5 Weirdest Anime Superpowers

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Anime often defies logic, including the vast array of superpowers featured in superhero series. Plenty of characters wield super strength, enjoy teleportation and have elemental control, but anime’s propensity for the weird comes through in full force when it’s a glorified washing machine or high schooler turning trash into trees that saves the day. What’s even weirder is that many of these kooky superpowers are surprisingly effective against villains.

Whether they’re hilarious, unsettling, or just completely lame, these unconventional superpowers make battles more creative and characters far more memorable. It’s often the oddball characters who stick out among the vast array of overpowered protagonists, swapping power scaling for a battle of the weird and wonderful.

Wanze’s Nose Ramen in One Piece is Downright Gross

Wanze attacks Sanji with his Ramen Kenpo punch on One Piece’s Sea Train.
Image via Toei Animation
Wanze grinning toothily in One Piece.
Image via Toei Animation
Sanji uses knives to stop Wanze’s Ramen Kenpo in One Piece.
Image via Toei Animation

Fans will remember Wanze as one of the main antagonists during the Sea Train voyage in One Piece‘s Water 7 Arc. Loud, annoying, and always sporting a dumb smile, Wanze is a cook who specializes in making ramen, but his methods are rather unusual. He makes ramen by eating flour, mixing it with his spit and making dough in his mouth, then shooting it out of his nose and cutting it with his nose hairs. It’s no wonder Usopp, Sanji, and Franky refuse to eat his dishes, as thinking about it for too long would put anyone off their dinner.

Despite how disgusting Wanze’s ramen is, it’s hard to say it doesn’t make for a good superpower. He uses Alloy Flour to make the ramen as hard as metal, and even developed his own Ramen Kenpo fighting style which he uses in a battle against Sanji. Ramen Beam shoots ramen directly at his opponent, and he can even create a suit of armor made of noodles, complete with arms and legs to kick and punch. Wanze certainly possesses one of One Piece‘s strangest but most entertaining superpowers, even though he was ultimately defeated by Sanji.

Mineta’s Pop Off is My Hero Academia’s Most Ridiculous Quirk

Mineta using his Quirk in MHA.
Image via Studio Bones
Minoru Mineta throws his quirk in the forest in My Hero Academia.
Image via Studio Bones
Minoru Mineta is using his quirk on his head in My Hero Academia.
Image via Studio Bones

In the world of My Hero Academia, if almost every person is born with a Quirk, some must inevitably be cooler than others. Minoru Mineta appears to have got the short end of the stick with his Quirk, Pop Off, but it actually transforms sticky, grape-like balls that grow on top of his head into surprisingly versatile weapons. Mineta can pluck these balls painlessly and throw them onto almost any surface, where they cling with incredible strength. Enemies caught by them struggle to break free, making the Quirk ideal for restraining opponents instead of overpowering them.

Mineta’s sticky spheres even bounce when he steps on them, giving him unexpected mobility during combat. Despite its unusual appearance, Pop Off has also proven remarkably effective in rescue missions and battlefield support throughout My Hero Academia. Mineta’s small size and ridiculous appearance only becomes more useful when he is underestimated. The Quirk’s biggest drawback is equally bizarre, when overuse causes Mineta’s scalp to bleed, limiting how many balls he can produce before exhausting himself.

Ai Mori’s Glasses-Loving Power in Law of Ueki Isn’t Very Threatening

Ai Mori looks determined in The Law of Ueki.
Image via Studio Deen
Ai Mori points her finger in Law of Ueki.
Image via Studio Deen
Ai Mori uses her power in Law of Ueki.
Image via Studio Deen

A battle to crown the next King of the Celestial World sounds like it would include only the most powerful superheroes, but The Law of Ueki‘s characters all seem to have the weirdest, most useless superpowers. Protagonist Kosuke Ueki’s power of turning trash into trees is pretty strange in itself, but the winner for most ridiculous superpower definitely goes to Ai Mori. When activated, her power makes her opponent turn into a glasses lover, making them inexplicably obsessed with the pair of glasses she wears atop her head.

Although having someone fall in love with Ai’s glasses is undeniably a bit of a lame superpower, it does have some uses. When using her power, Ai has the ability to convince her opponent to protect her at all costs, or knock themselves out by threatening to break the glasses. If Ai’s power wasn’t already stupid enough, the major downside is that it only works if her opponent strikes a cutesy pose with one leg in the air. She’d definitely have one of the strongest powers in The Law of Ueki if it weren’t for its limitation.

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s Nose Hair Whips His Enemies Into Shape

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s head opens up to release chaos in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo.
Image via Toei Animation
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo and his team in the anime.
Image via Toei Animation
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo anime.
Image via Toei Animation

Another anime built on the premise of a team of superheroes with hilarious powers is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, a seemingly forgotten Cartoon Network classic. In a surrealist future, an army called the Hair Hunters invade settlements and shave the people who live there bald, leaving devastation in their wake. To combat such strange tyranny, equally strange superheroes are needed, including those harnessing the power of farts, poop, wigs, and jelly. However, among them all, Bo-bobo’s nose hair definitely stands out as one of the weirdest.

Bo-bobo is incredibly muscular, yet is more inclined to use his long nose hair as whips against his foes, utilizing a special martial arts technique he calls Super Fist of the Nose Hair, a reference to the anime Fist of the North Star. As one of the strongest characters, his nose hair proves a surprisingly effective superpower. Fans of parody anime will enjoy Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo‘s constant gags and surrealism, and even though Bo-bobo’s nose hair weapon makes him a powerful fighter, it’s still incredibly hilarious.

Motojiro Kajii’s Lemonade Ability is One of The Least Impressive in Bungo Stray Dogs

Motojiro Kajii using his Lemonade technique in Bungo Stray Dogs.
Image via Studio Bones
Motojiro Kajii Bungo Stray Dogs.
Image via Studio Bones
Motojiro Kajii dropping lemon bombs in Bungo Stray Dogs.
Image via Studio Bones

In Bungo Stray Dogs, each character is named after a famous author from Japanese and Western history, and possesses a unique ability that makes reference to their namesake’s most famed works. This leads to quite a few interesting characters, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, but compared to them, Motojiro Kajii’s ability stands out more as completely bizarre. His Lemonade ability stops him from being harmed by the lemon-shaped bombs he creates, which allows him to use them in battle without consequence.

For reference, the real Motojiro Kajii was a Japanese author who wrote a book of short stories titled Lemon. One of the stories, also called Lemon, sees a man buying a lemon and then imagining it becoming a time bomb. The link between the namesake and Kajii’s Lemonade ability is clear, but in practice, it’s one of the least serious abilities in Bungo Stray Dogs. One can’t argue that it’s not powerful, as Kajii can throw countless lemon bombs, destroying everything in his path without sustaining a single scratch from the blasts.

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