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Calling Your Attacks / Anime & Manga

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Witty caption!

Calling Your Attacks in anime and manga.
(Note: We could save you a great amount of time and just say every Magical Girl, Shōnen, and Super Robot anime ever, but if you prefer specific examples, keep reading...)

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    General 
  • Nearly every Humongous Mecha series has at least one scene where the pilot of a Mech will call out the attack, even if merely by its name. For example "High mega cannon! HASSHA!" — basically, "High Mega Cannon! FIRE!" — all the way up to Genesis of Aquarion's Mugen Punch (Infinite Punch) — a punch with effectively infinite range (in one episode, it actually punches an enemy into the surface of the moon, becoming the "Moon's Surface Infinite Punch" if I recall) among others. By far the most common called attack in the Humongous Mecha genre however is the good old Rocket Punch, where the forearm detaches and flies at the enemy before returning.
    • The Super Robot Wars series have tried to integrate this silliness into the traditionally more realistic Real Robot Genre by making these attacks voice-activated. Then there's mecha Fanboy turned mecha pilot Ryuusei Date, who not only calls out his attacks, but will often rename them. If the player assigns him to pilot a different mecha, he'll rename that mecha's attacks too. In the most recent games, his "disease" has apparently spread to Mai Kobayashi ("Queen of Kicks") and Latooni Subota ("Tonfa Princess"), both of whom adopted this habit because they have a crush on him.
    • Lampshaded to a degree in the anime adaptation Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector episode in which Kyousuke demonstrates his now (in}famous "Ultimate Gespenst Kick", as just before he launches the attack an on-screen prompt actually instructs him to shout the attack name, which the normally stoic Kyousuke does with dramatic hot-bloodedness.
    • The Macross functions as a truly epic-scale Humongous Mecha for purposes of this trope, including a Megaton Punch attack that is always called. The climactic moment of Space War 1 in both the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross (aka Robotech) and Macross: Do You Remember Love? involves another called attack, although this is somewhat justified, as a commanding officer is giving an order to be carried out by the crew.
    • For that matter, firing the main cannon of the Cool Ship always involves a direct (and yelled) order from the captain, which typically names the weapon explicitly. "Lohengrin, FIRE!"
    • However, this trope is not only justified but necessary for attacks with a particularly large effective range — it does the good guys no good to shoot their own troops, and calling it out can be a sort of warning.
    • Genesis of Aquarion is especially egregious about this; not only do the characters call their attacks, but pretty much every time a never-before-seen attack is performed by the heroes, a special frame comes up displaying the name of the attack. Examples.

    A 
  • Accel World has Cyan Pile's SPLASH STINGER, as well as a few others.
    • Justified when it comes to the Incarnation System, as quickly visualizing an attack is easier if you connect it to something you say out loud.
  • Air Gear has a subversion: when Storm Riders are doing normal, albeit complicated, tricks, they scream the trick's name at the top of their lungs, likely because they want to show off. However, in a fight, special moves are very rarely called, although they typically get subtitles when they're first shown. The only time this trope is really played straight in a serious fight is when some people use a certain attack which paralyzes an enemy without touching them, or even requiring the user to adopt a specific pose, so the calling of the attack is justified cause the audience needs to know what's going on.
  • All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku: "MOTHER'S LOVE MISSILE!" "NUKU-NUKU PUNCH!" "NUKU-NUKU KICK!"
  • Lampshaded in Angel Densetsu with Heizo and his tendency to seriously use progressively idiotic names for often-simple techniques.
    Heizo: You avoided my Koiso-style Kobujutsu Secret Technique Demon Slayer Destruction Fist... You are indeed a mighty demon. Curse you.
    Ikuko: Does that technique really exist...?
    Ikuno: Of course not. Heizo's just talking out of his ass.
  • The Area 88 TV series had calls like "Fox Two" and "Guns" being added to the English dub, possibly to fit audience expectations from American movies.
  • Lampshaded in Shrine of the Morning Mist, where Seiko constantly mocks the nonsensical names of the other characters' signature moves. She also refuses to name her own move, but the other characters do it for her.
  • Parodied in Ayashimon. Maruo, being the manga fanboy he is, makes up unnecessarily long names for his attacks... which are all just punches. His version of the Kamehameha is just an uppercut. They're effective enough anyway.
    Maruo: Eat this! Ultimate Final Conquering Destructo Heavenly True- (Blows his opponent apart) ...Huh? I didn't get to finish my attack name.
  • Azumanga Daioh:
    Tomo: Yomi's crazy flexible 'cause her body's made of almost nothing but fat!
    Yomi: DOUBLE CHOP! (Yomi double-chops Tomo on the head) Quit being so damn rude!

    B 
  • Bastard!! (1988) Ankoku no Hakai Shin feature this a lot; all spells and techniques are shouted before casting or using them.
    • "Burning in the depths of the pits of darkness, let the fires of hell take you, Let the fires become my sword and strike you down! Venom!"
  • Battle Angel Alita:
    • Spoofed in the original manga. While in the middle of an emotional conversation, Alita is attacked by a guy on a motorcycle. She throws him, bike and all, off of a balcony, without a pause in the conversation. When asked what the name of that throw was, she responds, "Um... the Two-Wheeled Biker Throw."
    • Played straight in both series, though. Most special attacks have names, even thought other characters call their names by seeing them, or the character using them announces them in their head. This leads to another spoof in Last Order: Alita's replica Sechs uses a special attack based on his liquid-based body, by quickly expanding the body to eight times it's size and then compressing it again, releasing the energy of the attack into the enemy. The commentator quickly calls it the "super diet punch", much to Sechs' annoyance.
  • Subverted in Battle Programmer Shirase, when Shirase used his Double Compile technique for the first time in the series: the background turns into a yellow blur, the camera pans around him, he called "HISSATSU!! Double compile!!"... and sat back again, listless as usual, stating "that's really unnecessary"... before overloading a top-of-the-line supercomputer, causing it to blow up, with a cellphone.
  • Spoofed at one point in Beelzebub, where the main character calls a punch and a kick by impressive names... despite them being an ordinary punch and kick. His Non-Action Guy sidekick even dutifully starts making nonsense up to Combat Commentator about it.
  • In Black Clover this is practically universal and justified as the incantation to activate a spell. Shockingly enough for a manga of this type, Asta is the only exception as he simply needs to pull his sword out of his grimoire and start swinging. During the Time Skip, he learns how to summon his swords from a distance by calling their names.
  • Blade of the Immortal has what could be a parody of this; the only called attack is Rin's FLIGHT OF THE GOLDEN WASPS!... Which almost never works the way it's supposed to, and is called out as useless by other characters at least twice.
    • There was also a bandit in the very first chapter who announced a special moved called "HEAVEN ABOVE HELL BELOW" which was basicly him swinging his two swords horizontal, he used it to slice an innocent in half. Afterwards he was very quickly stylished cut appart (in shape of a manji) by the protagonist without any kind of attack name.
  • Blazing Transfer Student: Spoofed during Takizawa's boxing re-match with Jonouchi, after Jonouchi has used their school's "Survival of the Fittest" rule to claim Yukari as his girlfriend. In the initial match Jonouchi used his "Insect-Squashing Punch" to knock the Takizawa out. Later, when Takizawa is preparing for a Rocky Training Montage his stuff gets run over by a train, inspiring him to create a new attack for the rematch and prepares to demolish his rival with his "Takizawa Kokugen (Railway) Punch", only to be promptly K.O'd by the "Sacchu (Insect-Squashing) Punch" again because it takes less time to say. Yukari, looking for a way to help Takizawa win, tells Jonouchi she is dissatisfied by the name "Insect-Killing Punch" and convinces him to rename it the "Jonouchi Koichi Killer Golden Victory Finisher". Jonouchi goes into the next exchange of punches with tears pouring down his face because he knows he'll be clobbered before he can finish saying it.
    Announcer: Jonouchi's punch was faster... just as much as his special move's name was shorter!!
  • Bleach takes this a step further, by explaining that knowing the name of an attack is required in order to access its full power.
    • Kidô spells in particular have not only their name, but also a number, the type of kidô, and an often lengthy incantation. Shinigami who are very skilled and familiar with the spell can drop a verse or two, but it can significantly reduce the overall power to half and make the spell harder to control (depending on the ability of a kidô user effects of a miscast go from making the kidô effects even weaker to backfiring and exploding in the user's face). The highest-level kidô masters have also shown the ability to cast a spell by name only for increased speed, and then power it up while still in flight by calling out the incantation.
    • In order to transform their swords into stronger forms, Soul Reapers usually have to call out a short phrase followed by the name of their swords, while activated Bankai needs merely for them to say "Bankai", though they still tend to say the Bankai's name after releasing it. Like with kido spells, if the Soul Reaper is strong and skilled enough, he can activate his sword without saying anything at all.
      • Also like with kidô, any special attacks for a sword are less powerful if the attack name isn't called. And the attack loses even more power if the user doesn't know its name yet.
    • In a more traditional application of the trope, Renji really likes it. "Howl! Zabimaru!" can be heard about six times per minute when Renji is fighting, though only because Renji seems to like saying it rather than because it's actually necessary.
    • Charlotte Chuhlhourne's attacks tend towards being overly long to the point where he trips up using one. And then lampshades the standard explanation of this trope by claiming the attack's power was cut in half.
      • Charlotte's attacks also spoof the need to call attacks, as he's using lengthy names to call out punches, kicks, and standard ceros, which most Hollows don't even call out.
        Yumichika: That's just a Cero!
    • Zigzagged by Yumichika who subverts and exploits this trope by calling a fake name when releasing his blade. His sword absolutely detests the name so it never releases fully, which is exactly what Yumichika wants. If another member of his division saw his actual release he would be ridiculed and kicked out since it's a kido-type rather than physical. The moment he calls his Zanpakuto by its real name, his enemies tend to drop like flies.
    • Then there is Zaraki Kenpachi who doesn't even know his Zanpakuto name, and while his immense amount of Reiatsu forces his weapon in a permanent shikai mode it doesn't brings the benefits of the shikai. Much like Yumichika above, when he finally masters the shikai his zanpakuto doesn't even look the same.
    • To use their resurreccion, Arrancars have the same ritual that Soul Reapers use for shikai.
    • MASHIRO KIIIIIIIICK!! KIIICK!! KICK! KICK!"
  • In Blood Blockade Battlefront, Klaus is especially noted for his extremely long-winded attack calls.
  • Justified in Blue Exorcist. Since Rin's abilities are extremely powerful and versatile, Shura specifically asks him to name his attacks because they help him focus and provides him a basic guideline for what he's going to do next. It's easier to remember just the name of an attack than it is to try and recall every single step; naming and calling it during battle helps him to use it subconsciously.
  • Parodied constantly in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo where every single attack is given a name, often ridiculous. Furthermore, in the original Japanese version, "ougi" is almost always attached to the attack name in question. Most of the time it's "X Shinken Ougi", where "X" is the specific name of the "fighting style", but there have been times where it was just "ougi" without the "Shinken". In all cases in the dub, it's rendered as "Super Fist of the X".
  • In Brave10, Saizou, Seikai, Anastasia, Hanzo and Kaio can't apparently use their techniques without informing everyone of their names. One of Kamanosuke's attacks even involves calling his own name as part of it. The rest of the Braves are more discreet.
  • Buso Renkin:
    • As part of his Large Ham persona, Captain Bravo has names for most of the attacks he uses during combat. He does Subvert this at one point, however, by attacking first and then calling out its name afterwards.
    • As a highly enthusiastic character, Kazuki will shout the name for his attacks during combat, usually "Jousting/Sunlight something". This habit was Lampshaded during the first arc of the series when Tokiko, who is a more serious character than Kazuki, asks him why he keeps yelling attack names during the fight, and Kazuki responds that he feels more powerful that way (which is the same explanation the Nobuhiro Watsuki uses in his author's notes).

    C 

    D 
  • Parodied in Deadman Wonderland. Ganta and Shiro watch a superhero show as kids, where hero Aceman pulls off a move:
    Aceman: "Time to finish you off..! Super Ultra Delicious Dynamite Kraken Gaki Special Atomic Bomber Spiral Core Poisoned Drill Gravity Air Spin Fire Flare Vibrating Spectacular Final Yogurt Electronic Synchro Drive Jumping Beam Happy Zero Heat Ice Crusher Terry Itou Stone Mountain Surging Dark Candle Freeze Buster Light Sun Ocean Remarkable Clear Clip Cutter Jab Gazelle Monkey Boar Coelacanth Stardust Poison Papiko Sunder Storm Enlightened Over-Named But Really Nothing But An Extremely Normal PUUUUNCH!!!"
  • In Death Note, Light prefers to smile silently while writing in the Death Note, whereas Mikami Teru loves to shout "Sakujo!" ("Eliminate!") after writing each name.
    • In the English translation, Mikami Teru says "Delete!" instead.
  • Happens with most protagonists in D.Gray-Man, except for the ones whose weapons are actually part of their bodies.
    • Though even many of them call out their attacks, for example protagonist Allen Walker's "Cross Grave" or Suman Dark's "Break Wind" and "Break Storm".
    • Of course, it's not always clear how much of the time they're saying things out loud and how often they're just thinking the trigger phrase, since it all reads the same in the manga.
  • The titular Devilman in Devilman is a prime example of this trope - While he doesn't have a transformation phrase, most of his attacks are called out, from the "DEVIL BEAM!" to the "DEVIL CUTTER!" to the "DEVIL ARROOOOOOOOOOW!"
  • Seen in the various Di Gi Charat series, mostly with Dejiko's "Me-kara Biimu" or in English, "Eye Beam!"
  • Done in all the incarnations of Digimon — to the point that some have theorized a Digimon literally cannot attack without saying the attack's name. They added several attack calls in the dub. Power Echoes is in full effect, too.
    • The dub of Digimon Fusion takes it further by including subtitles for each attack that's called out.
    • However, in C'mon Digimon, it was the humans calling attacks, rather than the monsters, similar to the Pokemon examples. In Digimon V-Tamer 01, this is mostly avoided (Tamers have "support programs" for non-verbal communication, the monster will often say something else like "Behold, my killing strike!" while the subtitles give the attack's actual name). A Piemon is the only one who actually gets away with calling his attacks outright, though a few others try.
    • Something similar to this example happens in Digimon Ghost Game. The human protagonists always call out attacks for their partners, "learning" each new attack in stressful situations through a literal flash of inspiration in which its name is spelled out on-screen before they speak it. Wild Digimon, on the other hand, play this trope straight.
      • This pattern is darkly subverted after Gammamon's evolution into the cold-hearted GulusGammamon in episode 13. Gulus instantly defeats the notorious assassin they've been facing, then lifts him by the neck and has him confess his motives - that he's simply been practicing his skills on random Digimon for his own amusement. Seeing Hiro's anger, Gulus gives him an expectant glance, and the visual effect for learning a new attack begins... but instead of an attack name appearing on screen, there's an extended static noise as the pacifistic Hiro clutches his head and starts yelping in pain.
        GulusGammamon: "So that's how it is. Fine, be that way. DEAD END SKEWER!"
    • A notable exception is in Digimon Frontier where the dubbers removed an attack's call. In this case, Kazemon's Ass Kicks You attack was never formally announced (though it was informally referred to as a "Love Tap" the first time it was used); presumably because they didn't want to call extra attention to a Stripperiffic character doing a butt-thrust. Since it made it seem like Kazemon did this on her own apart from her standard attack list, this made for weird Dub Text.
      • Later in the series this trope is averted when Magna Garurumon attacked Cherubimon in the middle of him calling his "Storm of Judgement" attack.
    • In earlier episodes of Digimon Adventure, Agumon didn't call out "Pepper Flame/Breath", instead simply making an enthusiastic-sounding roar noise (mmMMM-PAAH!)
      • And sometimes Patamon didn't call out "Boom Bubble" when he used that attack. Granted, that attack was useless anyway...
    • This is kind of strange at some points where they do it when their mouths are full of fire or whatever they're using at the time.
      • Indramon calls his Horn of Desolation attack while blowing the horn. It should be noted, however, that whatever they look like, Digimon are actually computer data.
    • In moments of smartness, Angewomon in Digimon Adventure has cut off another Digimon mid-sentence with her own attack. Yes, she still calls out the attack, but she interrupts them to do so and says it faster than they did. Both cases set up a killing blow, incidentally.
      • Addionaly, when Angemon first used his Hand Of Fate attack in the dub, he didn't call out it's name and instead said, "I'll stop you!"- oddly enough, he was still able to take out his opponent with it.
    • In Digimon Adventure tri., aimed at an older audience, the first movie had only one attack name called out - Togemon's Needle Spray. After taking feedback from the fans, they found that the fans actually LIKED the attack names being yelled out so added them back in for the rest of the series, though a lot of attack names still remained uncalled. The dub as always added in attack names where the original didn't.
  • The characters in Doraemon would sometimes shout out the names of the gadgets they're using, either because it's Doraemon introducing a new gadget to Nobita (and the audience) or because they're in combat.
    • The latter one seems to occur even when not saying the name seems to be a better idea, such as the Koke odoshi tenagedan (こけおどし手投げ弾, literally "Bluff Hand Grenade" which just makes noise and a flash to give the appearance of a grenade explosion.)
  • Parodied in Doraemon: Nobita and The Space Heroes, a Superhero Episode of the Doraemon series. Doraemon, after gaining powers via a Superpower Lottery, tries pulling a Diving Kick while yelling "''Super Doraaaaaaaaaaa - KICK!", but unfortunately his powers comes from his Hard Head. Cue Doraemon flopping around comically in mid-air and hitting his head on his intended target instead.
  • The Dragon Ball series is famous for this, but as explained below, it's generally avoided for all but the most powerful moves where they could afford to do this. They are typically done to announce the attack the moment they're fired, by which point it's too late to prevent them from happening anyway.
    • Akira Toriyama himself has said in an old interview that he doesn't particularly like it when characters do this, saying that "in a battle of life and death, there's no way you can say the name of each technique. You'd be done in while yelling the technique's name". As mentioned below, Recoome, Mr. Satan and Gotenks are examples of Toriyama lampooning and criticizing this behaviour (almost all examples are given to explicitly goofy characters).
    • The most well known example: KAAAAAAMEEEEEEHAAAAAAMEEEEEE... HAAAAAAAAAAAA! As shown when Krillin tested it in the 22nd Tournament, it appears that saying the name of the attack is required to actually perform it (and as shown by Goten, you technically don't even have to say it properly!). Notably, this is the only serious attack where the name has to be called out while charging it; all other examples that do this are usually lampooning this idea.
    • In the 21st Tournament arc of the original series, Goku called a punch, a chop, or an eye poke with Rock, Paper, or Scissors (Jan-Ken in the original Japanese). When his opponent revealed that he knew the technique and was able to defend against it (having actually been the man who trained Goku's grandfather), he switched it up by calling Paper and throwing Rock, punching his opponent square in the nose.
    • Krillin, in keeping with his Butt-Monkey status, is the only character who seems to actually be hindered by calling his attacks. He has what would be an incredibly story-breaking technique, the Kienzan, that can literally cut through anything (the only two times it ever hit yet failed was in filler against Cell, and against the literal strongest person in the multiverse, both cases being a case of a truly ridiculous power difference). Even people vastly stronger than he is. Naturally, since he's not The Hero, Krillin never lands a good hit with it, in part because he's compelled to loudly yell "KIENZAN!" whenever he uses it...even when trying to ambush somebody from behind!
    • Piccolo's Makankosappo, Gohan's Masenko and Vegeta's Final Flash are three more examples that fall into the "takes a long time to charge but is also very powerful" category.
    • The Kaio-Ken is another famous technique where it appears you need to actually say the name of it in order for it to trigger, especially which multiplication level you want to use (there'd be little other way to inform the audience of this otherwise). Eventually gets averted during the fight against Frieza: King Kai reveals that Goku has been wordlessly using the technique and is still losing.
    • Recoome, a member of the Ginyu Force mentioned above, has a silly name for every one of his attacks. He also has the best example of Toriyama lampooning this trope: the Recoome Ultra Fighting Miracle Bomber. Goku intervenes and attacks Recoome in the middle of calling out this attack! As a result, the only way to actually see this attack is to perform it in the Dragon Ball Z video games.
    • Yet again averted with Future Trunks who does not call his attacks during a fight, most likely due to growing up in a Bad Future making him a No-Nonsense Nemesis to his enemies. They get named in the video games, and in Dragon Ball Super, he's started calling his more powerful attacks, probably due to having fought with the heroes back in the Cell arc.
    • Parodied with Hercule/Mr. Satan of Dragon Ball Z, a normal human who shouts a ridiculously long name for a normal punch. Not only that, he forgets what he called it the first time when he needs to say it again, so he calls it something else that's just as ridiculously long.
    • The majorly cocky "Gotenks" created a huge list of attacks with comedic names with the sole purpose of flaunting how powerful he was. Most of them were not any bit more successful than Hercule's/Mr. Satan's because they were just as complex and showy as their names. Given that Gotenks is the fusion of two children (one of which is a goofball and the other having a massive ego), it isn't too surprising.
  • Spoofed in Dragon Half. When the King gets angry, he pulls a nearby rope and yells, Crushing Press!, dropping a huge weight on his target (usually his incompetent advisor) labeled "Ye King's Wrath".

    E 
  • Similarly, in El-Hazard: The Magnificent World, priestess Afura Mann performs an impressive air-based attack which fellow priestess Shayla-Shayla calls the "Big Sucker Gas Slash". This prompts Afura to complain, "It's my attack! I want to name it!" Later in the OVA she does name it, calling it the "Badger Slash".
  • Generally averted in Eureka Seven, though Anemone does call out her "Vascud Crisis" attack. Played for laughs in the soccer episode, where Moondoggie calls out over-the-top "attack" names when taking a shot.
    • Kind of justified with "Vascud Swell", as she needs the aid of 6 "amplifier" mechs and has to let them know before she uses it, so they can set up. Of course, this is actually for the sake of everyone watching to think that the Ageha Squadron was actually defeating the Antibody Coralians—in truth, they just waited until the 1246 second duration of the Kute-class manifestation reached its natural end and set up a big show for the sake of everyone watching the conveniently video-recorded scene.
  • Excel♡Saga has a group of "super" civil-employees whose attacks are activated by a combination of brightly colored spandex clothing and yelling out nonsensical English phrases. Some gems include: "BEST ELECTRON!" "SCOT BOMBER!" "CATHARSIS WAVE!" (Ironically enough, it was used to hurt people.)
    • Excel herself occasionally shouts "Excel kick" and similar lines when kicking or using other attacks.
  • Eyeshield 21. Yeah, in American football. This also greatly exaggerates Talking Is a Free Action. We've got Devil Bat Ghost, Devil Bat Dive, Devil Laser Bullet, Devil Backfire, Devil Stungun, Devil Bat Hurricane, Devil 4th Dimension, Delinquent Deathblow, Gentle Prince Spin... Spear Tackle, Trident Tackle, Shuttle Pass, Zero Gravity Run, the Swim, Rodeo Drive, Roping Rodeo Drive, Quickdraw Pass, Delta Dynamite... The list goes on. And this also applies to game plays. Criss Cross, Dragon Fly, Devil Wishbone... Or techniques in general, like the Rip. It's the announcer who does the calls; after all you can't really expect characters like Shin or Akaba to suddenly yell in the middle of the game.

    F 
  • Most characters in Fairy Tail do this, but it's justified as each call qualifies as a Magical Incantation. Spoofed with Laki Olietta, who gives incredibly bizarre names to her attacks like "The Damn of Shy Love" and "The Distance Between Two People is Forever", which makes everyone treat her as a Giver of Lame Names.
  • Fist of the North Star does this often, prominently displaying the kanji of the technique's name at the bottom of the screen as it is said. However, the attack names are typically shown after the attack has been completed (there are exceptions, though), and in some cases the names are spoken by a narrator rather than the character. Sometimes the attack is even described in detail by the narrator in freeze-frame, like a Combat Commentator.
  • Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. When everyone believes they're about to die from a lethal biowarfare agent, Issei Tsubaki ignores the girl who's literally throwing herself at him because he wants to spend his last moments kicking Sōsuke's ass. As Sōsuke calmly loads his shotgun, Tsubaki summons his Battle Aura and announces his Daidoumuyaku Style Final Master Move...until Sōsuke shoots him with a beanbag round.
    Sōsuke: I win.
    Kaname: I don't even have the energy to hit you.
  • In Fushigi Yuugi, Tasuki's fan requires an incantation for it to shoot fire, so he's one of the few characters who regularly gets to call his attack.
  • The Future GPX Cyber Formula series has the drivers using their Nitro Boosts by calling out their car's commands like Hayato's "BOOST ON!" and "SPIRAL!", Shinjyo's "PEACOCK/PHOENIX/ICARUS WING!" and Randoll's "MESSER WING"!

    G 
  • Averted in Gamaran despite being a shonen about fighting. The characters usually name the attacks outside of the battle or to their partners in case of a combined attack. However, when someone performs a special attack the name is "thought".
  • Every GaoGaiGar brave robo calls not only their attacks, but supporting tools, like the Dividing Driver, Dimension Pliers, and Eraser Head. In fact, it could almost have a song where most of the lines are this trope. Subverted with the uber-Hotblood GGG Chief, Taiga, who has been seen calling his own attack when he pulls a club out of his golf bag to beat on some zombies. "TITANIUM HEAD DRIVER!"
  • GEAR Fighter Dendoh's attacks are called so hard the name is usually visibly flashed across the screen as they're being performed. The titular mecha has reality itself declare the name of the attack, in stylized lettering visible only to the audience.
  • Justified in Getter Robo: the reason attacks are called out is because the robots' operating system uses them to ACTIVATE the attacks, which makes a LOT of sense. What's easier, shouting "GETTER BEAM!" and having your robot fire? Or having to press switches, throw levers and turn knobs to do the same?
    • Only in the Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo OVA. The other series don't bother with this, or at least don't mention it outright.
  • In Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin and its sequels, Ginga Densetsu Weed, Ginga Densetsu WEED: Orion, and Ginga: The Last Wars. The most notable use of this trope is with the Zetsu Tenrō Battōga, the special attack of the bearhound family.
  • Also spoofed in Godannar, which is itself an Affectionate Parody of GaoGaiGar (most obviously) and other Humongous Mecha series. It's rare to hear the same attack called out twice (beyond the trademark SOUL BREAKAAAAAH! and HEART BREAKAAAAAH!)... and a large part of the opening song in both seasons is dedicated to singing about the attacks.
  • In Gou-dere Bishoujo Nagihara Sora, this is spoofed with Tenka's parents and Sora's incredibly long attack names like: "2-D Art of Death, Secret Technique — Fist of the 'Prepare for the Fact That Most Small-Breasted Pretty Girls In Anime Nowadays Are Actually Boys'!!" and "'80s Art of Death, Secret Technique — Fist of 'When the Cartridge Isn't Working, Blow on the Connectors'!!"
  • Grenadier: Rushuna is a gunfighter, but she still manages a couple of these when wielding pieces of her revolver. "Zero distance range-gun skill!"
  • GunBuster:
    • Noriko calls almost every special attack she and Gunbuster do. She screams before calling her attacks as well. She even gets Cool Big Sis Kazumi to help her call the Super Inazuma Kick.
    • Bonus points for calling her attacks in English. "HOMINGU REEZAAAA!" "BUSTAAA MISSAIRU!"
      • But Noriko is also the biggest Otaku in outer space (subtly implied in the anime itself outright stated in the extras). So her attack names are likely partly due to fangirl-ism. Thought that still has to make one wonder about Jung.
      • Definitely fangirl-ism, as Date Ryuusei of Super Robot Wars does the exact same thing even in a Real Robot.
  • Gundam:
    • G Gundam. Domon's "Shining Finger" (and, later, the "Erupting Burning God Finger") is not only accompanied by its name, but also always, without fail, is preceded by a chant, which has gained Internet popularity. Other fighters call their attack names, but most do not take nearly as long to recite.
      • Made even more crazy a few times in the finals. Domon would recite the first part of his chant, his opponent and/or partner recites the second part followed by Domon using the God Finger.
      • When Domon does the "Shining Finger Sword" attack in Super Mode or Hyper Mode, the chant doubles in length. That version, and a video of it, are at the Quotes page.
    • The original Gundam series almost always averts it, but Amuro and Kamille manage to do this with Fin Funnel and Beam Confuse respectively.
    • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny plays this completely straight with Lacus' DOM Trooper squad's Jet Stream Attack, right down to it being referred to ambiguously as "that" by the members of the squad "introducing" said attack
    • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 usually avoids this, but Michael Trinity couldn't resist shouting "Fangs, fly!" whenever launching them, and everyone shouts "Trans-Am!" when that system is activated, leading some fans to wonder if the system is voice-activated. Tieria usually announced when he was firing his "Burst Mode" bazooka, but this could simply be a warning to his allies, as said Burst Mode is extremely powerful, and not something you'd want to get hit with, Gundam or no.
      • Michael Trinity wasn't the only one to shout when using the Throne Zwei's GN Fangs. Ali Al-Saachez also did this, and continued on with the repaired Arche Gundam
      • The movie A Wakening of the Trailblazer parodies this trope in the Show Within a Show with "Raiser Sword", which strangely bears resemblance to Shining Finger Sword from G Gundam.
      • The idea of a character shouting RAISER SWORD! at the top of their lungs does not only appear in the movie, but also a few times in Season 2, when Setsuna uses the Raiser Sword with the 00 Raiser.
    • In Season 2, there are a few instances where Setsuna shouts "Trans-Am BURST!", which is always followed by the entire battlefield being flooded in GN Particles, which says something about its range, considering that Trans-Am Burst is only ever used in space, where units can easily be several thousands of kilometers from each other, and still be affected by the system.
    • Gundam Build Fighters has Reiji, one of the main protagonists, who will always yell out "BUILD KNUCKLE!!!" whenever he uses the aforementioned move. Its sequel Gundam Build Fighters Try takes it a step further with Reiji's Expy Sekai, who is apparently compelled to call out every attack he uses in his fights. It turns out that he studied under Domon Kasshu, thus giving more proof that the Build Fighter-verse is Gundam Valhalla.

    H 
  • Like so many other anime tropes, spoofed in the first episode of Haruhi Suzumiya with the "Mikuru Beam". Haruhi, our resident unconscious Reality Warper, gets so into it that the supposedly fictional attack temporarily becomes a real ability.
    • Also, on the Remote Island two-part episode, Haruhi calls out her table tennis serve.
    • Koizumi's attacks in "Mysterique Sign" are Shout Outs to Full Metal Panic!.
    • There's actually a justified version of this, although it's hard to catch. As a living interface with the data entity that runs the galaxy, Yuki Nagato's power comes from incanting SQL commands really, really fast.
  • Harukanaru Toki no Naka de manga and anime adaptations inherited some of the attack spells used in the game, especially the ones for Combination Attacks. Oddly, at least in the Hachiyou Shou TV series there are instances of the Hachiyou using their newly-awakened Elemental Powers without these, yet later they are shown "unlocking" the same skills again, this time with the proper incantations.
  • Hayate the Combat Butler calls out his special attack. The other combat butlers do this as well
  • Hentai Kamen flips this trope on its ear. Three words: "Inferno Bullet Train".
  • Magical Girls Oyashiro Rika & Trap Satoko in Higurashii No Naku Koro Ni Kira: "07th… Explosion!"
  • While Hime-chan's Ribbon isn't a fighting manga/anime Hime-chan does shout various things when fighting, such as "SPECIAL HIMEKO KICK!".
  • Holoearth Chronicles Side:E ~Yamato Phantasia~: Fubuki and Mio call out "Mega Corn Hammer" and "Flaming Punch" respectively when fighting Ayame.
  • In Hunter × Hunter, Gon is very adamant about calling the names of his attacks, because otherwise it wouldn't look like a secret attack.
    • Due to how Nen works, it's more than likely that he made his abilities in such a way that they become stronger if he shouts out the name of his attacks. This is also hinted at when he forgets to shout the name and his attack barely has any effect.

    I 
  • Every special move in Inazuma Eleven, complete with subtitle as a shout out to the original game it's made from, with a few exceptions when the moves are being debutted for the first time. In such cases, Magane will name them.
    • Played with in Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy, where Minaho uses this trope to his advantage with a technique named "Asoko ni UFO" ("Over There's a UFO"). It's pretty much what you'd expect from the name. Hilariously, it actually works. 3 times in a row. On the same two opponents.
  • Most of the main characters in Inuyasha call their attacks. Kagome doesn't actually name her sacred arrow attack, though she frequently utters the catchphrase "Hit the mark!" when firing.
  • In Is the Order a Rabbit?, Chino and Rize do this to their badminton serves in episode 5. Patriot Serve!
  • In Is This A Zombie?, Haruna and Ayumu shout "Mystletainn Kick!" when using her signature attack (which, incidentally, is not a kick).
    • Seraphim loves to shout "Tsubamegaeshi Secret Sword Technique!" whenever she uses it in various ways. In one episode, she develops a brand new technique and shows some respect to Ayumu by letting him name it if they survive. She then proceeds to use it while shouting "Untitled Secret Sword Technique!"

    J 
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The series has a few examples, though the characters do eventually refrain from yelling every attack and switch over to Stand Cries (unless you count "ORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAAAAA!" as an attack yell). The villains, on the whole, have more instances of attack-calling than the heroes. Dio has his "MUDA!" yell, shouts out the name of his Stand in order to freeze time and even does it when he tries to flatten Jotaro with a steamroller.
    • And in Diamond Is Unbreakable, once his Stand progressed, Jotaro has his own version - albeit far less powerful, due to a decade of abstinence from his Stand power and only being a mortal mannote  - of Dio's trademark ability: "Star Platinum: THE WORLD!!" He even gets a unique, though similar, sound effect.
    • If the character possesses a Stand, but can't perform a Stand Rush (rapid-fire strikes accompanied by a Stand Cry, like Jotaro's "ORA!!", Dio's "MUDA!" and Josuke's "DORARARA!") then they will, more often than not, summon and use the abilities of their Stand by (at the least) calling out its name.
    Yoshikage Kira: Killer Queen's third bomb: BITES THE DUST!
    • Sometimes this can be fun due to the Theme Naming. Trish in Golden Wind has the Stand Spice Girl. Her Stand Cry? "WANNABEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
    • Subverted on one occasion as Jotaro prevented Dio from using The World by shattering the crown of his skull before he could say it.
    • In Parts 1 and 2, this was used frequently by Hamon wielders, in keeping with the Fist of the North Star-esque air of those parts. Some heroic Stand Users in Part 3 had this early on as well: Avdol and Magician's Red's Red Bind and Crossfire Hurricane, Kakyoin and Hierophant Green's Emerald Splash, etc. This began to drop off as they began to die.
  • Jujutsu Kaisen zigzags this trope: calling the name of your cursed technique is not strictly required, but it is later shown that cursed techniques have incantations, and that experienced sorcerers and curse users can skip the incantation in exchange for their technique being slightly less effective overall.

    K 
  • May Wong from Kaleido Star almost always calls out a name whenever she's doing a stunt, and anything else for that matter.
  • Kekkaishi is one of the worst offenders here. Making a kekkai and bringing it to Metsu without saying anything would probably be faster. But listening to the voice actors yelling "Ketsu! Ketsu! Ketsu! Ketsu!" like crazy for multiple targets can be fun.
  • Both played straight and parodied in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: almost each martial artist calls his attacks, even Akisame and sometimes Shigure. Most of the time the names are conventional and mutated from the original martial arts, but then, when it comes to their "finishing moves" you'll discover the sheer brutality of Akisame's "FORCED INTO AGONIZING POSITION DESTRUCTION HELL" or Apachai's "Might-be-slightly-better-off-if-dead-punch".
    • Obviously master of cowardly escape and deceit Haruo Nijima also calls his "attacks": "Nijima escap is almost always attached to the attack name in question. Most of the time it's e", "Nijima shock baton", "Nijima Human Shield"... you get the picture...
  • Most characters in Kill la Kill call their attacks, but when Satsuki is wearing Senketsu she has to do so. She lacks the mental connection with Senketsu that Ryuko has, meaning that calling the attacks is the only way Senketsu will know what transformation to use. Unfortunately this slows their reaction time slightly, and it's enough to give the Brainwashed and Crazy Junketsu Ryuko a decisive advantage.
  • In Kinnikuman and its sequel Ultimate Muscle, every wrestler (even Meat) calls their attacks.
  • In the Japanese version of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby does a lot of his talking through this. At the time, it was rather surprising for this adorable character to sound that badass. Knuckle Joe followed suit later on.
  • Hiroshi Shiba from Kotetsu Jeeg: "MAGNETO PRESSURE!", "DYNAMITE PUNCH!", "SPIN STORM!"
  • Yuna from Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear has to do this as her iconic Bear Armor gives her spells and attacks a massive power boost if she makes it bear-themed in some way. She finds both the armor and the act incredibly embarrassing but the benefits too good to pass up. Some examples include "Kuma Punch!", "Bear Wall!", and "Bear Fire!" She also has non-bear-themed attacks like Air Cutter.

    L 

    M 
  • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha doesn't always call her attacks, but her computerized magical wand does, combining this trope and Robospeak.
  • Mercilessly spoofed in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. At one point the protagonistic duo get to pilot a giant robot, which they control... by shouting random stuff. "Wossname juuuuuump!"
  • Magic Knight Rayearth prefers this trope even though characters prove from time to time that it's not necessary and that they can merely summon magic at will (as shown a few times in battles between Nova and Hikaru).
    • On the other hand calling the Rune Gods names' is a must for the girls' transformations. You'll end up hearing RAYEAAAAARTH! three times per episode due to that little tidbit...
    • The dub changes attack names to the point where 'Lightning Call!' becomes 'Light ball! Come forth!'. Even two word attacks like Hikaru's 'Fire Arrow' get an IYAAAAAAH! (complete with capital letters) at the end. The attacks come out sounding at the very least strange.
  • Brilliant, brilliant spoof: the Marmalade Boy movie features a memorable scene where five small neighbourhood boys encounter the protagonist as she's practicing tennis, and pretend to be a Super Sentai Five-Man Band, including a formal introduction of the entire team and lots of highly stylized called Ki Attacks. The teenage girl in question decides to be the Cool Big Sis, and cheerfully pretends to be the Monster of the Week in response.
  • "Gekigan Punch" and all the other attack names used by some pilots in Martian Successor Nadesico from its Show Within a Show, Gekiganger 3. In actual fact, the attacks in question are perfectly ordinary science-fiction (or mundane!) devices like Deflector Shields and machine guns, and the pilots call their attacks for the simple reason that they happen to be otaku. One (non-anime-fan) character in the show actually wonders whether the weapons are voice-activated.
    • In Super Robot Wars, Gai (and only Gai) has all of his Aestivalis' attacks renamed to things like "Gekigan Shoot", "Gekigan Sword", "Super Gekigan Sword", and so on, on the menu. Akito's Distortion Attack / Punch, and only that attack, is labeled Gekigan Flare.
  • Naturally, we gotta start with Kouji Kabuto, the protagonist of Mazinger Z, who may very well have started this. "Rocketto Punch!" "Breasto Fire!"
    • And Tetsuya Tsurugi, main character of the sequel, Great Mazinger. "Mazinger Blade!" "Thunder Break!"
    • And Duke Fleed, main character of the SECOND sequel, UFO Robo Grendizer: "Space Thunder!" "Melt Shower!" "Antigravitatory Storm!".
  • In MegaMan NT Warrior, Operators name all their chips, declaring "Slot IN!", as they... well, slot them in. It's possible that this is done to warn the Navis that their arm is about to change into a bladed yo-yo of death or some such. The Navis themselves call out not only their chips, but their default attacks.
  • Used after the Magic Music finishes in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. "Love Shower... Pitch! ♥"
  • Parodied in Monster Collection, when the rogue martial artist mercenary specialized in covert operation Crow, seeing how easily the High Lizardmen finest squad manages to drive back an army of Giant Ants exclaims: "They're really strong! They call their attacks out loud! You could die if you get embarassed!".
  • Mori no Ando: "Do you not know the saying: 'One should not fight— STRIKE MR ANDO STRIKE!'"
  • Common in My Hero Academia. Best known is probably Midoriya and All Might always calling out their smash attacks, often in Gratuitous English.
  • Averted (most of the time) in My-HiME. The girls never shout out their attacks when simply using their Elements, and even only Natsuki and Midori use vocal commands when preparing their CHILDs' most powerful attacks. The manga version, on the other hand, plays the trope completely straight. However, a few characters are known to do this. One seems to be an affectionate parody of Sailor Moon anyway. The other simply calls out what sort of ammunition her mecha-wolf ought to use in a given situation.
  • All of the thieves from Mysterious Joker call their attacks. One of the cops, Ginko, has also done this.

    N 
  • Most techniques in Naruto have names that come up when used, however this appears to be non-diegetic: in the manga, the names appear on the panels outside of any speech/thought balloons and in the anime are spoken in voice overs without lip-sync (albeit in the user's voice). There are some exceptions where abilities are literally being called out vocally:
    • Might Guy always announces himself whenever he makes his entrances by yelling "DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
    • Subverted when Ino fakes Sakura out by calling her possession technique (complete with sound effect!). Sakura dodges... into a trap, which holds her down so Ino can use the real technique.
  • NEEDLESS is made of this and wacky characters who use it gratuitously. Some of the more hilarious cases are:
    • DOPPELGANGER!!!DOPPERUGENGA!!! (written backwards for whatever reason) Furthermore, the one with this power is one of the female main characters, so expect to hear it in any episode. Yes, you have a shapeshifter as a good guy.
    • It's even more egregious with the main hero: his power is memorizing the ability of other Fragment users, and he also copy the Calling Your Attacks part.
    • Subverted with Kuchinashi: she never say anything, but the screen is filled with stylized attack declaration anyway whenever she use her power.
    • BTW, this anime has nothing to do with Loveless mentioned above.
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
    • While the series is normally full of attack-calling, the trope is parodied by Jack Rakan, who invents then charges absurd amounts for new, unique Finishing Moves. One of his ideas for Negi is "Extreme Ruler Burning Heat Thundering Dragon Erupting Flash Demon Tempest Rakan Fist", which he immediately discards for being too long to use in a fight.
    • Later on, we see him during a battle, making up names as he goes, such as "Hidden Blade Surfing Rakan! (Newly Named)".
      • And the Rakan For-The-Hell-Of-It Right Hand Punch.
      • Most of his called moves are "(newly named)", except any kind of skirt flipping or general female harassment ones.
      • Like the Hi-ougi: muon mekuri & nugashi-jutsu.
      • He even renames existing moves; such as when he renamed "Shinmeiryuu Hidden Technique, Zanmaken: Ni no Tachi" as In Celebration of my First Kiss with Ojou-sama Special! so that Setsuna could use it without worrying that the technique was too high for someone of her status to use.
      • A list for Rakan here.
    • Likewise, during the first Tournament Arc, when the host specifies that spell incantations are forbidden, one of the martial artists participating in the event asks if this is allowed... and everyone responds with glee when he is informed that it is.
    • Turns out Nagi wasn't much better than Rakan when it comes to this.
      Stupid Dad PUNCH!

    O 
  • Ojamajo Doremi: During its second season, the girls' idea of an attack is to cast a spell that requires a lengthy Magical Incantation followed by what they want the spell to do. The villain of the season takes advantage of the lengthy incantation and freezes time to make an escape, lampshading it all the way. Later, the girls get an upgrade that has a far shorter incantation that doesn't require the girls to say what they want their spell to do, among other things. They still have to use the incantation and say what they want the spell to do in all other seasons and when not using the upgrade, though.
  • One Piece:
    • Every character who makes an attack more complicated than shooting a gun or punching... and sometimes even then; this includes poking them with a finger of course the "poke" has the force of a cannon bullet behind it. Occasionally subverted by Usopp, who will miscall his attacks to throw his enemies off.
    • Usopp subverts this trope further in his and Chopper's battle with Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas when he calls out their combination attack while impersonating Ms. Merry Christmas's voice, tricking Mr. 4 into swinging his bat into his own partner's face.
    • Completely averted by Mihawk, who is one of the few characters who DOESN'T call his attacks. Those attacks of his that are named at all are either named only in video games, or named by an observing character (i.e. the "World's Strongest Slash").
    • Also averted by Don Krieg, who is famous as a master of sneak attacks and duplicity. Krieg has names for his various attacks, but they are given in public Just Between You and Me speeches after he has already used them. He also pulls Usopp's trick of announcing the "wrong" attack to throw opponents off guard.
    • On the way to Enies Lobby, Luffy and Zoro debate what they're going to call the combination of Luffy's Gum-Gum Cannon with Zoro's 108 Pound Cannon, and settle on "Gum-Gum Three Hundred Pound Cannon" because Luffy decided that doubling 108 and saying "Two Hundred and Sixteen" was too long.
    • Lampshaded during the Zoro/Kaku fight where Kaku, just getting used to his recently acquired devil fruit Giraffe powers, starts making up names on the fly for his moves, One of them is called pasta machine.
    • As noted with Mihawk, this gets played with when it comes to more serious characters or those who are...well...above calling their attacks. Whitebeard, a decent chunk of his crew, the Admirals (from time to time), and a decent amount of others all display this.
    • Zeo from the Fishman Island arc does this, while invisible. Brook ends up attacking the source of the voice. Yes, Zeo's not very smart.
    • During the Luffy/Fujitora fight the former calls his attacks by way of describing what they do instead of using the more figurative traditional namesnote  because it doesn't feel right to attack a blind man without warning. Fujitora, an Admiral by right and a Kenbunshoku Haki user, calls him on it.
    • Queen does this. Only problem is his "Brachio Launchers" are voice-activated...
      Queen: I was just referencing it! I didn't tell you to use the Brachio Launcher!
      (gets blasted again)
  • Whenever Hughes Gouli of Overman King Gainer uses Ninpou he shouts out the attack, its spoofed when Gouli does this while hotwiring a train transporter and calls it "BLAZING CAR", later spoofed when while fighting a Brainwashed and Crazy Gouli, Adette uses "Female teacher Ninpou Shedding Sking", after she escapes from Gouli using her Winter Coat as a decoy (she still had her Stripperiffic outfit on underneath) and defeats Gouli by kissing him.

    P 
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • In the anime, it's the trainers who call the attacks to order the Mons.
    • The Team Rocket trio's Meowth typically calls out his own attacks. This leads to one wondering if there's any difference between him clawing people's faces, and him clawing people's faces while yelling "Fury Swipes," each time leaving identical marks. In one episode where he joins a battle he actually jumps back to the trainer's position and issues commands to himself before jumping back in and doing the attack.
    • New character Bianca has a habit of calling out attacks that the Pokémon doesn't even know.
    • In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon TV Specials, most talking Pokémon call their attacks.
    • In Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai Darkrai used His Signature Move after he said it.
    • One could justify that as most trainers can't telepathically order their Pokemon, it's the only way to give commands (in fact the one trainer who could telepathically give orders to her Pokemon didn't call them out by voice). Ash once does suggest to a trainer in one episode that the reason he's having a hard time getting his Farfetch'd to follow commands is because he's getting the name of the attack wrong (calling it "Cutting" when it's actually "Cut").
    • Jessie also sometimes calls attacks the Pokémon doesn't know. In "One Trick Phoney", she orders a Charizard to use Poison Sting, confusing it and making everyone Face Fault. She then orders it to use Dig, and to everyone's amazement, the Charizard does so. In a latter episode, she tries to make her Seviper use several attacks it couldn't possibly know including Blaze Kick note .
    • The Pokémon showboat episode implies that the Pokémon do this, but we can't tell because of Pokémon Speak and the dubbing process.
      • Except possibly Pikachu, as its Japanese voice actress has developed a "Language" for the character (For instance, Ash/Satoshi is "Pikapi") and can call attacks (for example, Electro Ball is "Pikapika chupi"). It even delivers its own incantation for the Z-Move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt.
      • The episode "Dream a Little Dream from Me", which involves a Dream Sequence where Pokémon talk in human language and humans talk in Pokémon Speak, explicitly shows the Pokémon playing this trope straight.
    • In the episode "There's No Place Like Hoenn", the beginner Trainer May orders her Torchic to use Amber attack. It doesn't do anything and Max corrects her that she was supposed to say Ember attack. In the Japanese version, she said Kinoko (Mushroom) instead of Hinoko (Ember).
  • Many of the avatars in Popcorn Avatar will shout out the names of their abilities as they are being used.
  • Played (surprisingly) straight in the Pretty Sammy series. Oddly enough, everything that Sammy does is accompanied with "Pretty Coquettish Bomber" regardless of what effect it does. Pixy Misa also has Calling Mistakes/Mystics and Pixy Sexual/Lovely Fire (depending on what translation you go by), but significantly less variety in her abilities.
  • The Prince of Tennis is filled with these occurrences. One character has named his move "Super Ultra Great Delicious All-Out Mountain Storm". Yes, the adjective "delicious" used for a tennis move. Some say this is a sign that the author has lost it.
    • When you consider that the match where the aforementioned "attack" was used was a 40 minute, 1 point match, where the 2 players ended up hitting the halves of split tennis balls at each other, then yeah, it's fair to say the author has a few screws loose.
  • Princess Tutu does this once in the first episode; she summons a field of flowers to break Mytho's fall from a window while saying "Waltz of the Flowers" (at the same time that the actual Waltz of the Flowers is playing in the background). In every other instance, though, her vocalizations in combat (as far as ballet can be called combat) is more along the lines of Talking The Monster Through Its Problems.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Mami has her "Tiro... Finale!" This is the only called attack in the series. Though, the girls of the Kazumi Magica spinoff manga all have their own called attacks. Turns out, their leader Michiru, the girl from whom Kazumi was cloned, was inspired by Mami and she insisted the other should do that too because Mami was just so cool doing it. The Different Story (another Expanded Universe spinoff) reveals that Mami also had Kyoko doing this when she was her mentor and Kyoko still had her cloning/fascination magic, and also has some of the other girls mock Mami for her use of this trope.

    R 
  • Ragnarok the Animation has the magic spells called out as well.
  • Akira hibiki from Raideen: "GOD GORGON! MULTIPLE ARROWS!"
  • Spoofed in Ramen Fighter Miki, where the heroine defeats one opponent simply by calling one move and executing another while the opponent prepares for the move she called.
  • The cast of Ranma ½ call their attacks a lot.
    • While most of the time this is played straight, there is the strange matter surrounding "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken", roughly translated as "Imperial Broiled Chestnuts Roasting in an Open Fire". That is the name of a training exercise to increase hand speed, but it led to Ranma using an unnamed Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs attack in all his subsequent battles. The creators of the anime and video games mistook the training's name for the attack's name, and so Ranma began to call out "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken" when he used the attack. He actually only calls it out a few times in the anime (and even does it once in the manga); it's in the fighting games where he shouts "Amaguriken!" every time he uses it.
    • Also heavily spoofed by many of the Fake Special Attacks Genma comes up with — typically the more frightening the name, the more ridiculous the "attack". For example, "Howl of the Wild Hound" is yelling insults at your opponent like a dog behind a fence, while "Crouch of the Wild Tiger" is bowing and scraping for mercy.
    • Not to mention the Saotome Style Ultimate Technique, which consists of screaming "ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE!" really loud, then running away while your opponent is still surprised, and thinking up a new strategy.
  • The Robot Romance Trilogy:
    • Hyoma Aoi — and his team — from Combattler V: "BATTLE GULEGGER!" "CHOUDENJI TATSUMAKI!", "CHOUDENJI SPIN!"
    • Kenichi Go from Voltes V: "CHOUDENJI TOP!" "TENKUKEN!"
    • Kazuya Ryuuzaki from Daimos: "DAIMOS KICK!", "DOUBLE BLIZZARD!"
  • Several characters from Ronin Warriors qualify with their surekill attacks.
  • Spoofed in Rune Soldier Louie: Louie is little more than a brawler to start with, but he's already named his basic right cross; he calls this attack enough that it practically counts as a Catchphrase ("Louie Punch!").
  • Rurouni Kenshin:
    • Himura Kenshin generally will call out "Hiten Mitsurugi", the name of his swordfighting school, and then the name of the technique he's using, most commonly "Ryu Tsui Sen". In the anime Kenshin would say "Hiten Mitsurugi-style" before attacking, only actually saying the name of the attack as it landed, or after it had done its work. Naturally, since Hiten Mitsurugi has many, many different attacks, this does little to help his opponent. Most of Kenshin's early fights ended with one application of Ryu Tsui Sen, a simple downward jumping cut.
    • Aoshi Shinomori describes his Kaiten Kenbuu technique while he's using it, only announcing the name after the attack.
    • In the fight against Enishi, he demonstrates how tough of an opponent his is by matching Kenshin move for move in his fastest attack on one occasion, and punching Kenshin in the face before he can finish getting even the Hiten Mitsuryugi name out on another.
    • In the live-action adaptation, Kenshin notably only calls out his attacks twice - both times after he's finished using the attack in question to win the fight.

    S 
  • In Sailor Moon attacks can be thrown without naming, if one needs the element of surprise. One episode of the first anime had Minako/Sailor Venus impersonating Sailor Moon — in this case, she used her own normal attack, but with a different incantation. They do name their attacks most of the time, though, leading to phrases such as "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" and "Star Gentle Uterus!". The Codename wa Sailor V manga gave Minako a lot of such phrases — some are genuine magical incantations, some are just said for extra coolness. Such incantations also tend to be spoofed in side stories ("Garlic Attack!").
    • Not only did The '90s English dub rename every attack (despite already being in English) they also were horribly inconsistent. Giving attacks a name they gave a different attack, using something completely unrelated ("Mars Fire Ball Charge" in place of "Evil Spirits Begone!") or just plain wrong! Dic was fairly constant about what they were called despite being renamed (aside from a few early oddities like "Mars Fireball Charge"), while Cloverway would change episode to episode, Such as "Venus Love-Me Chain" being called "Venus Love-Me-chain" or "Venus Love-Me Chain Smash" or "Venus Love-Me Chain Encircle".
  • In Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Eagle Ken likes to punctuate his special boomerang attacks with "Birdrang!"
    • This also commonly happens whenever the team performs one of their "Science Ninja Techniques" such as the most prominent one "Kagatu Ninpo Hinotori" which temporarily converts their God Phoenix battle aircraft into a shrieking giant firebird.
  • Spoofed in Scrapped Princess, where the mechanics of magic rely on the user speaking the name of the spell aloud; the magician Raquel is virtually unbeatable in a magical fight because her spells all have really short names.
    • The original novels explain that she's actually running an emulator spell all the time which enables her to cast long spells with a few words (think of it as a macro) but requires an incredible skill and capacity for magic.
  • Parodied in Seikimatsu Darling. When Shikibu and Ogata play ping-pong, Shikibu finishes with an incredibly dramatic wind-up to his "Super Special Ultra High-Grade Certain Kill Shikibu Smash." It sends the ball across the table at an extremely slow speed, so, naturally, Ogata misses and loses the game.
  • Justified in Shadow Skill — it's required for Kuruda Annihilation Techniques.
  • Many of the spells from Slayers require a Magical Incantation that ends with the name of the spell being shouted out.
    • Spoofed by Love Freak Prince Phil, who practices what he calls "Pacifist Martial Arts" and Zelgadis dubbed "oxymoronic attacks" — "Pacifist Crush", "Goodwill-Towards-Mankind Smash", "Joyous Reunion Bearhug", etc. Phil and Amelia are White Magic users, so this works well against Monsters and demons.
    • Subverted when Lina begins the lengthy incantation for her famous Dragon Slave spell, blurts out "etc. etc. etc." in the middle and then rapidly casts it with no apparent difference. Other times in the series, it's shown that a spell can be cast with just calling out the name, but is usually less powerful.
    • In interviews with the creator, how this ties into the rules of magic in the world were even more blatantly spoofed, with the creator mentioning that Gourry Gabriev has nearly the same magic capacity as Lina, but would never make a good sorcerer because he's so stupid as to be incapable of memorizing the incantations necessary to utilize it.
    • Although the anime loves to have fun with this trope and incantations in its filler and comedy episodes, in the more serious story arcs the exact phrasing of the incantations has a big effect on the effectiveness of the spell: after learning the true nature of the Lord of Nightmares, Lina subtly changes the incantation of the Ragna Blade and makes it much more powerful (and more difficult to use). In the novels she does the same to create a perfect version of the Giga Slave (in the anime the incantation for the perfect Giga Slave is unchanged in the English subtitles and dub).
    • More explanation on the rules of magic in the Slayers universe: mastery of magic in the Slayers setting is accomplished by skill with "Chaos Words", the incantations. The more powerful a sorcerer is, the less words they need; simply invoking the name is all the good wizards actually need to cast a spell. And if they use more Chaos Words then they actually need, the power of the spell is amplified further. This also means that only the very best wizards in the world can actually cast a spell without even speaking its name.
      • Which is why a guild wizard (Karuas) in Next was impressed when Lina used Levitation instantly. And once she scared off bad guys by casting what looked and sounded like a fireball spell, but is revealed to be a simple light spell after they've run away — which requires casting Lighting itself silently.
    • Not just for spells. "LIGHT COME FORTH!" is shouted by Weapon of Light users and makes the weapon more effective
  • Sonic X: "SCREW KICK!"
  • Soul Eater has plenty of these. Things like Black Star and Tsubaki's Fey Blade mode can be activated wordlessly, but Black Star tends to name specific techniques much like his fellow meisters.
    • Calling attacks appears to serve no purpose (except for the obvious), and even the adult meisters do it.
    • Also, every team yells "Soul Resonance!" when activating it and almost everyone has to shout about it.
    • "MAKA CHOP!"
    • "Shinigami Chop!"
  • The special attacks of the twelve zodiac family in Sumomo Mo Momo Mo need long incantation-like names to be yelled before use. Amusingly enough, the names seem to be made up each time; rarely are the same ones used twice.
  • Symphogear features a variant. None of the girls call their attacks verbally, which is hard to pull off when your weapons require constant singing. Instead, each special technique is announced to the audience with a captioned Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame.

    T 
  • Gotchiman of Tamagotchi has called his attacks several times, such as saying "Gotchi Beam!" as he is about to use his Gotchi Beam.
  • Parodied in Tari Tari. "Mango Beam!", "Curry Punch!"
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has both normal and subversive calls. The most impressive attacks are called normally ("Giga Drill BREAK!!!!"), but characters do occasionally call normal fighting moves with ridiculous names, e.g. "Who the Hell Do You Think I Am Kick!".
  • Tekkaman will deactivate that giant robot with his SPACE LANCE!
  • Tokyo Mew Mew not only calls their attack, but their weapons. "Strawberbell! Reborn... Strawberry Check!" Strangely, though, they only seem to actually call out the weapons just before they attack, not every time they summon them. Also, in at least one episode four Mew Mews were shown using their attacks without incantations. Pai, one of the aliens, has a variety of named attacks — unlike the Mew Mews', these are "called" in Japanese, not in English. In the manga, even the Blue Knight got one of these.
  • Characters in Transformers:
    • Super-God Masterforce call many of their special attacks, as well as transformations. Diver is particularly fond of these.
    • Transformers: Robots in Disguise had the same set of Powers That Be as Digimon. Naturally, almost all attacks were announced, some as simple as naming the weapon, and some a bit fancier. (In fact, in one episode, Sky-Byte was unable to transform because he was carrying the MacGuffin in his mouth and couldn't say "Sky-Byte, terrorize!") The other Japan-original Transformers series do it to some degree, but RiD takes it the farthest.
    • In Transformers: Cybertron, Thundercracker sometimes comes up with ridiculously overblown names for simple attacks, such as running up and punching someone, to the point that it actually gets commented on. What's funny is, they actually are pretty effective.
  • Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- is usually serious about this, but spoofs it on one occasion: Kurogane uses his Hama Ryuuojin without shouting its name, and Fai calls him on it.
    Fai: You could at least announce your technique's name, Kuro-sama!
    Kurogane: Screw that.

    U 

    V 
  • Mostly played for laughs in The Violinist of Hamelin ("Tchaikovsky SUPLEX!"), though the anime prefers to play it straight. Fansubs give us a particularly Narmful example: one fansub translated one of Trom Bone's signature moves, "Scissor Slash", as... "Jesus Slash". Hmm...

    W 
  • World Trigger: Border agents often call the activation of specific triggers, such as bullet attacks and various, momentary sword boosts. Attacking with always-on triggers like plain swords is usually silent. Shooter Mizukami often tries to feint by falsely calling out the type of bullet he's shooting, often to no avail.

    Y 
  • Yaiba does this with almost all his attacks. It's rarely done by the bad guys though.
  • Almost all Duelists in Yu-Gi-Oh! call out the attacks of their monsters and any Spell or Trap Cards they play.
    • The English dub sometimes makes up attack names.
    • Played for laughs in the Jounouchi vs. Marik duel — Jounouchi gets control over one of Marik's monsters. Since he doesn't know the monster, he doesn't know its attack's name. Marik is generous enough to tell him that the proper name of Lava Golem's attack, "Golem Volcano" (Marik's an egotist, after all), but Jonouchi ignores him and makes one up — Jounouchi Fire!. The reaction of his friends marks one of the rare instances in which Yami Yugi is drawn in a semi-chibified style◊. The 4Kids' dub omitted the joke, replacing it with some generic duel comments.
    • Parodied/lampshaded (at least in the English dub) by the Pharaoh in his duel with Dark Marik: Dark Marik was too busy calling out his monster's attack to notice that Pharaoh had activated a card to negate the damage.
    • In Yu-Gi-Oh! R, during Jounouchi's rematch with Bandit Keith, Jounouchi takes control of Keith's monster Fiendish Engine Omega and names its attack "Jounouchi Crusher". This is even lampshaded by the manga.
    • The card game even did some Defictionalization with this, featuring a number of cards like Burst Stream of Destruction, Inferno Fire Blast, and Dark Magic Attack that are all based on attack names from the anime. They feature powerful effects, but they can only be played if you control that Monster and most of them require you to forego your attack with them. They're pretty much designed so you can play it and shout "BURST STREAM OF DESTRUCTION!"
    • In a rare non-card game related example, Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS contains a scene in the Beach Episode in which Kaizo ogles Romin in her (not all that revealing, thankfully, considering the character's age) swimwear. Her annoyed response is to shout out "ROMIN PUNCH!" and... well. She follows it up with a "KICK!", sending Kaizo flying off into the background.
  • The girls in Yumeria made up calls to go with their attacks because it was traditional for sentai/Magical Girls.
  • In YuYu Hakusho, not only are attacks called, but the first time an attack appears, its name is also given in a caption, often accompanied by a freeze frame while the narrator explains the nature and history of the attack. The narrator is at least justified in that the series is just someone re-watching all the tapes of Yusuke's cases and adding in commentary.

    Z 
  • Attack names must be read out of a spellbook in Zatch Bell!, although when an attack is read for the first time, an unnecessary "The first/second/third spell" is frequently added.
    • A bit of a subversion, since the person calling the attack isn't the attacker, but the attacker's partner.
    • It was also played with in one episode where the enemy's plan was to have the partner be far enough away that their opponents couldn't hear the spells be cast.

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