Good Nearly Balanced Battles

[Suwako Moriya]

In the world of anime you'll often see a ton one-sided battles. The first is the typical case of where the hero yawns and suddenly a thousand random thugs blow up. Another involves the villain kicking the ass of one of the good guys because he lacks main character power. However on occasion there are battles where both opponents are nearly evenly matched. Where the victor has to actually earn his victory. Where the loser at least was able to put a good fight. Thus this topic is dedicated to the idea of such battles.

Honestly I can't think of any examples off hand myself which may be part of reason for making this topic. Still even so hopefully I've given a good idea what I mean. I say nearly balanced since I'm a completely balanced battle would be more akin to a stalemate and I'm trying to be a bit lenient here. Finally for the record I'm not sure if I'd count battles where party X was only pretending to be hurt by party Y. At the same time battles where party Y is beating the crap out of party X, but party X wins by using the automatic-win finisher move are also questionable.

[Lego]

Spike vs Vincent - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

That battle was the one that sprung to mind first.

[Collectonian]

Rurouni Kenshin - I would say that Kenshin's battles with Makoto Shishio were extremely well balanced, as was the battle against Seta Sōjirō. In both cases, the first time I watched the series I honestly wasn't sure who would win.

[treatment]

- School Rumble -

Tenma vs Harima

Harima vs Eri

Eri vs Yakumo

Hanai vs Akira

It's true, you know. Flag ftw! :P

[Kellory]

I think many of the final battles in most fighting shows are fairly well balanced. Although getting there might take a bit.

That being said, I think most of the fights in Angelic Layer were pretty balanced. Especially towards the end. And not just Misaki's. Most of the fights were pretty well balanced if they showed it rather than just a montage.

The battles in X:TV seemed pretty well balanced overall. The same holds true I think for Zoids: Chaotic Century. Overall the Zoid shows seemed to be more about using some secret weapon to win, but CC did seem to more evenly match people for the most part.

I know there are others, but nothing is coming to mind right now. :)

[something]

s-CRY-ed is one of the best examples of anime's knock-down drag-out fights between two extremely powerful characters. So definitely Kazuma and Ryuhou get mention there.

Kenshin has been mentioned, but I'd put Kenshin and Saito as the best there. Sojiro and Shishio were awesome too though.

[Suwako Moriya]

It's true, you know. Flag ftw! :P

Anything for the sake of Eri promotion right? Ah not that I can blame you since Eri is well awesome and probably my favorite School Rumble girl. Plus in some ways those can be considered interesting match ups. I'm mainly thinking of season 2 where Eri and Yakumo were battle on two fronts during the play.

[HitokiriShadow]

Kenshin vs. Saito in Rurouni Kenshin. It ended in a draw since they were forced to stop but its hard to say who would have one.

I'd say Kenshin vs. Shishio as well, but both characters pull extra strength out of their asses and it gets rather silly ("His blood is evaporating because of his body heat!").

[tuffy]

The final Isamu/Guld fight in Macross Plus is very evenly matched, as is the Mugen/Jin fight at the start of Samurai Champloo.

But something more decisive, just about all of the major matches of Fighting Spirit (which is a lot of them) could easily go either way. It often comes down to one fighter having just a tiny bit more stamina than the other, or one skillful punch at just the right moment when all seems hopeless. It's quite satisfying and never develops that annoying "deus ex machina" feeling.

[Suwako Moriya]

I think many of the final battles in most fighting shows are fairly well balanced. Although getting there might take a bit.

It's something one expect and hopes for. After all you want the hero(s) leveling up for a good reason right? It's also why stuff like the final battle in Tokyo Underground is such a let down. Episode 25 showed promise, but then 26 shatters it. I can't tell if the hero suddenly became uber or if the villain suddenly became a wimp. Maybe it was a case both.

I know there are others, but nothing is coming to mind right now. :)

Ah either it's good to have some battles mentioned. Besides it's not like I've mentioned a single battle myself so I can't really complain about the lack of choices by others. Or maybe I can if I feel like having a double-standard. Naaaaaaah.

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

s-CRY-ed is one of the best examples of anime's knock-down drag-out fights between two extremely powerful characters. So definitely Kazuma and Ryuhou get mention there.

Beat me to that one.

I'm giving s-CRY-ed its first real watchthrough right now (just over halfway through... I saw much of it on [adultswim] but intentionally never watched the last episodes knowing that I was getting the box set of it, and I didn't want to spoil myself), and still, neither Kazuma nor Ryuho has an advantage. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end.

[hub]

Yeah, I haven't seen the final volume yet but his fights against Sendo (1st fight), Volg, and Date could have gone anyway. In fact, I thought his fight w/ Date was going to end the opposite of how it really turned out.

[vtr9kvictor]

Krillon vs. Frieza: man that one was SOOOOOOO close...

"DESTRUCTO DISC!!"

[Dylonius Funk]

The final battle between Toguro and Yusuke and Yu Yu Hakusho seemed pretty well balanced. While not so much when the tournament began, by the end they were nearly equal in power.

[2old2care]

Shura no Toki - Musashi Miyamoto vs. Yakumo Mutsu
Two Japanese heavyweights representing differing martial arts; curious to see just which one was the best. Yakumo avoided Musashi for a bit and when they finally got it on...both were evenly matched. One had to 'betray' his fighting style to garner a victory.

[Mark]

Spike vs Vincent - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

That battle was the one that sprung to mind first.

I felt like Vincent was wiping the floor with Spike.

[treatment]

Here's another one for yah:

-Touch-


Tatsuya vs Nitta

A very classic example of evenly-matched battles. In all fronts, too.

[Sensuifu]

I thought the dual between Jiyu and Freesia (Jubei-chan 2) was a balanced fight..until their handicaps were made obvious. Still a good match though. Kita/Bon vs Jubei/Freesia-Jiyu's match went the same way.

oh, and this series has one of the best swordfights in anime.

[Sensuifu]

Spike vs Vincent - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

That battle was the one that sprung to mind first.

I felt like Vincent was wiping the floor with Spike.

Yeah, it looked pretty one-sided for most of the time.

[Lego]

Really? I thought it was decently close with Vincent getting more blows in. You never got the feeling during the fight that Spike was really, really outmatched(at least I didn't). Maybe I mentioned it because of the way it ended.

I'd have to second Isamu and Guld from Macross Plus though, that was pretty good.

[Helschadenfreude]

Here's another one for yah:

-Touch-


Tatsuya vs Nitta

A very classic example of evenly-matched battles. In all fronts, too.


If only H2 didn't cop out... ARGh I got so pissed at a certain person... well technically not a cop out, but it felt like it.

Actually for that matter, Light and L were evenly matched until ....well.. the fans should know.