In certain anime, there are exciting faceoffs that really get the blood pumping, some of which were built up over the course of multiple episodes or even seasons. When executed on well, they end up being some of the most epic clashes the medium has seen, but there are anticipated fights that end with disappointment.
There's a number of factors that play into this, whether it's because the fight was too short, poorly animated, or just uninteresting. Regardless, hype can be something of a two-way street: sometimes hyping something up can lead to a great payoff, while other times the end results lead to only a great letdown.
10 Ash Lost To Ritchie Because Of Charizard's Attitude (Pokémon)
Ash has battled many of his rivals over the course of Pokémon's long history, yet his first league rival was the plucky young Ritchie. Pretty similar to Ash in some regards, the battle between the two had the potential to be the highlight of the original series, but it ended in something of an upset.
Ash's shortcomings as a trainer are on full display in this battle as Ash's Pokémon are completely shut out by Ritchie's. The final nail in the coffin ends up being his Charizard, who decides to throw the match entirely, ending Ash time in the Indigo League.
9 Diablo Wins Against Krebskulm, To The Shock Of Nobody (How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord)
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord is one of many isekai anime that have their protagonist supremely overpowered, with the self-proclaimed Demon Lord, Diablo, pretty much annihilating any enemy in his path with little effort. Demon Lord Krebskulm could've provided a challenge to Diablo towards the end of season one, but this was not meant to be.
Despite Krebskulm becoming a powerful giant and going on a rampage, Diablo is still able to defeat her like he has so many other opponents, making the tension and build-up behind Krebskulm feel pretty pointless.
8 Shirou Overpowers Alan Just Because (BNA: Brand New Animal)
BNA: Brand New Animal built up the clash between Shirou Ogami and Alan Sylvasta for some time, as Shirou was quick to suspect him being up to no good. In time, he turned out to be right, and it was even revealed that Alan was secretly a purebred Beastman that was on a similar if not higher level than Shirou.
In their first fight, Alan wipes the floor with Shirou, but facing off again, Shirou is able to easily fend off Alan with his powers as the Silver Wolf, despite struggling before. The fight ends abruptly when a fearful Alan begins succumbing to Nirvasyl Syndrome.
7 Akame Beats Esdeath With Plot Convenience (Akame Ga Kill!)
Akame ga Kill! had quite a few intimidating villains, but the strongest and most lethal had to be Esdeath. With her power over ice and ability to stop time, Esdeath was capable of taking out whole armies by herself, not even characters like Najenda or Susanoo could defeat her.
In the final battle, Akame ends up using the last-minute powerup of her Imperial Arms, which grants her greater strength and speed, but Esdeath freezes time anyway. Despite this, Esdeath can't kill Akame since the one in front of her is an afterimage, causing Akame to slash her when time restarts. The way Akame beats time literally freezing feels less like a strategy and more like plot convenience.
6 Gontenks & Gohan Only End Up Absorbed By Super Buu (Dragon Ball Z)
A lot of Dragon Ball Z's Majin Buu Saga hyped up the idea of someone other than Goku being the one who'll beat Buu, even as he grew stronger and stronger. At first, it seemed to be all on Gotenks (the fusion of Goten and Trunks), who was able to put up a fight against Buu but ended up being treated more like a joke.
Gohan reappears in the middle of that fight with a new strength of his own, and it seems like this time Gohan would defeat Buu, but Buu ends up absorbing Gotenks and then Gohan soon after, making the build-up for Buu's face-off with both characters feel like a waste of time.
5 Maka Beats Asura With A Punch (Soul Eater)
Soul Eater's anime did veer off into anime original territory after a certain point, yet the hype behind the final confrontation with the Kishin, Asura, was there. Asura was able to beat both Death the Kid and Black Star single-handedly, so watching Soul and Maka take him on by themselves had the makings of a heart-pounding battle that was ruined by a deus ex machina.
Maka and Soul unleashed everything they have at Asura, but even the "Kishin-Hunt" attack and Maka awakening her demon weapon abilities wasn't enough. All hope seemed lost until Maka beat Asura with the power of courage and a punch to the face. An undignified end for such an intimidating villain.
4 Kirito And Heathcliff's Duel Ends Quickly And Disappointingly (Sword Art Online)
Sword Art Online's Aincrad Arc comes to a head after the reveal that Heathcliff was Kayaba all along. For the fate of the remaining players, Kirito duels Heathcliff, and at first, it actually seems like there is tension and the chance that Kirito might not win.
The fight is basically over after Asuna's sacrifice as Kirito just stands there and gets stabbed by Heathcliff. At the last second, Kirito basically breaks the game and stabs Heathcliff moments before he disappears. This fight was too short and ends with another shark jump moment for Kirito to win the day.
3 Meliodas' Battle With Escanor Is Ruined By Bad Animation (The Seven Deadly Sins)
The Seven Deadly Sins title team is made up of some pretty powerful knights, who could do a lot of damage if they ever decided to clash with one another, especially if one became evil. After Meliodas is corrupted by his own darkness and enters his assault mode, Escanor decides to face him one-on-one.
A battle between these two immensely strong characters could've been amazing, but unfortunately, this fight lacked some much-needed punch due to its poor animation quality. The results end up making this fight pretty hard to look at from start to finish.
2 The Viewer Doesn't Get To See How Joe's Fight With Yuri Ends (Megalo Box)
From the start of Megalo Box, the hype was all around Gearless Joe (aka Junk Dog) clawing his way through the toughest boxers to make it to the champ, Yuri. Joe's rise in the world of Megalo Boxing is a true underdog story that was prime for a great payoff when he and Yuri had their bout for the championship, and at first, it was.
With Yuri removing his gear, he and Joe fight evenly in this intense match where anyone could win. Unfortunately, what ruins it is that the match skips over after the fight is over, so the viewer never even gets to see how it ended.
1 Ichigo's Final Battle With Aizen Was Completely Anti-Climactic (Bleach)
Bleach devoted hundreds of episodes building up the threat of Aizen, and this is rightfully so since for the bulk of the series he is the main villain. Ichigo's final battle with the rogue Soul Reaper captain after everything he had gone through was meant to be the finest hour for both characters. Instead, it was a disappointment.
The fight sees Ichigo mostly shrugging off everything Aizen has, until the end where he has to use the Final Getsuga Tenshou to finish it. Aizen survives, but Urahara shows up to seal Aizen away for good, pretty much robbing Ichigo of the win. After all the episodes of build-up, Aizen's defeat felt way too easy.
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