Action tends to get a lot of attention in anime, along with other elements like romance, villain backstories, and redemption arcs. Of course, friendship often comes into play in anime. That might take the form of bonds and brotherhood that you see in Narutoor through the slice of life narratives that follow friends through their average days like in Lucky Star. However, there are anime that make great use of the power of friendship trope, and you might not always expect to see it used in a few of the shows that use it the most effectively in ways that leave viewers invested.
Part of the fun with the power of friendship tropes is that there are a lot of ways that they can be used, but the core idea of how the trope functions stays the same. Because of that, the power of friendship can lead to the most emotional moments of an anime, showing how strength can come from trusting others or showing how devastating a betrayal can become when your power comes from friendship.
1) Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail puts the power of friendship at the center of its universe. Wizards tend to work in groups, and a lot of them have magic that synergizes well with their group members. Levy and Gajeel are great examples of this synergy, as eating iron empowers Gajeel, and Levy is able to create iron with her script magic that he can eat. Gray and Juvia have a different dynamic, but one that works equally well, as Gray uses ice magic and Juvia uses water magic.
Of course, having magic types that support the magic of another mage is far from the only way that the power of friendship comes into play. It’s obvious that the members of Fairy Tail care a great deal about each other, and you see that in battles. They’re fiercely protective of their friends, and that means that when a friend is in danger or struggling during a battle, they are empowered by their desire to protect them.
2) My Hero Academia
With the main cast of My Hero Academia being in Class 1-A and having the bond of at least being classmates, it’s not surprising that the power of friendship trope makes constant appearances. Even though a lot of the series puts a spotlight on how the characters grow individually, they aren’t growing in a vacuum. When one character is struggling, you can almost guarantee that another character will show up to have their back. You also have a moment where the power of friendship is shown through a line of people who are connected through One For All, not necessarily knowing each other as friends, but as people with common goals and brave hearts that value being heroes.
3) One Piece
You get the idea of how important friendship is in One Piece basically from the beginning of the series. Luffy even admits that he wouldn’t survive without his friends, because they have skills that he doesn’t, meaning they make up for each other’s weaknesses in order to form a functional group.
If that’s not enough to shove the power of friendship this crew has, you can look at how the Straw Hats were willing to declare war in order to save Robin from herself by proving how much they care about her. The entire show has the feeling of a group of friends facing the world together, and it’s hard to not find that heartwarming.
4) Pokemon
When it comes to Pokémonyou see the power of friendship trope revolve around Ash a lot, although he’s not the only example of the trope appeared. It’s obvious that Ash and his Pokémon trust each other, and that contributes to his power as a trainer. Plus, Ash often works with other trainers as friends. Even Jesse and James showcase the power of friendship as Team Rocket. All it takes is one look at Ash with Pikachu to see that the power of friendship is what fuels the characters of this series.
5) Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon doesn’t need to emphasize the power of friendship that fuels the Sailor Scouts because you see it so consistently through the series that you just expect it. It’s rare for a single Sailor Scout to face a threat alone, and they instead tend to rely on each other, knowing and trusting that their friends will be with them to face any threats that appear. You see Sailor Moon get power-ups that are usually related to needing more strength to help her friends, which then lets her help her friends receive power-ups. Even with the romance between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, it’s the full group of Sailor Scouts that make up the heart of the show.
6) Berserk
At a glance, Berserk isn’t an anime that you’d associate with the power of friendship trope, especially since many classic friendship anime tend to have overall lighter tones. However, the theme of camaraderie is a big part of Berserkwith it growing even more crucial in later portions of the story after the Conviction Arc. Guts has to learn to trust others, even when he knows he’s strong, because being strong isn’t always enough.
Compared to other power of friendship tropes, this one feels more rewarding since you see the struggle behind forming those bonds before they come into play as a strength. For Guts, who tends to live life on his own, seeing him connect with people enough that it can quell his rampages or outright empower him is rewarding. Even more rewarding is seeing him grow those connections over time, and in the wake of immeasurable loss, he finds a group of fellow strugglers strong enough to pull him back from his own personal abyss.
7) Black Clover
Noelle is the focal point for Black Clover’s most obvious use of the power of friendship trope. Her friendship with other mages is what pushes her to want to become stronger, even becoming an attack mage, which leads to her being able to use the spell Sea Dragon’s Roar. Of course, you’ll find the power of friendship throughout the series since you start off with the main characters, Asta and Yuno, being childhood friends who were left at the same orphanage.
8) Bleach
Bleach takes an interesting approach to the power of friendship trope, and even pokes fun at the power of friendship in episodes 213 and 214, where they openly admit that they’ll use the power of friendship to defeat hollows. Characters don’t necessarily give each other strength for power boosts, but they give each other the motivation required to seek improvement for their own strength, which tends to be decided by factors like how much spiritual power you have and if you have innate abilities.
9) Konosuba
Konosuba might be the funniest example of the power of friendship in this list, and that’s because the power of friendship is mandatory if this group wants to accomplish anything. This world has MMORPG elements, but that doesn’t mean that being born into the world guarantees you’ll have decent stats, which is the main problem for the cast.
Kazuma is meant to be a jack-of-all-trades type, but this effectively means that he’s underpowered in all areas. Meanwhile, his three companions are all overpowered in one specific area, but useless in others. As a result, the power of friendship is the only way for them to function in any aspect.
10) Kinnikuman
Everything in Kinnikuman is about the power of friendship, and the show isn’t even subtle about it. It’s so prevalent in this show that there’s a power literally called Friendship Power that’s basically at the core of every arc and the answer to healing a dying planet. You even have a form of the power called Genuine Friendship Power, which is seen as an inferior ability but provides the strength Kinnikuman needs. Friendship Power can also be stolen, which you don’t see often in anime. Overall, it can feel ridiculous at times, but only in the best ways.
In anime, the power of friendship can be a lot of things. In some ways, it’s expected, but the implementation of its use is where an anime can make it shine. When it feels like TV shows are filled with dramas that focus on romance, it’s refreshing to turn to anime, where the bonds of friendship are often celebrated to remind you that all types of connections are important and give you the strength to make it through difficult days.
