Powerful characters without long runs

[Cynor]

Basically I'm looking for something that has powerful characters in some way. It could be they are mentally powerful, like Death Note. Maybe it's a powerful... well power they got, like Geass in Code Geass, alchemy in FMA, or Magic. Could be mechs of some kind, or just straight up "oops I missed my sword swing and now that mountain is gone" fighters. The point is I want the main characters to be powerful and not average people.

To throw a wrench into the works though, I'm only looking for the SHORTER series. I'd say around 30-40 episodes max. Maybe 50 if it's really good. But the shorter the better, and the long 100+ episode series are out due to limited time to watch and liking to get the whole story.

As for anime I've seen... well tbh I've seen a lot so don't know where to begin listing them. One day I should probably sit down and make an anime list. Some that I have seen that may fit what I'm looking for are (besides ones above)

Haruhi
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Hellsing
Shakugan no Shana
Blood+
Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Plus more I'll probably be all like "yep, seen it" when posted

[Flower]

Could you give us a few more "standard series" you think some of us might suggest so we might better help you out?

In any event - how about "Fantastic Children"?

[GreyZone]

Tengen Toppa Guren Lagann

The power level at the end of the series are... to just say "enourmous" would be a huge understatement.

[Cynor]

Originally Posted by Flower

Could you give us a few more "standard series" you think some of us might suggest so we might better help you out?

Sadly I'm having to go more off memory than anything right now as I can't access my main computer for awhile. Some others I can think of that may fit would be...

Claymore
Fate/Stay Night
Elfen Lied

ummm... *goes and looks through pic collection on this pc for possible hints*

Gunslinger Girls maybe
Jigoku Shoujo also maybe
.hack to a degree
Kurokami
Sekirei


So really, it's all over the place. I guess maybe the best way to kinda sum it up is I want something a bit out there. Not an ordinary story. But there also needs to be a chance of massive destruction/death or mind games or something going on. Again, kinda think along the lines of "oops I missed my sword swing and now that mountain is gone" but replace sword with maybe "I didn't understand my power" or "mech misfire" or just all out "kill a bunch of people cause I can."

As for Gurren Lagann and Fantastic Children, just a short read of the synopses would make me learn for the former than latter. Fantastic Children sounds interesting still, but maybe more on the mystery side of "powerful" than physical power/presence. Which is more what I was going for.

[Flower]

No worries - I am sure that will help a little more.

And if Fantastic Children is not the sort of thing up your alley no big deal, either. Still ... might give it a try some time later on (not so tough to find either).

[GreyZone]

A few more:

Kaze no Stigma
Hagure Yuusha no Estetica (has a lot of Ecchi, also the MC is an extremely alpha type pervert)

Powerful in an intellecutal sense:
No Game No Life (has quite a bit of Ecchi)

[larethian]

"oops I missed my sword swing and now that mountain is gone" huh?

Try "The Legend of The Legendary Heroes". Don't let its title and episode 1 fool you. Fans have been hoping for its sequel (in which something akin to what you said actually happened) to get animated but it probably won't happen. But still, plenty of near that level of characters.

[Cynor]

Fantastic Children definitely isn't something I'm writing off, it does sound interesting. Just maybe not what I'm in the mood for right now.

Kaze no Stigma and Hagure Yuusha no Estetica also sound interesting, the first maybe a little more than latter. Though later sounds like it may be right up there, it seems kinda... mundane maybe? at the same time. From the description/reviews it seems like it's just the ordinary world and him going around using his powers to do whatever he wants. Which has it's own appeal for sure, and some of the series I listed have that too so can't complain. But compare to like Tengen Toppa Guren Lagann (again from desc) and No Game No Life where it's vastly different.

With a name like The Legend of The Legendary Heroes I probably would have overlooked it, especially with the poor plot summary. But reading more it does sound interesting and I may have to check it out.


Couple other series that fit (or come close to, keep in mind it may have been awhile since I've seen some of these)

Mai Hime/Otome
Soul Eater
Toaru Majutsu no Index

[sayde]

A current on-going anime that I'd recommend is Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. It's currently on episode 16 and right from the beginning, the main protagonist so far seems like he's on a whole other level compared to *almost* everyone else in the series. He's one of those kinds of protagonists that clearly knows he's a step above mostly everyone, but has his reasons for hiding it to an extent. Anyways, if you like Toaru Majutsu no Index, you'll probably like Mahouka.

And if you want to give a movie a chance, I'd recommend Sword of the Stranger. It doesn't feature super natural powers, or anything like that, but it does feature a protagonist that's an exceptionally talented swordsman (far above everyone else in the film minus one other character). Solid animation, incredible choreography, and a simple but engaging plot are just icing on the cake. I had a fun time watching this.

"Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo" features an overpowered and intelligent protagonist with supernatural abilities. The bad thing about it is that, much like Kaze no Stigma, the anime doesn't have a conclusive ending to it. So enjoy the ride, but just don't expect any closure.

And if you're feeling in the mood for blood, gore, and drama, then try Berserk. Once again, there's no closure to this one. (It actually leaves off on an unbearable cliffhanger IMO.) Anyways, it features a protagonist that's just a normal human being. However, he's so strong and skilled that the only types of antagonists in this series that ever prove a major threat are the kind that are supernatural in nature. So I guess I'd stay away from this recommendation if you're not in the mood for a main protagonist fighting uphill battles. It gets pretty sad and depressing too. You could either watch the 3 relatively recent animated movies that came out, or the original 25 episode series. I liked both but opinions vary here.

*edit*
Forgot to give an honorable mention to Sword Art Online.

[SeijiSensei]

Legend of the Legendary Heroes didn't do much for me. How about these?

Seirei no Moribito
Claymore
Noein

[Sackett]

Oops, I missed my swing and there goes a mountain, Katanagatari (12 episodes) comes to mind.

As does Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (24 episodes)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (24 episodes) has very powerful mecha.

Full Metal Panic (24 epsiodes) again with powerful mecha.

[Cynor]

For some reason I want to say I've seen Berserk.... but I also don't think I have at the same time.
Sword Art Online is something I've also been thinking about before, partially because of the fact it seems to have a similar-ish premise to .hack, which I greatly enjoyed.

Seirei no Moribito, Claymore, and Noein are all ones I've seen before. I think I put Claymore on the list, but forgot the others.

I think I'll pass on Jojo's, but otherwise the rest by Sackett are some I'll look into too. I know Neon Genesis Evangelion and Full metal Panic are like fairly classic anime, so I should really watch those regardless. Only reason I probably haven't is that I was mainly into anime heavily way before online streaming was around/popular. So it was harder to find some series.

[Sackett]

Huh... may I ask why you are passing on Jojo? It seems perfect for what you want. Plus you'll miss out on the best Coke commercial ever.

[Cynor]

Originally Posted by Sackett

Huh... may I ask why you are passing on Jojo? It seems perfect for what you want. Plus you'll miss out on the best Coke commercial ever.

To be honest, from what I've seen/looked at with it... I just don't like the art style! That's probably the biggest reason. Another is that, while it does seem to fit, it seems like it's kinda just set in every day life. I was/am looking for something different than people running around "RL" in outrageous situations like that link you provided.

Regardless the second may or may not be right, and may be something I could overlook, but the first... that can't really be changed. Maybe if my tastes change...

Edit: In regards to the setting being "RL", it's not that I'm against that per-say, as you can tell some of my list is similar in that. But they generally have some MAJOR twists in them. Like Shana brings in the whole stealing souls thing, Haruhi is a god, etc. Several also take place in the past or fictional areas.

[Sackett]

Are Aztec vampires a sufficient twist? Cybernetic Nazis? (Those are some of the minor ones - I don't want to spoil too much). Trust me though, Jojo is hardly set in the "normal" world.

Can't do much about the art style though. Jojo is one of the big manga of the 80's and the art style shows it.

Oh well, I hope you enjoy the other suggestions.

Keep Jojo in the back of your mind in case you ever decide to overlook the 80's art style.

[Cynor]

Ok that does make Jojo seem more appealing plot wise. There is obviously only so much you can get by plot synopsis and stuff. Like you said though, can't do much for the art style sadly.

That said, I'm not really totally dismissing any of the suggestions here, including Jojo. I'm pretty open to new anime, as you can see from the list I kinda watch a little of everything, and tbh I don't think there have been that many anime I just can't stand or didn't like. So maybe I'll watch with a friend or something who likes the art style and will "get used to it" as it were.

Speaking of that... I just finished up Sword Art Online and it fit decently with what I was looking for (was also a good series in general). I would have liked a couple more of his displays of power vs the people trying to kill him, or more getting trapped and overcoming impossible odds, but even in the more mundane stuff you didn't really forget he was more powerful than most people.