In anime, there's generally no such thing as a fight that doesn't have meaning. Most of the time, characters are fighting for the sake of their family, or their city, or even humanity itself. It comes with the territory when characters have such incredible powers that allow them to destroy whole landscapes at will.
But that's not always the case when it comes to every anime fight. Sometimes characters aren't fighting for anything more than pride, or even for more petty, smaller reasons than that. Of course, that doesn't stop them from giving it one hundred percent, which helps keep the fights entertaining for viewers even if the winner isn't saving the planet.
10 Rebecca Vs. Nanami Vs. Cinque Happened To Welcome Them Back To An Alternate World (Dog Days)
Dog Days fights have low stakes in almost every situation. Outside of one circumstance, their most serious fights involve funding for their nations, which could easily be worked out some other way. However, the start of Dog Days season 2 has a fight that doesn’t even involve that.
Instead, Cinque, Nanami, and Rebecca fight against one another essentially as a welcome to the alternate world, since no matter what happens in their battles, none of them could ever be hurt. The opening two episodes of the second season are one long battle that’s their way of saying “we’re glad to have all of you back.”
9 Sei Vs. Mao Yasaka Happened In Both Players' Imaginations (Gundam Build Fighters)
This wasn’t even a real fight even by Gundam Build Fighter standards. In the fifth episode, Sei met a fellow Gunpla builder named Mao Yasaka who was immensely talented. At the time, Sei wasn’t actually capable of piloting his Gunpla just yet, but that didn’t stop the two of them from having a showdown.
They both experienced a Gundam fight in their imagination between Sei’s Build Strike Full Package against Mao’s Gundam X. In a world where even the normal consequences were having one’s Gunpla destroyed, this one didn’t even do that, and Mr. Ral stopped the battle because “it was too good to let it finish in your imaginations.”
8 Kazuma Vs. Ryuho Happened Just Because They Didn't Like Each Other (Scryed)
Ever wanted to see Goku and Vegeta fight until there was a definitive conclusion again, not just until another villain showed up? Well, Scryed provided viewers with exactly that experience at the end of it’s series. After meeting one another in numerous battles, Kazuma and Ryuho were provided with an entire episode to themselves after the villain arrived to go at it.
This isn’t a friendly spat either—both of them gradually power up into their final forms and batter one another around until there’s only one person left standing. Why? Because they both got on each other’s nerves, and despite how well they worked together, they just had to get one last fight in to see who was the better fighter.
7 Edward Elric Vs. Roy Mustang Happened To Make Roy Adopt A Cat (Fullmetal Alchemist)
The original Fullmetal Alchemist actually adapted an omake chapter that posed the question: who was stronger, the Fullmetal or the Flame Alchemist? After several episodes of establishing himself as a genius State Alchemist, even within the ranks people were beginning to wonder if Ed had what it took to fight Roy.
The answer is of course no, as Roy is vastly more experienced and Ed spends much of his time on the run from Roy’s explosions. Ed does manage to get a victory though, as a flashback from Roy’s past leaves him with his guard down long enough for Ed to put a blade to Roy’s throat. The cost for him losing? Adopting a cat.
6 Yugi Vs. Jaden Was Just A Fun Duel To End The Series (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
Wielding his Elemental Hero deck, Jaden was one of the most powerful protagonists in Yu-Gi-Oh. In fact, that was actually the point—despite his talent in the game, he started to lose his love for it as increasingly more dangerous consequences came with dueling at all. But when he faced Yugi Muto at the end of the series, the only consequences that came with a loss was just not being good enough that day. Still, this was a great duel between the two of them, and the ending is technically up in the air, as they never gave the fans an actual conclusion.
5 Goten Vs. Trunks Was Just A Match In The Junior World Martial Arts Tournament (Dragon Ball Z)
With Dragon Ball Z having elevated to the point of needing to protect entire planets, it was nice to get a fight that was just about seeing who was best. While the Buu Saga didn’t get a chance to finish it’s World Martial Arts tournament, they did get a chance to show viewers the end of the Junior World Martial Arts Tournament.
There, Goten and Trunks predictably made it to the finals. The fans were able to see the two of them go at it in what was surprisingly a solid fight scene even though neither of them had ever been in real fights before. What helped was that the two were so evenly matched that neither could get the upper hand for any length of time, making for an exciting back-and-forth that combined hand-to-hand combat with the usual energy attacks.
4 Wilfrid Kijima Vs. Kamiki Sekai Was A Practice Match To Test Their Abilities (Gundam Build Fighters Try)
In the middle of a series that’s all about a lengthy tournament, how could a battle have no stakes? By not being part of that tournament at all. Team Build Fighters are invited to Nielsen Labs where they meet a number of characters they’ll wind up fighting in the national tournament. While there, Sekai challenges Wilfrid to test out his repaired Build Burning Gundam.
The fight is a visual spectacle, with Sekai tapping into new reserves of particle energy to move his Gunpla, and even creating a new move entirely to battle Wilfrid with. Of course, Kijima isn’t taking the battle seriously, as he’s even discarded his weapon to battle hand to hand.
3 Erza Vs. Natsu Happened Because Natsu Wanted To Test His Powers Against Her (Fairy Tail)
Natsu isn’t exactly the smartest member of the Fairy Tail Guild, even down to figuring out people’s moods. After trying to fight Erza but getting their match interrupted by the Magic Council, he decides to challenge her to a fight later. Erza is clearly annoyed at the time, but Natsu refuses to back down and charges her. The fight lasts exactly two seconds, as while Natsu has his fire magic charged up, Erza punches him once and he crumples. She asks if that’s enough to satisfy him, but by this point he’s already unable to respond.
2 Boruto Vs. Iwabe Was About Boruto Making Iwabe Stop Bullying People And Do His Homework (Boruto)
Within two episodes, Boruto establishes himself as a class clown much like his father. He wants attention from his dad, but Naruto is far too busy being the Hokage to be around like he should. But Boruto is still a decent kid, so when Iwabe attacks Denki for no reason, Boruto challenges him to a fight.
Despite being a terrible student, Iwabe excels in ninja studies which makes the fight an uphill battle for Boruto. The battle itself is reminiscent of the early era Naruto—shadow clones and taijutsu galore. In the end, Boruto manages to push Iwabe far enough to make him use his weapon, something he promised he wouldn’t during the battle.
1 Natsu Vs. Laxus Was To Prove Natsu's Strength...And Lasted One Punch (Fairy Tail)
Natsu has two separate power levels: the power he has when he’s fighting for his friends, and the power he has when he’s just playfully challenging people. The former makes him the strongest mage in Fairy Tail; the latter places him firmly below everyone in the S-Class mage tier, no matter how much he grows.
That’s why despite defeating Laxus once in the Battle of Fairy Tail, his rematch doesn’t exactly go great for him. He and Gajeel both agree to challenge Laxus one after the other, but Natsu is knocked out so easily that Gajeel just runs away afterwards, realizing he has about the same chances of winning.