Want complex and unique fights? You can watch these!
Anime is often famous for characters possessing weird — and often overpowered — abilities. Some series take it even further, with the authors crafting intricate power systems that we can’t help but admire. If you want to watch something with unusual powers and abilities, here are some recommendations!
Jujutsu Kaisen might not be unique in every aspect, but its take on battle shounen power system certainly is. Cursed Energy allows jujutsu sorcerers to take power from negative emotions — which means that control over your emotions is a key part in getting stronger.
This means that grief, unhappiness and other negative feelings like that actually make you more powerful — something we don’t see in anime very often. All of Jujutsu Kaisen can be watched on Crunchyroll.
Hunter x Hunter’s nen is often praised for being the most balanced and well-written power system in battle shounen. It’s hard to disagree: nen is essentially your life energy, and you can manipulate it in tons of different ways. No two nen users are the same, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the system.
Depending on your location, the 2011 anime of Hunter x Hunter can be found on Crunchyroll or Netflix.
Devil Fruits of One Piece are actually pretty simple. They’re just supernatural fruits that can randomly be found in the world, providing the users with weird powers that can greatly vary in strength. That said, a lot of these powers are very unique by themselves.
However, One Piece also uses Haki — a mysterious energy fueled by the user's willpower. Not many characters can actually properly harness it. So, it’s not very well-researched, although there are a few common applications — such as predicting other’s movements, performing various superhuman feats or shielding yourself with spiritual energy.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) actually has two power systems (the manga has three, actually). The first one is the Ripple, or Hamon — life energy that you can channel through your body. It is identical to Sun rays and works very well against undead.
After the first two parts, however, its use dies out, giving way to Stands — which are manifestations of the character’s will. While they start out simple enough (early Stands are commonly referred to as “punching ghosts”), they get progressively wackier with every part. The first five parts can be watched on Crunchyroll or Netflix (depending on the location), while the sixth part is Netflix-exclusive.
World Trigger
Trion is a type of mysterious life energy that gives powers to the characters of World Trigger. It is produced by an unknown organ in a human body, and varies from person to person — the abilities don’t repeat. In a way, it’s similar to nen from Hunter x Hunter. Trions, however, have numerical values which directly indicate the power of the user.
It gets even more complicated the more you watch — all currently released seasons of World Trigger are on Crunchyroll.
Toaru series
The Toaru series actually has two major power systems. One is magic — which often relies on old and somewhat weird rituals, but is capable of almost anything (assuming the user is strong enough and knows how to do it, of course).
The other is esper abilities, usually awakened by students of Academy City, which researches them. They are split into six levels, from 0 to 5 (0 being basically non-existent and 5 being the strongest). There are only seven level 5 espers, and level 6 is only believed (but not confirmed) to exist.
The franchise consists of A Certain Magical Index (Toaru Majutsu no Index) and its spin-offs, A Certain Scientific Railgun (Toaru Kagaku no Railgun) and A Certain Scientific Accelerator (Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator). All of these are available on Crunchyroll.
Medaka Box
With Medaka Box being written by Nisio Isin (the author of the Monogatari series), you just know it will get weird. The first season starts out as a high school club hijinks anime before turning into a battle shounen involving Abnormalities — supernatural abilities which often relate to the students’ personalities.
The last episode of the second season of anime introduces another type of these skills — called Minuses. The proper explanation only comes later in the manga, along with more ability types. Medaka Box is known to get more ridiculous with each arc — the two seasons of the anime can be found on Crunchyroll or HIDIVE.
Fate series
It’s hard to explain the power system of the Fate series without going deep into the lore. Long story short, mages summon historical figures to fight for them in battle royale — and these figures often possess special powers, artifacts, or both.
Fate combines many unique forms of magic, and the more you watch, the more complex its system becomes. The franchise is huge, and you can easily get lost in it — fortunately, there are guides online. Both possible starting points, Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, are on Crunchyroll.
Toriko
Okay, what if characters were powered up by eating food? No, seriously, that’s the entire idea behind the power system of Toriko. With the entire premise of the manga and the anime focusing on catching monsters and cooking them into unique dishes, it would make sense for the characters to be powered by the same thing.
Appetite Energy — also known as Gourmet Energy — allows the users to power up using food. And yes, the users can become stronger physically, fire energy blasts, and even manifest solid weapons. To watch these bizarre powers in Toriko, head over to Crunchyroll.
Want complex and unique fights? You can watch these!
Anime is often famous for characters possessing weird — and often overpowered — abilities. Some series take it even further, with the authors crafting intricate power systems that we can’t help but admire. If you want to watch something with unusual powers and abilities, here are some recommendations!
Jujutsu Kaisen might not be unique in every aspect, but its take on battle shounen power system certainly is. Cursed Energy allows jujutsu sorcerers to take power from negative emotions — which means that control over your emotions is a key part in getting stronger.
This means that grief, unhappiness and other negative feelings like that actually make you more powerful — something we don’t see in anime very often. All of Jujutsu Kaisen can be watched on Crunchyroll.
Hunter x Hunter’s nen is often praised for being the most balanced and well-written power system in battle shounen. It’s hard to disagree: nen is essentially your life energy, and you can manipulate it in tons of different ways. No two nen users are the same, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the system.
Depending on your location, the 2011 anime of Hunter x Hunter can be found on Crunchyroll or Netflix.
Devil Fruits of One Piece are actually pretty simple. They’re just supernatural fruits that can randomly be found in the world, providing the users with weird powers that can greatly vary in strength. That said, a lot of these powers are very unique by themselves.
However, One Piece also uses Haki — a mysterious energy fueled by the user's willpower. Not many characters can actually properly harness it. So, it’s not very well-researched, although there are a few common applications — such as predicting other’s movements, performing various superhuman feats or shielding yourself with spiritual energy.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) actually has two power systems (the manga has three, actually). The first one is the Ripple, or Hamon — life energy that you can channel through your body. It is identical to Sun rays and works very well against undead.
After the first two parts, however, its use dies out, giving way to Stands — which are manifestations of the character’s will. While they start out simple enough (early Stands are commonly referred to as “punching ghosts”), they get progressively wackier with every part. The first five parts can be watched on Crunchyroll or Netflix (depending on the location), while the sixth part is Netflix-exclusive.
World Trigger
Trion is a type of mysterious life energy that gives powers to the characters of World Trigger. It is produced by an unknown organ in a human body, and varies from person to person — the abilities don’t repeat. In a way, it’s similar to nen from Hunter x Hunter. Trions, however, have numerical values which directly indicate the power of the user.
It gets even more complicated the more you watch — all currently released seasons of World Trigger are on Crunchyroll.
Toaru series
The Toaru series actually has two major power systems. One is magic — which often relies on old and somewhat weird rituals, but is capable of almost anything (assuming the user is strong enough and knows how to do it, of course).
The other is esper abilities, usually awakened by students of Academy City, which researches them. They are split into six levels, from 0 to 5 (0 being basically non-existent and 5 being the strongest). There are only seven level 5 espers, and level 6 is only believed (but not confirmed) to exist.
The franchise consists of A Certain Magical Index (Toaru Majutsu no Index) and its spin-offs, A Certain Scientific Railgun (Toaru Kagaku no Railgun) and A Certain Scientific Accelerator (Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator). All of these are available on Crunchyroll.
Medaka Box
With Medaka Box being written by Nisio Isin (the author of the Monogatari series), you just know it will get weird. The first season starts out as a high school club hijinks anime before turning into a battle shounen involving Abnormalities — supernatural abilities which often relate to the students’ personalities.
The last episode of the second season of anime introduces another type of these skills — called Minuses. The proper explanation only comes later in the manga, along with more ability types. Medaka Box is known to get more ridiculous with each arc — the two seasons of the anime can be found on Crunchyroll or HIDIVE.
Fate series
It’s hard to explain the power system of the Fate series without going deep into the lore. Long story short, mages summon historical figures to fight for them in battle royale — and these figures often possess special powers, artifacts, or both.
Fate combines many unique forms of magic, and the more you watch, the more complex its system becomes. The franchise is huge, and you can easily get lost in it — fortunately, there are guides online. Both possible starting points, Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, are on Crunchyroll.
Toriko
Okay, what if characters were powered up by eating food? No, seriously, that’s the entire idea behind the power system of Toriko. With the entire premise of the manga and the anime focusing on catching monsters and cooking them into unique dishes, it would make sense for the characters to be powered by the same thing.
Appetite Energy — also known as Gourmet Energy — allows the users to power up using food. And yes, the users can become stronger physically, fire energy blasts, and even manifest solid weapons. To watch these bizarre powers in Toriko, head over to Crunchyroll.
