Akin to love, friendship can either be an excellent or horrific thing between peopleーand that goes for fiction and non-fictional characters. Having characters have bonds of friendships makes for a more exciting anime; however, it can also show how lacking the experience can be in the way it is depicted. Not all companionships are lovely, like in a shounen anime, nor are they the healthiest, either.
Sometimes, friends can do more harm than good at times, or they can be the key to healing a wounded characters' heart. Whatever the narrative choice may be, here are the best and worst friendships that graced some characters.
10 TOXIC: Sawa Nakamura & Takao Kasuga (The Flowers Of Evil)
The Flowers of Evil may have an infamous reputation for having the best or worst animation fans have ever seen, but more so than that, one of the most toxic "friendships" to ever exist.
After Sawa Nakamura discovers Takao Kasuga sniffing his crush, Nanako's underwear, she blackmails him into being her friend. The two have disturbed personalitiesーTakao's with his sexual attraction to Saeki and Sawa with her twisted view of the worldーwhich makes for one of the most psychologically complex friendships in anime and manga.
9 BEST: Yato & Yukine (Noragami)
Yato is a God, while Yukine is his Regaliaーa weapon that Gods in Noragami utilize, which stems from human souls. They did not get along at first but formed a solid bond between them throughout many trials. Although they are master and servant, they have a bond that is sometimes more akin to brothers or fathers and children.
Because of both of their rough pasts, they treat each other with care and respect, making their friendship one of the most solid ones in fantasy anime.
8 TOXIC: Akira Fudou & Ryo Asuka (Devilman Crybaby)
This friendship is toxic for many reasons, despite most of it shining through at the end of the series, which contains spoilers that change one's entire perspective on the anime. First off, their friendship is built on lies. Ryo Asuka is, in actuality, Satanーwho is intersex in that formーand has fallen in love with Akira.
Ryo is possessive and also the cause of many traumatic things that happen to Akira. In the end, he is even the cause of his downfall.
7 BEST: Takeo Gouda & Makoto Sunakawa (My Love Story!!)
Takeo Gouda is a freshman high school student who was always turned down over his handsome and popular best friend, Makoto Sunakawa. These two do not appear to be the best of friends at first glance, but Takeo's clumsy kindness and the silent attitude of Makoto fit perfectly.
Because Makoto knows how kind Takeo is, all he wishes is for him to be happy. On the other hand, Takeo also wishes the same thing, and they both support each other in different ways, making them one of the best guy friendships in shoujo anime.
6 TOXIC: Naruto Uzumaki & Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
Despite how famous Naruto and Sasuke's friendship is in shounen anime, that doesn't make it any less toxic. Despite Naruto doing his best to befriend Sasuke throughout Naruto, Sasuke's hatred got the best of him, causing him to leave the village.
Sasuke tried to kill Naruto multiple timesーincluding everyone, at one point during the Shinobi Warーand blatantly caused immense mental stress on him. Despite them mending their differences in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, their friendship was more toxic than healthy.
5 BEST: Nana Osaki & Nana Komatsu (Nana)
Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu are opposites who share the same first name. Nana Komatsu is a pure-hearted girl who always falls in love with the wrong men.
On the other hand, Nana Osaki is a punk-styled independent woman who has lived with her boyfriend, Ren Honjou, since she was 16 and decided not to follow him and be delegated to a rockstar's girlfriend. The two Nana's bond almost instantly, and become the best of friends throughout the troubles they can share equallyーmen.
4 TOXIC: Guts & Griffith (Berserk)
Griffith has the same problem Ryo Asuka has from Devilman Crybabyーhe's possessive of his so-called friend, Guts. Griffith has done so much throughout Berserk that it would be hard to sum it up, from massacring people to sexually assaulting multiple women.
Not even the woman Guts loved was safe, as Griffith assaulted Casca just to spite Guts. Griffith is unstable, vile to his core, and all-around an awful person to call a friend.
3 BEST: Yuuki Hase & Kaori Fujimiya (One Week Friends)
Kaori Fujimiya has anterograde amnesia after she was in a car accident as a child. This means she losses her memories of things every weekーhowever, Yuuki Hase has decided to befriend her and see her smile at least once a week.
The purity and unrelentingness in this friendship make it one of the purest, but overlooked, friendships in anime. Every week, Yuuki asks Kaori to be his friend. Fans can't help but cheer for this friendship, and even something more, as time goes on.
2 TOXIC: Light Yagami & L (Death Note)
Light Yagami is a psychopathic mass murdered under the alias Kira, while L is a famous detective who is suspicious of him being the true culprit. One of the biggest betrayals in anime is when L lets down his guard, and Light murders him.
Before that, they had a friendship when Light wiped his memories of being Kira. This means if Light wasn't Kira, they may have been able to get along.
1 BEST: Gon & Killua (Hunter X Hunter)
In shounen anime, there are a lot of duos that become popular for their bond of friendship. One of the best is Gon and Killua's friendship, as it is written so well fans wish they had a bond like theirs in real life.
Gon's free-spirited and pure personality along with Killua's smarts and fast-thinking mesh well. Despite them having a falling out during the Chimera Ant Arc, these two buddies will always be connected someway, somehow with all they've been through together.