It is a classic recipe for an action anime – your average protagonist somehow finds themselves entwined with a group of fighters and they plot builds out in many different ways from there. They could be fighting the government, fighting for money, or just fighting because they want to get stronger. Either way, it is a great way for the audience to meet a bunch of hopefully interesting characters and the protagonist to grow under the influence of said characters.
Best Anime Where The Main Character Joins a Badass Group
Seraph of the End
Nothing like a childhood tragedy to convince you to join a militaristic group of freedom fighters, right? Seraph of the End has humanity ravaged by a virus that leaves only children behind. Of course, this means the vampires can surface and raise these children as fodder. While almost narrowly escaping with some other kids, main character Yuichiro sees them all slaughtered but escapes to join an organization formed for fighting back against this vampire menace.
Tokyo Ghoul
In Tokyo Ghoul, you watch Kaneki – former human turned ghoul via organ transplant – join two groups. The first group aren’t so much fighters. They are Anteiku, a peaceful group that doesn’t want to harm humans for food. While they have a few badasses within, they are done with fighting. Yet, after various events, he later decides to join Aogiri Tree, a more violent group of those that believe ghouls are the supreme being.
Akame ga Kill
Initially, Tatsumi went to the capital to become a knight to earn money for his poor country village. Unfortunately, he is turned away. His first few nights in a city full of corruption are pretty rough, but eventually he ends up joining Night Raid, a revolutionary group that is aimed at fighting the empire that he previously wanted to join. However, this revolutionary fight is a bloody one and Tatsumi needs to be ready to watch all his friends die.
Black Lagoon
Rokurou’s admission into the Black Lagoon mercenary group is a little less typical compared to the other groups here. Instead of joining them for some noble purpose, they actually ended up kidnapping him. Unfortunately, his employers didn’t want him back, so they left him to the mercy of his kidnappers. He ends up joining them and going through a pretty rough transition considering that those in Black Lagoon operate In the darker shades of gray morality.
Fairy Tail
While Fairy Tail has a lot of different stories to tell, much of the characters are tied together by the titular guild, Fairy Tail. Considered one of the strongest magic guild’s in the world, you explore it with the main character Lucy as she is invited to join. You meet the characters and learn that while strong, they are also very odd people.
Fire Force
The very first moments of Fire Force are spent introducing the main character Shinra to his new comrades in Special Fire Force Company 8. They are outwardly responsible for fighting the Infernal threat, or those that turn into fire monsters. However, they also have a side mission of investigating the other Special Fire Force Companies for suspicious behavior.
Black Clover
As Asta was one of the rare folks not born with magic ability, and what ability he does have comes from his intense physical training and his grimiore, he didn’t have a lot of prospects when it came to joining the kingdom’s nine squads of Magic Knights. As such, he ends up joining the Black Bulls. These guys, while one of the nine, they are considered the worst. Luckily, Asta influence has a positive effect on limiting their destructive behavior – or at least focusing it in the right direction.
Attack on Titan
After having his whole world devoured by titans, Eren and his friends decide to join the military to fight the titans. After their initial training, all three decide to join the Survey Corps, the only organization allowed to travel outside their massive walls to survey the land and search for a way to defeat the titans. It is, as you would imagine, filled with the strongest fighters and brilliant tactical minds.
Angel Beats
In Angel Beats, everyone is dead. Don’t worry, it’s not spoilers, that gets covered in the first few minutes. Anyway, everyone is dead and the afterlife is filled with NPC-like characters. There are only a few actual humans who have been banded together to fight against an unfair God. As such, he not so much joins their group so much as he’s like, “Welp, mind as well,” and goes along with it.
Berserk
While Berserk eventually moves onto other things, it initially begins as a story about a sort of lone wolf fighter taking up with an ambitious group of young mercenaries. It tells their eventual rise and fall. Even when the series does move onto other things, you will find that the main character still attracts himself quite the group of skilled fighters. They are drawn to his strength the same as some of his enemies are.
D. Gray Man
In D. Gray Man, the series begins with Alan going to formally join the exorcists, a semi-secret organization that is responsible for fighting Akuma and the Millennium Earl that creates them. However, his formal joining is not his first introduction to the organization. For years previous, he had been raised and trained by one of the organizations’ great generals that took an interest in him.
Beyond the Boundary
“Badass” is perhaps not always the best adjective to describe the group of demon fighters hiding under the guise of the Literature Club that this show depicts. They are pretty standard school children in most respects, except that they occasionally have amazing powers like being able to turn blood into weapons or create barriers. As they are so normal looking, it creates a nice stark contrast when they start fighting Youmu.
Do you have more anime series where the main character joins a group of fighters? Let fans know in the comments section below.
