Summary
There are many things synonymous with manga and anime that pretty much everyone adores. One such aspect of anime that has remained consistent since the early going is the characters' tendency to strike an over-the-top pose that’s often highly impractical yet immensely satisfying to watch at the same time. Theseanime poseshave become a part of the public consciousness. Even those who have never watched anime before might recognize them from memes, scenes, and easter eggs tucked away in other media.
It’s a testament to how iconic anime really is that even the silliest-looking poses end up being all the more memorable in the correct context. Many fans of these shows have gone so far as to pull off these poses in real life that look downright ridiculous at times. Of course, this doesn’t apply to cosplay veterans, who have mastered theseiconic anime posesand look downright incredible when they pull them off. But some of the more daunting poses are best left in animation, no matter how much stretching people do.
Updated July 16, 2025 by David Heath:They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and a good pose can show people what a character is all about more than any essay, article, or list. It can make a character instantly recognizable even when silhouetted, or showcase their whole personality and ambitions with a single gesture or expression. This is why there are a ton of poses in anime that have become iconic within and outside their fandoms.
So, this list has been updated with moreiconic posesthat could only really be pulled off within anime. Or at least not without some work and plenty of confidence in real life. Cosplayers have managed to bring their characters to life, but some poses are easier to draw than they are to do physically.
32Armstrong Flexing His Muscles
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodis regarded as one of the greatest animes ever made, though some prefer its 2003 predecessor. Either way, both series feature memorable characters in their own right. One of the most memorable and entertaining characters is the Strong Arm Alchemist himself,Major Alex Louis Armstrong.
This bald hulk has some amazing shapely muscles, which he is acutely aware of. He never misses out on an opportunity to flex what he’s got, as his family has specialized in combining alchemy with physical prowess for generations. The result is he becomes one of the buffest characters in anime sinceFist of the North Star, and viewers love him all the more for it.
31Drive Shot
Captain Tsubasa
In anime, basketball hasSlam Dunk, volleyball hasHaikyuu, and soccer hasCaptain Tsubasa. He’s practically the household name for the sport in Japan, if not Asia in general, with his numerous manga and anime series detailing his rise from a humble soccer-loving kid to a star athlete playing for Barcelona and Japan’s national team.
Even people who don’t know much about Captain Tsubasa recognize his iconicDrive Shotpose. It always precedes a powerful hit that sends the ball spinning towards the back of the net. When viewers see it, they know it’s either going to lead to a dramatic goal, or a shocking near-save, that could clinch the game for Tsubasa’s team.
30Gainax Pose
Multiple Gainax Productions
It was sad to see the famous animation studio Gainax go bankrupt back in June 2024, though by then all the people and series that made the studio famous had long since departed. Still, they’ll live on through the originalNeon Genesis Evangelionseries,FLCL,Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and the legendaryGainax posethat appeared in nearly all their productions.
Performed as a simple crossed-arm stance of defiance, it made its debut inGunbuster, an OVA series where the titular mech pulls off the stance. But the most notable show to pull it off often was the aforementionedGurren Lagann. Watching either its character or their mech stand with their arms crossed in such a cool manner was always amazing, regardless of how impractical the act of cracking said pose might be.
Multiple Shaft Anime
Only in the world of anime can a simple head tilt become the stuff of legends. Popularized by the anime studio Shaft, they’ve created several series that feature this iconicShaft head tilt, fromBakemonogataritoNisekoi: False Love. Director Akiyuki Shinbo and his team made it their trademark to make talking scenes a little more dynamic and interesting.
Watching these anime characters break their necks just to look behind them with some swagger never fails to be entertaining. It works in getting across the confidence cocky characters have or adding to the unsettling nature of the villains. As the pose shows, they can’t be bothered to turn around fully to face who they’re speaking to.
28The Brave/Sunrise Perspective
The Brave Exkaiser, Multiple Anime
Chances are that, if an anime features a hero wielding a giant sword or another similar weapon, they’ll eventually be shown at theBrave Perspective, aka ‘the Sunrise Perspective’, or the ‘Obari Perspective’. It was developed by animators Mitsuo Fukuda and Masami Obari (ofAngel BladeandFatal Furyfame) to show off the Great Exkaiser’s take on the Thunder Flash move. It must’ve struck a chord with more than just viewers, as it would go on to appear in many more Sunrise anime series.
Aside from turning up in moreBraveseries, it popped up in theMobile Suit Gundamseries, then got picked up by other anime that either directly paid homage to the pose or did their own spin on it.Bleach,Transformers: Cybertron, andUtawarerumonoused it to its full cool potential, whilePokémonandPop Team Epicused it for gags. Unless Farfetch’d is meant to look intimidating with that leek.
27Gojo’s Unlimited Void
Jujutsu Kaisen
One of the newest poses to catch on with fans is Satoru Gojocrossing his fingers. On its own, it doesn’t mean much, until people know this is how the special-grade sorcerer pulls off his Domain Expansion skill. Put simply, it combines the user’s innate domain (mental realm) with their innate magical abilities, trapping their opponent within a deadly barrier that shuts them down or kills them outright.
That’s a lot to get out of one man crossing his fingers, and one that was built up over the show’s seasons. At first, it was a simple gesture Gojo would do as a greeting and feature, usually while talking about the concept of infinity. Then he showed the gesture, and the technique, to the evil spirit Jogo to show him just what ‘infinity’ truly means within the empty void his Domain Expansion revealed.
26Ken Kaneki Cracking His Knuckles
Tokyo Ghoul
While this might not be a pose per se, one can definitely countKaneki’s impulsive knuckle crackingas an iconic part of his character andTokyo Ghoulin general. How he developed this technique is no laughing matter. After being tortured both physically and mentally by Yamori for ten days, Kaneki finally broke down and embraced his ghoul powers.
This led to him adopting the same behavior that Yamori used during the torture, where he cracked a finger for each act of torture he performed. Since then, knuckle cracking has become a salient part of Ken’s character. It shows he isn’t the guy trying to maintain his humanity from the show’s first half anymore. He’s more brutal and power-hungry, which Yamori gets a first-hand taste of.
25The Scout Regiment Salute
Attack On Titan
Attack on Titanis easilyone of the most popular anime of all time, as its premise, deep storytelling, and twists and turns led it to become a phenomenon, catching on beyond its target audience. Particularly with how hero Eren Jaeger ended up becoming its antagonist, providing anime with one of its most iconic heel turns, if notthemost iconic heel turn in anime history. It’s all symbolized in a simple salute.
TheScout Regiment(Survey Corps in the manga) is the only group on Paradis Island that actually bothered with scouting missions to figure out the mystery behind the Titans. Their salute was designed to showcase their dedication to saving humanity from the Titans, symbolizing that they’d ‘dedicate their heart’ to the cause. From there, ‘dedicate your heart’ became a key message in the series, though the story’s different revelations change what its characters dedicate their hearts to.
24Hare Hare Yukai Finisher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Anime fans aren’t immune to dance crazes. Particularly if they’re done by cute girls. For a while, it seemed like the only videos on YouTube were spins on the intro dance toMy Deer Friend Nokotan.However, that was a drop in the bucket compared to the power ofHare Hare YukaifromThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.Its end credits would feature different clips of the cast doing a little dance, which was later fully revealed in a DVD release.
Once that happened, online sites were full of different takes on the song and dance. It was done by rival high school girl comedyLucky Star, the cast ofMega Man, prisoners in the Philippines, and multiple different cosplayers from across the world. The dance became a phenomenon that could only be stopped by its final pose…and the show eventually ended. But though the craze has died down, the dance still pops up sporadically at anime conventions and YouTube videos.
23Josuke’s Flamboyant Pose
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable
It would be impossible to do an anime pose list without mentioningJojo’s Bizarre Adventure. The series is so famous for its physical contortions that this entire list could be covered byJoJoposes. Creator Hirohiko Araki’s love for fashion and fashion photography really shows in his work, as they inspired each one ofJoJo’s iconic stances, from Giorno’s neckline-pulling stance in Part 5 to Josuke’s vogueing in Part 4.
So, what better way to finish offDiamond is Unbreakablethan with asassy fashionista pose? Both the manga and the anime conclude with this shot of Josuke enjoying his hometown’s newfound peace by strutting his stuff. Because that’s what anyone would do after they rid their town of a freaky serial killer. Few series could pull this off, andJoJodoes it with aplomb.
