What makes a good battle?

[Miner of Skies]

Throughout many Shonen Manga and Anime, battles tend to occur. How do you distinguish a good battle from a bad one?

Are there any specific features that are to be considered during battle in order to make it good? Do you prefer battles that involve weaponry, simple hand-to-hand combat or a mix of all? Does a good battle involve combatants taking great amounts of damage? Does a bad battle occur when one of the combatant wins without putting in much effort? Do battles have to touch you on a more emotional level in order to be considered good? Are battles that involve certain characters considered good/bad? ETC. You are free to discuss your opinion in any way you see fit.

You can also compare battles from different series.

[Jibanyan]

what makes a battle, any kind of battle, is not the action but the emotion
the clashing of two souls, a heart to heart, passionate battle
not just where they have to fight, but there is something important on the line
what makes the best battles is when you want both sides to win while everything listed above applies
it has to make your very core burn ya feel me
when it ends you either gotta let out a giant sigh of relief or feel despair
thats the s**t

[Neon Wasteland]

YUKlMURA

what makes a battle, any kind of battle, is not the action but the emotion
the clashing of two souls, a heart to heart, passionate battle
not just where they have to fight, but there is something important on the line
what makes the best battles is when you want both sides to win while everything listed above applies
it has to make your very core burn ya feel me
when it ends you either gotta let out a giant sigh of relief or feel despair
thats the s**t

Basically This

[The Millenium Walken]

A good animation budget helps. But then again, even fight scenes on a s**t budget can look good if they're managed well enough.

[Gunnisberg]

Both parties getting their s**t wrecked. Equally.

[Samandella]

YUKlMURA

what makes a battle, any kind of battle, is not the action but the emotion
the clashing of two souls, a heart to heart, passionate battle
not just where they have to fight, but there is something important on the line
what makes the best battles is when you want both sides to win while everything listed above applies
it has to make your very core burn ya feel me
when it ends you either gotta let out a giant sigh of relief or feel despair
thats the s**t

I agree!

[Hikki Candy]

I generally don't care for the actual battle scene. In fact, action anime with little plot bore me to death. The only thing that matters to me in a battle is the outcome, and that's only if the characters mean something. If it's emotional, I'm much more likely to enjoy it. If I don't give a s**t about the characters and what happens to them, then yawn. Total waste of time for me.

[Oboromaru]

Nu Gundam vs Sazabi.

[Exoth XIII]

Neon Wasteland

YUKlMURA

what makes a battle, any kind of battle, is not the action but the emotion
the clashing of two souls, a heart to heart, passionate battle
not just where they have to fight, but there is something important on the line
what makes the best battles is when you want both sides to win while everything listed above applies
it has to make your very core burn ya feel me
when it ends you either gotta let out a giant sigh of relief or feel despair
thats the s**t

Basically This

Not exactly. First off, you can't underestimate the importance of an occasional curbstomp to break the tension, keep things from getting boring.


Second, you don't always have to root for both sides.

[NEEDS MOAR GYOZAS]

Electronic and house but no brostep please.

[Soaring Sheep]

I'm not too picky about the specifics as long as it looks awesome.

[MooMooJuice]

So long as the action is clear, the animation is good, and there is actually some sort of fighting *style* going on.
Like, I hate animes that rely too heavily on flashy attacks and big explosions.


Sword of the Stranger is a good example of the type of battles I like.
Segoku Basara would be a bad example. Although I think there are some instances when it's good. I know Yukimura uses a lot of flashy attacks, and it's just not fun to watch...

[Fire_Sorceress_Phoanexa]

action, secret techniques such as inuyashas backlash wave or narutos rasengen, transformations like tokyo mew mew

[Ragna the Bloodedge]

What makes an epic battle? The theme song. Just look back at classic Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers; just before the big douche gets plunged by a jolt. The theme song. Look back in any situation, any battle will become epic with the right orchestration of instrumentals.

[Ragna the Bloodedge]

The stuff of epic bubble baths.


The legend. 'Nuff said.


:>