Few sources of entertainment have the same level of limitless creativity and freedom as anime. The medium caters to every audience imaginable, and it’s fair to say that there’s an anime series for every interest, no matter how small. Action can come alive in exciting, exaggerated ways in anime, and there are plenty of iconic characters that wield unbelievable strength.
Anime showcases powerful fighters, but sometimes a warrior’s tool is even more important and the real key to victory. Sometimes the most dangerous anime weapons come in very surprising packages—and others find weird and wonderful ways to mix the mundane with the magical.
10 Tuxedo Mask's Roses Represent True Flower Power
Sailor Moon is an iconic shojo anime series and one of the earliest titles to breakthrough outside of Japan. Sailor Moon and her Sailor Scouts tend to be the ones that save the day, but there’s typically a brief interruption from Tuxedo Mask.
The character’s trademark entrance features the launch of a rose at the opposing enemy. These look like standard flowers, but they’re shown to slice through material and are capable of actual damage. They’re not the most practical weapon in the series, but they’re more effective than flowers should be.
9 Kill La Kill's Scissor Blades Are Visual Oddities That Seem Impractical
Kill la Kill is a visual sensation that’s some of the prolific Studio TRIGGER’s best work. Kill la Kill combines high school politics with an alien invasion, sentient clothing, and a bizarre set of weapons used to manage this chaos.
Ryuko winds up at the head of a revolution even though she wants answers regarding her father’s death. Ryuko ends up carrying on her father’s work in her own way as she wields a deadly scissor-like bladed weapon alongside her sister, Satsuki. These blades don’t just look stylish, but they’re crucial tools against the Life Fibers invasion.
8 Dragon Ball’s Evil Containment Wave Turns A Simple Jar Into A Powerful Prison
The Dragon Ball franchise is filled with energy attacks that can destroy entire planets and wild transformations that, in some ways, are even more intense. A maneuver from the original Dragon Ball that returns significantly in Dragon Ball Super is the Evil Containment Wave, or Mafuba, technique.
While technically a move, it requires a container to be pulled off. In that sense, the jar that’s involved becomes a deceptively powerful weapon. Evil entities can be sucked into and trapped within a container that can become a permanent prison if the captor doesn’t break the jar’s seal.
7 Haruko's Rickenbacker 4001 Battle Bass In FLCL Makes More Than Just Music
FLCL is a glorious anime about the awkward experience of growing up through adolescence, which manages to get across more in six episodes than what other anime struggles to accomplish in hundreds. FLCL turns the moody experience of youth into a high-stakes battle for the planet.
Haruko Haruhara becomes an unlikely mentor to Naota, and her trusty weapon through this adventure is her Rickenbacker 4001 bass. Haruko uses this guitar as a physical weapon, which packs a severe punch and is exceedingly durable. Still, it’s also able to open up gateways that can pull anything, or anyone, into battle.
6 Kagura’s Umbrella In Gintama Makes Heavy Artillery Look Like Toy Guns
Gintama is an anime series like no other, and it delivers some of the best gag comedy and dramatic storytelling over more than 350 episodes. Kagura is a vital member of the Odd Jobs team, and she’s often with her signature umbrella.
This umbrella is a custom of the Yato people and partly because of their weakness to the sun’s light. These umbrellas can be used as blunt weapons, but Kagura’s also functions as a machine gun. The barrage of bullets that this umbrella dispenses becomes even more dangerous when in conjunction with Kagura’s excellent fighting instincts.
5 Orihime Inoue's Magical Hair Pins Can Heal And Destroy Various Matter In Bleach
Bleach begins as a strong shonen anime, but it becomes a victim of mismanagement and filler that derails the saga after hundreds of episodes and leaves the manga as the superior version. Despite its misgivings, Bleach does have some amazing battles that empower characters in unconventional ways.
Orihime Inoue obtains flower-shaped hairpins from her brother, and the pin’s petals contain powerful Shun Shun Rikka spirit energy. Orihime can activate the spirit energy in her hairpins to increase her defensive abilities and assist with healing. Still, they can also destroy matter or undo events that have just happened.
4 Nicholas D. Wolfwood’s Punisher Gun In Trigun Is A Weaponized Crucifix
Trigun is a ‘90s action anime that has satisfying fight sequences held together with a powerful message and empathetic protagonists. Vash the Stampede is literally a deadly killing machine, and his heart of gold makes it increasingly difficult for him to take out those that hunt him.
Vash’s faithful partner, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, lugs around a 300-lb eyesore of a weapon with him. Wolfwood’s signature weapon, the Punisher, is a gigantic cross that launches excessive gunfire and even missiles. It’s a sight to see when it’s used and usually catches Wolfwood’s audience by surprise.
3 Saiga's Camera In Speed Grapher Produces Explosive Results
Speed Grapher is a 24-episode anime series that brilliantly blends mystery, horror, and crime. It's a series that doesn't get nearly enough attention, and it has a strong premise that instantly hooks the audience.
Tatsumi Saiga is a former war photographer who has turned to espionage and undercover work, which gets Saiga involved with a bad crowd. Saiga's camera has always been his most important tool, but it's suddenly a deadly weapon once he learns that whoever he photographs will explode. It's like if the Death Note were a camera.
2 Hunter X Hunter Turns Shizuku’s Vacuum Cleaner Into A Terrifying Tool
Hunter x Hunter is one of the better shonen anime. It doesn’t needlessly drag on, lose itself in irrelevant filler, or deliver arcs that feel repetitive of each other. Gon leads the way in the series, and one of his earlier weapons before nen-based attacks dominate the anime is a resilient fishing rod.
However, what’s even stronger and stranger is Shizuku Murasaki’s vacuum cleaner, Blinky. Blinky utilizes nen to suck up things or remove all of the blood from somebody’s body. It’s not just a deadly attack but also an incredibly morbid way to take someone out.
1 The Death Note Turns The Written Word Into A Deadly Art Form
Death Note is one of the more popular anime series from the past few decades and the reason that it’s gained such acclaim, even from crowds outside of the anime community, is because of its simple, addictive premise. Light Yagami acquires a Death Note journal, and if he writes anyone’s name in the book, then that corresponding person will die.
Light’s intentions with this weapon slowly warp, and the extreme level of responsibility tied to this power is an important theme of the anime. It’s hard not to get corrupted by the freedom that the Death Note provides.