But is there anyone who could break said shield? And what kind of fights would be the most interesting? That’s our goal as we look into a variety of anime matchups where Kirishima would probably lose. And for the record: no obvious picks like Goku or Saitama. That would just be boring.
10. Shuka Karino
Anime: Darwin’s Game I’m starting things off with Shuka, since this feels like the most debatable pick on here. Her entire thing is that she can control chains and use them to both swing around like Spiderman, as well as one-shot enemies that aren’t paying attention. Initially, I wasn’t going to include her because I thought that Kirishima could just pull one of her chains and then uppercut her. But after watching some of Shuka’s fight, I think she might just stand a chance. First off, we see that her chains can destroy walls, and they can even spin at high speeds to make a drill. Quite an important characteristic when you’re facing someone who’s built like a wall. Secondly, she can actually carry more than two chains with her. So she could always let go of a chain if Kirishima catches it, and then use the others to retaliate. Bust most importantly, we see her little spider web technique that’s capable of easily slicing off limbs. Although I doubt they could get through Kirishima’s Quirks, she could just place them all around the battlefield and tire Kirishima out before going in for the kill.
9. Osamu Dazai
Anime: Bungo Stray Dogs This would be the most depressing fight, since it would look like an adult disciplining his child way too harshly. You see, Kirishima has no ranged attacks, and has to come in close to deal any damage. And when your opponent can shut down your Quirk by touching you, that’s kind of an issue. Hell, Aizawa is basically one of the strongest heroes around just because of his Quirk neutralization (plus overall badassery). So Dazai would definitely get the same status by default. But you might be thinking that even without his Quirk, Kirishima isn’t exactly useless, since we know he still packs quite the punch & will ride that manly tenacity to the very end. And that is true. But it’s also important to remember who Dazai is. Not only is he an absolute genius who can play entire criminal organizations like a fiddle, but he was also one of them – so he knows how to fight and how to kill. In his little scrap with Chuuya, we saw him tank several shots that destroyed the wall behind them. So even in terms of tenacity he’s actually on par with Kirishima. Plus he knows proper martial arts.
8. Kento Nanami
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen The thing with Kento is that he was literally designed to counter people like Kirishima. His entire sorcery technique is based on the fact that he can look at anyone and kind of just go “Oh, that’s where the weak spot is”. And it’s not like it only gives him a bit of bonus damage. No, it allows him to completely decimate anything in his sight. I described Kirishima as a wall. And we’ve seen Kento basically pulverize a wall with his hand just by using this technique. Not to mention that the dude is also incredibly fast, and actually knows how to properly fight, as opposed to just doing your best Ora Ora impression. And don’t even get me started on the proposition that cursed energy can harm Kirishima regardless of his defenses – or the fact that Kento can use the black flash technique multiple times in a row. That would just be overkill in my opinion.
7. Phinks Magkav
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) Phinks has unlimited scaling. He could throw a few punches, see Kirishima unphased, wind up, attack even harder, and then rinse and repeat until Kirishima falls over dead. And it’s not like it would take a thousand rotations for Phinks to be lethal. We’ve seen that even fifteen can completely destroy an Ant, which is dozens of times more durable than your average Joe. In fact, Phinks even comments how he could have done that with half the rotations. You might think that Kirishima would stop Phinks from winding up like this. But there are two important things to keep in mind. Number one: it doesn’t really take more than a second to do a rotation. Number two: just by being in the Phantom Troupe, we know that this guy’s physical strength and speed are way above that of a normal human. So, odds are that he could just evade Kirishima for a few seconds and then blast him. Especially since Kirishima’s Unbreakable has -100 dexterity.
6. Shizuo Heiwajima
Anime: Durarara!! This is another pick where I looked into it out of curiosity, but didn’t really expect for the person to win… and then I found pretty damning evidence. Everyone that’s watched Durarara knows that Shizuo loves throwing vending machines around. And while that’s an impressive feat of strength, it still didn’t seem like enough to beat Kirishima’s Unbreakable. But then I saw this one scene where a literal crane fell on Shizuo and he kind of just shrugged it off and tossed it to the side. For context, the average crane is about 35,000 pounds. Mind you it also fell off a building. So the fact that Shizuo didn’t take any damage from the incident, and was able to keep standing like he barely felt the weight, means that Kirishima is in some deep trouble. If nothing else, this showcases that Shizuo can just toss Kirishima like 50 feet in the air repeatedly until he finally cracks. Because if a crane didn’t damage this man, a really strong punch isn’t going to do anything either.
5. Rudeus Greyrat
Anime: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Another fact to keep in mind with Kirishima that he gets heavily countered by long-ranged mobile fighters. This is why Bakugo destroyed him in the tournament arc, and why he probably won’t be surpassing Todoroki any time soon. But this goes double for Rudeus – as he’s simply a monster on all fronts. Most notably, he can use air magic to launch himself out of a bad position, or even to disrupt the enemy and knock them off their feet. He can also create mud to slow them down and evade any attacks that do come his way with his demonic eye. We’ve seen him go toe-to-toe with Eris, who’s admittedly a much quicker and more skilled fighter than Kirishima, and take her down with ease. So I don’t think Kirishima would do much better. And when it comes to attack potency, let’s just say that Rudeus fired off a spell that was so powerful it got acknowledged by the most powerful dude in his verse – and if I’m allowed just a bit of head cannon here, that should easily put him at least at mountain level of power. There’s also the whole “I will wipe out this entire city + ominous and suggestive music scene”… but again, his power is mostly just implied.
4. Puri-Puri Prisoner
Anime: One Punch Man Since Kirishima is very much the stereotypical manly man (or at least that’s what he’s striving towards), fighting Puri-Puri Prisoner would be the most hilarious sequence of back and forth that the anime community has ever seen. You already know Puri is going to be completely naked within 30 seconds. And I honestly think Chris Hanson would have to jump in as the third combatant in this case. But when it comes to strength and durability, I think Puri has Kirishima beat. In his fight against the Sea King, although he got wrecked, we saw his potential – as he managed to push the Sea King back with such power that it tore the asphalt all around them. If you ask me, that sounds like some Rappa strength right there. And we all saw how that went. Not to mention that he got punched a dozen times by a dude who could easily wipe the entire city and then got launched into a building without dying.
3. Langris Vaude
Anime: Black Clover The only way Kirishima would ever stand a chance against Langris is if the battle started with them being one foot apart. Literally any other situation would lead to Kirishima getting absolutely destroyed. This is because Langris’ power is completely busted, and counters any type of defensive abilities short of literal anti-magic. I mean, the dude just warps your leg out of existence (or at least its current location) regardless of how hard or durable it might be. And if we compare it to Finral’s own magic, we know that you can’t fail to go through one of these portals, regardless of your power level or strength. So Langris has to fire off a dozen of these and he wins by default. Because let’s face it: when you’re built like a tank, you usually aren’t the best at actually dodging spells thrown your way.
2. Naofumi Iwatani
Anime: The Rising of the Shield Hero It only made sense to pit Kirishima as the ultimate shield versus the literal Shield Hero. And as you might have guessed, I think Naofumi takes this one. Although it’s difficult to scale just how durable Naofumi’s shield is, the fact that he managed to tank Glass tells us a lot. We’re talking about a character than can send an enraged Filo flying just by gently poking it. If you ask me, that’s at least some All Might level strength. Plus, we have to keep in mind that Naofumi has some hax abilities under his belt as well – with both his enraged mode and his Iron Maiden being incredibly powerful, and pretty hard to counter if you’re a melee fighter. Overall, this fight would be kind of a slug fest in the beginning, with the two exchanging blows in their base form – but between Red Riot and rage mode Naofumi, I think Kirishima is getting burnt to a crisp, or turned into Swiss cheese inside of the maiden.
1. Bulat
Anime: Akame ga Kill! I honestly think Bulat and Kirishima would become best friends instantly and would inspire a fanfic era so strong that it would redefine the term “manly” altogether. That being said, Bulat is definitely the dom in this relationship. Although we’ve only seen him properly fight a single time, it told us everything we need to know for this fight. Number one: the dude can literally chop a person in two with a single blow. So the destructive power is definitely there, and it’s above mister “I just knock people out PG Kirishima”. Number two: this man can tank quite a bit of damage. Considering he was attacked by giant bursts of water that seemed more than capable of sinking the entire ship, I would say that he’s at the very least comparable to Unbreakable Kirishima. Number three: he’s way faster than our rocky boy. Even when the enemy launched a surprise attack and hurled dozens of quick projectiles at Bulat, he was capable of reacting and deflecting them with his weapon in an instant. So for this fight I think Kirishima loses in speed, strength, and perhaps in durability too. He should be done for. That being said, he’s still alive in his series – so he must be doing something right.
