Dragon Ball Z is a classic anime from one of the best mangaka of all time, Akira Toriyama. Without this anime, all other Shonen anime would not exist. That’s a bold statement, but Dragon Ball Z set forth a new motion in Shonen anime that helped inspire works like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece.
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As important as Dragon Ball Z is what with its intense action and powerful level gaining, other anime have helped its ideas evolve. The following anime have better power scaling than Dragon Ball Z as they are not all about numbers and physical power, as strategy can be involved too.
There will be spoilers.
Afro Samurai
Headband Life
Afro Samurai
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- 2007 - 2007
- Network
- Spike
- Showrunner
- Takashi Okazaki, Fuminori Kizaki
Afro Samurai’s premise is that anyone with the Number One Headband is the strongest person in the world. The one who wears The Number Two Headband is the second strongest and is constantly aiming for the top.
That’s where the headband formations stop as everyone below the Number Two Headband is gunning for the second position and has an equal power rating, which is simple but effective. The story follows Afro, the current Number Two Headband, on his quest for revenge against the top killer in the world, Justice, and having to face those beneath him on his bloody samurai journey.
Attack On Titan
Scaling Vertically
Attack On Titan
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- 2013 - 2023-00-00
Attack on Titan takes place in a world where giant humanoids, Titans, that stalk the lands and eat people whole. To combat these colossal beasts, humans equip ODM Gear to zip around like Spider-Man on lines, and they can cut the nape of a Titan’s neck to kill them. All normal Titans are on a level playing field as they are mindless, but then there are the special Titans who have gifts and intelligence, like the Armor Titan and the Colossal Titan.
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No one Titan is stronger than the other, and no human is stronger than the other when it comes to ODM Gear. Power comes down to skill, and that’s all there is to it. There are of course strong characters on each side like Eren and Levi, but throughout the series, viewers came to see that anything was possible in a fight.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Stand By Your Powers
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
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- October 6, 2012
- Showrunner
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure’s first two arcs focus on an ability to kill vampires called Hamon, but then Stands are introduced in the Stardust Crusaders arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Each major arc of the series follows a new member of the Joestar family, loosely tied together depending on the narrative.
Heroes and villains have Stands, otherworldly beings that give them powers from time manipulation to creating bombs to filling a gun’s chamber with magic bullets. How the heroes win, even when things seem dire, is always based on strategy. They use their Stand’s power creatively and manipulate their enemy’s weaknesses instead of it all just being about physical power.
Kill La Kill
If Clothing Could Kill
Kill la Kill
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- 2013 - 2014
WHERE TO WATCH
Kill la Kill has a similar power scale to Afro Samurai, as they both involve clothing in a way. Instead of headbands, villains within Honnoji Academy wear specialty-designed suits with a star rating from one to five stars. Each set of clothing makes the user unique, like being good at boxing or tennis.
The hero, Ryuko, is on a revenge quest within Honnoji Academy, and uses her special uniform and half-scissor blade to cut down these villains and their clothing. There is a twist later on, revealing that characters can be stronger with less clothing they wear, but overall, Kill la Kill has a good power system.
My Hero Academia
A Quirk For Everyone
My Hero Academia
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- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
My Hero Academia is basically the manga/anime version of X-Men. Most characters in the world are born with mutations, Quirks, that give them special abilities or make them look different. This includes sweat glands that can produce explosives akin to nitroglycerin, to being able to slip through any matter like water.
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How characters train with their Quirks is how they get stronger. There are definitely OP abilities like being able to steal someone else’s Quirk or being strong and invulnerable to damage, but there is always a countermeasure if someone can strategize well or have the right counter-Quirk in My Hero Academia. That's the brilliance of Marvel comics too, as powers can always be bested with the right mind.
One Piece
Nature's Candy
One Piece
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- October 20, 1999
One Piece’s Devil Fruits have helped it stay relevant for decades thanks to their inventiveness. When a character eats a Devil Fruit, they can gain a unique power at the cost of not being able to swim in water. The hero Luffy, for example, can stretch his body like rubber, while the clown villain Buggy can break apart his body into individual chunks and still control them.
Non-Devil Fruit characters can still be strong too, if they have natural talent in martial arts or sword skills like Zoro and Dracule Mihawk. There are other life forces at play too called Haki which is bascially like chi, but it all comes down to skill in the end. The One Piece manga/anime is still evolving, so who knows how things will shape up by the end. There could be a third twist to how power works.
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