The Strongest Ki Manipulation Techniques in Anime

Highlights

• Main characters in anime often have powerful special attacks fueled by inner energy like Ki or Nen.
• Ki manipulation opens doors to learning devastating abilities that wreak havoc on enemies.
• The strength of a character’s main attack can make a significant impact in a battle and the overall series.

Anime is full of powerful world-breaking abilities that protagonists and antagonists use to overwhelm their opponents. A main character’s special attack often comes from his inner energy, such as Ki or Nen. When a character has obtained the ability to manipulate their Ki efficiently, it opens them up to learning devastating abilities that can cause explosive damage to whatever they unleash it upon.

Ki is a prominent trope in the majority of anime that is used to explain a specific power or life force that has a heavier meaning in Japanese culture. These special techniques have been fan-favorite catchphrases and flamboyant poses that viewers practice or imitate when no one is looking. Through numerous anime series, these Attacks become trademarks of characters and a sign that the fight is being taken to another level. Here are some of the strongest Ki manipulation techniques in anime.

Updated on April 7, 2024, by C.M Edwards: Action is a vital part of anime, and in the vast array of shonen, seinen, and isekai series that have been released, there is always a power system either primarily or partially based around the use of inner energy, or Ki. Regardless of the definite term used, characters in the show or manga harness this power to increase their own strength or empower their abilities, such as durability, speed, etc. However, extremely talented users or favored main characters develop special powers or techniques that make full use of this energy and unleash unstoppable attacks on their foes. These attacks vary from character to character but always leave a big impact on the series itself. A character’s main attack makes just as much of a difference to the show as it does in battle, and not all techniques are created equal. Included in this update are more of the most powerful Ki techniques in anime.

20 Special Beam Cannon

Pierced Two Reinforced Saiayns In A Single Shot

• First Appearance: Dragon Ball Z Episode 04

Dragon Ball is one of the few remaining franchises with amazing abilities that reach planetary-destruction levels of powers. While a large majority of the techniques in the Dragon Ball universe are massive attacks, there are a select few that were crafted for precision instead of impact by the late, great Akira Toriyama.

The Special Beam Cannon was originally crafted by Piccolo with the specific intent of killing Goku, and it succeeded in just that. The first time the move was used, it took out both Goku and Raditz in a single blow, but hasn’t seen much screen time since. However, in the recent Dragon Ball Super Hero movie, Gohan has adapted the technique along with his new transformation.

19 Chidori

Split A LIghting Bolt In Two

• First Appearance: Naruto Episode 67

In the Naruto anime series, the Chidori was a powerful attack that Kakashi Hatake unleashed in a last-ditch effort to protect Kakashi from Orochimaru. The Chidori is a powerful use of electrical chakra that has a nearly endless upper limit of destructive capabilities as long as the user is able to control it.

The technique would be passed to Sauske and become one of the main abilities that he would master. The Chidori is known for its cutting and piercing power; in the hands of the White Fang, he used it to slice a lightning bolt down the middle.

18 Jajanken: Rock

Completely Devastates A Body On Contact

• First Apperance: Hunter x Hunter Episode 65

The Hunter x Hunter universe is a strange combination of world-destroying individuals who developed some of the most dangerous and destructive techniques in all of anime. Following the main character, Gon, who wields an incredibly powerful striking technique that unnerves even some of the strongest Nen users, Jajanken: Rock possesses the potential to end a fight in a single blow.

The user of this technique concentrates their Nen into their fist and decreases their defensive abilities for an all-out attack. Of all the times that Gon has unleashed this attack, the most deadly is when he used it against Pitou after he gives into his rage and negative emotions, which increases the potency of the technique substantially.

17 Rasengan

Overwhelms Anything In Its Path

• First Appearance: Naruto Episode 86

Naruto has many Jutsu that pack a punch, but like his father before him, he has a unique aptitude for the Rasengan. After learning the technique from Jiraiya after being accepted as his pupil, Naruto worked tirelessly to perfect the technique and made it his own.

Because of the overwhelming amount of chakra Naruto is able to supply to the Jutsu, it can send any target flying or completely overload a chakra absorption device. The Rasengan has been a more than capable Jutsu in all the hands of shinobi that have decided to make it a part of their armory.

16 Final Flash

Easily Destroys Planets If Aimed Poorly

• First Appearance: Dragon Ball Z Episode 162

Vegeta possesses a number of devastating attacks that can cause unimaginable calamity on his target and the surrounding areas. Perhaps his most powerful technique, with the ability to wipe an entire planet off of the map is the Final Flash.

First being used against Perfect Cell, Vegeta goaded the parasitic android into standing still, so he could unleash this move with full power. The amount of energy this attack unleashed could be felt among the entire planet.

15 X Burner Air

Can Incinerate Nearly Anything It Touches

• First Appearance: REBORN! Episode 107

Tsunayoshi Sawada’s X Burner from REBORN! is an immensely destructive attack that incinerates everything in front and possibly behind the user. Tsuna fires off a soft flame blast behind him to absorb the recoil of the massive wave of Hard Sky Flames he sends forward to obliterate anything in its path.

In REBORN!, this attack is said to have broken the energy level twice and has one-shot many enemies on the wrong end. Tsuna constantly tweaks this ability making it more powerful, accurate, and destructive throughout the anime.

14 Spirit Gun

The Strongest Attack Of Condensed Spirit Energy

• First Appearance: Yu Yu HakushoEpisode 6

Yusuke Urameshi’s staple attack that he learned from Genkai is one of the most powerful in the YuYu Hakusho series. Spirit Gun has laid waste to numerous foes in a single shot. The Spirit Gun gathers spirit energy into the user’s hand and exits out of one of their fingers.

Normally, when Yusuke uses the spirit gun, it is enough power to level an arena; But he has pushed this technique even further and mixed demon chakra into the technique, which caused an atomic-level explosion.

13 Hadouken

Overwhelmed Psycho Power And M. Bison

• Release Date: October 21, 2995
• Seasons: 2
• Studio: USA Network
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll
• First Appearance: Street Fighter Episode 13

Perhaps one of the most prominent Ki abilities in existence, The Hadokenfrom Street Fighter used by staple students of the Shoto Style is a devastating orb of pure energy that can level entire mountains depending on the user.

This ability becomes ten times more lethal if it is fueled with the “Satsui no Hado” or “Dark Hado” of the Street Fighter universe; the series antagonist, Akuma, often uses this. A master of Ki manipulation may influence a Hadoken further with both light and Dark Hado and create a truly devastating Hadoken that electrifies its targets.

12 Kamehameha Wave

Unparalleled Pulverizing Power

• First Appearance: Dragon Ball Episode 8

The Kamehameha Wave, or “Turtle Wave,” has been at the top of the list for fans of anime all over the world. It is the most known technique from the series Dragon Ball and all its sqeuel series. The technique’s originator was Master Roshi, who then taught the technique to his pupils Krilin and Goku.

Goku’s immense power paired with this powerful attack is a frighteningly different beast. His mastery of the technique has elevated the destructive power to be able to send targets streaming out of the atmosphere or destroy entire planets if aimed correctly.

11 Hundred Rending Fists

A Technique So Deadly It Has No Equal

• First Appearance: Fist of th North Star Episode 1

Fist Of The North Star is a classic among action and martial arts anime fans. The main protagonist, Kenshiro, is a highly praised character among fans of hand-to-hand combatants. One Hundred Rending Fists is a barrage of skin-slicing, body-exploding strikes that leave any target of the technique defeated before they even know what hit them.

While in the series, Kenshiro has multiple unstoppable techniques, One Hundred Rending Fists is one of the most well-known; this technique heavily inspired another fan-favorite anime, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

10 Dragon Of The Darkness Flame

An Uncontrollable Force Of Nature

• First Appearance: Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2 Episode 18

Another ability from the Yu Yu Hakusho series, Hiei’s Dragon Of The Darkness Flame, is a destructive ability and feared technique among most in the spirit world. Dragon Of The Darkness Flame pulls black flame spirit energy straight from the depths of the spirit world and shapes it into a dragon.

This technique can incinerate anything in its path, but this ability is also highly uncontrollable once summoned. On the first use of the Dragon Of The Darkness Flame technique, Hiei grievously injured his right arm.

9 Mugetsu

The Final, Most Power Form Of A Getsuga Tenshou

• First Appearance: Bleach Episode 309

The Mugetsu technique was a last-ditch effort of Ichigo to face off against Aizen and his newfound power in the Bleach anime. He obtained the technique called the “final Getsuga Tenshou ” after going through special training with the help of his father, Ishin.

As a result, Ichigo’s power was magnified tenfold. Even in his base form, he could blow away mountains with a single sword strike. When he ascended and activated Mugetsu, he became even more powerful, able to strike Aizen down in a single attack. However, this technique carries a grave cost, stripping the user of their spiritual pressure after the technique has ended.

8 Night Guy

Culmination Of Intense Training And Dedication

• First Appearance: Naruto Episode 421

Night Guy is the final technique in the repertoire of Might Guy, the hidden Leaf’s noble green beast. This technique can only be done after releasing the Eight Inner Gates, an extremely dangerous art he learned from his father. Guy kneels down, preparing to push off and deliver a blow so powerful that it destroys the target’s body as well as the users.

The Red Chakra expelled from the user of this technique takes the shape of a dragon and consumes the wielder’s target in a fiery rage. This technique, paired with the eight inner gates, completely depletes the user’s chakra and is said to lead to certain death.

7 Malevolent Shrine

An Endless Void Of Destruction

• First Appearance: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Episode 4

Sukuna is the most threatening being in the Jujutsu Kaisen universe that both sorcerers and cursed spirits fear without question. Sukuna’s presence alone instills so much fear in individuals that they can not move.

It is rare that an opponent of Sukuna’s lasts long enough for him to take the fight seriously and, while the full extent of his skill is unknown, it is confirmed that his Malevolent Shrine is one of his most lethal abilities. In his battle against Mahoraga, Sukuna obliterates an entire district of Japan.

6 Zero Hand

A Force Of Pure Will And Decades Of Training

• First Appearance: Hunter x Hunter Episode 126

A technique by Isaac Netero is said to be the most powerful Nen user in the world of Hunter x Hunter. Netero is the chairman of the hunter association and is a fearsome and respected warrior. Zero Hand is Netero’s last resort technique used only when all else fails.

The visage of Bodhisattva appears behind Netero’s desired target and clasps them in its hands tightly. Bodhisattva then fires a cosmic wave of vibrational force by screaming into its hands using Netero’s own aura as an energy source. This technique was only used against the Ant King, a being of equal power, but any other individual hit by this technique would surely perish.

5 Spirit Bomb

An Attack That Uses The Power Of Every Living Being As A Power Source

• First Appearance: Dragon Ball Z Episode 21

The Spirit Bomb is another destructive technique from the Dragon Ball Z universe, taught to Goku by King Kai. It draws energy from all living things and generates a giant sphere filled with that energy, able to be thrown from a high position.

While normally used to retrieve energy from nature and animals, Goku has taken the technique further and even absorbed energy from humans on Earth and living beings in distant worlds and galaxies. The destructive power of the Spirit Bomb is borderline infinite, but the time to charge this technique is great and leaves the user completely open to attack.

4 Infinity

An Unrivaled Power Of The Strongest

• First Appearance: Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 7

Infinity is a hereditary technique of the Gojo family line: it is an ability of intense power that allows the wielder to bring infinity into reality and manipulate time and space at will. The concept of this technique allows the user to tap into the infinite series mathematical equation.

Furthermore, it traps the target on a path, slows time, and ensures they will never reach the end of their journey by placing an immeasurable distance between them and the end of everything else. Satoru Gojo is the first of his line to receive this technique and the six eyes in over four hundred years, making him the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer of his time.

3 Kishin Hunter

A Dimension Shredding Attack

• First Appearance: Soul Eater Episode 48

Soul Eater takes place in a world where young children train at a special academy and become partners with individuals who have the ability to turn themselves into living weapons. As the children become partnered and become weapon meisters, they train to become hunters of Kishin, or demons, to protect the normal world.

The main characters of Soul Eater are Maka and Soul, partners in crime who together form one of the most powerful weapon meister teams in the anime. Together through a technique called Soul Resonance, Maka and Soul are able to tap into a powerful ability that enhances their power, and the blade of Soul’s Scythe is able to cut anything down, even an immortal.

2 Gum Gum Bajrang Gun

An Unstoppable Punch That Overpowers Everything It Hits

• First Appearance: One Piece Episode 1015

Being one of the most successful manga franchises on the planet, One Piece is filled with insanely powerful abilities that are capable of world-crumbling destructive power. The wide cast of characters of One Piece is always attempting to better themselves and become more powerful in the chaotic and volatile world that the anime resides in.

Monkey D. Luffy is the main character of One Piece and holds a plethora of techniques, with each one more powerful than the next. Most recently, Luffy has revealed his Bajrang Gun technique which uses two types of Haki while he is in Gear Five to increase the potency of a powerful punch as he inflates his arm to a massive size and throws a single earth-shattering blow.

1 Demon Exorcist Form

A Devastating Transformation Just As Dangerous For The User As It Is For The Opponent

• Release Date: April 1, 2004
• Seasons: 1
• Studio: Madhouse
• Streaming Services: Crunchyroll
• First Appearance: Tenjho Tenge Episode 26

Souichiro Nagi is the main character of Tenjho Tenge, and what started out as a normal story about a handful of delinquents fighting for dominance and respect, turned into a conflict of national proportions. Nagi was originally a high school punk with little potential until he was transferred to Todou Academy, where he was thrust into the world of martial arts and the hierarchy of the school’s executive council.

As Nagi discovers things about himself and his family, he grows from a regular street fighter to one of the most powerful fighters in the world. Nagi unlocks an ability called the Demon Exorcist Form by unlocking his Dragons Gate, or Chakras, which allows him to tap into the Earth’s electromagnetic field, granting him immense power and strength.