For those lucky enough to have them, friends can be an important part of a person's life. Even the world of anime showcases how important friends can be with a variety of characters powered by the magic of friendship.
For some characters, the support their friends give them effectively has a magic power that protects them from evil. Other times, friends are shown to be important in a practical sense, like having a support system. And there are plenty of times when having friends is enough to give someone the drive to take on the world.
10 Joey Helping Mai (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
The entire Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise seems built around the importance of friendship. Tea's friendship speeches have become so iconic that they've practically become a meme onto themselves. And in the parent series alone, friendship seems capable of protecting someone's soul from black magic to summoning Egyptian gods. With that smiley face the characters make with their hands, fans might be surprised to learn there was a time where Tristan and Joey bullied Yugi.
In fact, losing a friendship is practically a death sentence in this universe. When Mai thought Joey didn't think of her as a friend— since he was too embarrassed to admit he dreamt about her— this makes it all the easier for her to fall victim to Marik Ishtar's mind tricks, with Joey assuring her that their friends being able to restore her memory. Admittedly, she still loses the duel to Marik, but even he admits how surprising it is that friendship could withstand his power.
9 The Sailor Senshi Fighting Against Queen Beryl (Sailor Moon)
In the infamous finale to the first anime, Queen Beryl's minions have killed the four Inner Senshi, leaving only Sailor Moon alive. Their spirits not only appear to comfort her and tell her to carry on and fight the evil queen, but even appear to help her during the final battle, offering what remains of their powers.
In the '90s English dub, the context might have been changed so that the other girls were simply captured by the villains instead of killed, with their spirits now being some sort of astral project— but the importance of friendship was still emphasized. The scene with Usagi remembering her friends talking about their love lives was redubbed to have them cheer her on, saying things like, "Let us help, we haven't known each other long enough for it to end yet." Even the dub's background song, "Carry On," emphasized the importance of friendship.
8 Jaden Encouraging Chumley (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
Even the Yu-Gi-Oh! spin-offs remember to emphasize the importance of friendship. In one example from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, when Chumley is nearly pulled from the school by his father, Jaden convinces the older Huffington to duel his son for the chance to let him stay. This initially backfires because Chumley's father was actually a talented duelist in his own right and manages to win anyway, but the old man was so touched by the power of the boys' friendship that he allows Chumley to stay.
Admittedly, this is muddled by the fact that Chumley ends up leaving the school anyway for different reasons, but in the end, it shows just how important friends can be, and that you can lose them at any time.
7 The Magic Knights' Battles (Magic Knight Rayearth)
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu started out as virtual strangers until a class trip to the Tokyo Tower ended up sending them to the mystic land of Cephiro. While there, they learn they are to become Magic Knights and rescue Princess Emeraude. While the exact story behind the princess is a bit more complicated than it seems, the girls still gradually begin to forge a true bond of friendship between each other.
Friendship is shown powerful enough to save people's lives, break spells, undo hypnotic effects, and even win enemies over, essentially giving the heroines even more friends to lend them power and support.
6 Inuyasha Using The Tessaiga (Inuyasha)
Inuyasha's Tessaiga seems to be powered by his willingness to protect his friends. After all, it transformed for the first time after he said he'd protect Kagome. And that can't be explained by romantic feelings since it also unleashed the Wind Scar to protect Miroku.
There are even times where the Tessaiga seems to reward Inuyasha for putting his friends over anything else, like granting him new attacks.
5 Forming The Love Angels (Wedding Peach)
Romantic love might be the obvious focus of this series with its wedding theme, but friendship seems just as important. This trio of magical girls were already friends before they were given powers by the angel Limone, allowing them to transform into the Love Angels and fight evil devils. Using their love-based powers, they usually even manage to exorcise the evil out of their enemies, which has even given them a few allies.
It turns out Yuri and Hinagiku were already friends back in their past lives as full angels, where they were also friends with Momoko's mother, as well as the fourth Angel Salvia, who is also motivated by gaining revenge on behalf of her friends who died at the hands of the devils.
4 Yoh Reviving The Dead (Shaman King)
In the world of Shaman King, the elements are Fire, Earth, Rain, Thunder, and Wind, with each being granted a guardian spirit created by the Great Spirt itself. But even these great elements are nothing compared to the power of friendship, at least when it comes to the main character, Yoh.
Not only does friendship give him an edge over his enemies, but it has also even been shown powerful enough to restore the dead to life, as was the case with Tao Ren, thanks to Yoh making a deal with Jeanne— even being willing to drop out of a tournament as the price to revive him. Ultimately, the strong bonds Yoh has with his team gives them powerful strength.
3 Noelle's Development (Black Clover)
Friendship has a powerful effect on Noelle, helping her blossom from an insecure, coward with a superiority complex to a much happier and stronger character, not to mention more powerful.
In particular, her friendship with Jahono helps her grow into an attack mage. With friendship, she's even powerful enough to using the Sea Dragon's Roar.
2 Luffy Forming The Straw Hat Pirates (One Piece)
In One Piece, Luffy is able to showcase how practical friendship is since it allows someone to develop a network of support— and not just in some vague, supernatural sense.
During a fight with Arlong, he admits that he can't do a lot of things: Like sword-fighting, managing navigation, or even cooking. But he doesn't need these things when he has friends who can and do it for him. Ultimately, even pirates need to know the importance of networking.
1 The PreCures' Battles (Pretty Cure)
The Pretty Cure franchise already treats the power of friendship as a central theme for each season's team. Sometimes, there's two girls, four girls, or five girls for each main team— other allies and extra "Cures" notwithstanding— but usually the magic of friendship runs strong between them.
The franchise even once emphasized that even friends who don't actually get along can be an important and powerful thing. In Yes! Precure 5, Rin and Karen, who tend to rub each other the wrong way, are once forced to work with each other to save the other girls. Them not getting along actually pushed them hard enough to give it all they got and save the day.
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