There are countless forms of entertainment that fight for the audience’s attention, but anime continually proves itself to be an endlessly versatile and creative medium. Anime benefits from an effortless ability to tackle any genre imaginable, and often with exaggerated visuals and storytelling that help push animation forward. There are many anime series that like to delve into dangerous criminal underworlds or focus on unscrupulous scofflaws.
Anime can approach this subject matter through extremes where there are literally superheroes and criminal masterminds that come to a head, but there are also lots of opportunities where individuals can take matters into their own hands and prove themselves as industrious vigilantes who make their own rules when they view society to have failed them.
10 Dragon Ball Z’s Great Saiyaman Keeps The Peace In A Flashy Manner
Dragon Ball features some of the strongest heroes and villains out of any anime series. Most of these characters could destroy the world with a single energy blast if they were so inclined. Gohan finds himself in a curious period of transition during his teen years, and he adopts a crimefighting vigilante persona, the Great Saiyaman, to ward off street-level crime and maintain his anonymity as he heads into high school. The Great Saiyaman is far from a controversial vigilante, but he can often protect the public in a way that the police cannot.
9 Excel Saga's ACROSS Tries To Walk With Their Vigilantism Before They Run
Excel Saga is one of the most chaotic and delirious gag anime series of all time. Each episode effortlessly parodies a different genre of anime as Excel and Hyatt attempt to push their “secret ideological organization” ACROSS closer to success. Led by Il Palazzo, the scrappy vigilante group is set on revolution, but their goals begin in a very modest place. ACROSS sets out to first master the art of city-wide domination before they then naturally expand their sights to world domination. ACROSS aren’t taken seriously, but their scrappy nature gets them surprisingly far.
8 Rurouni Kenshin’s Himura Kenshin Turns To His Sword For His Helpful Vigilantism
There's a lot that can be done with the wandering samurai trope, and Rurouni Kenshin is one of the best and most creative dissections of the genre. Himura Kenshin keeps a low profile as he travels through communities and lends his samurai expertise as a form of atonement for his past as a legendary assassin.
Kenshin's actions are unsanctioned, and his helpful actions often turn him into a target due to how he opposes society's laws. Samurai are outlaws, but Kenshin can’t deny his roots and where his talents lie.
7 Trigun’s Vash The Stampede Is A Wanted Man With A Lot To Prove
Trigun is a brilliant action anime from the 1990s that’s very emblematic of the decade and its sensibilities, yet it’s also able to gradually evolve from a slick show about gunplay into a methodical drama about the cost of life and the guilt that people carry with them. Trigun introduces Vash with a major target on his head and it makes it seem as if he’s a danger to society. Vash proves that he’s a revolutionary in the best possible sense as he actively fights against corrupt outlaws and institutions in his attempts to allow “love and peace” to dominate society.
6 Death Note's Light Yagami Views Himself As Above The Law
There's a very simple premise at the core of Death Note, but that's exactly why the series has been able to resonate with such a large audience. Death Note's tale of morality, judgment, and power reaches incredibly compelling territory. Light Yagami begins his use of the murderous Death Note with altruistic intentions, but his vigilante use of the tool to create his vision of a perfect society slowly turns him into a villain on his own. The police begin to hunt Light as they search for the person who is responsible for these killings.
5 My Hero Academia’s Hero Killer: Stain Strives To Expose Society’s Imposters
My Hero Academia is a popular anime series that leans into both shonen staples and superhero archetypes. My Hero Academia establishes a very well-defined society that administers many rules towards its heroes.
There is no shortage of villains who want to rebel against the system, but Hero Killer: Stain specifically wants to overhaul the ways in which heroes govern themselves in society. Stain considers All Might to be the only true hero and that the rest are just driven by fame and wealth, so he takes it upon himself to thin the herd and expose the fakes.
4 The Great Pretender’s Team Confidence Rebalances The Scales
The Great Pretender is one of the most satisfying heist dramas to come along in anime as smart, unpredictable schemes get the opportunity to play out across several episodes. The Great Pretender begins with Makoto Edamura's clumsy indoctrination into Team Confidence, which is most frequently masterminded by Lauren Thierry, Abigail Jones, and Cynthia Moore. Team Confidence is technically a team of criminals, but they function with a Robin Hood mentality where their grifts are meant to benefit the greater good and only leave the most dishonest upper-class members of society burnt.
3 Bubblegum Crisis' Knight Sabers Ignore The Government In Their Fight Against Boomers
Bubblegum Crisis is an inventive hybrid of mecha and magical girl tropes, which come together to tell a contemplative story about compliance. Society is locked in a state of fear due to renegade artificial lifeforms known as Boomers. Sylvia Stingray is the leader of the Knight Sabers, a team that uses enhanced technological suits to battle against the Boomers and protect the city, even though it's in direct opposition to the government's wishes. Bubblegum Crisis exists in a frighteningly exaggerated police state where helpful people like the Knight Sabers are viewed as uncontrollable dangers, not saviors.
2 Code Geass's Black Knights Are Society’s Only Hope Against The Britannian Empire
Code Geass has grown to be seen as a fascinating character study in terms of the slippery slope that Lelouch Lamperouge ends up on. It's an anime where the motivations behind characters' actions are constantly questioned, and it's another series that finds an effective backdrop with a society that's forced into submission by an oppressive Empire. Many question the ways of the Britannian Empire, which results in the formation of the Black Knights, who actually attempt to stop the Empire's rule and protect a newly vulnerable society.
1 The Night Raid In Akame Ga Kill! Become Exceptional Assassins
Akame ga Kill! is an anime that's all about a corrupt Empire and the group of revolutionaries who are brave enough to rebel against the system that attempts to keep them down. Akame ga Kill! is a series that's ripe with vigilantism, but the most influential group in the series is the Night Raid. Different rebellious groups exist within Akame ga Kill! that serve unique purposes in the larger mission to dismantle the Empire, yet the Night Raid focuses on assassination and their lives are often on the line for their cause.
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