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The List
7 Battling Brothers

by Lynzee Loveridge,

This week's List focuses on a theme that's downright Biblical; the classic story of two brothers raised together but find themselves on opposite ends of an issue. Cain and Abel was the result of jealousy of one brother towards the other; the siblings in this list have grievances from parental favoritism, attempts to destroy all of humanity, or growing up in a post-apocalyptic nuclear age.

7. Raditz & Goku (Dragon Ball Z)Raditz and his younger brother Goku are two surviving brothers of Planet Plant. One is the lovable Saiyan martial artist and dad we love, and the other is an a former Saiyan Army vet and Frieza lackey. The difference between the two brothers is a mix of nature and nuture. Goku wasn't raised in the warrior-like Saiyan culture while Raditz fully embraces it and his role in Freiza's Planet Trade Organization. The two butt heads when Goku, having failed to conquer Earth, refuses to join back up with his violent brother.




6. Raoh & Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star) Raoh and Kenshiro are two of four brothers, Raoh being the eldest. In this post-apocalyptic world, Raoh has risen as Kenoh and rules the land with an iron fist and an army of loyal followers. The disenfranchised look to Kenshiro as their "Savior" and he takes it upon himself to overthrow Raoh, rescue his imprisoned brother Toki, and defeat his third brother Jagi. Raoh and Kenshiro face off with Hokuto Shinken using powers that could be summed up as "no, I'm sadder than you are."




5. Sesshoumaru & Inuyasha (Inuyasha) The feud between the Sesshoumaru and his half-demon brother can mostly be summed up as a fight over inheritance. Sesshoumaru doesn't understand why his father, also a pure-blooded demon, would give his brother the more powerful Tessaiga sword. He also can't stand the fact he's related to a half-demon. Sesshoumaru is more or less a purist who sees himself as leagues above his younger brother and thus the more deserving one of Tessaiga. This is eventually resolved after the elder brother gains some much needed reflection on his views.




4. Kanba & Shouma Takakura (Penguindrum): Shouma and Kanba are "twin" brothers looking over their ailing younger sister Himari. When Himari suddenly dies and is just as suddenly revived by a weird penguin hat, they're at odds over how far it is reasonable to go to save their sister. Shouma is reluctant to make the same sacrifices as Kanba, and is much more emotional and gentle than his older brother. Kanba's dedication to saving Himari and the manipulations of Sanetoshi take him further into the realms of domestic terrorism and forces Shouma into a confrontation.




3. Zero & Ichiru (Vampire Knight) If you couldn't tell by the name theme, Zero and Ichiru are twin brothers raised by vampire-hunting parents. The duo had a caring a relationship, but because their parents were jerks, the more sickly Ichiru grew to resent his healthy, capable brother. Ichiru does what any rebellious child of vampire hunters would do; he shacks up with a vamp who almost slaughters his whole family. As expected, this causes a lot of unresolved issues for the surviving Zero when he discovers his brother isn't actually dead.




2. Vash & Knives (Trigun) Knives and Vash started out as equally kind-hearted boys being raised by their human caretakers as part of SEED. One of their caretakers wasn't so nice, and this was the tipping point for Knives to reconsider his relationship with humanity and its worthiness to exist at all. Vash's desire to help the innocent is juxtaposed by Knives' desire to destroy the offenders. The goal looks the same, but the methods are quite different. Knives continues to hold a special place for Vash, but unfortunately his desire to wipe out all humans outweighs any goodwill between the two.




1. Holland & Col. Dewey Novak (Eureka Seven) Rebel leader of Gekkostate Holland Novak and his brother, the inconspicuously named "Dewey," could not be anymore dissimilar. Holland was born of tragedy, with unfortunate events following since birth. The act of Holland coming into the world would throw his sociopathic brother into a continual string of murders and deceptions, forever placing the brothers at polar opposite view points. Despite his acts against his own family, Dewey manages to climb the ranks of government and eventually orchestrate his own take over as Holland and crew desperately fight back to save the planet's indigenous intelligent life forms, Scrub Coral, and humanity.






The new poll: What anime has the best OST? I'm going to list a few to get you started, and you can choose up to 5!

The old poll: What was the worst TV anime to air in 2014? Voters got five choices, but Studio DEEN's cannablistic incest-laden short horror anime Pupa was the resounding winner. Here's the top 20!

  1. Pupa 21.1%
  2. Glasslip 16.4%
  3. Recently, My Sister is Unusual 12.0%
  4. The Irregular at Magic High School 10.7%
  5. Psycho-Pass 2 10.7%
  6. Sailor Moon Crystal 9.6%
  7. Cross Ange 8.6%
  8. Magical Warfare 8.6%
  9. Gonna be the Twin-Tail!! 8.3%
  10. Dramatical Murder 7.5%
  11. Dai-Shogun - Great Revolution 7.3%
  12. Rail Wars! 7.3%
  13. World Trigger 7.0%
  14. Daimidaler 6.8%
  15. Sword Art Online II 6.8%
  16. Soul Eater Not! 6.0%
  17. Nobunaga the Fool 5.5%
  18. Aldnoah.Zero 5.2%
  19. Akame ga Kill! 4.9%
  20. Wizard Barristers 4.7%

When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as Associate Editor for Anime News Network, blogs about women and LBGT topics in anime and manga on her blog Engendered Dilemma, and posts pictures of her son on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.

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