16 Best Martial Arts Anime of All Time [2024 Updated]

Ranma ½ (1989)

When father and son Ranma and Genma Saotome fall into cursed springs, Ranma is cursed with the ability to transform into a girl when doused with cold water and returns to normal with hot water. While this setup and his attendance at Furinkan High School already make room for hijinks, Ranma’s membership in the Anything-Goes School transforms Ranma 1/2 into one of the more amusing fighting anime before more mellow martial arts shows took over screens in modern times.

On top of prospective love interest Akane, Ranma often crosses fists with long-time rival Ryoga Hibiki, villainous grandmaster Happosai, the ninja Konatsu, and martial arts master Ryu Kumon. Given the comedic nature of the anime, martial arts in Ranma 1/2 isn’t immediately as flashy as modern takes on the genre. However, this anime is one of the early series to prove that comedy and martial arts have the potential to mesh together for a decent story.

Tomorrow’s Joe (1970)

Starring drifter Joe Yabuki, chance encounters with former boxing trainer Danpei Tange and former boxing prodigy Toru Rikiishi would motivate Joe to pursue a career in boxing.

Joe Yabuki’s story in Tomorrow’s Joe is rather short, working more as a personal tale of passion instead of a long-winding journey toward victory. Aside from a very riveting story and controversial ending, fight scenes in Tomorrow’s Joe have a similar intense feeling due to how personal they get from the perspective of Joe’s desires not just to win but to prove something to himself.

Fist of The North Star

Fist of the North Star is a martial arts tale in a post-apocalyptic world with incredible battles throughout. This story is Bruce Lee meets Mad Max in the best way possible. While the animation of the original anime hasn’t aged well in many areas, the series’ incredible influence is felt all through the industry with hits like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Fans of martial arts anime wanting something a little more current may even want to wait for Fist of the North Star’s upcoming anime reboot, which has the potential to be incredible.

Kenichi : The Mightiest Disciple (2012)

Despite its nature as a comedy anime, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is probably one of the most intense martial arts anime of all time. Originally released in 2006, the story focuses on high school student Kenichi Shirahama and his quest to learn martial arts to stop being bullied.

While a lot of its episodes contain hijinks and other shenanigans, Kenichi steadily improves his performance as a martial artist with each passing day. Fans of the series eventually see his improvement from a fledgling warrior into a master across the anime’s 50 episodes, making his progress quite a delight to watch.

Bleach

Bleach is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. It follows the adventures of a teenager Ichigo Kurosaki, who obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper—a death personification similar to a Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. His new-found powers allow him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife, and set him on journeys to various ghostly realms of existence.

Tenjho Tenge

Tenjho Tenge is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Oh! great. It was serialized in Shueisha’s seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump from July 1997 to August 2010, with its chapters collected in 22 tankōbon volumes.

The story primarily focuses on the members of the Juken Club and their opposition, the Executive Council, which is the ruling student body of a high school that educates its students in the art of combat. As the story unfolds, both groups become increasingly involved with an ongoing battle that has been left unresolved for four hundred years.

Maken Ki

Takeru Ooyama has enrolled at Tenbi Academy, a private prep high school that converted from all-girls to co-ed. Hoping to have a life full of ogling pretty girls, he reunites with childhood friend Haruko Amaya, who shows him around school. However, he learns that the school is for students who possess magical and spiritual energies called Elements and who wield crafted weapons known as Makens. The students engage in school sanctioned combat matches that showcase their powers.

While his own ability and Maken is not apparent at first, Takeru soon finds himself surrounded by girls, including Inaho Kushiya, an attractive girl who says she’s his fiancée, and Kodama Himegami, a popular blonde who says she wants to kill him. He joins the Security Committee which is part of the student council’s Leadership Committee called the Magical Security Organization, also known as Maken-ki.

Air Master

Air Master, where former gymnast Maki Aikawa has started to utilize her keen athleticism and acrobatics to her advantage as she entered Tokyo’s underground street fighting scene. Known eventually as “Air Master” for her focus on flying-like gymnastic movements, Maki began thirsting for more combat thrills as she grew tired of Tokyo’s usual fighters.

Air Master revolves around Maki’s discovery of the Fukamichi Rankings, a fighting league where the world’s best street fighters compete against each other for training, prestige, and proving their supremacy. Despite the anime’s age and oftentimes shoddy animation, fans of martial arts will appreciate Air Master fight scenes for being elaborate and fluid in movement, directing the eyes exactly to what Maki and her opponents intend to do without the distractions of flashy effects.

Demon Slayer (2019)

The meek Tanjiro Kamado is forced into the Demon Slayer Corps after demons attack his family, with the story of Demon Slayer depicting Tanjiro’s training to fight demons while also finding a way to save his sister Nezuko, who had been turned into a demon.

Being the typical shonen anime, the shy but hardworking Tanjiro slowly becomes a seasoned fighter, eventually learning past his mistakes to become a force to reckon with – especially when fighting various demons. Through Breathing Styles, humans in the Demon Slayer Corps can manipulate the elements to augment their unique sword-fighting techniques that use specially-made swords

Dragon Ball (1984-Present)

Dragon Ball is what many people think of when they think of martial arts anime. The original Dragon Ball series focused on some of the most exciting martial arts fights and tournaments ever seen in any anime or manga. What made Dragon Ball’s fights so revolutionary was how dynamic they were as characters were constantly having to reevaluate their position and strategy in battle.

Even Dragon Ball Super has brought technique and skill back into the picture with abilities like Ultra Instinct. Though Dragon Ball Z was more about its explosive battles, it too contained some core martial arts. All of it adds up to making Dragon Ball rank as the best martial arts anime ever made.

Martial arts has always had a place in anime for good reason. At its best, martial arts series can show a character’s personal and physical growth in one epic blowout. There’s also an emphasis on things like stamina in many martial arts series, with characters constantly having to accommodate for their own physical and mental exhaustion. The best martial arts anime take all of these elements and combine them into some of the best fights ever animated.

Naruto (2002)

The original run of Naruto focused on one-on-one fights and tactical martial arts. To the uninitiated, Naruto chronicles the tale of Naruto Uzumaki, an outcast in the Hidden Leaf Village, and his quest to earn the respect and friendship of everyone in the village by being its leader, the Hokage.

Despite the presence of fantastical elements like chakra and ninjutsu, it’s Naruto that showcased the awesome blend of martial arts and special techniques such as using Shadow Clones to fight opponents, seeing through an enemy’s chakra points with the Byakugan, and even copying techniques outright with the Sharingan.

Grappler Baki (1991-present)

Baki Hanma is raised by his wealthy mother, Emi Akezawa, who also funds his training in the hopes that he can be a powerful warrior like his father, Yujiro Hanma. Around the start of the series, Baki outgrows traditional training and heads out to follow the path of his ruthless father’s training and meets many powerful fighters along the way.

Eventually, Baki fights his father and is beaten without a challenge. Emi who tries to save him is killed by his father, causing Baki to feel hatred against his old man.

After being beaten, Baki travels around the world continuing his training. Years down the road he finds an underground fighting arena where he fights some of the most powerful fighters of various styles of martial arts. It is here he truly begins to hone his martial arts skills. He intends to get stronger, surpass his father and continue to endure and survive the numerous hurdles he encounters in his journey.

Kengan Ashura

Martial arts fans looking for a no-holds-barred fighting anime can look no further than Kengan Ashura to get their fair share of awesomeness. Set in modern times, Kengan Ashura tells the story of Nogi Group salaryman Yamashita Kazuo as he’s roped into managing the affairs of Tokita “Ashura” Ohma, a fierce fighter.

The pair are eventually invited to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, where the winner gets a seat of power in the prestigious Kengan Association. Aside from having to tame Tokita Ohma, Kazuo will have to explore the nefarious nature of the Association and its true intentions of inviting Ohma to the tournament.

Now hasn’t been a better time to showcase brutal fistfights, especially with Kengan Ashura. The anime combines a mix of 2D art with stellar 3D graphics, depicting fights as though they’re high-quality video game cutscenes. This approach is made exceptionally awesome with the story’s inclusion of unique techniques from the fighters – from fierce punches to actual body transformations.