Tournament arcs are a common type of storyline in the anime industry. They offer a chance for a large, diverse cast of characters to fight their way to the top. It’s also the easiest kind of storyline when it comes to having a reason for characters that would otherwise be allies to fight each other.
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A few tournament arcs have even become some of the most iconic storylines in their respective anime. Here are ten great anime tournaments that have left a great impact.
10Heaven’s Arena
Gon and Killua attempt to climb through the ranks of Heaven’s Arena to earn money but are stopped by Hisoka, who uses a new power called Nen. This power is extremely important toHunter X Huntersince Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and many others use it constantly throughout the series.
After learning the Nen abilities of his own, Gon would eventually fight his way up the ranks until coming face to face with Hisoka once again. His new abilities allowed for flashier fights. Hisoka still was a formidable opponent who came out on top in the end, but this arc was very important in setting the groundwork for nearly every arc that would follow.
9UA Sports Festival
My Hero Academia’sUS Sports Festival started with a few side challenges that acted as preliminary rounds. These included a race and “capture the flag” sections, which required careful planning and teamwork. That, of course, was just the appetizer for the tournament’s main event.
The real reason it’s on this list is due to the one on one fights in the final phase. Izuku needed to strategize well in most battles since he could only use his super strength a set amount of times at this point in the story. The climax of this tournament had Izuku face Todoroki, a character that would go on to become a fan favorite.
823rd World Martial Arts Tournament
The firstDragon Ballseries is known for having multiple tournament arcs. Goku participates in the 21st near the start, the 22nd halfway through, and the 23rd tournaments in the final stretch. He wasn’t quite a martial arts master during his first two attempts at becoming a world champion, but his determination to become the best pushed him into a capable fighter.
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Goku finally winning a world tournament was an excellent way to end the series, especially since Piccolo was his main opponent. The previous incarnation of Piccolo was the strongest adversary Goku had ever fought prior to this tournament.
7Pokemon World Championship
Ash always wanted to be the very best Pokemon master like no one ever was. He traveled to many regions but lost their leagues time and time again. For a long time, it felt like the writers never wanted him to actually succeed because it would mean moving on to a new protagonist. Ash did win the Orange Island league, but that’s not a main region from the games.
It wasn’t until Alola that Ash finally took his place at the top. This would lead Ash to eventually partake in the world championship against 7 other champion-level contestants. Many of these fights call back to past moments throughout the series. Ash, finally winning 25 years after the anime started, has become one of the most legendary moments in the franchise.
6Duelists Kingdom
Yugioh is another series that has quite a few tournaments, but none are more iconic than the very first. Yugioh has to duel his way through Pegasus' tournament to save his grandfather. Many of the most well-known cards are introduced throughout this story arc.
Most tournament arcs do better in the middle or later on in their series after already having a good understanding of the world and characters, but Yugioh’s focus on a strategy card game allowed a tournament setting to work well at the very beginning.
5Cell Games
The Cell Games were the last thing standing between Cell and Earth’s destruction. Even Goku was incapable of defeating such an overpowered adversary, but for once, someone other than the main protagonist actually defeated a major villain. Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 transformation and the Father-Son Kamehameha became some of the most iconic moments in the franchise.
The Cell Games may be very iconic, but there are a few reasons for it not being higher on this list. The main reason is there’s not actually much diversity in the fights. Most tournament arcs pit many characters against each other, but this one is almost exclusively fighting Cell. Goku VS Cell and Gohan VS Cell are the only super notable fights here. Everyone else mostly has minor battles on the sidelines.
4Chunin Exams
The originalNarutoseries has a serious tone throughout most arcs, and the Chunin Exams are a perfect example. Killing is allowed, so the entire cast constantly feels in danger. Monstrous opponents like Gaara and Orochimaru are revealed during the dark forest segment of the tournament.
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The one versus one fights at the end have many memorable moments, such as Lee dropping his weights to get a brief upper hand over Gaara. The final stretch of the tournament got interrupted by multiple enemy attacks, but those only serve as an even better conclusion than if the tournament ended normally.
3Dark Tournament
Very few late 80s and early 90s anime had tournament arcs that even vaguely rivaled Dragon Ball’s in popularity.Yu Yu Hakushois one of the few exceptions to this. The Dark Tournament is nearly a third of Yu Yu Hakusho’s entire storyline, and it is the most well-received part of the series.
It contains great action and tragic deaths, and every member of the main cast receives a lot of character development. The Dark Tournament arc even managed to connect to other arcs extremely well. In a way, that makes it the heart of the entire series.
2Record Of Ragnarok
Record of Ragnarok’sentire storyline is one massive tournament arc between the greatest gods in mythology against many legendary people throughout human history. The entire series is one massive tournament, which means it’s much larger than most other tournament arcs on this list.
The first five fights ran for over 20 episodes, and that’s not even half the story. Once it is finished, Record of Ragnarok will be one of the longest tournament arcs that anime has to offer. Each fight in the series thus far has been actioned-packed while also explaining the origins of every fighter very well.
1Tournament of Power
This is by far the longest arc in Dragon Ball Super’s anime. It ran for over 50 episodes without even counting the build-up and included 80 contestants in total. A few members of Universe 7’s team, such as Krillin and Tien, got the short end of the stick, but most others got many legendary battles with foes from other universes.
Some of the last fights have incredible animation quality and are filled with intense action. The Tournament of Power’s biggest advantage is its ability to have interesting team-ups, such as Hot helping Goku, Vegeta defending Cabba, and Frieza coming to the conclusion that fighting alongside Goku is better than being erased. Goku’s Ultra Instinct transformation generated enough hype that nearly every platform streaming the episode crashed. No other tournament arc in anime history has been capable of doing so.
