6 of the Most Over the Top Trump Cards in Anime

This post is by guest writer Adeline Zhang.

Anime is riddled with ridiculous, incredible, and flat out OP attacks that leave you speechless and leaping out of your chair. Even adult fans turn into kids as they rewatch those unforgettable battles. But none of these battles would ever be the same without those iconic trump cards that know exactly how to steal the show.

Killer Move: Serious Series – Serious Punch (One Punch Man)

This move is, without a doubt, a clear indication as to why spoofs and satire are so great. It’s basically everything I wanted to say when overly OP shounen protagonists become overwhelming, in 30 seconds of animation. Honestly, in any other show, this would be one of those “are you kidding me” attacks, but because it’s One Punch Man, that really foolish, ludicrous feeling becomes a source of incredibly satisfying irony and sarcasm. It’s a “serious” punch, yet Saitama doesn’t give off a serious feeling at all, but despite that the move still cuts through half of the world’s clouds. Like I’m sorry Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo, but Saitama would wreck you guys with like a tenth of the effort you use, even if you can evolve like Pokemon.

Revenge Counter (Seven Deadly Sins)

A true ace in the hole that carries a thrilling uneasiness with it, Revenge Counter completely embodies what it means to bounce back from rock bottom. Or rather, it’s more like Meliodas purposely takes the fall so that he can drag his enemy down further. The only thing is, he decided to do this reverse dramatic irony thing and completely leave us in the dark and feeling unnecessarily anxious. I see Diane crying as Meliodas conveys his plan telepathically and I get this knot in my stomach, thinking that Meliodas is going to sacrifice himself to win the battle, but nope. There he is, the ultimate troll, chipper as ever as he gets ready to decimate his foe with a cocky smirk that is simultaneously irksome and relieving.

Extreme Magic (Magi)

While most shounen protagonists have an entire arsenal of attacks and forms at their disposal, the characters of Magi really only have one nameable attack — their Extreme Magic. But because of this, whenever I watch them fight, I’m reminded of fighting game super moves. They fight with different tactics and swordplay combos, only using their Extreme Magic in, well, extreme circumstances. For that reason, Extreme Magic really feels like what its name suggests, powerful and extreme. Once I hear that distinctive chant where metal vessel users ask their djinns to lend them their magic, I know that it’s time to get excited because something is going down.

X-Burner (Reborn)

As Tsuna’s signature move, X-Burner is a sure sign that he’s not messing around. I personally would not want to know what all of those hard flames feel like, but I could watch Tsuna fire X-Burners all day. How can a pair of headphones, contacts, gloves, and flames make a middle schooler look so cool, not to mention completely annihilate the enemy? To me, this is due to the detail in the animation of the flames, and the robotic system Spanner created to help Tsuna stabilize his X-Burners. Whenever Tsuna says “Operation X” and the system responds with “Roger, boss” I can’t help but treat it in a manner similar to how the Going Merry was considered one of the Straw Hats.

Final Getsuga Tenshou/Mugetsu (Bleach)

Mugetsu is an ace up the sleeve that not only gets the job done, but also manages to make the user look impressive. Ichigo is one of those characters whose constant transformations make you ask the mangaka to just stop. However, even in this flood of moves and forms, Mugetsu manages to stand out. Whether it’s the erie black shadow-like things, the fact that Ichigo became Getsuga, or the fact that Ichigo will no longer be a shinigami, Mugetsu displays a more mysterious side to Ichigo. That calm yet complex look on his face as he uses Mugetsu makes me wonder what’s going through his head, knowing that he has to sacrifice the relationships he built in the Soul Society in order to defeat Aizen.

Fairy Law (Fairy Tail)

Fairy Law is a trump card that’s so powerful that it’s borderline unfair. I mean who would need to fight if you could just wipe out all the people you perceive as enemies with a single spell? Of course, it’s not nearly that convenient — the user’s lifespan decreases in proportion to the number of targets with the worst case scenario being death. But that’s just one more reason why we can call Fairy Law a trump card, because it’s a magic that brings great risk along with its great power. Makarov may not hesitate to sacrifice his life for the guild, but for someone who has grown to love the strict but loving master of Fairy Tail, I can’t help but question whether the situation was dire enough for him to risk his life.

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