever wins.  This tournament puts the emphasis on hand to hand combat over the bombastic energy attacks that dominate later Dragon Ball Z and Super tournaments, but it’s not devoid of power levels or threat.  Piccolo plans on destroying the whole world and even Earth’s guardian Kami comes to compete in this tournament.  This tournament is the good stuff, like eating your favorite home cooked meal; it’s nostalgic and pure in its goodness.  It’s hard to think of a better classic tournament in anime.  Hard however is not impossible.

#3: My Hero Academia: Sports Festival

We start the top three with the inspiration for the list in the first place.  The newest release on this list is phenomenal.  The festival starts with a few extra events, before finally breaking into a series of one on one fights.  The bangers in this tournament start in the first round and last through the finals.  The tournament is filled with incredible character building for characters that are all so strong they could play lead in their own show.  I could write lengthy character studies on everyone from minor opponents like Shinzo to heavy hitters like best boy Shoto Todoroki.  I could give an entire lecture on animation techniques in these fights and how lighting, line work, and color dynamic all help build a scene and depict power.  I could talk at length about how interesting the various motivations of each competitor are and why these varying ideals shape a more complete understanding of heroism and justice.  The point is I can sit here and talk all day about this tournament and what it does right, but honestly it’s deserving of its own blog post entirely if not several of its own posts.  I’ll certainly be revisiting this tournament and discussing it further, but I’ll state the simple, the obvious.  This tournament is incredible and should be watched by all.  The results of each fight make sense and nothing happens because of mere plot convenience.  Prior preparations, well defined powers, and clear consequences for every action help make this tournament extremely compelling.  I spent every week anxiously waiting for the next episode and I was far from alone.  The entire anime community seemed to band together to watch this because it was obvious something special was unfolding before our eyes.  Because of its recency I’ll avoid in major spoilers; I’ll simply say every fight in this arc is worth watching especially those with Bakugo and Todoroki in them, it’s really something special.  

#2: Ping Pong the Animation: Prefectural Qualifier

Would it really be a list of anime tournaments without some sports anime goodness? Our second place entry epitomizes what makes sports anime so good, and also goes on to achieve so much more.  This series is a coming of age story for five different incredibly compelling characters that all just happen to play a lot of ping pong.  It is significantly shorter than most entries on the list, the entire series clocks in at eleven episodes and the tournament takes place during the last five.  With that in mind it’s a feat of pure genius that it accomplishes so much.  This series tackles motivation, suicide, friendship, acceptance, burden of success, the difficulties of high expectations, the importance of friendship, and even what it means to be a hero.  In the last entry I stated that each character feels like they could be the main character of their own show; this series is similar except in that they are all each the star and main character of this show. The show does a phenomenal job of splitting time between each character so that the viewer fully understands their reasons for play, their life philosophies, and their personal relationships both with those they compete against and those that helped them prepare for competition.  The show shines because of its deep characters, but they aren’t the only part of the show that’s incredible.  The show’s music by Kensuke Ushio, who recently scored the excellent A Silent Voice film, matches the story perfectly with its odd blend of sounds and styles, mixing heavy base with upbeat pop, and calming guitar riffs with heavy synth and soft foreign language vocals.  The animation is distinct and gorgeous.  Strong character designs help clearly definite each character by how they walk, their simple body language.  The way and reason each individual smiles tells you more about their character than most shows tell you about their main character through their entire run. Visual metaphors litter the screen during matches, from Kong sighing out an airplane to Kazama literally embodying a dragon as he returns Peco’s balls from the other side of the net.  From impressive wipes, to gorgeous scene composition through splitting the characters with various panels and real world objects like the net, there’s a lot in this tournament for sakuga fans to love.

This tournament is also by far the most realistic of any entry on this list, and not only because it doesn’t have any super powers, but because of its attention to detail in preparation, and its love of its own structure.  We’ll start with the focus on preparation.  We get to watch each player extensively as they train for this tournament and we’re allowed to view the results of this training through the subsequent matches in the tournament.  Peco trains rigorously to change his style, and learn new moves, which ultimately results in his unique style of pips in or pips out depending on side of paddle that he uses to overthrow the unbeatable Kazama.  This training also however causes his knee injury that almost ends his tournament and his career before it even begins.  Kong and Kazama both train rigorously against robots, both with date from perspective opponents.  Unfortunately they are underprepared for Peco who inevitably defeats them.  Though Kazama’s rigorous strength and body training do allow him dominant games before the match finally goes the way of Peco. Meanwhile on the opposite end of the bracket Smile’s training has taught him more about life than about ping pong and this is good because his side of the bracket is remarkably easier.  His only “challenge” comes by way of Sanada until his finals match vs. Peco arrives.  His training however prepares him for this matchup against Peco as he has already been forced to ask himself what he’ll do in the event that playing at his best might ruin his best friend’s career as a table tennis player before it has a chance to truly begin.  The arc also pays special attention to the structure of a tournament, acknowledging that it’s not entirely fair.  Take for example Kong; Kong is an extremely talented player who should have travelled far, but he is eliminated in the second round.  We know Kong has the potential for greatness, he is shown to be a pro player in the series’ ending scenes, but his failure to properly prepare for his tough bracket ultimately led to a disappointing and premature end to the tournament for him.  Matches occur simultaneously and this limits who can watch which matches.  The bracket layout is used to tell the story to both the audience and the viewers of the tournament in anime such as Manabu. There’s an attention to detail and respect for the structure of a tournament that this show possesses that is so often overlooked when the magic of TV allows you to skip over so many of these details in favor of plot convenience. This anime is a personal favorite, and this tournament arc is exemplary.  I could go on gushing, but this section is already far too long and it’s time to talk about the grand daddy of all tournaments. 

 #1: Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament

Could there be any doubt? This list wouldn’t be complete without the quintessential anime tournament. Yoshihiro Togashi makes his second appearance on this list with his predecessor to the highly acclaimed Hunter X Hunter series, Yu Yu Hakusho.  Yu Yu Hakusho seems to solve all its problems with a tournament.  Genkai needs to pass on her super powers? Tournament. Some evil dude wants to have demons invade the world and bring chaos? Tournament. Political unrest in the world of demons? Let’s throw a mother fucking TOURNAMENT!!!! It’s no surprise with this much practice in the art of shounen battle tournaments that the best would come from this storied franchise that helped define the genre.  The structure is simple and yet brilliant, teams of five compete against one another in front of a grand audience of demons and unsavory humans till they are either forced out of the ring, give up or are unable to fight.  Killing your opponent is not required, but it is encouraged. Other rules are left to the discretion of team captains.  This freedom in rules allows for the series to take some liberties with its fights and mix things up when appropriate.  Most of the fights are one on one fights between combatants, but a strong one vs. five performance from younger Toguro does a good job of building up hype and establishing threat levels.  This tournament really has it all, gorgeous visuals, excellent character growth, powering up, death, and the most epic fights in tournament anime history.  Each team has a cast of memorable characters, there’s a reason I’ll never forget Dr. Ichigaki Team, Team Masho, Team Uraotogi, and of course Team Rokuyukai.  

The series also has some of the earliest directorial work of famed Director, and my personal favorite, Akiyuki Shinbo who clearly establishes his style with strong colors and trippy visuals with scenes like the first use of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and Yusuke inheriting Genkai’s spirit wave.  While we’re here let’s just take a brief moment to appreciate the fact that the Dragon of the Darkness Flame is probably the coolest attack in any anime with the best name and the greatest visuals! Okay I’m going to stop fanboying about how bad ass and awesome Hiei is, sorry about that.  The Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack however does highlight what’s so great about this tournament; so much of this arc would be an amazing finale to any other series.  Yusuke vs. Jin the wind god could have capped any tournament, Genkai vs. the younger Toguro brother has more raw emotion and power in it than nearly in other fight and takes place entirely separate from tournament audiences, and of course who could forget the epic knife edge death match between Yusuke and Chu.  These fights would all work as finales to most tournaments because they last the entire length of the episode.  While other tournament anime rarely gives this much time to earlier bouts, nearly all of the battles with our protagonists last the full length of an episode.  Fights are only cut short in order to emphasize the overwhelming power of a single fighter over his or her opponent.  

If all of these fights could so perfectly conclude any tournament, how do you satisfying end that feels even greater than all of the previous match ups? The final fight between Yusuke and Toguro is a four episode brawl that goes beyond the constraints of tournament rules to a one on one fight to the death with nothing left on the table.  Both competitors initially hold back and continue to power up as the fight progresses until finally we’ve reached peek battle shounen.  Between Toguro’s percentage based power levels and Yusuke’s spiritual training weights, there’s a lot of hyping up to be sure, but there’s also a lot of payoff.  These two trade fists with impact.  This fight isn’t devoid of large energy attacks such as Yusuke’s signature spirit gun, but it honestly feels like a strong right hook from Toguro causes more damage so the fight sticks to its roots and continues to be about a punk kid fist fighting the biggest baddest thug to ever walk the earth.  This fight isn’t all muscle and no heart though; both fighters have their own convictions they’re fighting for, and the recent death of Genkai still weighs heavy on Yusuke’s heart.  Though emotions run rampant and we reach our climax when Kuwabara nobly sacrifices himself so that Yusuke can break down his emotional walls and finally fully give himself to something.  Yusuke has always done everything half assed, and that won’t cut it here, so he needs a reminder of why he’s fighting, and who he’s fighting for. In true shounen glory Yusuke understands the importance of his friends and the fact that his friends are the only thing he has ever been willing to give himself to entirely, he just believes this to be a discovery made too late because of his own failings and immaturity. He’s angry; angry with Toguro, angry at the world, but more than any of that he’s angry with himself.  

“A mulberry is a tree and Kuwabara is a man,” what excellent final words as Kuwabara marches forward to face his final moments in order to help his friend progress and grow.  As we all know these are not Kuwabara’s final moments and he does make a triumphant return, but the words are powerful and are not the only quote I remember distinctly from this tournament.  One of the most important quotes comes when Kuwabara is talking to Keiko about why they are at the tournament; he explains that while yes they do have to fight in order to save the world, that doesn’t mean they don’t’ want to fight.  Yusuke wants to fight Toguro, and Toguro wants to fight Yusuke, separate from the ramifications of what this final battle means for the rest of the world and demon society, the two simply want to beat each other up.  Yusuke looks up to Toguro, he knows he shouldn’t and he knows he’s evil, but really he can’t help himself.  Toguro has power, more power than any human Yusuke has ever seen. Yusuke lacks a father figure, or any semblance of an older male role model, and it’s easy to understand why Toguro so easily slots into that role.  Toguro on the other hand has spent his entire life questioning his decision. It’s a decision he made long ago, and he’s had to live with the consequences.  He’s not necessarily unhappy with his current state, but he’ll always wonder if his life would have been better had he chosen to remain human and pursue power without demonic influence.  The only way for him to know if his decision was a mistake is to fight a human with the power and training of his old team mate and friend Genkai. Yusuke was perfect for Toguro, the thing he had waited his entire life for, the answer to his questions and doubts about himself.  And Toguro is perfect for Yusuke, a glimpse into the abyss; a depiction of what’s possible if Yusuke truly stopped caring about everything besides his power and his fighting prowess.  Yusuke gets to look over the edge of the cliff and see clearly before deciding whether or not to dive in completely.  

In this way, both Yusuke and Toguro accomplish their goals in this tournament.  Yusuke saves the world and protects his friends and girlfriend he cares deeply for; he also learns about himself and what he values most. He even overcomes the overwhelming obstacle that had seemed an impossible hurdle to him back at the end of the spirit detective saga.  Toguro on the other hand can finally accept responsibility for his mistake and answer the doubts that had plagued him over the years.  He willingly partakes in his own form of reconciliation for his acts through eternal damnation.  The two battle loving fighters are also rewarded with the most legendary fight to ever grace any tournament.  

The tournament through its run accomplishes so much I haven’t even talked about.  Sakyo manages to be a threatening villain in a shounen battle series without ever having thrown a single punch, and even gets a short lived but touching romance with Kuwabara’s sister.  Koto is a walking talking rule book and shoutcast extraordinaire in the form of a battle loving fox girl announcer, putting all other tournament announcers to shame.  The very brief training sequence for our four protagonists sufficiently powers them up during the arc without wasting anytime.  Even Yusuke’s extended training in the cave with Genkai as he inherits or energy is perfectly paced, and contains some of the strongest visuals in the tournament (compliments of strong direction by Shinbo) despite the lack of any combat.  The whole damn tournament is a master class in how to properly execute every aspect of a tournament.  It doesn’t succeed at one thing, it succeeds at all things: gorgeous fights, strong thematic overtones, a wide array of memorable characters, deep introspective on our main cast both hero and villain, properly building and managing hype all while maintaining an enjoyable pace, strict rule structure and formatting of the tournament that allows for variance when necessary but never strays to far venturing into side game territory, underdogs becoming heroes.  There’s literally no part of this tournament I dislike and it’s hard to imagine a series will ever do a better tournament, but you know I’ll be there with deep in depth analysis when time comes.

Recap

Well we finally made it to the end of this list.  Thanks a ton if you stuck around to the end, it ended up being way longer than I had originally anticipated.  I’m encroaching on five thousand words before editing, and to be honest I won’t have much time to edit this because it was supposed to be up days ago.  I will definitely be revisiting this list at a later date to make edits and elaborate where necessary.  When I started working on this I thought to myself oh this will be fun, I love hate top tens and I know tournaments in anime better than I know myself so should be easy.  Well that was extremely dumb of me clearly, I had even planned a dishonorable mentions and honorable mentions for shows like Tenjou Tenge and Flame of Recca respectively but I really don’t have time to get into how disappointing Tenjou Tenge is, just know it’s very disappointing.  I said a post a week and this one unfortunately took too long, which means I’m going to push out a second blog post this week to make up for the lack of one last week.  Again thank you for making it this far and I’ll see you again on Friday! Hopefully this time with something much much shorter.