Anime embrace many different genres and extremes, but some of the medium's most popular series are those that are dense in combat. Fight sequences may be crucial to many anime, especially the shonen genre. However, there's still a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to the depiction of this combat. Heightened anime series like Demon Slayer or Chainsaw Man transform fight sequences into grandiose spectacles that defy reality.
Alternatively, other series celebrate more grounded combat that find their foundation in actual martial arts. Anime is hardly meant to be instructional when it comes to combat, but there are still many fundamentals that can be learned from certain martial arts anime.
10 Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball has matured into a superpowered slugfest where characters literally have the power to destroy galaxies with the vibrations of their punches. Dragon Ball Z and Super became reliant on incredible energy attacks and powerful transformations. However, the original Dragon Ball is surprisingly grounded in its approach to combat and characters can't even fly until the series' conclusion.
Granted, Dragon Ball still does have impossible techniques like the Kamehameha and Goku's Great Ape transformation. There's still a greater emphasis on realistic martial arts, which is prominently on display across Dragon Ball's numerous martial arts competitions.
9 Naruto
Naruto has become one of anime's biggest success stories. Naruto, like many of the shonen genre's greatest triumphs, does heavily indulge in fantastical displays of power and terrifying transformations that make characters like Naruto Uzumaki feel more like gods and demons than regular humans. These powerful theatrics define Naruto's later content, but there's still a strong martial arts backbone to the characters' ninja training.
There are many Taijutsu fighting styles in Naruto that at least draw some inspiration from actual martial arts practices and even concepts like joint control and momentum redirection become important tenets to the characters' success. Karate specifically, as well as more general Japanese and Chinese martial arts, drive Naruto and company forward.
8 Ranma 1/2
Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 is a beloved '90s shonen staple that delights audiences with its irreverent mix of action, fantasy, and romance. Ranma Saotome indoctrinates the Tendo residence and an endearing relationship slowly forms between Ranma and Akane. Slapstick comedy and awkward romantic encounters drive Ranma 1/2 forward, but there's also a heavy focus on martial arts.
Ranma 1/2 pushes the "Anything Goes Martial Arts" style, which is an unconventional blend of various real-life fighting techniques. Ranma 1/2 often gets lost in its supernatural transformations and surprising faces from the characters' pasts, but its serious approach to martial arts shouldn't be ignored.
7 Katanagatari
Katanagatari is a suspenseful action series that initially found life as a series of light novels. Katanagatari follows Shichika Yasuri, an unconventional samurai who chooses to defend himself against dangerous enemies and rampaging ronin through his "no-sword fighting style," Kyotouryuu. Kyotouryuu may be a fictional style of martial arts, but Katanagatari approaches it with depth and details that make it feel developed and real.
Shichika heads down a remarkable path where he turns his well-tuned body into his weapon and routinely cuts down swordfighters with just his bare hands. Katanagatari emphasizes martial arts fundamentals in order to give its fictitious fighting style life.
6 Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is an inspirational anime that begins as a sweet underdog story that's not unlike the introduction of many sports series. Kenichi has been perpetually plagued by bullying and decides to become the master of his own fate by befriending a transfer student and enrolling at her dojo.
Kenichi begins his training with karate skills, but this dojo welcomes all forms of martial arts, and he goes on to master other fighting staples like judo, sumo wrestling, aikido, and jujutsu. Kenichi's clear growth into a strong martial artist who can defend himself is one of the most satisfying aspects of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple.
5 Bamboo Blade
Bamboo Blade is an underrated martial arts anime from the '00s that accomplishes quite a bit across only 26 episodes. There is no shortage of battle series and anime that focus on acclaimed swordfighters, but Bamboo Blade has a more unique take than most series.
Bamboo Blade strips away the heightened nature of these genres for a dedicated look at kendo, a Japanese martial arts practice that utilizes a bamboo sword and draws inspiration from kenjutsu. Bamboo Blade distills this nuanced swordplay to its base elements through its focus on a high school's female kendo club made up of both seasoned experts and curious newcomers.
4 Kengan Ashura
Kengan Ashura applies a post-modern approach to gladiatorial combat in an original martial arts sport that's known as Kengan. Kengan borrows a lot of its principles from boxing and other bare-knuckle martial arts styles, but there's a lawlessness to the craft that makes these battles feel genuinely dangerous.
On top of this brutality, Kengan Ashura applies a bureaucratic angle to its central sport that puts just as much stress on Kengan managers as it does on the fighters. Kengan matches are how Japanese CEOs assert their control and rise through the ranks of business, which puts physical health and financial success on equal standing.
3 Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl!
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl! chronicles Yawara Inokuma's precarious entry into judo courtesy of his strict grandfather, only for her to fall in love with the diligent martial arts craft. At over 100 episodes, Yawara! properly depicts Yawara's believable growth in this field as well as indulging in simpler slice-of-life pleasures.
Yawara! succeeds with its intimate story of personal progress on an international scale as Yawara prepares for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Each episode creates palpable tension with a countdown clock to the Olympics' looming date and how long Yawara has left to prepare. The anime's following feature films actually send Yawara to the Olympics and test how much she's learned over the course of the series.
2 Baki The Grappler: The Ultimate Fighter
Baki the Grappler first got its start in the early '90s as a manga and has gone on to receive modern Netflix adaptations with Baki and Baki Hanma. Each Baki anime builds upon the same intense desire for combat supremacy where underground fighting tournaments feature a mixed martial art style where strong opponents battle purely to be known as the greatest fighter.
Baki showcases a wide range of fighting skills. However, its titular character turns to a "Total Fighting" technique that draws inspiration from karate's "seiken" principle that promotes body control and redirects all of one's weight and power into their fists.
1 The God Of High School
The God of High School celebrates a competitive martial arts tournament where the strongest high schoolers are assembled for combat. The God of High School promises the winner any wish that they desire, and it's an anime that does get into supernatural powers and intimidating Gods and demons. However, what's so endearing about The God of High School is the ways in which it shows off different martial arts styles from around the world.
Jin Mori and the rest of the tournament's competitors all practice a different martial arts style, whether it's karate, taekwondo, taekkyeon, and beyond. Despite the anime's theatrical heights, it really helps educate its audience on the versatile martial arts styles that make up the world.