Summary
- Anime teams bring characters together to achieve more than they ever could as individuals.
- The best anime teams have different goals but work together to do great things.
- Iconic anime teams like Team 7 from Naruto and the Straw Hat Pirates from One Piece demonstrate strong character development and create memorable stories.
Although some anime characters have become icons all on their own, some the best teams in anime demonstrate how iconic characters are better together. Many of the most popular anime series of all time are carried by the strength of their central teams. These teams have created many famous moments in anime and helped beloved characters reach new heights.
Teams can take many forms. From pirates to school sports teams, there's no definition of what makes a team. The most important aspect of anime teams is that they bring characters together to allow them to achieve more than they ever could as individuals. The best anime teams may have different goals, but each one succeeds in having its members work together to do great things.
10 K-On!'s After School Tea Time
Created by Kyoto Animation, based on the original manga series by Kakifly
The band established by the Light Music Club of Sakuragaoka High School, After School Tea Time, is the primary focus of the laid-back slice of life anime series K-On!. The band largely starts out as an excuse for its members to hang out and drink tea, ultimately inspiring the name when they need to put something on their registration form. However, the band's progression from existing primarily as an excuse to hang around to becoming aspiring stars with the ultimate ambition of selling out a concert at the Budokan is impressive. The characters are enjoyable, funny, and relatable, and the band's musical performances are genuinely catchy and well-done.
9 The Lagoon Company from Black Lagoon
Created by Studio Madhouse, based on the original light novel by Gen Urobuchi
After being sold out by the corporation he'd been working for, the unassuming office worker Rock ends up joining a group of smugglers crewing a ship called the Black Lagoon. Joining with the smugglers Dutch, Revy, and Benny, Rock demonstrates a surprising aptitude for life in the criminal underworld of the port cities of Southeast Asia, falling into the role of the Lagoon Company's negoiator. While none of the members of the Lagoon Company are particularly virtuous, nice, or even likable, they never become completely unsympathetic because the opposition are legitimately terrible. It's a very black-and-gray world thematically and morally, and Black Lagoon has been held by the fanbase as one of the darkest anime ever. The Lagoon Company plays the role of a very dark Robin Hood archetype and does so with style and a flair for the dramatic.
8 Dragon Ball's Iconic Tournament of Power Team From Universe 7
Created by Toei Animation, based on the original manga by Akira Toriyama
Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power arc represents the highest stakes the franchise has ever had. Combatants from multiple universes meet in combat, with the defeated universes being erased from existence. The familiar universe the franchise has been following since the original Dragon Ball is designated as Universe 7. Led by Gohan, the team consists of the universe's most powerful fighters, plus Krillin. While the likes of Goku and Vegeta are obvious choices as ranking among the franchise's most powerful characters, the composition of the team is a love letter to the entire history of the franchise, with characters who haven't really been relevant since the original Dragon Ball like Tien and Master Roshi being included on its roster and subsequently given their moment to shine during the actual tournament.
7 The Crew of the Bebop
Created by Studio Sunrise
As the iconic 90s series progresses, veteran bounty hunters Spike and Jet find themselves joined by a conwoman recovering from being cryogenically frozen, a hyper-intelligent corgi, and a brilliant but eccentric master hacker. On the surface, it's a bizarre group of misfits, but the cast is one of the major reasons that Cowboy Bebop has been remembered as a masterpiece. While the drastically different personalities of the characters provide both comedy and conflict, each individual member of the crew is given focus for at least one episode, and because the characters are so drastically different, each character's personal story arc manages to stand out from all the others and every character is memorable in their own unique way.
6 The Original DigiDestined from Digimon Adventures
Created by Toei Animation
Although the original Digimon Adventure predates the Isekai genre really taking off in anime, the series is, at its core, a fairly typical Isekai story. The seven main human characters are kids from a summer camp drawn into the Digital World and fated to become the heroes of the Digital World. The DigiDestined's character growth is a major aspect of the series, to the point that the Digimons' more powerful Digivolutions are tied to Crests, representing a virtue like Courage or Friendship, and the Crests themselves are unlocked by one of the human characters demonstrating that virtue. Even when evil Digimon invade the Real World, the DigiDestined and their partner Digimon prove themselves to be dauntless heroes, ready to protect both the Digital World and the Real World.
5 The Ever IconicTeam 7 From Naruto & Naruto: Shippuden
Created by Studio Pierrot, based on the original manga by Masashi Kishimoto
Naruto's main characters are among the best examples of character development and personal growth in all anime. Right from the very beginning of the series, the clashing personalities of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura make up the core dynamic of Team 7. Naruto is the most overtly immature and uncooperative, but Sasuke and Sakura have their own attitude issues that stifle the team's abilities, a frequent source of both drama and comedy in the early arcs of the series. However, as the series progresses, the three grow more professional and mature as individuals and the team as a unit gains a solid foundation of trust, allowing Team 7 to become both one of the most effective ninja teams in Konoha and one of the best examples of devoted teammates in anime.
4 The Voyage of One Piece's Straw Hat Pirates
Created by Toei Animation, based on the original manga by Eiichiro Oda
One Piece is the best-selling manga of all time and the anime adaptation has been consistently popular since 1999. A large part of that success is because of the strength of its main cast of characters. Luffy and his crew have unique visual designs that have allowed them to stand out even in a series full of excellent character design, larger-than-life personalities that compliment that off-the-wall nature of their world and their adventures in it, and a slate of powers and abilities that are constantly growing and adapting in impressive new ways. It takes strong characters, both in terms of power level and in terms of writing quality, to keep audiences interested for almost 30 years, but the Straw Hat pirates proved themselves up to the task from the very beginning and have been a runaway success ever since.
3 Miss Yukari's Class in Azumanga Daioh
Created by J.C. Staff, based on the original manga Kiyohiko Azuma
Azumanga Daioh is an offbeat slice of life series following six high school classmates. Thanks to their teacher's laziness and unwillingness to learn new names, Chiyo, Sakaki, Yomi, Tomo, Osaka, and Kagura go through high school staying in Miss Yukari's class. Although the series focuses more on the girls as a group of friends and classmates, the class often competes as a literal team, participating in a sports festival each school year. Notably, this is the entire reason Kagura ends up in the class. Yukari had her transferred into the class to ensure victory in the sports festivals by including the school's two best athletes, both in her class. Despite this, Kagura ultimately becomes a valued member of the core group of lead girls.
2 Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians
Created by Toei Animation, based on the original manga by Naoko Takeuchi
The original Japanese name "Sailor Senshi" has been translated different ways since the series first debuted in English: Sailor Soldiers, Sailor Scouts, and the current official English translation as "Sailor Guardians". However the name of their team is translated, Sailor Moon and her companions are one of the most iconic and influential teams in the history of anime. Sailor Moon is the most recognizable magical girl anime of all time, and since the series' debut, the characters have become icons in anime and some of the most influential and beloved female characters in all of pop culture. Although there's an unfortunate tendency in the writing for the male characters, usually Tuxedo Mask, to save the day, the Sailor Guardians are positively portrayed as a group of female characters who unconditionally help and support each other both as heroes and in their everyday lives. The friendship that exists between the Sailor Guardians is as important to the series as their role as heroes.
1 Ash's Championship Team in Pokémon Journeys
Created by OLM, based on the video game franchise by Nintendo & Game Freak
It was a long time coming, but at the end of the Pokémon Journeys, Ash finally won a Pokémon League tournament. With his team consisting of Dracovish, Sirfetch'd, Dragonite, Lucario, Gengar, Dragon and, of course, the Pikachu that has been journeying with him from the very beginning, Ash participated in the World Coronation Series, culminating in a tournament final against Leon, the Champion of the Galar region. Although Ash has caught many Pokémon over the years, these six finally allowed him to achieve his longstanding ambition of becoming the very best. All six members of his iconic Pokémon team participated in the final battle, but it was inevitable that it would be Pikachu, Ash's iconic companion, who struck the final decisive blow against Leon's Charizard to win the battle and the tournament.
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