Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)/Anime and Manga

""Note from Shaenon: I apologize for assaulting your delicate senses with what may be the two greatest pages in the history of comics, in which Black Jack OPERATES ON HIS OWN INTESTINES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK WHILE SURROUNDED BY RAVENOUS DINGOES. It had to be done.""

- Overlooked Manga Festival

The highly stylized nature of Anime (or Manga) allows room for really cool things to happen. Here are some of the more memorable of those scenes.

Remember...the spoiler tag is your friend. If saying too much would ruin the surprise, leave it in spoilers.

Also see the Awesome page, because Giant Robots are a whole other level of awesomeness.

Examples:


 * 20th Century Boys
 * Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai
 * Ai to Yuuki no Pig Girl Tonde Buurin
 * Air Gear
 * AKB 49 Renai Kinshi Jourei
 * Akira
 * ARAGO
 * Aria
 * Arisa
 * Axis Powers Hetalia
 * Hetalia Bloodbath 2010
 * Hetaween 2011
 * Hetalia Bloodbath 2011
 * Azumanga Daioh
 * Baccano
 * Baki the Grappler
 * Bakuman｡
 * Bamboo Blade
 * Ben To
 * Berserk
 * Bitter Virgin
 * Black Butler
 * Black Cat
 * Black Lagoon
 * Bleach
 * Blue Exorcist
 * Blue Gender
 * Bokurano
 * Busou Renkin
 * Cage of Eden
 * Cardfight Vanguard
 * Carnival Phantasm
 * Castle in The Sky
 * Clannad
 * Claymore
 * Code Geass
 * Combattler V
 * Cowboy Bebop
 * C the Money And Soul of Possibility
 * Cyborg 009
 * D Gray Man
 * Daimos
 * Dai no Dai Bouken
 * Dance in The Vampire Bund
 * Daphne in The Brilliant Blue
 * Darker Than Black
 * The Daughter of Twenty Faces
 * Deadman Wonderland
 * Death Note
 * Detective Conan
 * Devilman
 * Digimon
 * Digimon Adventure
 * Digimon Adventure 02
 * Digimon Tamers
 * Digimon Frontier
 * Digimon Savers
 * Digimon Xros Wars
 * Digimon Xros Wars the Young Hunters Leaping Through Time
 * Dragon Ball
 * Dragon Ball GT
 * Dragon Ball Kai
 * Drama Con
 * Durarara
 * Elfen Lied
 * Ergo Proxy
 * Eureka Seven
 * Eureka Seven AO
 * Eyeshield 21
 * Awesome
 * Fairy Tail
 * FAKE
 * Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya
 * Fate Stay Night
 * Fate Zero
 * Flame of Recca
 * FLCL
 * Fractale
 * Freezing
 * Fruits Basket
 * Fullmetal Alchemist
 * Fushigi Yuugi
 * Future GPX Cyber Formula
 * Galaxy Express 999
 * Gankutsuou
 * Gantz
 * Get Backers
 * Ghost in The Shell
 * Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone Complex
 * Ginga Densetsu Weed
 * Gintama
 * Great Teacher Onizuka
 * Grenadier
 * Guilty Crown
 * Guin Saga
 * Gundam
 * After War Gundam X
 * Gungrave
 * Gunnm (Battle Angel Alita)
 * Gunslinger Girl
 * Gun X Sword
 * Guyver
 * Hajime no Ippo
 * Haruhi Suzumiya
 * Hayate the Combat Butler
 * Heart no Kuni no Alice
 * Hellsing
 * High School DXD
 * High School of the Dead
 * Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
 * Hikaru no Go
 * Honoo no Alpen Rose
 * Hunter X Hunter
 * Hyakujitsu no Bara
 * The Idolmaster
 * IGPX Immortal Grand Prix
 * Initial D
 * Inuyasha
 * Irresponsible Captain Tylor
 * Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari
 * Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure
 * Jormungand
 * Kaichou wa Maid Sama
 * Kaiji
 * Kaiketsu Zorori
 * Kanamemo
 * Kannazuki no Miko
 * Karano Kyoukai
 * Katekyo Hitman Reborn
 * Kekkaishi
 * Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple
 * Keroro Gunsou
 * Kiki's Delivery Service
 * King of Thorn
 * Kinnikuman
 * Koko Ni Iru Yo
 * K-On!
 * Kure-nai
 * Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
 * Last Exile
 * The Law of Ueki
 * Le Chevalier d'Eon
 * Legend of Galactic Heroes
 * Liar Game
 * A Little Snow Fairy Sugar
 * Lone Wolf and Cub
 * Lucky Star
 * Lupin III
 * Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini
 * The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure
 * Madlax
 * Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
 * Magico
 * Magi: Labyrinth of Magic
 * Mahou Sensei Negima
 * Mai-HiME
 * Mai-Otome and associated OVAs
 * Maison Ikkoku
 * MÄR
 * Martian Successor Nadesico
 * Mawaru Penguindrum
 * Mazinger Z
 * Great Mazinger
 * UFO Robo Grendizer
 * Medaka Box
 * Mega Man NT Warrior
 * Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch
 * Metropolis
 * Mirai Nikki
 * Monster
 * Monster Rancher
 * Muhyo and Roji
 * My Neighbor Totoro
 * MW
 * Naruto
 * Nausicaa of the Valley of The Wind
 * NEEDLESS
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion
 * Rebuild of Evangelion
 * Nichijou
 * Noein
 * Noir
 * Nora
 * Ojamajo Doremi
 * One Piece
 * One Piece Film Strong World
 * Oniisama E
 * Ookami San
 * Ore no Imouto ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai
 * Ouran High School Host Club
 * Outlaw Star
 * Pandora Hearts
 * Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt
 * Paranoia Agent
 * Petite Princess Yucie
 * Planetes
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Awesome
 * Popotan
 * The Pretty Cure saga
 * Pretty Sammy
 * The Prince of Tennis
 * Princess Mononoke
 * Princess Tutu
 * Psyren
 * Puella Magi Madoka Magica
 * Pumpkin Scissors
 * Ranma One Half
 * Rave Master
 * Read or Die
 * Record of Lodoss War
 * Red Line
 * Revolutionary Girl Utena
 * Riding Bean
 * Rosario to Vampire
 * Rurouni Kenshin
 * S-Cry-ed
 * Sailor Moon
 * Saint Seiya
 * Saiyuki
 * Samurai Champloo
 * Scrapped Princess
 * Seikon no Qwaser
 * Serial Experiments Lain
 * Seto no Hanayome
 * Shakugan no Shana
 * Shaman King
 * Shuffle
 * Skip Beat
 * Slayers
 * Sonic X
 * Soul Eater
 * Spiral
 * Spirited Away
 * Star Driver
 * Stellvia of the Universe
 * Strawberry Panic
 * Strawberry Shake Sweet
 * Street Fighter II
 * Suikoden
 * Summer Wars
 * SuzumiyaHaruhi
 * Sword of the Stranger
 * Tenchi Muyo
 * Tenjho Tenge
 * Texhnolyze
 * The Third the Girl With The Blue Eye
 * Tiger and Bunny
 * Toradora
 * Toriko
 * Trigun
 * To Aru Majutsu no Index
 * To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
 * Tokyo Majin
 * Tower of God
 * Trinity Blood
 * Tsukihime
 * The Twelve Kingdoms
 * Twentieth Century Boys
 * Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
 * Until Death Do Us Part
 * Utawarerumono
 * Valkyria Chronicles
 * Vampire Knight
 * Violinist of Hameln
 * Watashi Ni XX Shinasai
 * Wedding Peach
 * Welcome to The NHK
 * Wings of Honneamise Royal Space Force
 * Witchblade
 * Witch Hunter Robin
 * Wolfs Rain
 * Words Worth
 * The World God Only Knows
 * Xamd Lost Memories
 * You're Under Arrest
 * Yu-Gi-Oh
 * Yu-Gi-Oh GX
 * Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds
 * Yu-Gi-Oh Ze Xal
 * Yu Yu Hakusho
 * Zatch Bell
 * Zentrix
 * Zero no Tsukaima
 * Zoids Chaotic Century
 * Zoids New Century

Other
"Folgore: "Don't you understand Kanchome? A bird won't rest on a lion's fangs."
 * If anyone ever has to know why people are willing to pay millions of yen to Dr. Black Jack just for the privilege of having him slice you open, here is why: The man once successfully operated on his own intestines while lying in the middle of the Austrailian outback and surrounded by rabid dingos. Hol-Ay Shit!
 * Space Battleship Yamato has a Moment of Awesome in the second movie, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato not in a specific action, but by its pure inspiration. After watching the entire, built in the last 2 years, Earth Defense space navy get devastated on live TV, the alien Comet Empire demands Earth's surrender. Just before the surrender, the Yamato warps in between the Empire and Earth, and everyone on the planet says "It's Yamato! We still have the Yamato! We're gonna win!". Keep in mind we're talking about a SINGLE SHIP apprearing as a reinforcement after an entire FLEET was almost effortlessly destroyed by the enemy.
 * We would be remiss if we did not mention the Moment of Awesome in Final Yamato. The earth fleet has been wiped out and the planet Aquarius is on a direct collision course with our home. The only thing that stop this disaster is the power of the Wave Motion Gun, set to a wide angle dispersal. The Argo has been filled with a volatile explosive and gets underway to get into position to fire the gun and stop Aquarius - but the enemy fleet (with a vested interest in destroying Earth) moves to stop the Star Force. They cant fight back - the Wave Motion Gun is off line. They cant warp - there's not enough time. If the enemy engages the Argo, there's a good chance the ship will be destroyed before it ever reaches it's target! As the enemy fleet prepares to fire, suddenly the flag ship explodes as Desslok and the Gamalon Fleet (who haven't been seen all movie), come charging in for the rescue. The Star Force's one time mortal enemy does a complete Heel-Face turn and saves the day!
 * Even the live-action movie has several ones including but the best one is at the very end, when Kodai is, a remastered version of a track quite familiar to all Yamato fans starts playing in the background as the Yamato is being shot to hell around him. It's a major Tear Jerker moment but damn if it isn't AWESOME.
 * Gash Bell has Brago . There's also, ... everything Brago does fits on this page. This manga also contains Bari, who rivals Brago for the position of "walking Moment of Awesome". And of course there's Heroic Sacrifice, and everything about Kiees/Keys...
 * Brago gets another one when he
 * Almost everything Sherry does qualifies as well. Particularly the way she fought Zophise's mind controlled humans AND demons!
 * FOLGORE earns one when  Chapter 300 has turned the simple pop star into pure awesome. Also, his badass normal status for being being every bit the Determinator as Kiyo and Sherry, and a bit of Made of Iron for never seeming to get more than cut up for all the attacks he takes for   Kanchome.
 * I also liked Folgore's Badass metaphor thing (not sure if there is a trope for that), that he used to convince Kanchome to stop (I'm paraphrasing but this is the main conversation the two have, minus the flashback).

Kanchome: "then... what you said that night... but... but... I don't want to go back to my weak self!"

Folgore: "Kanchome... I forgot to tell you that night... but the hippo is strong... especially when it's protecting it's children... IT CAN EVEN DEFEAT A LION!!!""

"Misao: I'll be fine. I won't try to hide my weakness or jealousy anymore. I know I'm full of contradictions. But all things considered, I love myself and Misa. So I think I'll be fine. Please, Rumiya."
 * Won Lei is plenty awesome, but especially when
 * The entire ending of the final fight; [[spoiler:from Danny appearing to save Gash when everything seems hopeless to just about every ally Gash has ever made (and then some) showing up in spirit form to launch a huge, several chapter assault on Clear is pretty much this +.
 * Just about anytime that Baou Zakeruga is used.
 * The doujin manga Nami S.O.S. is a Hentai parody of magical girl stories. It focuses on a team of super-powered heroines, but by far the most memorable character is the main girl's Badass Normal brother. In one issue, the girl he's hot for is attacked by a pair of winged tentacle demons and winds up being molested by the two of them in midair. The guy picks up a big pole from I-can't-remember-where and tries to pole vault over to her from the roof of a skyscraper. He falls short and looks to be about to fall to his death, but instead manages to grab some of the beast's dangling tentacles and pull him off her from the force of his own falling through the air. This leads to a bout of fisticuffs in free-fall that ends with the guy using the side of a nearby skyscraper to scrape the demon's skull apart. Meanwhile, the girl polishes off the other beast and arrives just in time to pluck him out of the air and carry him to a safe landing. This being a hentai manga- well, let's just say it's good times for him next issue...
 * Minoru finally letting Akira know what he really thinks of her in Lucky Star. Also the entirety of his Image Song, "Koi No Minoru Densetsu."
 * Also, the dance number in the final episode.
 * And don't forget Akira finally letting her inner professional shine through for just a little bit when singing Misoji Misaki in the karaoke box.
 * The Initial D parody. Especially with "Gravity" playing in the background.
 * Anime Tenchou is a walking Moment of Awesome... even if he never gets Konata to buy something from him.
 * And finally... Konata's elaborate plan for taking everything there is in Comiket.
 * And her Testosterone Poisoned fantasy of giant mecha dentists with drills.
 * The moments that concern the songs are very much topped in the concert.
 * Everything Kyuuzou does in Samurai Seven. Also, episode 21. Two Nobuseri have been betrayed by Ukyo, and call him on it. Calmly, he turns around and continues his croquet game...as the main cannons of his Imperial Capital airship blow the giant robots to pieces not five feet away from him.
 * In one chapter of Franken Fran, Fran ends up getting her throat viciously slit open by a hitman hired by her client. Rather than die like any other person understandably would, she sits back up, with her head hanging off the back of her neck, pulls out her tools and gargles "BEGIN... OPER.. ATION" She then reattaches her own head with barely any repercussions aside from some uncoordinated eyes and lots and lots of blood.
 * The middle of the Divine Design (Cards) Arc of Get Backers is arguably one big, long Moment for Juubei. The awesome is how he pulls off two Big Damn Heroes rescues, masters the training the main characters struggled through in half the time, catches up to them in a labyrinth, defeats his Four Gods analogue without any hint of the mystical training he just mastered, breaks his friend's brainwashing... Did I mention he was recently blinded? Dialogue like "By order of Makubex, Juubei Kakei has arrived!" and "Juubei Kakei, at your service. I have come to study at your feet," somehow adds to the cool factor. He gets his Moment Of Heartwarming when he assures former rival Toshiki that he needs him, and starts mixing the Awesome and Heartwarming once . Ginji seems to acknowledge the whole affair as Juubei's Moment of Awesome and an attempt to conquer past weaknesses, and it partially inspires him to want to get stronger himself.
 * Near the end of The Third the Girl With The Blue Eye, Bogie (an AI-controlled tank) takes on.
 * In the final episode, Honoka.
 * In Yotsuba&!, Cool Big Sis next door Asagi is the best person at managing Yotsuba, no easy task, and her moment is Awesome.
 * Miura gets her moment of awesome as well, in the procession for a local shrine's festival -- so awesome, Yotsuba tries to imitate her.
 * Yotsuba gets a moment in being so freaking cute that the denizens of 4chan -- easily the most infamous and squick-filled place on the internet -- will flame anyone into eternity for posting Rule 34 of her, something not even her predecessor Chiyo-chan (see Cheerful Child) could pull off.
 * In Nana, Yasu decking one of the Paparazzi.
 * Archer's "Unlimited Blade Works" from Fate Stay Night and the incredibly badass "Steel is my body and fire is my blood..." speech during the battle against Berserker that leads up to it. See also all the moments in the visual novel.
 * Mega Man NT Warrior: Rock and Fireman are trapped in a giant cage of vines protected by pure evil. As the villain Plantman gloats, Fireman turns to Rockman and declares: "Rockman, trust what I say. There's nothing I can't burn... no, there's nothing we can't burn!" This leads to Rockman gaining the Soul Unison: Fire Soul and proceeding to launch a combination attack with Fireman that completely incinerates all of Plantman's defenses and the bastard himself.
 * The 2 parter where Kitt Wonn Roll.EXE knocks the stuffing out of Phistus Mega Man.EXE
 * In Corrector Yui's second season, the episode where Haruna Kisaragi decides to re-take her Corrector Haruna mantle when poor Yui is turned into stone in the Net.Com/rendered comatose in the Real World has her not only using the four elemental suits perfectly in very rapid succession, but teaming up with Corrector Ai to rescue Yui and other victims. Simply AWESOME way to subvert your semi-Chickification, Haruna!
 * Pretty Sammy has Misao, for the first time ever, transforming into Pixy Misa with the use of a baton, along with the magic words, "Pixy Mutation! Magical Recall!".
 * On the top of that, she gives a speech to Rumiya to encourage herself:


 * Deedlit in Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. With a bit of assistance from Parn and Ashram, . This all but took the "faux" off of "faux action girl".
 * May Wong in Kaleido Star. Two words. "DEEEEEEMONIC SPIRAAAAAAAAAL!"
 * Princess Mononoke: Ashitaka watches Sen's attack on Eboshi's people for a while, then finally has enough. He marches straight to where the two of them are fighting, effortlessly bending Ganza's sword on the way, then holds both Sen and Eboshi at bay as his cursed wound reveals itself to everyone. He proceeds to let everyone know just what will happen to them if they let this war continue.
 * "Look everyone! This is what hatred looks like! This is what it does when it catches hold of you! It's eating me alive and very soon now it will kill me. Fear and anger only make it grow faster."
 * Keep in mind he proceeded to carry San out of the encampment, lifting a gate requiring ten men ONE-HANDED and after being shot through the chest.
 * Ashitaka's practically a walking Moment of Awesome. The guy may speak softly, but when he tells you to back off, YOU BETTER LISTEN TO HIM.
 * Lady Eboshi gets her Anti-Villain moment late in the movie. "Okay, watch closely. I'm going to show you how to kill a god." Badass.
 * Moetan episode 10. The whole of it. Ink and Sumi suiting up despite knowing this may be the last time they get to do the magic thing. Arks and Karks going human form and blasting the hell out of everything. Badass Longcoat Dandy being revealed as the King Incognito. And then it all ends with Arks realizing that Alice's magical partner is...well, a loli, and promptly suffers a Megaton Punch. Also, there are Gundam references. It's a Shounen finale amped up to 11. A perfect blend of absurdity, fanservice and awesome.
 * The moment of awesome for Tamura Reiko in Parasyte had to be when she ran past a city of clueless onlookers, cackling maniacally, while missing the upper half of her head.
 * Even more awesome is what the upper half of her head is doing at this time. Namely, beating the shit out of two other parasites hunting her down. This is pretty much the Bizarre Alien Equivalent of kicking ass with your arms chopped off.
 * An awesome and funny moment from the first season of Slayers: After Zolf tries to attack Lina and Gourry by surprise, the two heroes make short work of his trolls by turning their healing powers against them with pebbles and a magic spell, causing them to disappear into nothingness. Right afterward, Lina prepares a spell to use against Zolf, sending him screaming and running away from the inn...from a harmless ball of light. The best mages learn to master the simple spells as well as the city-destroying ones ("DRAGON SLAVE!").
 * Another first season example: While fighting some mooks, Gourry swings his sword at one and misses, embedding the blade into a tree trunk. Rather than pulling the blade out to attack the mook creeping up behind him, Gourry simply pushes the blade right through the tree and cuts the mook in half, all in one motion, proving just how brutally strong this mostly normal human is in a world full of monsters and magic.
 * Of course, the very first time he uses the Sword of Light is one by default.
 * During the second half of Slayers Revolution episode 8, Xellos reminds us just how powerful he is.
 * Slayers Evolution-R: Xellos
 * Also, in Evolution-R episode 12 there's a very short but amazingly epic battle. The reason for this is both opponents being incredibly powerful. And the tongue.
 * Even Sylphiel gets her chance to shine in episode 25 of the first season,.
 * 11 Nagas storming a castle in the first OVA. That is all.
 * How has the climax of NEXT not been mentioned yet? Lina has been spending the entire season doing everything she can not to use the Giga Slave after finding out that making a single, tiny mistake in the casting of it would destroy the universe, so naturally Hellmaster Fibrizzo has been spending the entire season trying to force her to use the Giga Slave so that he can make it go out of control. At this point, he's easily withstood two simultaneous Dragon Slaves, one of which was amplified, and Lina's second strongest spell, the Ragna Blade. When Fibrizzo is about to kill Gourry right before her eyes, however, Lina finally cracks and uses the Giga Slave... and her wish to save Gourry winds up being so strong and pure that it amplifies the spell to the point of actually summoning the Lord of Nightmares into Lina's body instead of just calling on her power. The Lord Of Nightmares proceeds to mop the floor with Fibrizzo with pretty much zero effort. After finding out that Lina has been absorbed into the chaos that makes up the Lord of Nightmares, Gourry chases her into another dimension, giving up the Sword of Light and pleading for Lina to come back to him, and just when it looks like she's gone for good the Lord of Nightmares recreates Lina right in Gourry's arms, and the two of them share their first kiss. They both return to reality holding each other and with no memory of what happened.
 * F-Zero Falcon Densetsu: The Falcon PUUUUNNNNNNCH! scene from the final episode.
 * In the Street Fighter II Animated Movie, and in what might be one of the best animated fighting scenes ever, Anime Chinese Girl Chun Li is unarmed, nearly naked, and alone in her apartment. She doesn't realize that she's being stalked by a noticeably steroidal, seven foot tall, bladed, Vega... whats worse, he's in full-on batshit insane mode. He fully intends on gleefully skining her alive, and killing her, in that order. Guile is on his way, but even he knows he's not going to make it in time. Seemingly over-matched Chun Li manages to defeat Vega through her superior martial arts skills, quick-thinking, and manipulation of his weaknesses (pretty boy has a thing about his face). Even after sustaining multiple serious injuries, and starting to weaken due to blood loss she refuses to give in to the pain and keeps fighting. Oh yeah and  Watch the goodness Here.
 * Mnemosyne's Rin probably had a lot of these along the way but her true moment of awesomeness happens when she confronts Apos for the final time in the last episode.
 * Am I the only one who's actually disturbed reading that? At best, such a tactic would strike me as a Shoot the Dog moment. The last two sentences somehow make it creepier, like they're saying "beauty makes right."
 * And let's not forget her Badass Bookworm sidekick Mimi, who in the final episode Considering Mimi has hacked just about everything, and despite the fact that it was subverted to a point, it's the most badass thing she's ever done in the series.
 * Lone Wolf and Cub is largely a string of Moments of Awesome for the main character, Ogami Itto. Simply hearing his name is enough to make a grown man scream in terror. But the epic nature of the series leads up to one of the most Awesome endings ever printed.  Also worth mentioning is the episode Will of the Fang, where Itto is forced to fight Masatsune, one of his old sword students who never quite finished his studies. Now the local lord, Masatsune leads his whole army against Itto. After hacking his way through them all, Itto kills Masatsune in a Single Stroke Bat