Many people love watching anime for a whole host of reasons, ranging from its amazing stories to the beautiful animation that many shows benefit from. Of course, it would be impossible to talk about the draws of anime without mentioning the vast number of characters across various shows and manga that end up being quite notable in their own right. People love to see relationships between certain beloved anime characters blossom into something truly impressive.

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This is especially true in the case of rivalries, with certain characters forming a competitive bond over time that propels both of them to break their own ceilings and become more powerful than ever before. However, there are moments in anime where certain rivalries feel so forced or one-sided that they end up being largely forgettable for many. Here are some of the worst rivalries anime has ever seen.

8 Tyson & Kai (Beyblade)

Tyson and Kai in Beyblade

Beyblade is a popular toy that, like most Japanese products, received an anime of its own for promotional purposes. For what it's worth, the Beyblade anime was actually a pretty riveting watch despite its somewhat simplistic nature.

Since the show was meant for kids, the rivalry between Tyson and Kai wasn't really explored thoroughly. As a result, this dynamic feels fairly superficial, with both Tyson and Kai just seeming like friends who had tough love instead of being proper rivals.

7 Ash & Gary (Pokemon)

Ash & Gary in Pokemon

Speaking of shows made for kids that can't really explore the more antagonistic sides of a rivalry, another show that comes to mind is Pokemon. The adventures of Ash and his buddies as he tries to win all Pokemon leagues makes for a great time, even if he doesn't win his tournaments all that often.

That being said, his rivalry with Gary is pretty disappointing despite starting off on a fairly interesting note. Gary seems to have no motivations of his own other than impeding Ash in his journey, which makes for a rather one-note dynamic where Ash's rival has absolutely no personality that is independent of his relationship with Ash.

6 Midoriya & Bakugo (My Hero Academia)

Midoriya and Bakugo fighting in My-Hero-Academia

My Hero Academia gets a ton of things right, but rivalries are definitely not one of them. Nowhere is this more apparent that the dynamic between Midoriya and Bakugo, which is downright annoying at times.

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Bakugo has no reason to be so rude towards Midoriya, while the latter always considers Bakugo to be his closest friend despite being treated like dirt for so many years. While they do have a great fight that explores their dynamic further, there's no denying that the foundations of this rivalry are flimsy at best.

5 Ichigo & Uryu (Bleach)

Ichigo and Uryu (Bleach)

Bleach is an anime that definitely has its moments, but there are times when the show's characterization can prove to be quite weak. A great example of this is the dynamic between Ichigo and Uryu.

The pair are shown as rivals early on, but it becomes infinitely clear that Ichigo will get the majority of the spotlight and power-ups over the course of the series. As a result, this rivalry quietly fizzles out and the two become friends for the most part throughout the events of Bleach.

4 Saitama & Sonic (One-Punch Man)

One-Punch-Man-Saitama-Speed-O-Sound-Sonic

Unlike the other rivalries on this list, Saitama and Sonic actually have great chemistry and are quite captivating to watch in their own right. The only reason this rivalry makes the list is because this rivalry is hopelessly one-sided.

No matter what Sonic does, he will never hold a candle to Saitama's strength. Watching him try and beat Saitama up only to fail in the most hilarious manner over and over again is pretty entertaining, even if it might compromise the integrity of what a rivalry should ideally be.

3 Light & Near (Death Note)

Near of Death Note

Light and L had a pretty interesting dynamic that made them two of the most compelling characters in anime history. In comparison to this, the forced conflict between Light and Near feels like a slap in the face of fans who decided to stick through the anime after the time skip.

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Near is nothing more than a carbon copy of L who didn't do anything to deserve his spot in the story. The fact that he managed to outsmart Light is quite disappointing and a major reason why many people consider the second half of Death Note to be pretty mediocre compared to its better half.

2 Sakura & Ino (Naruto)

Sakura vs Ino - Misconceptions About Sakura Haruno

The rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke is pretty compelling and the biggest part of the anime. Meanwhile, the antagonism between Sakura and Ino is pretty childish and makes both characters look bad as a result.

While their friendship is pretty heartwarming in its own right, there's no denying that witnessing this rivalry every time it became a major focus of the anime wasn't exactly all that interesting. Thankfully, both characters reconciled their differences and have formed a great bond.

1 All Might & Endeavor (My Hero Academia)

All Might and Endeavor (My Hero Academia)

Endeavor's inferiority complex is what leads to him forming a rivalry with All Might. Meanwhile, the man who used to be the No. 1 Hero never really cared about Endeavor's dislike towards him and pushed him to become a better hero.

Fans were glad to see Endeavor's character become way more interesting after he started shouldering the burden of being a No. 1 Hero. It's way more interesting than whatever his forced rivalry with All Might was trying to accomplish.

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