Competition is often seen as a good thing, but maybe not when lives are on the line. Across the many genres of anime, there've been many different kinds of contests where the stakes are high as being matters of life and death. In the realm of anime, anything is possible, even something ordinary becomes more extraordinary, as well as lethal.
Whether they're based on real-life sports, a more fantastical game, or just an all-out brawl, the competitors have to play to win, since losing would truly mean the end for them. There's no doubt that these competitions are anything but friendly.
10 MEGALO BOXING (MEGALO BOX)
Boxing can be a deadly sport in the real world, where a boxer can die if they're hit hard enough. In the futuristic setting of Megalo Box, Boxing has evolved to be even more extreme.
Megalo Boxers are outfitted with mechanical gear that increases the strength and speed of their punches, which makes the boxers far more deadly. The right punch at the wrong time could mean the end of someone's life. This makes Megalo Boxing an incredibly dangerous sport, where an inexperienced combatant could die in a matter of seconds if they're not careful.
9 RACING (SPEED RACER)
Despite the wacky hijinks and bright colors, the races of Speed Racer are more dangerous when you stop and think about it. Professional racing is already dangerous as it is, but Speed Racer has so much more to worry about other than the normal hazards of the sport.
The speed racers often goes up against are out for blood, trying hard to knock the competition off the road, then there are the perilous racetracks themselves, full of twists, cliffs, and other tricky obstacles to work around. Making matters worse are the corrupt businesses that try to rig the races for themselves and are prone to eliminating a racer directly with deadly force if they feel they have to.
8 DEATH GAMES (DEATH PARADE)
Now this one's a little tricky since to participate you have to have just died. However, what makes this entry viable is that the Death Games in Death Parade could result in the deceased's soul fading from existence.
After death, people are transported to the Quindecim bar whereby playing a Death Game they have a chance to either be reincarnated or have their soul sent to the void. While these games look normal, they are anything but, having unique effects on those who play them (such as a game as darts that makes the opposing side feel pain with each hit). The games themselves are designed to reveal the true nature of its players, so winning the game doesn't necessarily mean the winner will be reincarnated.
7 REAL-LIFE BTOOOM! (BTOOOM!)
The videogame called "Btooom!" is a third-person shooter where players compete against each other by using a variety of bombs to kill their opponents. It's pretty straight forward, but the developers weren't satisfied with just making it a video game and so they turned their game into a real-life battle royale.
In this live-action fight for survival, contestants are kidnapped and dumped onto a remote island where they must kill 14 people with bombs from the game in order to work towards being rescued. That's already bad enough, but the players also have to fight the island's elements. The really messed up part about this one is that the candidates are signed up by people who know them and want them to disappear.
6 THE DOG RACE SHOW (DEADMAN WONDERLAND)
Deadman Wonderland is an amusement park that also doubles as a prison, making for a silly but violent kind of entertainment when it comes to executing the inmates. One of the most deadly of their attractions has to be The Dog Race Show, where prisoners compete in a deadly obstacle course.
Just about every leg of this race is designed to kill its contestants, one wrong move means instant death. Swinging blades, spike pits, fire, and guillotines are some of the obstacles the prisoners have to overcome and while many will enter this race for their survival and the high reward for winning, only a few actually make it out alive.
5 SHADOW GAMES (YU-GI-OH!)
Yu-Gi-Oh's Shadows Games were played as far back as ancient Egypt, where sorcerers would test their skill by summoning powerful monsters. While the Shadow Games' contests have taken various forms, the basic rules still apply. Anyone who loses or cheats will be subjected to a "penalty game", a punishment that can range between trapped in a horrifying illusion to an agonizing death.
Viewers of the 4kids anime might be more familiar with the Duel Monsters version of a Shadow Game, where the loser of the duel has the soul sent to the "Shadow Realm". While the Shadow Realm itself is vague in this version, what can be noted is that those sent there experience an eternity of torment, a fate that may be worse than just simply dying.
4 THE SELEÇÃO GAME (EDEN OF THE EAST)
In Eden of the East, a mysterious figure named Mr. Outside sets up a game where 12 people are selected to become "Seleção" and are tasked with saving Japan. Each of the Seleção is given 10 billion yen which they are free to use however they please and a phone with an advanced AI called Juiz that's capable of carrying out their every wish.
There are quite a few aspects to this contest that makes it so deadly. Using Juiz, contestants in Mr. Outside's game have access to whatever they want, even to powerful weapons like nuclear missiles which they can send anywhere at any time. Seleção who are inactive, break the rules or run out of money before completing their goal are killed by supporters of Mr. Outside.
3 THE SURVIVAL GAME (FUTURE DIARY)
Deciding to choose his successor, the god of time and space, Dues Ex Machina, holds a little tournament to see who's the most worthy. Giving each of the thirteen candidates a "Future Diary", a device that allows them to get a glimpse of the future, the rules are laid out pretty simply. The contestants must kill each other until only one is left.
While the prize may be great, the power of the Future Diaries can cause a participant can die in a variety of horrible ways, including being written out of existence. There's no way to forfeit from the game, meaning that the only way out is to either win the game or die.
2 THE HOLY GRAIL WAR (FATE SERIES)
While there are many different versions of this battle royale across the many entries of the Fate Series the basics are always as followed, magi (mages) compete to possess the mystical Holy Grail by summoning familiars known as Heroic Spirits from across mythology and history. They fight until only one duo remains, then they can claim the Grail and with it, their wish.
The Holy Grail War is a constant bloodbath in almost every iteration, where both master and servant kill and are killed in spectacular, gruesome, and even sometimes gutwrenching fashion. Since the only rules are to the last ones standing, that allows its contestants to dispatch their opponents in some pretty underhanded ways too. Even obtaining the Grail and receiving a wish can have catastrophic effects.
1 THE TOURNAMENT OF POWER (DRAGON BALL SUPER)
Set up by the all-powerful Omni-Kings, Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power pits the strongest fighters of multiple universes against each other in an all-out battle royale. Each universe is represented by a team of 10 fighters and the object is to knock every other opposing team off the battlefield. The winner is decided by which the universe has the most fighters left after the time limit runs out. The winner receives a wish from the Super Dragon Balls.
While the tournament itself isn't deadly, the price for an entire team losing certainly is. If an entire team is eliminated, the Grand Zenos instantly annihilate their respective universes.