The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen many villains, but none have been more intimidating or as destructive as Thanos. Believing his cause to be for the best, Thanos sought out the Infinity Stones and used them to reduce the universe to only half its population. Thankfully the MCU's heroes were able to stop him, though it took everything they had to do it.
Even without the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos is incredibly strong and calculating, making him a difficult opponent to beat. However, when pitted against some of anime's strongest heroes, Thanos may defeat some, but there are just as many who could send him packing.
10 Could Beat Seiya: His Pathological Caution Can't Prepare For Thanos (Cautious Hero)
Seiya Ryuuguuin of Cautious Hero is considered overpowered by many, but pathologically cautious (as the anime's title would suggest). Able to learn from and outpace actual gods, Seiya can defeat almost any opponent if he's given enough time to prepare. However, Thanos would be a whole different story.
Most of Seiya's skills wouldn't be too effective against Thanos normally, which may force him to have to use his most dangerous technique, the Valhalla Gate, which can kill literally anyone. The problem is with the Infinity Gauntlet, it's likely Thanos can resist its effects while Seiya would instead take damage and die from casting it.
9 Would Lose To Natsu: He's Survived Powers Comparable To Infinity Stones (Fairy Tail)
Fairy Tail's most famous Dragon Slayer wizard, Natsu has faced down incredible odds and has come out the other end stronger than anyone would've thought. While he's a master of fire-based magic, he's also been able to use the power of other Dragon Slayers, which combined was powerful enough to take out Acnologia.
While Thanos would likely be a tough opponent for Natsu to beat, Natsu's magic has outlasted equally strong enemies, and his emotions have been known to amplify his strength. What's more, Natsu has resisted forces that were on the level of Infinity Stones (such as manipulations of the mind, time, and existence itself) through sheer force of will.
8 Could Beat All Might: He'd Be No Match For Thanos, Even At His Best (My Hero Academia)
Though viewers meet My Hero Academia's Symbol of Peace when he's past his prime, All Might's power was still off the charts, able to create tornados with a single punch and send enemies flying even when he's at his limit. But against Thanos, there's a great chance he wouldn't be able to win.
With feats that see similar strength levels, All Might is comparable to the MCU's Hulk. Given that Thanos was easily able to toss around Hulk during Avengers: Infinity War without most of the Infinity Stones, it's likely Thanos can take All Might down, too. Considering his limits, All Might's chances of winning dwindle the longer the fight goes.
7 Would Lose To Saitama: He Could Waste Thanos With One Punch (One-Punch Man)
While many would think One-Punch Man's titular hero, Saitama, to be beyond superhuman, the secret behind his strength is that he worked out a lot. All that training paid off big time too, as not only can Saitama kill his opponents with his least serious punch, but tank hits capable of destroying planets.
Given all that, Thanos is already in trouble and would need the Infinity Gauntlet to even stand a chance, but even then he might not be able to win. With Saitama's speed being beyond the speed of sound, Saitama might just be quick enough to waste Thanos before he's able to even snap his fingers.
6 Could Beat Luffy: He Would Only Hold Out For So Long (One Piece)
Thanks to the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit, One Piece's Luffy has a rubber body that makes him a bit more durable than the average anime hero. On top of being resilient, Luffy's got the strength and technique to back it up too, but that may only hold out for so long against Thanos.
With his various attacks and mastery of Haki, Luffy has beaten foes bigger and sometimes twice as strong as he is, but if Thanos had the Infinity Gauntlet, Luffy would be much more vulnerable and Thanos would take advantage of it. He could use the reality stone to drown Luffy or just snap him out of existence.
5 Would Lose To Gurren Lagann: Has Gotten Bigger Than Whole Galaxies (Gurren Lagann)
Gurren Lagann's titular namesake might be the mecha to end all mechas. With the Infinity Gauntlet, most mechas would probably not stand a chance against Thanos, but Gurren Lagann is a different story.
Team Dai-Gurren comes together to make Gurren Lagann bigger than whole galaxies as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and as Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann it becomes larger than the known universe. On top of containing an entire universe's worth of power, it can resist known powers of the Infinity Stones, like time, space, and probability manipulation. With those ridiculous levels of size and power, Thanos is less than an insect to Gurren Lagann with or without the Gauntlet.
4 Could Beat Meliodas: He Would Force Thanos To Use The Gauntlet (Seven Deadly Sins)
Captain of the notoriously powerful Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas is practically a force of nature. As a son of the Demon King, Meliodas is powerful beyond humans or other demons, able to level a city to rubble or slice a mountain in half, and that's before reaching his full potential in his True Magic form.
Against Meliodas, Thanos would be in trouble and would be forced to use the Gauntlet in order to win. While Meliodas is resilient, he's not shown to be resistant to time or reality manipulation. This means one snap with the Gauntlet could be enough to end Meliodas' life, even with his immortality curse.
3 Would Lose To Anos: He's Pretty Much Invincible And Unbeatable (Misfit Of Demon King Academy)
Anos Voldigoad, a revived Demon King and the protagonist of Misfit of Demon King Academy, is beyond absurd levels of overpowered. Anos is strong enough to toss a castle around with one finger, kill people with his heartbeat, and literally beat up abstract concepts like time and hatred - and all of that is just him warming up.
Anos is so insanely powerful that his presence alone could destroy a universe, forcing him to always hold back. And if all that isn't enough, he's also able to resurrect himself indefinitely and resist being erased from existence, making him purely invincible. Essentially, Anos can match and exceed everything Thanos could do with the Infinity Gauntlet, all without even trying that hard.
2 Could Beat Goku: He's Stronger, But Likely To Make One Huge Mistake (Dragon Ball)
Dragon Ball's Goku is one of the strongest anime heroes ever known. Continuously shattering limits and odds, Goku has fought aliens, androids, and gods, becoming more and more powerful with each fight. Given all that, physically Goku would be stronger than Thanos by a pretty wide margin and would win if they fought. However, Goku is likely to make one huge mistake.
Goku often insists to fight opponents at their best, so it's likely that he would let Thanos use the Infinity Gauntlet, which would spell doom for the Super Saiyan. Goku is strong, but not able to shrug off something like the Thanos snap, something Thanos would do if given the opportunity.
1 Would Lose To Madoka: The Infinity Gauntlet Would Be Nothing To Her (Madoka Magica)
Madoka of Puella Magi Madoka Magica may not seem like much of a fighter at first, but not only does she become one of, if not the most powerful magical girl in the series, but quite possibly in all of anime. In her ultimate form, Madoka is basically an all-powerful, omnipotent goddess.
In this form, Madoka can manipulate time and space, plus create or destroy infinite universes. The Infinity Stones only work in their home universe, and Madoka is beyond just one universe, meaning the Gauntlet wouldn't do much to her. In contrast, Madoka is capable of erasing Thanos and the Gauntlet on the conceptual level - not just from the MCU, but all universes.