Anime from the last five years with top quality fight scenes

Outside of the usual animes like OPM S1, Mob Psycho, Arcane and AoT have there been any other animes over the last few years with crazy good looking fight scenes?

I watched To Be Hero X and that had some great fight scenes but I rarely see it pop up on people's lists.

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AutoModerator2026-01-12 20:00

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petershop162026-01-12 20:03

Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen

luceafaruI2026-01-12 20:13

Yeah, it's interesting how op didn't mention the two most popular examples

CassadagaValley2026-01-13 00:33

I forgot about Demon Slayer, I fell off at some point because the characters are kinda meh and the story didn't really stick.

JJK I didn't even think about, it's on my radar but I never got around to looking into it.

luceafaruI2026-01-13 00:39

With season 3 starting airing last week it could be a good moment to start it

ZDB8882026-01-12 20:04

God of high school if you don’t care as much about plot has incredible fight scenes

Vayvacation2026-01-12 20:13

i wish the plot was properly adapted, i loved the manwha

ZDB8882026-01-12 22:56

Ya I had to read to understand the anime

LoneCub282026-01-12 20:18

What's it about.

Hour-Management-16792026-01-12 20:55

The anime started so strong with alot of hype but turned into the most bland slop that made no sense

Mr_Salamander___2026-01-12 20:04

Sakamoto days

UnicornPuppers2026-01-12 20:07

Dan Da Dan
Lord of Mysteries
Psycho Pass
Cowboy Bebop
Dimension W

Infinite_Delusion2026-01-12 20:09

Solo Leveling and Summertime Render come to mind

_Deep_Submerge_2026-01-12 20:12

Jujutsu Kaisen in later seasons.

Valuna2026-01-12 20:13

Trigun Stampede, Vivi: Fluorite Eyes, Elusive Samurai...a few from the top of my mind.

notatoaster002026-01-12 20:27

The Fate Heavens Feel movies, but if you want to watch it know that it assumes you've seen the Unlimited Blade Works anime by Ufotable (same studio that animated demon slayer). If you wanna watch it you should consider the rest of the ufotable animated fates.

**Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works** This was known as "Unlimited Budget Works" when it was airing in 2014-2015. Really good animation. Just see this [opening](https://animethemes.moe/anime/fatestay_night_unlimited_blade_works_2nd_season/OP1-NCBD1080) and know the show looks exactly as it seems.

\- [Unlimited Blade Works Episode 0](https://myanimelist.net/anime/27821/Fate_stay_night__Unlimited_Blade_Works_Prologue)
\- [Unlimited Blade Works Season 1](https://myanimelist.net/anime/22297/Fate_stay_night__Unlimited_Blade_Works)
\- [Unlimited Blade Works Season 2](https://myanimelist.net/anime/28701/Fate_stay_night__Unlimited_Blade_Works_2nd_Season)

**Fate Stay Night Heavens Feel Movie Trilogy** The fights are some at the pinnacle in terms of sakuga.

\- [First](https://myanimelist.net/anime/25537/Fate_stay_night_Movie__Heavens_Feel_-_I_Presage_Flower)
\- [Second](https://myanimelist.net/anime/33049/Fate_stay_night_Movie__Heavens_Feel_-_II_Lost_Butterfly)
\- [Third](https://myanimelist.net/anime/33050/Fate_stay_night_Movie__Heavens_Feel_-_III_Spring_Song)

**Fate Zero** this is actually a prequel to Fate/Stay Night, but is meant to be watched after as it's a prequel **sequel**. This is pretty much the end of the *main* fate series so everything after this is watchable generally whenever. Aired back in 2012 and some of the fights still hold among the cleanest fights today.

\- [Season 1](https://myanimelist.net/anime/10087/Fate_Zero)
\- [Season 2](https://myanimelist.net/anime/11741/Fate_Zero_2nd_Season)

Other anime's I would include are [Vivy Fluorite Eyes Song](https://myanimelist.net/anime/46095/Vivy__Fluorite_Eyes_Song), a quick 13 episode finished story by the Re:Zero author. Superb animation throughout.

[Sousou no Frieren](https://myanimelist.net/anime/52991/Sousou_no_Frieren), sakuga all the way through it's so peeeeak and about to start airing again on the 16th.

(also is there a reason you limited the question to specifically the last five years?)

CassadagaValley2026-01-12 20:35

> also is there a reason you limited the question to specifically the last five years?

Just to see some newer stuff, with more modern editing/story telling/etc. Kinda want to skip the shows that have too much fluff or the usual recommendations of something from 20 years ago that looked great 20 years ago but not so much today.

notatoaster002026-01-12 20:40

Ah yeah I understand. In that case I stand by all my recommendations. Ufotable has been ahead of their time since like 2007 with the Garden of Sinners movies that look even better than Fate Zero which came out in 2012. The Sakuga DNA of Demon Slayer that everyone loves permeates throughout those aforementioned projects like UBW.

gsenjou2026-01-12 21:01

You’re really underestimating how good some older anime look even today. Heck, Gurren Lagann came out in 2007.

Local_Pickle_47172026-01-12 21:02

Modern storytelling? You do know that stories aren't necessarily getting better right?

CassadagaValley2026-01-12 21:05

Story *telling* =/= stories... There's plenty of great anime I watched in the 2000's that would be told differently today in a more modern way.

Local_Pickle_47172026-01-12 21:06

Oh? Like staggered seasonal releases, rushed pacing, and worse music?

CassadagaValley2026-01-12 21:10

Man, I work in the film industry and I did a decade of video editing, there's plenty of growth in how animes are telling their stories over the last 10 or so years to the point where most stuff from the early 2010's and before show very clear and obvious signs of being from a different time with lower quality all around.

Local_Pickle_47172026-01-12 21:14

I'm interested in hearing what your examples of that are.

In the 2000s, something to note is that digitally colored anime was still in its early stages after a few studios adopted it early in the 90s. That era came with its caveats, particularly nowadays it's the worst era in terms of visuals due to being produced digitally at SD resolutions, but it also still maintained many of the strengths of the 90s anime directing.

CassadagaValley2026-01-12 21:27

There's a lot more (or just being used at all) types of film style angles, shots, camera movements, the type of editing (shot reverse shot is a big one) is more modern, the additions of more visual layers (bokeh, lights, better lighting), environmental layers (dust particles, smoke), establishing shots are more common and used better, there's been a big shift from characters describing what they're doing or what's happening and studios just showing it through animation.

There's a lot less random shots of static objects that have no bearing on anything that were typically used to just not have to animate anything for a few seconds.

notatoaster002026-01-12 22:42

He mentioned in a previous comment Fairy Tail as an example. Specifically the way older animes pad out their episodes with excessive recaps and flashbacks. Like the Naruto on the swing meme, Fairy tail, Inuyasha, One Piece, Dragon ball etc. Not a general critique of just the artstyle. From that POV I understand what he means. Newer anime do not do that kind of thing generally.

It was a product of the times of TV being the way you viewed anime, so the idea is you refresh peoples brains every week on what happened previously. It also serves as a way for people just flipping channels could come into a show and get somewhat familiar.

Nowadays with streaming we can binge those sorts of shows from back then and the recap/flashback spam is wayyy more apparent.

Local_Pickle_47172026-01-13 15:29

Fairy Tail is a fairly ugly and unimpressive adaptation made by an unimpressive studio. There's no ideal way to pad out your series, but I'm not sure I prefer the alternative of long running anime essentially being extinct outside of a few franchises that are well established with doing it already. Dragon Ball's pacing issues are overblown, outside of just a few sections it's pretty alright.

Outside of stuff like Netflix dumping, anime isn't becoming more binge-able, it's becoming less. Less episodes means less to watch. At the cost of pacing, you're not going to get any more episodes for 1-3 years unless you're lucky and your show gets more episodes.

That lack of excess is a good thing in some areas like you're pointing out and in even more places in some others, but it's fundamentally detrimental to how I view anime and instead splits up both strengths and weaknesses into seasons. Original series are also becoming rarer, series are copying each other even more and more readily while not innovating or improving on what they copied, and we're generally lacking masterpiece or near masterpiece level material.

I haven't given a 9 since 2022, and a 10 since 2009. 2025 also had barely any 8s and low-level ones at that. Again, I don't disagree that there are some strengths of the current era, but it's also failing to showcase the medium's most important strengths.

FetchFrosh2026-01-12 21:02

> with more modern story telling

What does "modern story telling" mean?

CassadagaValley2026-01-12 21:07

Tighter pacing, modern "camera shots/angles", less fluff, more emphasis on "show, don't tell." Rewatching Fairy Tail I forgot how much time episodes wasted on flash backs or rehashing the plot of the previous episode. A lot of the anime I've seen in the last 10ish years has moved away from that.

Bay-Sea2026-01-12 20:37

Some of the anime with great fight scenes among the 5 years aside the ones you listed.

* [Link Click](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF8G6_KaMhA)
* [Shangri-La Frontier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPzoq2lJA8)
* Dandadan
* [All Devouring Whale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpPy3S37R6M)
* [Lord of Mysteries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC2g4MBSTu8)
* [Super Cube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1amB8bEYeM)
* [Blades of the Guardians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwF6gdGi-g)
* [Ranking of Kings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpsoA8AxE1Y)
* [Dragon Quest Dai](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6i9Ax1LSzU)

Khashishi2026-01-12 20:40

I like human scale realistic fighting, and Link Click season 2 has two/three great examples, though the show isn't about fighting.

Task_Set2026-01-12 21:34

Kinda surprised I haven’t seen Hell’s Paradise mentioned yet especially with the new season just starting

hopperbell2026-01-12 23:11

Bleach TYBW