Anime's known for its bracing and sometimes bloody action and it's not surprising that explosive fight scenes draw in a lot of fans. After all, most anime fans grew up on shonen series and Dragon Ball Z was the most popular show of the early 2000s. But just because people are interested in seeing some impressive fight scenes doesn't mean they want the consequences that go along with it.
Fortunately, there are a few anime that are able to satisfy those mixed cravings. Sometimes action anime, either because of their target audience or artistic choices, doesn't rely on a lot of blood and guts. The blood used in these series is minimal if it's there at all, but the action is still as pulse-pounding as ever. Fans who want something they can show to friends without squicking them out with graphic imagery should check these shows out.
10 Noir Focuses On A Pair Of Assassins Looking For Information On Their Pasts
Noir was one of many classic early 2000s anime that fans don't talk about much anymore. Animated by Victor Entertainment and Bee Train, the series is about two young women named Kirika and Mireille, a pair of assassins. Kirika has forgotten everything other than how to kill, while Mireille was born into a crime family that was wiped out.
Despite the series being about assassins and people dying, this show is almost entirely bloodless. Originally, this was meant to please the censors, but later in DVD releases, the creators chose not to add the blood in as an artistic choice.
9 Revolutionary Girl Utena Sees Its Protagonist Participate In Duels For The Right To Marry A Princess
Brought to life by JC Staff in 1997, Revolutionary Girl Utena is almost as fundamental a part of shoujo anime history as Sailor Moon. The series follows a young woman named Utena who joins a boarding school with the goal of becoming a prince. While there she winds up getting involved with the Rose Crest Duels, which involves tons of sword fighting to earn the right to marry the Rose Bride.
Despite the constant duels throughout the show, no one is ever injured in a way that draws blood. Even when characters are stabbed, the show opts not to show any blood, even if there are other consequences.
8 Slayers Has Protagonists Too Powerful To Bleed
Slayers focuses on the adventures of Lina Inverse, a powerful mage with a love of food and treasure. She travels across the country going on a variety of adventures alongside her friend Gourry, who wields a legendary weapon. Together the two of them are almost impossible to stop.
However, the Slayers world doesn't focus heavily on blood even when the party's out on adventures. In particular, the first season of the series is largely bloodless. In later seasons, it usually takes most of the season before the battles are serious enough for anyone to actually bleed.
7 Weiß Kreuz Is About Assassins Who Operate As Florists In The Day
Weiß Kreuz is a series most fans won't even remember unless they bought a lot of anime in the early 2000s. The series follows a group of cool and handsome assassins who are now working as the staff of a flower shop. Animated by Magic Bus, the group work together at night after closing their shop to handle their assassination work.
Originally thought up by veteran voice actor Takehito Koyasu as a vehicle for himself and other well-known voice actors, this show turned out to be a smash hit in Japan. And the television series is relatively bloodless, likely because of the era it was created in. The same however cannot be said for its sequel OVAs and television series, so fans who keep watching beyond the first series should be prepared for some gore.
6 Scrapped Princess Sees Two Older Siblings Protecting Their Younger Sibling From Assassination
Scrapped Princess follows the story of Pacifica Casull and her two siblings, Shannon and Raquel. Pacifica is known as the so-called "Scrapped Princess," who is fated to end the world eventually.
Because her siblings don't actually believe in her destiny, they make it their job to keep Pacifica safe, even as they continue to travel across the country hiding from the people who want her dead. Though its premise is interesting, the series is largely a straightforward fantasy anime with a few twists at the end. There's plenty of combat, but there's rarely any blood.
5 Heroman Is About A Boy And His Giant Robot Friend
In 2010, Studio BONES created their own superhero, a boy who just happened to have his own giant robot. The Heroman series takes place in an alternate America, where the robot-obsessed protagonist gets lucky when he sees one of his bullies abandon a robot
He repairs the modest robot and a lightning strike somehow grants it the power to transform into a giant mecha. This happens just in time, as the planet is immediately attacked by aliens, and Joey and his robot are the only ones capable of protecting the planet. Despite having plenty of action as the heroes push an entire army off their planet, the series is always tame when it comes to the blood.
4 Pretty Cure Focuses On Magical Girls And Their Battle Against Forces From Another World
The Pretty Cure franchise has somehow become an even bigger earner than the older and more established Super Sentai series. Though the theme changes every season, the base idea is generally the same. Take a group of girls and give them powers thanks to a being an from alternate space or dimension, and ask them to fight a dark army to save both their planet and the alternate world as well.
Every season, these Magical Girls battle constantly but since the series is aimed largely at children there's not much blood. At worst, characters get bruised or have their outfits ruined in their battles against the forces of darkness.
3 Dog Days Has Fantasy Combat With Absolutely No Chance Of People Getting Harmed
In some ways, it's difficult to call most of Dog Days violent, as the series is just about the cast of characters exploring their world and solving any problems that might pop up. But there is plenty of combat in all three seasons, and it's always bloodless.
The reasoning behind this bloodless reality is there's a special spell cast across their continent that keeps anyone from getting truly injured in any attack. Even in Dog Days' frequent wars between nations, anyone who's injured is either transformed into a tiny cat or dog or has their armor and clothing explode in colorful fashion. This signifies the end of any battle, and the combatants are no longer allowed to attack these bizarre casualties.
2 Fairy Tail's First Season Has Lots Of Combat But Almost No Blood
It seems absurd for an anime with as many intense fight scenes as Fairy Tail not to have blood. And it's true, in the 2014 and 2018 seasons there's definitely blood, as the enemies get more dangerous and harder to reason with.
However, in its first run Fairy Tail's fights are magical but not bloody. Even after the most dangerous combat, the worst the series depicts is a bunch of "scuffed up" heroes rather than the bloody mess most shonen anime would depict. Even in later seasons, as the series gets more serious, the blood is kept to a bare minimum and the series never gets too gory.
1 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Is About Magical Battles Rather Than Normal Combat
Studio Seven Arcs worked together with writer Masaki Tsuzuki to create the original Nanoha anime, a spin-off from a less popular series known as Triangle Hearts. The series starts out as a standard magical girl anime, with Nanoha Takamachi working together with a mage named Yuno who was transformed into an animal.
Together their goal is to collect the Jewel Seeds, but it doesn't take long before the show goes completely off-script and introduces new characters and elements to make it into a more unique show. While there's tons of combat, it mostly occurs between magicians who toss spells at one another. These battles inflict a lot of environmental damage but there isn't much blood.