As I’ve just finished the amazing series known as Dororo, it got me thinking about other anime duos who are as good. For this list, I’m specifically looking for an older sibling/younger sibling team (either blood related or adoptive or any other version of this). This list isn’t in any specific order. Remember that these are my opinions and I am excited to see who your favorite duos are.
Without further ado, let’s hop into it.
Naturally, if we are thinking of brothers in anime, the Elric brothers immediately spring to mind. The relationship between these two is defined by the love, loyalty, and devotion that they have to one another. I mean seriously, Edward sacrificed his arm as a child just to get Alphonse’s soul back and then went on to sacrifice his alchemic abilities to bring his younger brother’s body back. Couple that with Al’s absolute faith in his older brother and what you have is an anime duo more than worthy of being put on this list.
Everyone wanted an older sibling as amazing as Kamina (at least I did), and were envious of Simon for having the man himself. Like Ed and Al, Kamina and Simon’s relationship is built on the mutual trust they have for one another. It was obvious that Simon the Digger looked up to and idolized his aniki, but, when he saw that his younger brother had issues with his own self-confidence, Kamina says one of the things that I have repeated to many people in my life who are struggling: “Don’t believe in yourself. Believe in the me who believes in you.”. This duo is quirky and ridiculous and loud and sometimes obnoxious, but they are also absolutely amazing.
The duo known simply as “Blank” are perhaps the closest pair of siblings on this list. I mean that literally as they are never seen outside of each other’s company and, in the brief moment they are apart, they suffer from the most severe separation anxiety I have ever seen.
Both being geniuses in their own right, together Sora and Shiro are basically unbeatable. They put their faith in each other’s abilities to the point that Sora is perfectly comfortable erasing his own existence and relying on his younger sister to figure it all out and bring him back. It is a beautiful dynamic and I can’t wait for season two of this amazing show (it’s never gonna happen…).
Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin are perhaps why a whole generation of otaku craved not only a sibling, but a twin. These two are so close that it sometimes borders on erotic. They eat together, they sleep together, they club together, and they scheme together.
For most of the show, they only want to truly be friends with each other. Their relationship is pure and must be protected at all costs.
If you don’t consider massacring your entire clan, letting your younger brother hate you for years upon years, and even dying by his hand in order to protect him, the village he lives in, and make him strong enough to fight whatever threats may come, love, then you don’t understand the complex relationship that Itachi and Sasuke have. Itachi loved his brother so much that he sacrificed everything to ensure that he grew up in a world that was safe from his own clan.
To be honest, I hesitated to put these brothers on this list because we spend most of Naruto watching Sasuke try to kill his older brother. But I ultimately decided to slap them on here anyway because of just how strong their bond is. I mean, Sasuke is so pissed at the truth of Itachi’s life that he threatens to destroy the institution that made the life his older brother had to live so cruel. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
I purposely excluded Sabo from this because we haven’t seen enough of him thus far in the anime for me to consider this duo a trio.
Watching Ace and Luffy fight together at the Battle of Marineford was a testament to how close they were and how well they fought as a team. They predicted each other’s movements and did battle as a unit whenever the time called for it. And the overwhelming grief of Luffy when Ace died still wrenches my soul.
Yukio is the calm to Rin’s wild. He is level-headed and takes the protection of his brother so seriously that it is almost religious. Of course, due to their heritage and differences, there is a level of emotional tension between the siblings, but there is also a fierce love and devotion that is almost unparalleled.
You knew this was coming. Dororo is a young thief who just so happens to cross paths with Hyakkimaru, a teenager with wicked sword skills that a child who is looking for some quick coin would capitalize on.
Over time, their relationship grows to the point that Hyakki is always looking out for Dororo and would most likely slaughter hundreds just to keep her safe. On the other hand, Dororo is completely dedicated to her aniki and tries to keep him from becoming a demon. Honestly, as I’ve just finished this show, the relationship between them is beautiful to me.
I put them on here because they are cute and I’m out of ideas and I wanted to make it to ten.
