Updated August 29, 2020 23.9K votes 6.4K voters 152.4K views
Over 6.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 20 Iconic Anime Quotes That We'll Never Forget
After watching a particularly great anime, one of the things that stays with us are the most memorable quotes. Whether they reveal something about a character and the world they live in, or resonate with us on a personal level, these iconic anime quotes stick in our minds for years to come.
But what are the best anime quotes? That depends on your personal preferences, but this collection includes some pretty solid contenders. A classic example is Spike Spiegel's last words to Faye before he goes to confront Vicious in Cowboy Bebop. More recently, there's Erwin Smith's rousing speech to his soldiers as they face impossible odds in Attack on Titan.
Which of these quotes resonates with you the most?
"Those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
There are lot of great quotes from Naruto, but one of the things that makes this Kakashi quote stand out is that it comes from hard-won knowledge. After his father was driven to suicide because he failed a mission in order to save a comrade, Kakashi venerated following the rules above all else. But after losing his friends and enduring wartime trauma, he came to realize that his father was right all along. Through this quote, he's passing on his hard-earned lesson to his students.
"No, they weren't! It's us who gives meaning to our comrades' lives. The brave fallen! The anguished fallen! The ones who will remember them are us, the living! We die trusting the living who follow to find meaning in our lives! That is the sole method with which we can rebel against this cruel world. My soldiers, rage! My soldiers, scream! My soldiers, fight!"
These were the last words that Erwin Smith ever spoke, and they were among the most impactful. His goal was to inspire his soldiers to continue fighting the Beast Titan despite the odds being overwhelmingly against them, he succeeded in doing exactly that.
This state alchemist isn't talking about the weather - he's talking about the tears trickling down his face. Roy's coworker and friend Maes Hughes was just viciously killed by a homunculus, and he's devastated. But because he's a prideful and slightly ironic person, he blames it on rain that isn't even falling.
"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
This is one of those quotes that doesn't sound like it should be from a Pokemon movie - surely it's from something deep and philosophical? But no, it's from the very first movie in the franchise. Mewtwo, who was created via a lab experiment, is enraged at humanity and hellbent on revenge against anyone who isn't also a clone. Eventually, he realizes that his attacks are misguided, and seeks a more peaceful approach to life.
"I'm not going there to die. I'm going to find out if I'm really alive."
In the final episode of Cowboy Bebop, Spike Spiegel is about to confront Vicious for the last time. Sure that if he goes he'll never return, Faye tries to stop him. Spike utters this line in response.
"I'll solve equations with my right hand and write names with my left. I'll take a potato chip... and eat it!"
"I'll take a potato chip...and eat it!" has achieved meme status in the anime community, largely because of how dramatic Light sounds when he says it. But there's more to the quote than just its meme-status. Light is actually engaged in some pretty decent strategizing to avoid cameras picking up on his use of the killer notebook.
