There’s nothing worse than seeing best friends fight; two people who’ve known each other all their lives coming to blows is heartbreaking. Maybe except for those that are anime fans. Then it’s still heartbreaking, but at least fans get an awesome fight scene or three out of it.
Every decent shonen anime is bound to have at least one time where the lead character is forced to fight their best friend. Usually it leads to them getting their best friend back, but it always leads to one of the best fight scenes in the series, if only because fans don’t know which side to root for and don’t want either side to lose.
10 Sasuke vs. Naruto
These two fought again and again during the Naruto series. Sasuke was obsessed with revenge against the leaf and ninja in general for what they’d done to his people, while Naruto was equally obsessed with getting him to let go and come back to the people who cared about him. The two met in combat for some of the best fights the anime has to offer, including their first fight at the Valley of the End, which capped off the original Naruto’s part in the manga adaptation.
9 Natsu vs. Gray
It’s true, these two are almost constantly fighting one another, as that’s the nature of Fairy Tail. But after Gray learns that Natsu is in fact E.N.D., the person responsible for all of his problems, he winds up going into his own powered up state to battle Natsu, who was consumed by his E.N.D. powers. But neither of them manages to damage each other too badly before Erza shows up and convinces them to stop trying to hurt one another.
8 Yugi vs. Joey
Yugi and Joey are the best of friends in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but that hasn’t stopped duels from happening between them. They dueled during the Duelist Kingdom to decide which one of them would go on to face Pegasus.
That was a close match, but they went at each other again during the Battle City arc. This time, both of them were attached to an anchor which would sink on the loser the second one of them lost. A clever trick, especially considering Joey was already being controlled so he was already fighting his hardest.
7 Boruto vs. Shikadai
Boruto and Shikadai are the closest buddies on the show. But they also wound up battling one another during their Chuunin Exams. Shikadai uses his incredible intelligence to out-think Boruto in this battle, but since Boruto is aiming to impress his dad he cheats to win the match. He stops a new technique Shikadai developed by using his ninja tool, which forces Shikadai out of the tournament, even though Boruto is caught later.
6 Kirito vs. Eugeo
This was one of Eugeo’s last fights, and unlike many of the other fights here, it doesn't have a happy ending. The story of Sword Art Online: Alicization is Kirito and Eugeo working to do everything they can to fight against the Administrator, until they both get separated. Eugeo winds up being completely controlled by the Administrator, wiping his memory and causing him to defend the Administrator rather than work with Kirito. This fight and everything surrounding it are some of the more beautiful moments in this season.
5 Allelujah vs Soma
Allelujah is a peace-loving Gundam pilot working for Celestial Being to bring an end to the cycle of violence. Over the series, he runs into a pilot named Soma, who’d been raised at the same location he had, where they were meant to be developing super soldiers.
Instead, the both of them developed new personalities that allowed them to fight. It took most of the series for Allelujah to convince Soma to come back to herself, and the two clashed several times on the way.
4 Fuuka vs. Rinne
The main protagonist of Vivid Strike was a young woman who became a boxer in order to meet her best friend again. The two of them lost touch with each other after Rinne was adopted, and she gradually went into boxing. It isn’t until the last episode that the two are finally able to go all out against one another, with Fuuka wanting nothing more than to recover her long lost friend, and break open her emotional shell.
3 Goku vs. Krillin
This fight seems absurd since even by the end of Dragon Ball they aren’t terribly close in power. But during one of the World Martial Arts tournaments, these two wind up going at it. They’re both of similar talent and size, and Krillin shows off his creativity, coming up with multiple special techniques on the fly to take Goku down.
2 Lelouch vs Suzaku
Initially, these two were super close friends thanks to their backgrounds. However, over the years the two drifted apart until Suzaku found himself at the same school as Lelouch in Code Geass. They rekindled their friendship until Suzaku realized Lelouch was Zero. The two of them couldn’t have been bigger enemies from that point on, with Suzaku ultimately being responsible for Lelouch’s big plan failing at the end of season one.
1 Tai vs Matt
Tai (Taichi) and Matt (Yamato) get into it all the time in the original Digimon series. Both of them are clashing personalities, but they work together to fight against the evil Digimon because it’s the only chance they have of going back home. When Matt gets manipulated into attacking the others, Tai’s the only one who’s willing to step up and put a stop to his foolishness. While WarGreymon battles against Metalgarurumon, Tai has no problem outright slugging Matt to knock sense into him.