Just like in real life, hard work doesn't always reap a reward in anime. People might not have the same opportunities, strategies can fail due to unseen circumstances, and there is such a thing as raw talent. Throw in anime-specific situations, like living in a world where other people can be born with supernatural powers, and the chances to fail just get higher for everyone else, especially those unlucky enough not to be the main character.
There are two ways hard work might not pay off: either characters who put the work in are still succeeded by someone with more natural talent, or a character fails at their own goal despite all the work they put in.
10 Angelic Layer: Misaki Becomes A Champion Without A Lot Of Experience
When it comes to gaming, usually a little practice can go a long way, but the titular Angelic Layer is a game where experience really isn't required to be a top player. Misaki only learns about the game at the start of the series, but soon becomes a regional champion, beating far more experienced players, showing that their hard work wasn't enough.
The explanation for this is that a player's love for their Angel is what really matters in the game. Fans also suspect she somehow takes after her mother, Shuko, who also turns out to be an Angelic Layer champion and even works for the company behind it.
9 Dragon Ball: Yamcha Can Never Achieve His Goals
Yamcha of Dragon Ball is no stranger to hard work, once having endured training in the wild for a three-year period. Despite this, even at the start of the series, he pretty much existed to lose fights to characters that would then have to contend with Goku.
With the later series, Yamcha finds himself far behind his alien friends, no matter how strong he is as a human. He can't seem to find success in any of his goals, like winning a World Martial Arts Tournament or even getting married.
8 Hell Girl: As One Character Puts It, "Hard Work Is The Last Resort Of Those Without Talent"
In one episode of the Hell Girl anime, a popular idol singer is revealed to have been a bully to another aspiring artist. The story reveals that the popular singer never practiced and got by on her looks, while her rival still couldn't sing well despite all the hard work she put in. When the rival snaps and tries to blackmail the idol into helping her, she flat out points out that the rival only works hard because she never had talent and that her work ethic doesn't entitle her to anything.
As an act of revenge, the bullied girl has Hell Girl drag the idol off to hell. Even this proves to be a hollow victory, as the idol is still an icon after her disappearance and the rival will eventually be dragged to hell as payment.
7 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Nanoha Goes Back & Forth On Training
In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nanoha is able to fight off monsters after school for a few hours without any training. As the story goes on, she's shown to be more powerful than those who trained for their entire lives.
That said, the later seasons have tried to play with the idea, as it's eventually shown that Nanoha virtually trains every waking moment of her life, even in mundane situations like going to school or getting something to eat.
6 Ranma 1/2: Ryu Training His Whole Life Wasn't Enough For Ranma Training Overnight
Ranma of Ranma 1/2 does train and has spent years enduring grueling work with his father. Despite this, there are times when he wins because of his talent, rather than hard work, and he seems to have mastered techniques in a matter of days that probably took the original masters much longer.
Ranma has even been shown to have mastered a technique overnight just by watching it once. He used it to take on Ryu, an opponent who trained in his style for his entire life in the manga. The overall justification for this is that the series revolves around "Anything Goes" martial arts.
5 Sailor Moon: Sailor Moon Is More Powerful Than The Other Senshi, Even The More Experienced Venus
Usagi is lazy among a plethora of other bad habits. Early episodes of the '90s anime would have her be more concerned with manga or tennis lessons while the other Senshi were worried about enemies. Despite this, her magic powers as Sailor Moon usually mean she's the one to destroy the enemies with a finishing blow.
The manga even makes clear that Sailor Moon is more powerful than the other Senshi when Galaxia turns them against her. While Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter have the excuse of having awakened after Usagi, meaning she's had more time to train as a Senshi, this isn't true for Venus, who fought enemies as Sailor V. Technically speaking, Usagi actually even has less experience than the other Senshi considering she wasn't a Sailor Senshi in her past life.
4 Shaman King: Ren Just Can't Catch Up To Yoh
Ren is the first shaman who Yoh fights against and serves as his rival throughout the story. However, he doesn't seem to be able to catch up to Yoh's level, as he has the lowest shamanic power from the Five Elemental Warriors.
Yoh has trained in the past, with characters like his grandfather trying to hone his skills, but he is also incredibly lazy, to the point that he wants to be Shaman King just so he can continue a lifestyle of slacking off.
3 Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yugi Owes His Initial Dueling Chops To A Ghost
Early in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Yami Yugi deserves credit for Yugi's skills in the dueling world - it's just that no one is initially aware that they share a body, causing Yugi to get all the glory. In fact, the Toei anime showed that, on his own, he was only a decent match against Miho.
In fairness, Yugi is aware of this and uses this as motivation to become a legitimately good duelist. The dub also had Yugi and his alter-ego share a mind, suggesting they work together during duels.
2 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Slacking Off Seems To Make Jaden A Better Player
Jaden attends a school for duelists but doesn't seem to take any of the classwork seriously, often sleeping in or skipping class, as well as being habitually late. Despite this, he's a skilled duelist. It gets to a point where other students are said to slack off in the hopes of emulating him. In fact, one time he does clearly prepare for a duel and comes up with a strategy during his second match against Ryo, but it fails. Only going back to his original playing methods lets him end the duel in a draw.
1 Yu Yu Hakusho: Dying Seems More Useful Than Training
Kuwabara trains hard to make use of his powers but still seems to be behind his yokai allies. He's especially behind Yusuke, who does train, but who mostly gained his powers from his premature death and his mazoku ancestry, the latter of which awakened after his second death. Kuwabara eventually retires from fighting because of this.
For their part, Hiei and Kurama also train hard, with Hiei seeming to devote much of his life to training, but fans have noted that Yusuke is still the strongest character in the series.
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