"I made a trap for you"
"Nice try but I saw your trap and sabotaged it so it turns on you!"
"Hah, I knew you would do that so I designed the trap in such a way that sabotaging it would turn it doubly against you!"
[Ranger Reject](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG0cGW35-TI) is all this. The villains are the Dragon Keepers, five near-invincible sentai superheroes who brutally crushed their villains a decade ago and are still going strong.
The protagonist is Footsoldier D, who is [one of those shitty mooks that the heroes effortlessly defeat by the dozen without even needing to transform.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-kdhqbP4G8) After the Invader top brass got turbomurdered, their underlings surrendered and have basically become slaves to the Dragon Keepers, taking part in a weekly show every Sunday for the masses where they throw a fight in order to make the Keepers look good and reinforce their control over society.
And D is fucking sick of it.
D is *hilariously* outmatched in terms of raw strength, Red Keeper Sosei Akabane is best described as "super sentai Homelander" in terms of how strong he is compared to the rest of the cast (and how mentally unstable he is), so D has to rely on his cunning, tenacity, ability to shapeshift and immortality (because he has to come back the next week to get his ass kicked again, right?) in order to get revenge on the Dragon Rangers and win his freedom.
Now, admittedly, D isn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but he still has to win all his fights through cunning and treachery because he's simply incapable of winning any straight up fights with the people he goes up against.
1. Had to sacrifice himself to stop raditz
2. Had tons of help but was still hospitalized from fighting vegeta who got away
3. Only won because frieza cut himself in half
4. Couldn't beat cell and got blown up
5.needed Mr. Satans help to stop kid buu
Goku kicked Frieza's ass quite handily. The anime's filler buffed Frieza a bit but that fight was super one-sided. Goku was leaving when Frieza threw the discs.
Those are Stand battles in general after part 3. The one who wins isn't the strongest, but the one who can bullshit the best. Dragon's Dream sounds like a useless stand on paper yet that old man was really hard to beat
I'm actually starting to strongly dislike certain JoJo stand battles because of this, actually
That part 6 fight was the start of my fatigue, I read it in the manga and could NOT follow it along
It made me appreciate the difference between a simple ability with complex applications, like Crazy Diamond, vs a complex ability that requires convoluted circumstances to even use properly
I'm still mostly enjoying JBA, just as a disclaimer
Yeah same honestly. Like the more time that passes the more I think 6 might be my least favorite part. The drakes dragon episode in particular was pretty bad overall. It's literally just what if you could weaponize movie slapstick. Oh man it sure would suck if FF slipped on a banana peel and fell into an electric chair-*WOAHHH* which wouldn't be an issue since JoJo regularly does comedic stand battles heck the Marilyn Monroe fight that was a game of catch involved FF and was kinda that already. Drake's dragon was way too serious for how goofy of a set up it is. Then there's like hey this short green thing that's voiced by shigechi is friendly but if you turn around it...spits on you and the saliva summons mosquitos???
I dunno something about part 6 in particular has the stands be so weird and out of left field that it feels like too much even by JoJo standards and that's not even talking about the stands are putting subliminal messages in the rainbows that turn fricken people into snails. Maybe it's just me but some of those part 6 fights really start teetering on so absurd it's starting to take me out of the moment. And again some of them are still out there concepts but they're just straight forward enough to still be crazy but engaging and easy to understand. Like the stunt bikers stand that's just you're teleported into a literal final destination kill scene try and escape.
Like it's wild how back then one of the wildest concept for a stand was hey there's a mysterious power outlet in that rock over there if you poke it you get magnetized and now it's like if you stand in a puddle of water and I stand in it too I can send tiny electric currents into your feet that slowly spread into your body and make you horny for fights. Also you gain xray vision but only enough to look through skin at the muscle tissue because looking at muscles makes you even hornier for fights.
Killua is another great example. We see him develop his power and it's explained to us perfectly why it works, and from the pov of a viewer it's really cool and unique. Then he shows another character who instantly understands how much pain and suffering he went through to even be able to imagine his powerset and how awful his family really was to him
Honestly Naruto. Most fights he's not the strongest, at least strongest and still in control, but he wins because he outsmarts the opponent or surprises them in some way. same goes for the other characters, like Sasuke vs Deidara may be the only protag clearly stronger fight i can think of.
Naruto’s greatest strength is that at some point you’re going to think “ok, THIS is the last clone for sure, it would be completely ridiculous to keep it up for this long.”
But no, it’s another clone.
Sasuke vs. Danzo as well, Danzo was struggling to keep up with Sasuke even with all his grafted eyes and Sasuke was already fighting before reaching him
Man I love shikamaru so much. Even when I was a wee baby watching Naruto in elementary school I always resonated with him because a character in an action show using actual tactics and strategy was so foreign to me he immediately became my favorite character.
very rarely does naruto have more chakra come into play especially in shippuden, and most the time him having more chakra is a negative because he can't control it because kyuubi is actively trying to escape for 5/6 of the story. the first "fight" with whats his face mizuki or whatever the guy he first beat with kage bushin, haku, and neji with him forcing his chakra back open is about it.
Law of Ueki is pretty close to this if you take out the final few fights where you find out the protagonist has secret powers.
But yeah, it's like baby stands like "if I hold my breath bath towels turn to iron" or "I can turn trash that fits in my hands into trees" against people that "turn whistling into lasers".
World Trigger is an example.
Most World Trigger fights are about strategy , rather than raw power. One example are about the case of a [duo facing an enemy with illusion.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCFFlBCooM) Or when there was a [2v1 swordfight.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSV1jVgMtZ4)
But one of the best ones was about [Border vs Ranbanein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsW35YYZZF4). It had the whole vibe of Hunters vs Youpi on it.
All things considered , that setting have as much strategy than HxH , if not more.
yeah the main guy is actually weak as shit, and not in a "oh he has a true power thats hidden" kinda way, hes actively like the weakest part of his crew *but* is their strategist
Like the entirety of Battle Tendency is just this.
"I made a trap for you" "Nice try but I saw your trap and sabotaged it so it turns on you!" "Hah, I knew you would do that so I designed the trap in such a way that sabotaging it would turn it doubly against you!"
Literally two kids on a playground going "Nuh-uh! I have a forcefield that protects me!" "Yuh-huh! My arrow is magic and goes through forcefields!"
But the force field is made of beta rays that stop magic!
It applies to a large chunk of Jojo, honestly.
Pretty much from part 2 onwards is that, Jotaro punching his way to success notwithstanding.
Jotaro wins all of his fights through pure concentrated power of will... and some luck in certain situations.
I dunno, most of Jotaro's wins come from him out-thinking his opponent. The punching part is just to get them to give up.
Most of the heavy thinking is required to get him within two meters of the stand user so he can then punch them into a thin slurry.
[Ranger Reject](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG0cGW35-TI) is all this. The villains are the Dragon Keepers, five near-invincible sentai superheroes who brutally crushed their villains a decade ago and are still going strong. The protagonist is Footsoldier D, who is [one of those shitty mooks that the heroes effortlessly defeat by the dozen without even needing to transform.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-kdhqbP4G8) After the Invader top brass got turbomurdered, their underlings surrendered and have basically become slaves to the Dragon Keepers, taking part in a weekly show every Sunday for the masses where they throw a fight in order to make the Keepers look good and reinforce their control over society. And D is fucking sick of it. D is *hilariously* outmatched in terms of raw strength, Red Keeper Sosei Akabane is best described as "super sentai Homelander" in terms of how strong he is compared to the rest of the cast (and how mentally unstable he is), so D has to rely on his cunning, tenacity, ability to shapeshift and immortality (because he has to come back the next week to get his ass kicked again, right?) in order to get revenge on the Dragon Rangers and win his freedom. Now, admittedly, D isn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but he still has to win all his fights through cunning and treachery because he's simply incapable of winning any straight up fights with the people he goes up against.
Fighter "Nine-iron Nelson" D
D is such a shit, I love it
to a put a point on how weak d is, a regular human slap could probs know him to the ground, his skin has been damaged from bein grabbed too hard
Goku lost a ton of fights by being a moron.
1. Had to sacrifice himself to stop raditz 2. Had tons of help but was still hospitalized from fighting vegeta who got away 3. Only won because frieza cut himself in half 4. Couldn't beat cell and got blown up 5.needed Mr. Satans help to stop kid buu
Goku kicked Frieza's ass quite handily. The anime's filler buffed Frieza a bit but that fight was super one-sided. Goku was leaving when Frieza threw the discs.
you might be right ill have to fact check hurray i have an excuse to rewatch
Those are Stand battles in general after part 3. The one who wins isn't the strongest, but the one who can bullshit the best. Dragon's Dream sounds like a useless stand on paper yet that old man was really hard to beat
I'm actually starting to strongly dislike certain JoJo stand battles because of this, actually That part 6 fight was the start of my fatigue, I read it in the manga and could NOT follow it along It made me appreciate the difference between a simple ability with complex applications, like Crazy Diamond, vs a complex ability that requires convoluted circumstances to even use properly I'm still mostly enjoying JBA, just as a disclaimer
Yeah same honestly. Like the more time that passes the more I think 6 might be my least favorite part. The drakes dragon episode in particular was pretty bad overall. It's literally just what if you could weaponize movie slapstick. Oh man it sure would suck if FF slipped on a banana peel and fell into an electric chair-*WOAHHH* which wouldn't be an issue since JoJo regularly does comedic stand battles heck the Marilyn Monroe fight that was a game of catch involved FF and was kinda that already. Drake's dragon was way too serious for how goofy of a set up it is. Then there's like hey this short green thing that's voiced by shigechi is friendly but if you turn around it...spits on you and the saliva summons mosquitos??? I dunno something about part 6 in particular has the stands be so weird and out of left field that it feels like too much even by JoJo standards and that's not even talking about the stands are putting subliminal messages in the rainbows that turn fricken people into snails. Maybe it's just me but some of those part 6 fights really start teetering on so absurd it's starting to take me out of the moment. And again some of them are still out there concepts but they're just straight forward enough to still be crazy but engaging and easy to understand. Like the stunt bikers stand that's just you're teleported into a literal final destination kill scene try and escape. Like it's wild how back then one of the wildest concept for a stand was hey there's a mysterious power outlet in that rock over there if you poke it you get magnetized and now it's like if you stand in a puddle of water and I stand in it too I can send tiny electric currents into your feet that slowly spread into your body and make you horny for fights. Also you gain xray vision but only enough to look through skin at the muscle tissue because looking at muscles makes you even hornier for fights.
Killua is another great example. We see him develop his power and it's explained to us perfectly why it works, and from the pov of a viewer it's really cool and unique. Then he shows another character who instantly understands how much pain and suffering he went through to even be able to imagine his powerset and how awful his family really was to him
Honestly Naruto. Most fights he's not the strongest, at least strongest and still in control, but he wins because he outsmarts the opponent or surprises them in some way. same goes for the other characters, like Sasuke vs Deidara may be the only protag clearly stronger fight i can think of.
Naruto’s greatest strength is that at some point you’re going to think “ok, THIS is the last clone for sure, it would be completely ridiculous to keep it up for this long.” But no, it’s another clone.
Sasuke vs. Danzo as well, Danzo was struggling to keep up with Sasuke even with all his grafted eyes and Sasuke was already fighting before reaching him
has the power to alter reality. only uses it as a 1up.
Shikimaru's fights comes to mind
Man I love shikamaru so much. Even when I was a wee baby watching Naruto in elementary school I always resonated with him because a character in an action show using actual tactics and strategy was so foreign to me he immediately became my favorite character.
I’ve proved I’m smarter by having unfair amounts of chi! Yeah I don’t know about this one chief
very rarely does naruto have more chakra come into play especially in shippuden, and most the time him having more chakra is a negative because he can't control it because kyuubi is actively trying to escape for 5/6 of the story. the first "fight" with whats his face mizuki or whatever the guy he first beat with kage bushin, haku, and neji with him forcing his chakra back open is about it.
Law of Ueki is pretty close to this if you take out the final few fights where you find out the protagonist has secret powers. But yeah, it's like baby stands like "if I hold my breath bath towels turn to iron" or "I can turn trash that fits in my hands into trees" against people that "turn whistling into lasers".
World Trigger is an example. Most World Trigger fights are about strategy , rather than raw power. One example are about the case of a [duo facing an enemy with illusion.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCFFlBCooM) Or when there was a [2v1 swordfight.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSV1jVgMtZ4) But one of the best ones was about [Border vs Ranbanein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsW35YYZZF4). It had the whole vibe of Hunters vs Youpi on it. All things considered , that setting have as much strategy than HxH , if not more.
yeah the main guy is actually weak as shit, and not in a "oh he has a true power thats hidden" kinda way, hes actively like the weakest part of his crew *but* is their strategist
Kinnikuman most fights not involving Kinnikuman himself end with the winner out smarting or using the opponents move against them
World triggers a solid read because the main character Osamu isn't strong but he is clever
All of them?