Top 20 Best Anime Parody Scenes
Script written by Alex Crilly-Mckean
Top 20 Anime Parody Scenes
Top 10 Anime Parody Scenes
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most hilarious incidents where one anime made an obvious reference to another.
#20: Kuroko’s Basketball
“Gintama” (2006-18)
A word of warning, expect to see a lot of Gintama on this list since it is the modern pioneer when it comes to taking the piss out of other anime. To start with, we’ve got a bunch of ghosts trying to strike down Gintoki…who happen to have adopted the colors and uniform of anime’s favorite basketball team. Not sure if Gintoki’s expression of horror is from the fact he’s got undead assassins closing in on him, or that they apparently shoot hoops for Seirin.
#19: Dragon Ball Z
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“Good Luck Girl” (2012)
Jeez, Vegeta and Nappa really get around. Good Luck Girl is another one of those comedies that lives for the parody scenes, though it seems to have a special place in its heart for DBZ. Between all the crazed characters, including anime’s sexiest poverty god, you’d think there wouldn’t be room to fit in copious amounts of callbacks to the Saiyan arc, but they do. Just when you thought you had a grasp of where the episode was going – boom! Cosplay Nappa with a comb over. We were not ready.
#18: Sailor Moon
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“Super Gals” (2001-02)
A true golden oldie, one that’s a little tamer with its refs but still a fun one nonetheless. As the battle to become the number one gal in all of Shibuya intensifies, Kasumi finds herself on the wrong end of a group of thugs…thus leading her to disguise herself as a masked heroine who looks suspiciously like a certain Sailor Senshi. She may not come with a magical tiara, but Maru-Q-Moon certainly knows how to lay the smackdown with those boots.
#17: Hunter x Hunter
“The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.” (2016)
Saiki always was one for great tastes in parodies. Given that the setting in this incident is a Halloween party, it only makes sense that some of the cast would take the chance to go all in and rip off other anime-inspired looks, though we have to give it to Aren for his portrayal of one Hunter x Hunter’s lesser-known villains. The costume may be lacking but the cosplay spirit is certainly there, and sometimes that’s all you need. Now please stop looking at us like that.
#16: Monogatari
“Kaguya-sama: Love is War” (2019-22)
Given its status as a titan of romantic comedy, you’d think the cast of Kaguya-sama wouldn’t feel the need to parody another franchise. But in typical fashion, they did so with their own creative flare. The seemingly normal conversation between Miyuki and Chika might fly under the radar for those not in the know, but if you’ve seen Bakemonogtari, then you’d notice that the entire exchange is a shot for shot recreation of Araragi’s talk with Hanekawa. Now that’s commitment.
#15: Gundam
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“Gintama” (2006-18)
There’s too much absurdity to take in all at once. But then again that’s par for the course with Gintama. Just when you thought you got over the sight of Katsura dressed in an Elizabeth costume, he suddenly finds himself piloting a Gundam, one with a dangerously close, copyrighted resemblance to the RX-78?! But that's not the end of the sci-fi shenanigans, since he then goes on to blow up the Death Star. Potentially pissing off Lucas and Sunrise? Gintama truly does have balls of brass.
#14: Dragon Ball Z
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“Blood Lad” (2013)
You couldn’t ask for a more obvious homage to Goku than by having your main character copy his most famous technique. While a last second interruption stops the hammer of copyright from coming down on Staz, he doesn’t hesitate to strike the pose and discuss his admiration for Goku whilst charging up his very own Kamehameha. You’ve got to love how committed he is, along with Fuyumi trying her darndest to prevent the show from being canceled.
#13: Tomorrow’s Joe
“Bocchi the Rock” (2022)
The stunning animation, rad musical performances and sharp comedy was already enough to make Bocchi a household name in every conceivable way. But then it just so happened to layer in some of the best parodies we’ve seen to anime’s most iconic moments that it raised our appreciation to new heights. Of the bunch, our favourite goes to when Bocchi mimics Joe’s demise following his championship boxing match. Though here it’s less due to egregious bodily harm and more to do with overwhelming anxiety.
#12: Your Name
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“Pop Team Epic” (2018-22)
These little ladies show zero mercy and give zero effs when it comes to other IPs, so much so that not even the acclaimed masterwork that was Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name escaped unscathed. Even with their Chibi-fied appearances, at first it looks like Popuko and Pipimi are partaking in a respectful recreation of Taki and Mitsuha’s beautiful meeting. And then comes the nuclear explosion to blow all that away. In hindsight, we should have seen something like this coming.
#11: Fist of the North Star
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“Excel Saga” (1999-2000)
Before there was Gintama, the absolute queen of parodies was none other than Excel herself, with this little number quite possibly being her greatest feat to date. Instead of parodying an entire genre of anime as per usual, Excel went all in on mirroring Kenshiro and his world – from the setting, to the enemy designs, to the sound effects as she unleashes a barrage of blows, it’s all hilariously faithful to the original. The only difference being that instead of making raiders’ heads explode…she turns them into magical girls.
#10: Dragon Ball Z
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“Gintama” (2006-18)
The king of classic shonen was shown no mercy from Gintoki and the gang, who made frequent jabs at all things even remotely related to Goku’s exploits. From the SPARKING Gintaman opening to the time where Gengai was taken out by a special beam cannon,
there’s certainly no shortage of Dragon Ball references. Our personal favorite has to be the time when Hijikata encounters both “Breiza” and “Cello” while looking for a familiar type of magic balls.
#9: Death Note
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“Watamote” (2013)
Being the shut-in that she is, its no surprise that Tomoko would end up acting out one of the most popular anime of all time. While her tastes tend to lean towards the erotic side of the otaku spectrum, she’s certainly not above mimicking everyone’s favorite God of the New World; Light Yagami. Inspired by Light’s mass murdering penmanship skills, the scene shows Tomoko searching the internet in order to try and make herself more girly so boys will look at her. Aww, isn’t she adorably creepy?
#8: Yu-Gi-Oh!
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“Hayate the Combat Butler” (2007-08)
Hayate is no stranger to parody. In an effort to protect his young and lovely employer from those who would covet her fortune, this butler has found himself facing down all manner of references. However, we’ve decided to go with the King of Games in this instance because seeing a hitman end up being defeated in a game of Duel Monsters is just too funny to ignore. It’s kind of admirable how many tropes of the show they manage to fit into a single minute of parody.
#7: Neon Genesis Evangelion
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“Gintama” (2006-18)
Sorry Shinji, but you are just so easy to make fun of. In a shot for shot recreation of Evangelion’s less than well-received finale, Shinpachi ends up experiencing exactly what Shinji went through, and by that we mean ending up inside of his own mind with everyone congratulating him. Just seeing all of Odd Jobs Gin take part in this iconic moment doesn’t only speak volumes about how underwhelming the scene actually is, but will have you squawking with laughter. Get in the robot Shinpachi.
#6: Attack on Titan
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“Mr Osomatsu” (2015-21)
Now this is how you do an introduction. As we’re greeted to the lovable vulgarity that is the Matsuno brothers, they decide that in order to really make their anime stand out, they should update their image to fit in with current trends. This doesn’t only turn them all into your typical bishounen hunks, but eventually leads to Chibita taking the form of a titan. What follows is quite possibly the biggest clusterfuck of popular anime tropes you have ever seen. It’s no wonder the episode was eventually pulled!
#5: Neon Genesis Evangelion
“Sgt. Frog” (2004-11)
Poor Evangelion, it’s the comedy gift that keeps on giving. Even sentient frog people make fun of it! While it doesn't contain any references to the Eva Units or Shinji’s dirty masturbation habits, it does parody the scene where Kaoru manages to make his way through the NERV Headquarters and break into Terminal Dogma. Just to make things even weirder, the character Saburo is actually voiced by the same seiyuu who played Kaworu. No wonder we got such a weird sense of déjà vu.
#4: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
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“Food Wars” (2015-20)
If there’s one anime that has made itself a prime target for parody, it’s JoJo, specifically in regards to the ability known as Stands. Any comedy anime worth its salt has found a way to illuminate the hilarity of Jotaro and Dio’s signature skill, but in our minds none have done it better than Food Wars. During a cook off between Megumi and Kurokiba, the two put their all into their dishes, with the final verdict coming down between their choice in shrimp or scallops. Naturally this results in the two seafoods taking on the form of Stands and beating the crap out of each other.
#3: Initial D
“Lucky Star” (2007)
We all know that Konata is the single biggest fan of Haruhi Suzumiya on the face of the planet, but we actually found that the show's reference to the infamous racing series was a million times funnier. As it happens, Konata’s cousin Yui does not tolerate anyone overtaking her, leading to the entire scene suddenly shifting art styles as it becomes a scene right out of Initial D, CGI car and all! Maybe she should race Takumi…
#2: Dragon Ball Z
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“30-sai Hoken no Taiiku” (2011)
In an anime focused on men and women in their thirties who have yet to lose their v-cards, we get to see a recreation of the iconic scene where Goku takes out a foe by gathering the lifeforce of the world and unleashing it all into a single attack. The only differences here are that in place of a dangerous alien villain we have a woman flashing her crotch, and instead of lifeforce we have our pseudo-Super Saiyan channeling virginities instead. Well that’s certainly one way to parody the Spirit Bomb.
#1: Fist of the North Star
“Gintama” (2006-18)
Honestly, what else could take the top spot other than Gintama? In an obvious reference to Kenshiro and all of his badassery, we see Shinpachi running straight into Fist of the North Star’s opening, art style and all, where he takes the place of our muscular hero, much to his overwhelming confusion. We’re not sure what’s funnier, the fact that the meek Shinpachi is now parading around as the Hokuto Shinken master, or the very familiar sounding “I AM SHOCK.”
