Some of the most fascinating anime arcs feature massive power-up sequences in which the characters in question end up growing so strong that almost no one else can even come close to harming them. However, more often than not, it becomes nearly impossible to continue their stories because their strength relative to others is so high that the narrative loses much of its tension.
To ensure that the stakes remain high and viewers remain compelled by the overarching stories, writers are eventually forced to find creative ways to write these overpowered characters out. The said characters either end up making massive sacrifices that completely remove them from the narrative or temporarily end up getting side quests they must fulfill before putting their powers on full display.
Featuring extremely overpowered characters is not inherently a problem in anime, especially in the shōnen genre where the primary appeal lies in watching characters advance to new levels. However, it is still fascinating how, every once in a while, most of these characters have to be written out in one way or the other to level the playing field.
Escanor In The Seven Deadly Sins
Escanor’s Sunshine grace alone made him incredibly powerful after sunrise in The Seven Deadly Sins. However, “The One” state, which he only entered for a minute at noon, made him nearly invincible in the series. To be able to make him seem less overpowered, The Seven Deadly Sins had to set a limit to how much his frame could handle the divine power of the Goddess Clan.
As a result, every time he pushed past his own limits, the immense solar heat from his ability burnt his own life force out of him. When he eventually unlocked The One: Ultimate during his fight against the Demon King, he ended up defeating the villain but completely broke down into ash and dissipated.
Julius Novachrono In Black Clover
Black Clover‘s Julius was almost a walking cheat code because of his ability to accelerate, decelerate, stop, or even reverse time. If his Time Magic was accurately portrayed, the anime’s plot would never have progressed, as the invading Eye of the Midnight Sun faction would never truly prove to be a worthy threat to the Clover Kingdom.
This is why the anime used his own love for his citizens as an effective plot device to conveniently write him out. During his showdown against the elf leader Patry, Julius was forced to use every last bit of his stored time to cast a massive counter-spell to save the kingdom. This eventually turned him into a powerless 13-year-old child, which completely took him off the overarching power scale.
Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai In Bleach
The Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 in Bleach, Shigekuni, reached absurd, world-threatening levels when he unleashed his Bankai. As a result, he not only ended up possessing a word that burned at 15,000,000 degrees Celsius, but also threatened to incinerate the entire Soul Society just by being active. Characters in Bleach like Ichigo and the other Soul Reapers would not have had a shot at any development if Shigekuni was written normally.
Owing to this, villains like Aizen had to come up with specialized Arrancar to seal away the flames of Ryujin Jakka. Even in the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, Yhwach had to find a way to trick Yamamoto into exhausting his power and use a specialized Quincy Medallion to physically steal his Bankai.
Madara Uchiha In Naruto
Madara had become a force to be reckoned with during the Fourth Shinobi World War, and it was seemingly impossible for almost any character in the anime to realistically beat him. The main Naruto villain character peaked when he single-handedly decimated the Five Kage, absorbed the Ten-Tails, unlocked the Rinne Sharingan, and even cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
In a straight ninja showdown, Team 7 could not have taken him down. Owing to this, his journey had to be ended with a controversial betrayal from Black Zetsu. Interestingly, Boruto‘s will soon adapt the Two Blue Vortex arc from the original manga. This arc features villains who are so overpowered and godly that even Madara looks Genin compared to them. It would be interesting to see how the anime will handle these new antagonists.
Hiko Seijuro XIII In Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin‘s Seijuro was written out of the narrative’s main conflict in a unique way. Instead of killing him off or finding a way to make him lose his strength, the anime used his nonchalance as a device to make him seem less significant. While being far more skilled and even physically bigger than Kenshin, Seijuro lacks Kenshin’s trauma and emotional fragility.
This, too, seems to work in his favor, but what keeps him away from the central conflicts is his dismissal of the day-to-day issues from the real world. He prefers to stay in isolation and peace even though he would have easily overpowered main villains like Shishio Makoto and Enishi Yukishiro.
All Might In My Hero Academia
As the foundational story from My Hero Academia suggests, All Might single-handedly ensured peace in the world because his presence alone was enough to strike fear into all evil threats. However, for Izuku Midoriya’s story to actually begin, All Might had to be written out. The anime did this by introducing a previous injury that gradually made him weaker with time.
In a final showdown against his nemesis, All For One, All Might completely burned himself out before giving Midoriya the chance to shine. This brings real stakes to the anime because Midoriya is portrayed as an underdog who must go through a lot to be able to unlock his true potential and reach the same level as All Might. If All Might had not been written out, the Class 1-A students in My Hero Academia, including Izuku, would always have a safety net.
Satoru Gojo In Jujutsu Kaisen
Gojo’s Limitless technique and Six Eyes almost made him seem untouchable, which eventually forced Jujutsu Kaisen to creatively write him out. One of the best examples of this is when, in the Shibuya incident arc, the villains used the Prison Realm to trap him. Kenjaku cleverly hijacked the corpse of Gojo’s deceased best friend, Suguru Geto, which stunned Gojo and completely caught him off-guard.
Taking advantage of the situation, the villains took his fleeting vulnerability for granted and snapped the seal shut for good. With this, Gojo was out of the picture, forcing the remaining characters of the series to experience real stakes.
Goku In Dragon Ball Z
From the beginning itself, Dragon Ball Z had to find ways to write Goku out so that other characters could take the center stage and shine for a while. In the Saiyan Saga, the anime achieves this by showing how he puts his life on the line during the showdown against Raditz and ends up in the Other World while the remaining characters are forced to face Vegeta without him.
Something similar happens in the Namek arc when a hospital stay on Earth and six-day space travel delay his arrival. Even in the Android Arc, Goku had become so mythically strong as a Super Saiyan that the Toriyama manga and anime had to introduce a viral heart infection to make him look relatively weaker.