“SMASH”

In a world where most normal human beings bear a superhuman characteristic and superheroes are commonplace, 15-year-old Midoriya Izuku has had the misfortune of being a human without a “quirk”. Despite this, Izuku has always dreamt of one day becoming a hero like his idol, the all-powerful All Might, and later sought to attend the prestigious superhero school, UA High. His obsession with superheroes led him into a precarious situation involving a supervillai and Izuku’s childhood friend, where they were saved by none other than Izuku’s idol, All Might. With this turn of events, Izuku’s pipedream was steered down a path of possibility as his hero uttered the words that he’d longed to hear: “You can become a hero”.

All Might invests much time in Izuku in order to prepare him for the U.A. entrance exam and at the very end of his training, All Might passes a fraction of his quirk, One For All, to Izuku, granting Izuku incredible strength and of course, a Midoriya-version of All Might’s signature move, the Detroit Smash. Izuku’s first attempt at the Smash is during the practical aspect of the U.A. entrance exam, where in a potentially fatal situation, Izuku sprang into action, without thinking about the consequences, to save Uraraka Ochaco, another aspiring hero – Izuku’s Smash on that occasion was guided and intense, so intense that he broke his own arm doing it. Our hero.

“Sekki”

With dreams of having millions of worshippers, minor god Yato has his work cut out for him as he barely manages to stay relevant to the human masses through his odd-job business, from which he earns 5 yen a piece. He believes he can invest the money in the construction of his own shrine, a surefire way to keep him fresh in the minds of humans, but his dream seems far-fetched when his weapon partner grows tired of their mundane way of life and deserts him. One day, Yato is “saved” from getting hit by a vehicle by 15-year-old Iki Hiyori, an incident which sees Hiyori’s soul become loose and allows her spectre to leave her body. She demands that Yato get her back to normal, but in order to do so, he needs to find himself a weapon partner. Hiyori reluctantly decides to help Yato in his search and perhaps, what seemed like a setback, may turn out to bring Yato several strides closer to his dream.

Yato finally finds his weapon partner soul mate in the form of a troubled teenager he later names “Yukine”. In order to use the weapon in combat, Yato must call it by the name he gave it, a name which doubles as an activation phrase. “Sekki”. Upon hearing this word, the blonde-haired teenager Yukine becomes an exquisite blade wielded by Yato himself – a divine and dangerous duo that may one day help Hiyori’s soul stay affixed to her body, and help Yato build the shrine of his dreams.

“Who the hell do you think I am?!”

Simon and Kamina were born in the underground Jeeha Village, with no real knowledge of the world aboveground. One day while routinely digging, Simon came across a strange object which was actually the key to activating an ancient war relic – a weapon Simon and Kamina call the Lagann. In possession of the Lagann, Simon and Kamina, with the help of surface-wandering redhead Yoko, successfully stave off an attack from the surface. The battle leaves the village in ruin and the sky in plain view, prompting Simon and Kamina to join Yoko on a journey to explore the surface, later joining the fight against the “Beastmen”, creatures that, with the use of robots known as “Gunmen”, terrorise the remnants of humanity who still dwell on the surface. Now fighting back-to-back-to-back, Simon, Kamina and Yoko fight the Beastmen with other survivors in order to take back the surface.

Kamina being the self-assured, ambitious and spontaneous person that he is, seeks to make a name for himself and go down in the annals of history. Perhaps it is this ambition that gives rise to his famous catchphrase and battle cry, a line that is forged in pure self-belief and confidence. At times, it’s a phrase that seems almost outrageous when given context, like when, while piloting the Lagann, Kamina executes a beautiful “Who the hell do you think I am?!” kick, using his catchphrase to name the special move on the fly. Who says battle cries can’t be versatile? Just who the hell do you think we are?

“IIIIIIIIIZAAAAAAAAYAAAAA!!!!”

In Tokyo’s district of Ikebukuro, strange things have been occurring recently, from the inception of anonymous gangs to multiple sightings of a mysterious headless rider dubbed the “Black Rider”. With so much happening in one part of town, Ryuugamine Mikado, who’d longed for the excitement of city life, couldn’t turn down his childhood friend’s invitation to move to Tokyo. Within a day of his arrival in Tokyo, Ryuugamine witnesses the Black Rider for himself, and with a plethora of other supernatural occurrences in Ikebukuro, Ryuugamine will have a hard time getting bored with his new life.

Boasting a moderately-sized roster of interesting characters, Durarara is capable of showing various themes and relationships between characters, which brings us to the most beautiful relationship ever, the one between Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya. Izaya claims to love the entire human race except for Heiwajima Shizuo, a person whom he had framed for several crimes, and places in tedious situations regularly. Because of this, Shizuo has a burning hatred for Izaya, and despite disliking violence, whenever he sees Izaya in public, Shizuo loses himself in comical fits of rage where he yells “IIIIIIIZAAAAYAAA!” or any of its variations, displays ridiculous strength, picking up vending machines, fridges or other heavy objects and throwing them at Izaya. Did we mention that Shizuo hates violence?

“BAN…KAI!”

15-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo has, for as long as he can remember, been able to see ghosts. One day, a woman dressed in a black kimono, armed with a sword appears in his room and later introduces herself as a Shinigami – a grim reaper-like entity whose purpose is to guide pure souls to a place known as Soul Society, and to purify evil spirits known as Hollows, that threaten peace in the human realm. One such Hollow attacks Ichigo’s home and the Shinigami suffers heavy wounds while trying to defend Ichigo from its attacks. With their deaths almost certain, the Shinigami suggests a plan to transfer her Shinigami powers to Ichigo so they may have a fighting chance, a decision which changes Ichigo’s life forever.

The Bankai, the main requirement for anyone to become a captain of any of the squads in the Gotei 13, as well as the ultimate manifestation of a Shinigami’s Zanpakuto and their power. Ichigo, with the help of Shihouin Yoruichi, achieves his Bankai in less than 3 days. The Bankai is also one of the flashiest abilities in the Bleach anime, with several different forms and activation phrases, what is common to all of them is the simple utterance of the word.

“Ban… kai…”

“Moon Prism Power Makeup!”

14-year-old crybaby Tsukino Usagi’s life changes when she meets Luna, a talking cat with a crescent-shaped mark on her forehead. Luna tells Usagi that she is destined to become Sailor Moon, a warrior who must fight against evils from another realm and grants her the power to do so. Now burdened with another responsibility, Usagi must juggle the day-to-day struggles of being a teenage girl, as well as the otherworldly forces that come to ruin the day.

In order to activate her powers, Usagi undergoes an extensive transformation which both hides her identity and gives her access to various devices which allow her to subdue her enemies. Her transformation is set into motion by her epic exclamation of the famous phrase “Moon Prism Power Makeup!” and with her powers in full effect, Usagi springs into action and in the name of the moon, punishes evil.

“Kogarasumaru… KILL ‘EM DEAD!”

Air Trecks, also known as ATs are motorised roller skates that have become increasingly popular with the Japanese youth, especially in the town where the delinquent Minami Itsuki, or “Ikki” lives, people have formed gangs and compete against each other in various events. Ikki was never really interested in ATs until his gang, the East Side Gunz, were wholly humiliated by a Storm Rider gang known as the Skull Saders. He discovers a pair of ATs at home, previously used by a Storm Rider gang called Sleeping Forest. Ignorant of the history those ATs bear, Ikki takes to the streets, ready to form his own gang and make a name for himself.

Starting out as a trio with his childhood friends Onigiri and Kazu, Ikki established Kogarasumaru and with time, assembled a formidable team of Storm Riders with different strengths. Given his experience at the helm of the East Side Gunz, Ikki takes quickly to being the leader of Kogarasumaru and even comes up with an awesome battle cry for whenever they roll out: “Kogarasumaru… KILL ‘EM DEAD!”

“I’m getting fired up!”

In the land of Fiore, magicians and wizards are commonplace, in fact, they’re so rooted in society that they have formed guilds where members can earn a living completing various jobs for clients. One such guild is the infamous Fairy Tail, a guild of powerful magicians and the place where 17-year-old Lucy Heartfilia sees herself in the near future. While searching for the guild, Lucy runs into the Salamander, a legendary member of Fairy Tail. Drunk on excitement, Lucy feels that luck has finally turned in her favour, but her adventure has just begun.

The Salamander, real name Natsu Dragneel, is one of the most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail and due to the fact that he is a First-Generation Dragon Slayer; that is, that he learned Dragon Slayer Magic directly from a living, breathing dragon, he boasts incredible strength. As homage to both his personality and his “dad”, the fire dragon Igneel, Natsu begins almost every beatdown with the phrase “I’m getting fired up!”. It’s also great to note that he says this, on many occasions, before causing widespread destruction and torching everything in sight. Natsu gets so fired up that everyone else does too.

“Bird, GO!”

One day, the ever-spunky high school girl, Ichinose Hajime, receives a NOTE; a device which allows her to become one of the Gatchaman, a group of warriors who exist to protect the world from the MESS - aliens that bring ruin to everything they touch. With her newfound knowledge about the Gatchaman, can Hajime and her new team work together to prevent worldwide destruction?

In what seems like a Japanese Power Rangers, Gatchaman CROWDS manages to capture the themes of planetary destruction and heroism, and, much like the Power Rangers, the Gatchaman have flashy moves and transformation sequences that are awesome to watch every single time they happen. With NOTE tucked firmly in hand, the Gatchaman shout “Bird, GO!” and undergo a transformation the Power Rangers could only dream of.

“Rokkon Shojo!”

During the industrial revolution, the emergence of a mysterious virus on the island of Hinomoto which turns people into bloodthirsty flesh-eating zombie-like creatures known as the Kabane forces the majority of human settlements to build tall walls; accessible only via highly fortified locomotives called “Hayajiro”. With steel cages surrounding their glowing hearts and fairly robust bodies, the Kabane are almost impossible for humans to defeat with the weapons they currently possess. However; Ikoma, a train engineer, has spent a substantial amount of time crafting a weapon capable of piercing through the Kabane’s hearts. Little did he know that he’d have to use it so soon after its completion…

Ikoma’s invention sets the stage for various human triumphs over the Kabane and this brings the attention of Princess Yomogawa Ayame aboard the Koutetsujou, a Hayajiro en route to Aragane Station. Before, during and after certain battles against the Kabane, the combatants as well as civilians exclaim “rokkon shojo!”, a battle cry which rallies the troops and prepares everyone for the impending battle. The meaning of the saying is somewhat unclear in the context of the anime, but in certain circles, “rokkon shojo” refers to the purification of “the six roots of perception” and the establishment of a “pure state” in one’s heart, which, albeit very loosely, could mean that one is prepared to “cut off their contact with the world”, making it easier for them to kill. Rokkon Shojo!