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Desperate to master the power moves we’d seen so many times in our favourite anime (Japanese animated cartoon), we practiced them day and night. Nothing impresses friends and destroys enemies like a well-timed “Turtle Destruction Wave”. Sure of our eventual success and rise to glory, we eagerly followed in the footsteps of heroes, mimicking their warrior cries and poses. Our best efforts were doomed to fail, but we kept on trying. You did too, right? Probably. Hadouken!

MyNavi News asked 286 men and women in Japan which moves they practiced as children. Here are the most common (and surprising) responses.

Unsurprisingly, the most popular move is the “Turtle Destruction Wave” (Kamehameha) performed by Son Goku of Dragon Ball fame. “What’s that?” I hear you ask. Well, it’s “only the most fearsome attack in the whole martial arts world. Supposedly it turns your inward power into some kind of outward explosion.” Hmmm, sounds lethal. Don’t go crazy eating too many beans.

One 33-year-old man in retail confessed that “I thought that if I tried really hard, I’d be able to do it sooner or later, so I practiced desperately in front of the mirror.” Goku himself picked it up like a pro, in mere seconds. To me, this move looks suspiciously similar to the currently trending Street Fighter hadouken, but that just shows how much I know. There’s a world of difference in how you throw those fiery explosions. Another man (25) expressed a preference for Vegeta’s big move, the “Big Bang Attack”, saying “At junior high school I practiced it with my friends in all seriousness, but we couldn’t master it.”

I mean, what if you could really do it? It’s not just the Kamehameha, many people thought they would be able to do the other tricks of Dragon Ball, like flying (bukujutsu) for example. These techniques were all covered in detail on the show, so many have tried, but few have been chosen. Searching on anime fan sites, there’s no lack of brave warriors who have uploaded their personal take on the Kamehameha.

Next most popular was the Avan Strash from ‘Dragon Quest: Dai’s Great Adventure’. “Looking in the mirror, I tried doing the pose, but no matter how hard I tried, to my shame I couldn’t look cool doing it,” said a 27-year-old man. A 32-year-old software engineer said he was a fan of “Avan’s move, the Avan Strash. I practiced zealously with an umbrella.”

Grasping your sword (or katana) in an underhand grip, dropping low and twisting in the Avan Strash- if you can pull it off, it’s so cool. Hundreds of primary school students all over Japan almost dislocated their hips practising this one. “Whenever I was cleaning, I’d practice with a broom,” said some people.

But who did young women aspire to imitate? Of course, it goes without saying… stunning girl power role-model Sailor Moon.

“Serena Tsukino’s special move (Sailor Moon), the “Moon Frisbee” (also known as the Tiara Action or Moon Tiara Boomerang). I got told off for throwing things all over the place, trying to copy her knack of tiara tossing.” (29-year-old woman in retail)

Another woman (26) said, “I forget what it was called, but that move that Sailor Mars used to bust out. I thought that even if I couldn’t manage to do the light, I could at least make a flame.”

Oh, okay, so you’d settle for just the magic flame? Why not just imitate the hairstyle? Mockery aside, the fact remains that even women believed that they were able to do these tricks. By the way, when unleashing the Sailor Moon Tiara Action you have to say “in the name of the moon, I punish you!” Otherwise they might think it was just some girl punishing them for no good reason.

A lot of men and women also commented that they thought that they’d be able to do Yusuke Urameshi’s “Spirit-Gun“, where “Spirit Energy” is concentrated into the right index finger and released as a projectile (from the manga and anime ‘YuYu Hakusho’), or Hyoga’s “Diamond Dust” attack (from ‘Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac’) which blasts snow and ice at his unlucky opponent.

Some secret arts have been handed down from generation to generation. Like Secret Akko-chan‘s magical mirror, which gave her the power to turn into any person or animal with a special chant. A 26-year-old teacher said “‘Abracadabra, abracadabra, turn into a …!’ My mom bought me the mirror.”

“I don’t know if you’d call it a power move, but I did Iyami’s “Sheeeh!” (from the anime ‘Osomatsu-kun’) way too many times, so I can be proud that I mastered the Way of Sheeeh.” (26-year-old woman) Iyami is a flamboyant, rather shady character who claims to be from France, and his signature pose is the “Sheeeh!” For those who don’t know the Way of Sheeeh, the clip below is a good introduction.

“I copied Kiki from ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ (the wildly popular Japanese fantasy film about a young witch) and straddled a broom to practice flying into the sky.” (29-year-old woman)

Other popular moves for guys were bean bun boy Anpanman’s “An-punch” and Kenshiro’s “Big Dipper God Fist” (of ‘Fist of the North Star’). If you’re a man in Japan, admit it- you must have tried them at least once. And probably more than once. Japan reigns supreme in the world of anime. Now let’s pass the torch of this proud tradition of power moves on to a new generation! Teach your kids Kamehameha. They’ll love you for it.

Source: Niconico News

Featured image by eggmanrules (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License)