History MundaneMadeAwesome / Anime

[[quoteright:300:[[Manga/MutekiKanbanMusume https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/epiclightbulbchange_6058.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Epic Lightbulb Changing [[VerbalTic NYAAAAAAA!]]]]
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* The snowball fight in episode 19 of ''Manga/XxxHolic''. Too awesome to spoil with extra words.
* ''Manga/AcchiKocchi'': several examples, starting with an air hockey match in ep. 1 that's looks like something out of a Fantasy Battle manga--complete with dramatic action stills and [[BattleAura explosions of light]].
* Skuld of ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' managed to do this with making a floppy disk unregistrable and then wiping the memory by duping an EldritchAbomination into possessing it first: making the disk unwritable meant [[SealedEvilInACan trapping the abomination in it]], while wiping the disk with a magnet was how she ''killed it''.
* ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' will freight the outcome of a simple round of {{TabletopGame/Mahjong}} with [[RuleOfDrama an amount of drama]] and [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolic content]] roughly on par with [[Literature/TheBible the Book of Revelation]].
** The SpiritualSuccessor, ''Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji'', is as advertised.
*** In fact, characters are displacing wind while placing down playing cards and create small tornadoes while pounding down with their fists!
*** ''Kaiji'' has a sound effect for [[VisibleSilence silence.]]
* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'':
** A normal day at school involves learning how to use knives, guns, seduce and attempting to kill the teacher; who is a yellow octopus resembling creature with an undetermined number of tentacles and can go at Mach 20. Granted, this is not a straight example, as everyone in the series is well aware of how ridiculous this is and are only following along to save the planet.
** A straighter example is how exams are depicted in the anime. Armed with hammers, swords, and guns, the students face off giant behemoths in a gladiator match, while in reality they're just solving questions on a sheet of paper.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': A more serious version. After everyone joins the Survey Corps, they get the signature green capes. Showing them each putting it on, before panning across the entire team, treated as the coming of age it is.
* America from ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' lives and breathes this trope, treating everything from watching horror movies to eating Japanese blowfish as [[SeriousBusiness mighty trials from the legends of Hercules]].
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'': Who knew test scores could be so action-packed?
-->'''Osaka:''' ''Forty-two points!''\\
'''Kagura:''' ''Thirty points!''\\
'''Tomo:''' ''Thirty-one points!''\\
'''All Three:''' [[AllYourPowersCombined By our three scores combined]], we have a hundred and three!
** In a color chapter of volume 4 of the manga, Tomo, in a daydream sequence about what she would do if she had her classmates' abilities, makes an epic entry into the classroom in which she backflips from the classroom door into her seat, answers a question asked by the teacher, and says she forgot her textbook. Then back in reality, Tomo blames Osaka for the end of her daydream sequence, saying "her powers got mixed in there, and everything got all weird."
*** This scene was adapted into the anime thusly: Tomo announces the disbanding of the Bonkuras/Numbnuts/Knuckleheads, given that she's found a way to get out of being one herself: by stealing Sakaki's athleticism and Chiyo's intelligence. Osaka chimes in, saying that Tomo can have her lateness and forgetfulness. Tomo explains the consequences of absorbing these "abilities" as well, the same as described above for the manga. Osaka apologizes for these additions.
** The very act of splitting chopsticks is made into SeriousBusiness.
** Osaka's first scene makes even the simple act of ''walking into a room'' worthy of several dramatic close-ups and a BishieSparkle.
** Tomo was once so impressed with Osaka's yawning that she got all [[HotBlooded hot-blooded]] about it and decided Osaka should open a "yawning dojo". [[RealityEnsues It turns out]] that yawning practice on the roof in the afternoon is a great way to fall asleep...
* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': What terrifying event upon the Flying Pussyfoot drives Isaac and Miria to horrified tears? It's not the hijackers, or the apparent appearance of the [[UrbanLegend Rail Tracer]]. Nor is it the mutilated, unrecognizable corpses scattering the train cars. The truly terrifying thing is the sudden realization that ''they forgot to get Ennis a present!'' '''[[BigNo NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!]]'''
** Poor [[IdiotHero Firo]] is extremely confused when he discovers that attempting to question, examine, or touch the huge, elaborate ''domino'' design Isaac, Miria, and the rest of his assorted friends have constructed will earn him a thorough scolding. He's quickly drawn into the fun of it though.
* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': Koyomi brushing Karen's teeth. Epic toothbrushing. ''[[BrotherSisterIncest With incestuous overtones.]]''
** And then there's the fact that the first scene in the first episode is a BulletTime panty shot...
** Bathtime for Shinobu? Be sure to levitate in the air while surrounded by streams of rose petals! Too far to walk from the shower to the tub? Leaping across the room with acrobatic twirls might be for you!
*** It's just that the whole series works on Mundane made Sexy! ...or Fanservice made Awesome? Sheesh, middle ground: Mundane made Sexyawesome.
** Animation itself takes weird spikes in framerate from time to time. While some are played for the fanservice, others are seemingly random: because you NEED just that one twirl in absolutely fluid animation.
* In the manga version of ''Manga/BattleRoyale'', when Shinji Mimura thinks he's found a way to hack into the network of the Program, you can't help but yell: "Yeah, work that keyboard!"
* This is the biggest plot element in Lightnovel/BeingAbleToEditSkillsInAnotherWorldIGainedOpWaifus. The protagonist's special ability is all about getting the most boring and mundane skills he gets his hands on and reconstructing them into truly awesome abilities nobody else has... and then installing them into his slave harem for maximum tactical advantage... while trying to stay under the radar.
* ''LightNovel/BenTo'': a show about epic gang fights for... discount lunchboxes. But it's awesome. Even the weapons are awesome from Ayame's {{Dual Wield}}ing Chopsticks, to Monarch's One-handed cart swinging and finally Orthus's shopping baskets {{Speed Blitz}}zes.
* ''Anime/{{Beyblade}}'': spinning tops is the most known sport in the world. Beyblades are just like normal tops, but they are made with [[AppliedPhlebotinum special technology]] that, in the US team's case, is stated to come from ''[[BackedByThePentagon the Pentagon and the NASA]]''. You can [[SummonMagic summon giant beasts to attack]], [[GravityMaster control gravity]], make [[ElementalPowers fire storms, tidal waves and hurricanes]], [[SeriousBusiness destroy huge stadiums]], and other stuff. No wonder there is always some random BigBad trying to TakeOverTheWorld with these "toys". Surprisingly, [[NeverSayDie no one ever died]], but the [[PoliceAreUseless police doesn't seem to care]].
* ''Manga/BlackButler'':
** Pretty much anything Sebastian does.
** Alois Trancy, the new master, destroying some egg yolk while having a little speech about how pitiful sunny-side up eggs are. [[spoiler:Add in that it's one of his psychological complexes and has an underlying prelude to the loss of Hannah's eye, it's creepy awesome.]]
** Baldo cooking.
** And who knew photography could be so... explosive?
** Making curry is SeriousBusiness.
* ''Manga/BlackJack'' is to Medicine what ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' is to Law. Never will you find more epic surgery prep than in this anime.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Uryuu Ishida occasionally displays lightning-fast, incredibly accurate... ''sewing'' skills, complete with the same stern concentration he has when fighting or speaking of [[SeriousBusiness Quincy pride]]. It's also applied to him more generally as he'll make his own uniform for battle, solely for the sake of looking cool. He even has a [[CrazyPrepared back-up cape]] just in case the one he's wearing gets damaged.
** There's nothing dramatic about the phrase "thank you"... until it's spoken while accompanied by a close-up shot of Yumichika's focused, fearless, [[LetsGetDangerous dangerous]] eye where it becomes a PreAssKickingOneLiner to a CurbStompBattle. The anime even [[UpToEleven cranks this up]] by giving Yumichika GlowingEyesOfDoom and [[DramaticPause dramatic music pause]] as he says it.
** Aizen proves his truly epic taste in furniture with the ''Megacouch]'.
* In the second episode of ''Manga/BlendS'', Mafuyu and Dino face off to see who gets to take home an anime figurine. There's a long, dramatic buildup with the two posing and hamming it up... and they square off in a game of rock, paper, scissors. [[SubvertedTrope Which ends in Mafuyu uppercutting Dino]].
* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' plays Sakura-kun's [[DeathIsCheap death and resurrection]] in this manner in the final episode of the first series. Normally, this would be a legitimately dramatic scene... but in this series, this happens at least {{once an episode}} and is played purely for comedy, so handling it as if it were actually dramatic only makes it funnier -- which was probably their intention.
* The grand poo-bah of this trope could very well be the [[{{Calvinball}} senseless]] [[CrazyEnoughToWork wonder]] that goes on in ''every episode'' of ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'', from using one's ''[[ImprobableWeapon nose]] [[PrehensileHair hairs]]'' as a fighting style, making people bald SeriousBusiness, constant MindScrew, letting loose a [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} surreal world]] inside the [[AfroAsskicker main character's]] ''[[FunnyAfro afro]]'', holding contests out of ''blowing into fans'', [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman superpower-inducing jackets]], using ''[[{{Fartillery}} farts]]'' as weapons of doom, and on top of that, being so purely and utterly random '''''ANYTHING''''' can be transformed into an captivating battle - such as hanging upside down from bungee cords or just sleeping! Even facing an enemy with geometry-based powers can become epic - because when you're Bobobo, you can shut those 3-D-reliant moves down by turning reality into a '''''literal''''' ''[[SuddenVideoGameMoment 2D video game!]]''
* The manga/anime ''Manga/BungoStrayDogs'' turns ''writing'' into magic - [[IncrediblyLamePun literally]]. Books and poems are turned into badass magic powers. All effect beams are made from text and the series is littered with literal citations of books. Who thought literature could be so awesome?
* ''Anime/CControl'': it's a show about financial transactions carried out by way of elaborate shounen-style battles on an Eldritch and AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield. And then about halfway through the ''real'' [[DealWithTheDevil Mind]] [[CosmicHorrorStory Screw]] sets in.
* Everything about ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' is done in awesome fashion with slow-motion and special effects. To count -- soccer balls catching on fire, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciA3S-1EOGM shoots that are strong enough to rip clothing and send an adversary flying]], {{inner monologue}}s that sometimes evolve to ''mental dialogues'', special kicks that need to be ''[[CallingYourAttacks shouted]]'' before used...
** Although nothing compares to the ''awesomeness'' that are Kojiro Hyuga's training sessions. To learn a new kind of special kick, he usually has to ''shoot balls through waves on a beach'' or ''shoot balls to pierce through trees by summoning lightning''. Yes, seriously.
* ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'', being a card game anime, naturally runs with this. Any time a character rides a new Vanguard, it usually involves them dramatically
slamming the card down onto the playing field. Then the [[ImagineSpot sequences]] [[HardLight on]] Cray proceed to take it UpToEleven.
* ''Manga/CellsAtWork'': The human body is represented as an enormous city, with individual cells anthropomorphized as people depending on their function and size. A pollen allergy is represented by the pollen getting in the eyes as a meteor strike, then the body being flooded by histamines in reaction to the antibodies produced to fight the cedar allergens, sneezes are represented by ''fragmentation missiles'' exploding everywhere, and the anti-allergy medication is a killbot that [[GatlingGood dispenses active ingredients]] at ''every'' affected cell.
* ''Manga/ChuukaIchiban'' (a.k.a. ''Cooking Master Boy'') lives this trope, as everything from choosing ingredients, through preparation and cooking, to presentation is incredibly over-the-top. And the when unveiled, Mao's food has a blinding PowerGlow that fades to reveal... Szechuan cuisine.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', Akio is the main source of this, often grabbing things and drawing out a baseball bat in a dramatic way with SpeedStripes, whoosh sound and all.
* Lelouch Lamperouge of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is a textbook example of this. With a fabulous, stylish Batman-esque costume, Lelouch, [[LargeHam with his flair and love for drama]], fired up his popularity amongst Japanese resistance cells against Britannia with his [[MilkingTheGiantCow exaggerated gestures]], speeches, and [[TheChessmaster ability to pull off outrageous plans]] that [[RefugeInAudacity most would consider suicide]]. Examples include:
** The keyboard-controlled Knightmare Frames, which let him show off his [[RapidFireTyping awesome typing skills]]. Suck it, GUI. With keyboards that sound like [[OminousPipeOrgan church organs]], no less.
** His mechanical diabolical looking [[spoiler: clothes hanger]] made in the same aesthetic style as his Zero suit.
** He makes something as mundane as taking a (very special) contact lens on an off ''FABU-LOUCH''!
** Lelouch's habit of being overly dramatic when speaking, using his Geass, or doing ''anything'' is [[LampshadeHanging mocked]] by C.C., who asks him why he feels the need to do some overly-dramatic hand gymnastics at some times and going without it at others. His answer boils down to "Shut up," which, ironically, is pretty undramatic.
** The destruction of the giant pizza. Dramatic chords everywhere, people chasing Euphemia, Suzaku tries calming everyone while the music continues and no! His attention wanders! The pizza is cast onto a tree by accident! Poor C.C.
** Many racing series make the act of picking up a key, putting it in the ignition, and turning it seem dramatic. This show takes it farther because Suzaku pulls this off even though the mecha keys in this show look like (and probably are) flash drives and the ignition looks like a USB port.
** Lelouch can make the act of fidgeting his hand while holding a chess piece seem dramatic.
** Whether it's a corded phone that was installed in a bathroom or his cell phone, Lelouch knows how to make answering a phone look stylish.
** When C.C. bleeds lightly from one finger, then puts a bandage on it, the show makes it seem dramatic. Her blood happens to fall on top of the crown of the black king chess piece, and she stares at that bandage on her ring finger like it's a wedding ring.
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext BUBBLES!]]
* The entire plot of ''VisualNovel/ComicParty'' centers around drawing and selling doujin, and about half the cast is constantly screaming about how awesome it is.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' gives us [[ThrownOutTheAirlock the best way to get rid of a fridge ever]], with sparkles and orchestral music to boot. [[spoiler: Then Ed eats the monster that's been attacking them. Seriously.]]
* ''Manga/CyborgGrandpaG'' gives us dramatic ''farming.'' It doesn't help that Grandpa thinks that explosives and flechettes are appropriate farming tools... which actually does make it awesome.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' loves doing this. You'd be surprised how epic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skfMexjZ4O0 eating chips]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cItXjlfr4bU&nohtml5=False writing in a notebook]] can really be. You obviously aren't trying hard enough. Granted, said notebook is an ArtifactOfDoom that ''kills'' people when their names are written in it, but is dashing across the desk (complete with red/blue after-effects and flaming eyes) really necessary? The manga wasn't anywhere quite as ridiculous with some of these aspects, and it's arguable this is just a result of trying to transfer the striking and stylized visuals possible with individual panels.
** Mikami Teru takes this even further by making slashing motions with his pen as if it were a sword while writing names in the [[DeadlyBook Death Note]] while saying "sakujo" ("delete" in the English dub) to himself when he finishes writing a name. A particularly epic "sakujo" of the anime includes slow motion, a fall backwards, and a very, ''very'' joyful look on his face that resembles an orgasm more than a killing. [[http://celesse.deviantart.com/art/Death-Note-Gasm-53647615 Fanart ensued.]] The same [[MemeticMutation Sakujo-gasm]] also has what appear to be large drops of shiny white [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything sweat]], with a spotlight on his crotch. seen at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPoQmytWvIQ this video]], which includes every instance of his CatchPhrase.
*** Not to mention that one of these moments includes ''[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext eagle sound-effects]]'' in the background.
** Also, when Mello eats a chocolate bar.
** While the Japanese version of the potato chip eating was similar, the people dubbing decided to go [[HamAndCheese full out]] and added freaking ''[[UpToEleven maniacal]] [[EvilLaugh laughter]]''.
** '''[[RepeatCut Epic hugging]]''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx6-AJ6QsEM 'cause just a hug isn't epic enough.]]
** The second ending is one of the best ways to show the trope: Light goes up an elevator, his Note is opened by the wind, he writes a name on it, watches his clock, ''flies at high speeds'', walks calmly across traffic, ''flies in the opposite direction'', and does a [[CrucifiedHeroShot Crucified Villian Protagonist Shot]] over a city... all of that to the rhythm of heavy rock.
** The fact that the tennis match between Light and L didn't turn out ''more'' epic than it did is a bit of an anomaly, but then again, ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' took care of that.
* Played for horror in ''Anime/DeathParade'', in which [[DeadAllAlong two people]] enter a bar and are coerced into playing ordinary bar games with weird side effects in a SecretTestOfCharacter. This includes a darts game, where the marks on the boards are actually linked to the other players body parts. So if Player A hits the lung or heart mark on the dart board, Player B's respective organs will feel an equivalent pain. Or the bowling game, where Player A's bowling ball contains an exact, functioning replica of Player B's heart inside, and vice-versa. Obviously, [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame the games are ridiculously high-stake]] and often end up being played with ''far'' more vigor than usual.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', where nearly every main character has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PyP7BwFF2k&feature=iv&src_vid=TSYIwS3NK9c&annotation_id=annotation_725186 different, epic, method to slide a card through their Digivice]], complete with fancy card spinning and flipping, and kung-fu moves. The payoff comes in the form of two sequences which come close to being actually epic, including a split-screen triple slash, and the final one where all four mains slash the same card.
** In the ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' movie, Izzy redirects hundreds of emails to Diaboromon to slow him down and allow their Digimon to finish him off. What makes it this trope is Izzy's over-the-top line while all he's doing is ''redirecting emails''.[[note]]This is a dub line only. The dub, like many, was notorious for adding extra dialogue and in general trying to pump up the Awesomeitude. This also extended to adding epic music - including to this very scene, in Japan there is very subdued peaceful instrumental music during the Omegamon beatdown of Diaboromon. In English? High intensity lyric filled music to really ramp it up.[[/note]]
-->Izzy: ''"You've GOT '''MAIL!'''"''
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
*** Tien telling King Kai a joke. Complete with dramatic falling, giant faces, and energy blasts.
---> "HUH? DID YOU GET THAT KING KAI? I SAID YOU CAN TUNE A PIANO BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FISSHHHHHHH!!!!"
*** Even before that, in the dub.
---> '''Goku:''' Why did the chicken... '''CROSS THE ROAD?!'''\\
'''King Kai:''' Ahhh! Um... to get to the other side?\\
'''Goku: IT WAS TOO FAR TO FLY!'''
** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper: Bulma protects the Earth from [[DestroyerDeity Beerus]] in her own way. Namely, by bribing Whis with food so that he can convict Beerus not to destroy Earth. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero This backfires slightly since Champa now wants the Earth in his universe so he can have all the food]].
* ''Anime/DuelMasters'' is almost as bad about this; however, this is intentional, as it's an AffectionateParody of ''Yu-Gi-Oh''... well, at least the [[GagDub dub]] is.
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Mikado Ryugamine uses the Internet so epically that his [[http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww262/CapZiggy/vlcsnap-2010-03-15-22h18m45s103.png mouse catches on fire]]. If you've ever wondered why ''your'' mouse has yet to catch fire during your epic Internet browsing, that's because [[spoiler:''you'' have never weaponized [[{{Imageboards}} Anonymous]]]].
* Ever silly, a RecapEpisode of ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' had quite possibly the most epic scene of setting up dominoes that has ever been made, complete with a dramatic premature trigger override. Which could only be carried out by [[TheComicallySerious Il Parazzo.]]
* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' does this a lot too. Although the way techniques in the manga are portrayed in a way such that you realize that the cool effects are purely symbolic, the anime features fast runners becoming surrounded by bright colorful ''battle auras''. Because! Sena is...''running!'' But! Not only is he ''running!'' He's running ''FAST!!'' The fact that he's sometimes animated running like Shaggy from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' makes this even worse.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** Pillow fights are taken a little bit too seriously by Natsu, Erza, and Gray.
** Natsu and Lucy fixing their hair and Happy putting on his sack right before they fight [[spoiler:Ultear and Kain]].
* The first episode of ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' shows ''[[KissOfLife CPR]]'' in BulletTime. We're then [[AnimatedActors told by the characters that it was shot in real time]].
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** The Colonel's epic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4GbLPZY-6Q TINY MINISKIRTS!]] line.
** EVERYTHING [[LargeHam Alex Louis Armstrong]] does. EVERY SINGLE FREAKING THING. With sparkles of AWESOME included. This epicness ♥♥♥ HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!!! ♥♥♥ Taken UpToEleven in the new anime when he and Sieg Curtis perform the MOST. AWESOME. {{BROFIST}}. EVER. Complete with pec flexes and BishieSparkle, WHILE BEATING UP [[LightningBruiser SLOTH]], while a deep-voiced male chorus sings in the background.
** Ed doesn't understand why nobody else appreciates his... ahem... unique aesthetics.
* One episode of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' season 1 features HumongousMecha engaging in fierce battles of tug-o-war and ping-pong.
* Employed several times in ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'':
** In the HotSpringsEpisode: Kurz Weber's LovableSexManiac antics collide with Sousuke's always-excessive security measures, with epic results. Kurz delivers two "inspirational" speeches to Sousuke's classmates, the 2nd of which sends Kazama into [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED SEED mode]].
** The epic, RousingSpeech-ifying, ''Film/FullMetalJacket''-channeling, ([[UnnecessaryRoughness literally]]) [[RugbyIsSlaughter jaw-shattering]] Rugby match.
** The 2nd episode features an epic dash, complete with athletic moves, zooming and epic posing, all just to buy a loaf of bread from a lunch stand.
* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' combines this with the {{Invocation}} in MissionControl, whenever the heroes need to use the ForgottenSuperweapon or start a TransformationSequence:
-->'''Taiga:''' Final Fusion... (points dramatically) ''APPROVED!''\\
'''Mikoto:''' Roger! Final Fusion! (''Closes eyes, opens them with determined expression.'') Program [=DriiiiiIIIIIIIIve!=]\\
(''Mikoto smashes ''through'' the "molly-guard" safety glass covering the BigRedButton. Every time. Cue TransformationSequence for the eponymous CombiningMecha.'')
** Later in the series, she also swipes a keycard to release the Goldion Hammer for use. She does it so epically that one wonders what it looks like when she goes to the ATM!
** Taiga Koutaro is equally dramatic about turning the key that activates the card reader, but he's the living embodiment of this trope. Later still, he has a key that, when used in tandem with its partner, activates a super weapon that's a Goldion Hammer big enough to ''extinguish a sun''. You can imagine how understated he is when he uses it.
*** Given the situation and stakes, it's a shock that Entouji kept such a straight face during the transformation of the battleships. (Yeah, the hammer has a tiny handle made of battleships.)
*** Made more hilarious by the fact that the partner key is held by the Prime Minister, a doddering old man who takes ''forever'' to retrieve it (fumbling in his coat for a few seconds as he does so), ''blow on it'' and ''then'' use it as it was intended.
*** Taiga's '''Golf Driver''' is made of this, typically over the course of the show, a new weapon or item will appear as a still at the very end of the episode with the narrator telling the audience that "This is the Key to Victory", along with the next episode's EyeCatch giving the specs of said Key to Victory. Koutaro's driver, the aptly named ''[[PunnyName Taiga Wood]]'' gets this treatment as well.
** Also with the introduction of Liger Shishio, Leo's brother. When their SiblingRivalry gets physical, the ''narrator'' actually describes the attacks they use on each other with all the seriousness of Gao Gai Gar's.
* It looks like the ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' anime [[AffectionateParody learned a few things about this trope]] from ''Manga/DeathNote'' (even throwing in a [[TheCameo shinigami at the end]]), seeing how it kicked off the news of its third season with what else but tactical warfare over... who'd get to eat sukiyaki?
** Whoever "won" would become the "nabe shogun/emperor".
** How about the psychological warfare over toilet paper during Kyuubei Arc?
** Or the rousing speech on the epic truth of Strawberry Milk. ICHIGO GYUNYU!!
** Hijikata actually does the dramatic writing thing (and possibly to an even more dramatic extent than Light) when helping Shinpachi write a letter.
** The time the Yorozuya trio broke into Hattori's house to dramatically cook fried rice. To an awesome soundtrack no less.
** The game of kick the can gets turned into this on two different occasions, but especially the second instance.
* ''LightNovel/GJBu'' has Kyoro's hair-brushing skills, which make the receivers look like they're... ''turned on''.
* ''Godhand Teru'': performing surgery is the most badass thing ever.
* ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}: Last Order'' fetches at least one instance of supersonic needle point, but that hardly holds a candle to two battle androids engaging in a truly epic round of thumb wrestling supplemented with flip kicks and century old Martian kung-fu.
* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** Minor example, but Haruhi manages to make a table tennis serve appropriately ''EPIC''. In the same episode, Kyon adds a brief burst of light to placing down what he thinks is a winning {{TabletopGame/Mahjong}} set.
** To say nothing of the '''epic''' SpaceOpera that ensues in everyone's imagination when they battle the Computer Society in a doujinsoft RealTimeStrategy game. Complete with orchestral soundtrack and DeepImmersionGaming.
--->'''President:''' GLORY TO THE COMPUTER CLUB!!!
** Made even funnier when it constantly swaps between the epic orchestral music and the mundane beep-music of the cheap strategy game in the real world, and by the fact that we all know real gamers also act like this.
** And the fact that she's already {{Dynamic Entry}}'d the Computer Club President.
--->'''Haruhi:''' Kyon, a duel is a duel from the very moment the word is mentioned! Anything the loser says after that is just an excuse!
** Haruhi is the epitome of this trope. Practically everything she does is presented as [[strike: overly dramatic]] enthusiastic, even walking into a room.
** Then we have ''Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou'', the CD of the concert where the J-pop songs of the series are rearranged and played by none other than the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
** The scene when Kyon finally breaks the [[GroundhogDayLoop Endless Eight loop]], complete with swelling background music. The most dramatic declaration of [[spoiler:unfinished homework]] ever.
** Naturally, ''Manga/HaruhiChan'' takes it further, with ''Manga/DeathNote''-style doodling-as-swordplay and Kyon and Haruhi building balloon-modeling into a fierce battle.
*** The hot blooded dodgeball match between the SOS Brigade and the Computer Society. It helps that Haruhi had unknowingly unlocked everyone's full potential, meaning that the match proceeds in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZrWd82wAOg#t=2m32s typical shonen style]].
** ''Disappearance'' opens with an epic first person struggle to turn off an alarm clock.
* This is the source of most of the comedy in ''Manga/HaventYouHeardImSakamoto''. Sakamoto makes ''everything'' look cool and stylish no matter how mundane.
* ''Anime/HellGirl'' manages to make untying strings epic and dramatic. Mind you, the string in question is on the doll that Ai gives people who use the Hell Correspondence, and untying the string is how they seal the contract and send someone to hell.
* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' gives us the debut of one of Issei's primary powers he'll use later on called ''"[[ClothingDamage Dress Break]]."'' The anime turned this debut UpToEleven when it had ''OminousLatinChanting music'' playing while he spreads his demon wings out.
** Also in the anime, Issei has the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu7CcALop3U best alarm clock ever!]]''
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Water Gun fights and Zombie Tags are awesome to many viewers. However, they are rather over-exaggerated.
** The water gun fight is even ''more'' dramatic in the manga.
*** The water gun fight is even '''''[[UpToEleven MORE]]''''' dramatic in the original VisualNovel, especially when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR0SvgLy_D8 Night when the Invisible Scares you]] plays in the background ''of the entire 10 minute fight.''
** ''Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Rei'' [[BeachEpisode episode 1]]: Who would've thought that taking off Keiichi's trunks would be SeriousBusiness. Takano's Kunai Syringes, [[strike:Ciel's Black Keys]] Chie's T-squares, the Yamainu lurking in the pool, Oishi's riot police, Kasai's stun grenade among many others. Oh, and Keiichi's [[UnusualEuphemism fur seal]].
*** ''All'' of the club games are SeriousBusiness.
** All of it is even ''more'' over top in the VisualNovel. And it was there since the very beginning.
* ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'' relies on this in order to keep the interest of viewers who aren't familiar with Go. There are dynamic camera angles, and alternating backgrounds and ocassionally depicting the Go board as a solar system because of the ''star'' points.
* A in-universe example in ''Manga/HoozukiNoReitetsu'': Every years, in December, Dayu leave her home to deliver her annual report on [[CelestialBureaucracy the administration of the crushing hell]] to Hoozuki. Since she have the reputation of being one of [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman the most beautiful women]] in the world , and is very rarely seen in public, people started gathering to try to catch a glimpse of her. Not wanting to disapoint them, she started wearing increasingly beautiful kimonos and ornaments, resulting in more people gathering to see her. The great parade of Dayu is now a well known end-of-the-year event, with many people attending it not even realising that it's just Dayu doing ordinary paperwork in a extremely flashy manner.
* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': The Gungi matches between Chimera Ant King and Komugi are full of dramatic slow motion tile placements, speed lines, dramatic pauses and ''[[BreadEggsMilkSquick ripping off arms]]''. Gungi is a simple board game, both players just take it ''very'' seriously.
* Anime/InuYasha versus bicycle. With the [[{{Leitmotif}} main battle theme]] playing. Incidentally, the bike wins.
* ''Manga/IsTheOrderARabbit'':
** Rize when she's showing Cocoa how to make latte art, due to the way she flips the milk and coffee, then stirring as she's making the art.
** The girls when practicing sports in episode 5.
* ''LightNovel/IsThisAZombie'' has an series of epic games of Jenga, Mahjong, Twister and others, all for a [[SeriousBusiness cup of pudding]].
* Everything in ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is this. The only reason it doesn't get into RuleOfCool is because of how utterly crazy everything is, especially the increasingly insane and weird powers which are ''supposed'' to be PsychicPowers. Some examples:
** [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Part 2]] has a chariot race which involves vampire horses, a giant war-hammer, a pillar being used as a weapon, massive crossbows, one ofthe competitors [[EyeScream blinding himself]] to avoid being tricked, and several ImprobableAimingSkills.
** [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] has an epic poker match which involves fighting for souls, people being turned into poker chips and two people trying to out-cheat each other. And the hero breaks the villain's finger for what seems like nothing at first, but is quickly shown to be interrupting a cheating attempt. The last wager knocks the villain out.
** [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Part 4]] gives us an Epic match of RockPaperScissors, complete with air jousting, windows breaking, powers being stolen from people, and a kid throwing himself in front of a big rig truck because he lost. He gets saved by the arrogant manga-ka he was playing against so that the kid couldn't steal his power (which, by the way, is the ability to read people like a book and write commands into people that they have to follow).
** In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Part 7]], the PresidentEvil bases his entire villainous philosophy around the analogy that at a dinner party, the side one takes their napkin from is determined by the first person to pick one up, with everyone else following their lead. As a result, when things go his way, he's prone to posing dramatically and [[LargeHam bombastically proclaiming]] "I will pick up the napkin!!"
* ''Manga/JunjiItosCatDiaryYonAndMu'' is built entirely around this, portraying Creator/JunjiIto getting into wacky hijinks with his cats as if [[FauxHorrific it’s the most terrifying horror story ever put to print]].
* ''Manga/KamiNoShizuku'' combines the truly epic act of decanting wine with {{Engrish}}. ''[[MemeticMutation Decantering from such a height...]] [[http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww135/MaxGore/416px-Decantering.png Incredible...]]''
* The Ramen King subplot in episode eight of ''Manga/KemekoDeluxe'' turns ''eating ramen'' into SeriousBusiness.
* ''Manga/KurokoNoBasuke'', a sports anime, obviously has turned almost everything about the game into something pretty awesome. But one example that stands out in particular is how they turned the concept of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) ZONE]] into something similar to going full-blown ninja. No one in real life, when they enter the ZONE, could possibly move like this.
* ''Literature/{{Kurozuka}}'''s anime gives us the incredible, breath-taking, five-minute 'throwing a bag of excrement into the river' scene.
** There is also a scene later on where Karuta gets rather too into making hotpot before the big battle, complete with dramatic beats and zooms.
* ''Manga/TheLegendOfKoizumi'', in which ''all world politics are decided by mahjong''. At several points characters have set themselves on fire from sheer [[HotBlooded hotbloodedness]] of playing mahjong. [[UsefulNotes/ThePope The Vatican team]] refer to it as "man's attempt to recreate ''Genesis''".
** The pope does just this in his first match against the eponymous character. The resulting mahjong plays are so powerful that it causes koizumi to collapse and bleed from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
* This is literally the premise of ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'', where a few characters with often see things through the filters of their teenage delusions of epic grandeur, or ''chunibyou''.
** Episode 01: Rikka trying to open a train door by DramaticWind and then walked in as if nothing happened.
*** Also in the episode: Rikka unseals her MagicalEye.
** Episode 02: Rikka versus Touka -- in an epic battle of umbrella versus ladle -- through the former's vision.
** Episode 03: Rikka and Sanae's broom fight through their delusions.
** Episode 04: Sanae's hair versus Shinka's pom poms.
* The trope is taken to its logical extreme with ''Anime/LuckyStar'''s Meito Anisawa (''Anisawa Meito'': ''Ani Me''), who turns his pursuit to sell something to "Legendary Girl A" Konata into something almost ''Manga/DragonBall''-like.
** Hiyori turns something as simple as [[CuteClumsyGirl tripping]] into an epic battle for the survival of one's drawing hand.
** Shopping for trading cards is SeriousBusiness.
** Konata already has maps, routes, teams, designated locations, and ''synchronized'' watches for... a trip to Comiket.
*** Then again; if the crowds at the real Comiket are anything like the ones we saw in that episode, some of that might actually be necessary (maybe without the synchronised watches, but you get my point).
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'':
** The dodgeball match in the [[ComicBookAdaptation supplementary manga]], which had [[SuperSoldier Fate]] vowing to protect Nanoha, performing a [[InaSingleBound Super Jump]] to keep said promise, and having a final showdown with [[ThoseTwoGuys Suzuka]], who had now been completely absorbed in the competitive atmosphere ("As expected from Fate-chan!"), complete with internal [[CombatCommentator Combat Commentary]]. It ended with Fate losing both the match and her consciousness after Suzuka successfully countered her nigh-impossible to dodge attack, which was depicted in slow-mo.
---> '''Arf:''' ...what kind of strength does that kid have...?\\
'''Amy:''' I wouldn't expect any less from one of Nanoha-chan's friends.
** The DistantFinale[=/=]WhereAretheyNowEpilogue has a slow motion scene of Hayate casually standing up after putting her shoes on before she runs to school (to emphasise that she's finally free from the curse of [[ArtifactOfDeath the Book of Darkness]]).
* The last episode of ''LightNovel/MagiciansAcademy'' features an intensive manga drawing scene complete with evil overlord pencil techniques, maniacal laughs, and pencils leaving streak marks across the sky... all too similar to [[Manga/DeathNote a certain other anime]].
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' gives us one of the most epic [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v29/c261/12.html arm wrestling matches]] ever. It ''blasts a hole in the floor''.
** Just two chapters later, a kiss takes up four pages, has an inspirational speech in the middle of it, and causes an explosion.
** Thanks to the magical items she procured during her travels in the Magical World, Nodoka manages to turn a question that most people ask many times in their life into the most awesome thing ever.
--->'''Nodoka''': [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger What]] [[LetsGetDangerous is]] [[{{Telepathy}} your]] [[IKnowYourTrueName name]]?!!
** And lately [[spoiler:near the end of the Negi vs Fate final fight]] we get One Handshake Death Match.
* ''Manga/MakenKi'': At Tenbi Academy, everything is decided by duelling for it, which includes asking any of its female students for a date. So if any guy's got a crush, they'll have to throw down the gauntlet and hope they can win - because [[AllAmazonsWantHercules the girls]] are ''[[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale a hell of a lot]]'' [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower stronger]] than the guys are.
* On an episode of ''Anime/MarsDaybreak'', the ''Ship of Aurora'' is trapped on a drained dock and Earth troopers are trying to cut their way in. TheCaptain calls to deploy the "Elizabeth Cannon." The rest of the crew suddenly get OhCrap looks on their faces and promptly cover their ears to prepare for the weapon's deployment... which consists of the captain (Elizabeth) yelling in the loudspeaker at the top of her lungs with the external loudspeakers turned all the way up. Don't laugh, it ''worked''.
* ''Anime/MayoiNekoOverrun'''s OnsenEpisode gave us ''badass ping-pong playing'' (Though sandwiched in it there was a minute of {{padding}})
** Episode 8 brings in the director of ''Manga/{{Saki}}'' to deliver a spot-on parody via the medium of ''Epic Jenga''.
* ''Mazinger'' series do this a lot:
** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Although Kouji mostly saves his hotbloodness to when he is fighting or riding his HumongousMecha, he simply can not make some activities in a mundane way. He can not go downstairs like a normal person. He has slid down the railing. His idea of bike-riding contests includes hopping off the bike and making a somersault before landing back on his seat, or leaping across a cliff and using his rival's bike to gain momentum. And when he is going to docking in his SuperRobot, he ALWAYS has to shout "Mazin go!" out of the top of his lungs in spite of it being unnecessary. Given that he is the TropeCodifier for TheHero in HumongousMecha anime, that kind of attitude bled in other MechaShow protagonists.
** And then you get Boss inventing Brockenball. It is like soccer, except the ball is [[OffWithHisHead Count Brocken's head]] and everyone wins... but the ball.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': Tetsuya's docking in Great Mazinger is even more exaggerated. He leaps dramatically in the Condor Brain jet, dashes through a submarine cavern, takes off through a shipwrecked ancient ship, and docks in Great Mazinger while it is being catapulted towards him, rotating his aircraft one-eighty-degrees.
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': And Duke Fleed, who is pretty calm and quiet when he is not piloting, boards Grendizer by dashing off a tall hatch as making a somersault as [[TransformationNameAnnouncement yelling his name]].
** ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'': In one scene, Sayaka's bra gets cut, and everything -her bra falling, her breasts weirdly bouncing, everybody reacting to the fact- goes bullet time.
* More than one moment in ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}''
** When Ikki inserts Metabee's medal in its body. Is camera rotating, excessive posing and shouting really necessary to show a kid inserting something in a robot?
** Mr Referee has a way of dealing with rule-breakers? He calls upon a ''satellite'' to get justice! With a ''blow gun!'' And knock out darts!
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'':
** In Chapter 21, after the CurbStompBattle, the dragons decide to have a match between themselves. Their vast superhuman abilities turn the relatively modest sport of dodgeball into what amounts to an epic battle with massive amounts of property destruction... which gets fixed in a jiffy (and bystanders have [[LaserGuidedAmnesia their memories erased]]) through magic afterwards.
** In Episode 2, Tohru and Kanna use the seesaw to toss each other sky high after Kobayashi tries explaining its correct usage to them.
* ''Mister Ajikko'' is made of this trope. It brings ''cooking battles'' to absurdly epic levels.
* ''Manga/MutekiKanbanMusume'' is a GagSeries that is a SliceOfLife anime… except for their protagonists, {{BurgerFool}}s in a shopping district, who live in a WorldOfHam doing this trope practically all the time. The picture of this page is Kankuro doing mundane tasks with the same enthusiasm he trains to defeat his rival.
* The ''Manga/MythicalDetectiveLokiRagnarok'' manga had a scene where the eponymous character taught the others how to drink milk... ''awesomely''. Possibly referencing ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' example in the video games section.
* Might Guy and Rock Lee of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. No matter how they are viewed by their fellow shinobi or how unnerving their appearances have become over the years, '''''[[HotBlooded NOTHING CAN EXTINGUISH THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH!!!]]'''''
** After a long and anticipated wait, ''Naruto'' brings you the epic rivalry of Kakashi Hatake vs Might Guy... at rock-paper-scissors.
** THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH! is a glorified ass poke.
*** Then Naruto actually manages to make this attack actually awesome by [[spoiler: performing it with a kunai laden with ''explosives'']], seriously hurting ''Gaara in half bijuu mode''.
** In the ''[[Anime/SunnySideBattle Sunny-Side Battle!]]'' OVA, Itachi makes breakfast.
* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' is full of this trope {{played for laughs}}. [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/my-ordinary-life/episode-1-motivation-573100 A robot girl that's chasing a cat accidentally bumps into a boy, AND CREATES A ATOMIC EXPLOSION THAT DESTROYS TOKYO! And a dropped piece of sausage is a world shaking, life or death event.]]
** The bulk of the MundaneMadeAwesome tends to go to the schoolgirl trio of Mio, Yuuko, and Mai. Besides the above, scenes featuring the little kid professor, wind up robot girl, and talking cat are generally far more mundane.
* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': Even something like cheating at poker is made extremely intense in the anime adaptation.
** The chess game in episode 3, [[UnexpectedGameplayChange which turns out to be a lot different than a regular chess game]]. Especially after Sora takes over for Shiro.
** You would think that something as simple as a word-chain game like Shiritori cannot fall under this trope, but no: the Flügels turned Shiritori into a life-or-death game by making everything that is said appear or disappear, depending on whether it currently exists or not. [[spoiler:Sora and Shiro use this to defeat their enemy Jibril, who formerly survived a hydrogen bomb (on the FIRST turn!), with a hypernova by removing Coulomb interaction from the universe, thus causing an artificial Big Bang.]]
** The coin toss game between Sora and Miko in episode 12 isn't called "the world's most brutal" for no reason.
* ''Manga/OnaniMasterKurosawa'' is Manga/DeathNote [[JustForFun/XMeetsY but with fapping]]. Yes, really.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0lSNITIJ20&feature=related Crocus's abuse of the dramatic moment,]] part of one of the more bizarre episodes. Also LampshadeHanging.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': Tamaki explains the ways of the common people in this fashion. In the first episode, he gets ''a round of applause'' for announcing he's going to give ''instant coffee'' a try, to the bafflement of Haruhi.
* ''Peace Hame'' [[UpToEleven runs on this trope]] to liven up what would otherwise be a standard Harem hentai by being an AffectionateParody of the Shonen genre among [[Wrestling/WorldWrestlingEntertainment others]] as the overall goal's for [[TheHero Tamao]] earning the right to have sex with his classmates and take their pictures afterwards [[RefugeInAudacity for the school yearbook.]]
** Mah-jong? [[BitchInSheepsClothing The head cheerleader]] cheats by using her big tits to relay messages while her team tries to psych out the opposition by cheering and in kind, Tamao channels ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' in [[AwesomenessByAnalysis calling out and disrupting her tactics]] then TheJuggernaut by mowing through (read: fucking without cumming) the ''entire squad'' before finishing her off.
** Pine needle-pulling game? Goes ''Bankai'' right down to the ChunkyUpdraft and [[BadassLongcoat open jacket]] to win.
** High school wrestling match against the BigBad? [[ProWrestlingIsReal An all-out hardcore match]] in eyeshot of Tamao's TrueCompanions getting gangraped by the Mooks with shout outs to Wrestling/RobVanDam, Wrestling/JimRoss, Wrestling/JerryLawler and JapaneseSpirit.
* ''Manga/PoisonBerryInMyBrain'': Decision making and the {{Josei}} theme is made awesome thanks to the GhostInTheMachine council members.
* ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'': releasing a Pokémon onto the battlefield is often done with great emphasis, and a flashy background. When contests were introduced, it got a little more flashy. Thanks to a new contest upgrade in the ''Diamond/Pearl/Platinum'' games though (which then got introduced in the anime too), releasing a Pokémon into a contest now is similar to setting off several large, bright, fireworks -- '''''all at the same time'''''.
** "Challenge of the Samurai" had a pair of Metapod [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments dramatically trying to out-Harden each other for what seems like hours.]]
* In ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'', a mere tennis serve is illustrated by a sequence including the extinction of the dinosaurs by a meteor shower of tennis balls. Happily, this means the series about tennis does, indeed, put more drama into tennis than [[Manga/DeathNote the series about mass murder]] does. Still not convinced about the nature of the anime? Just gaze at this tennis match which is elevated to ''Anime/DragonballZ'' proportions. One of the comments gave a pretty good description: "It feels like ''Final Fantasy'' and tennis had a lovechild, and named it ''Prince of Tennis'' and let it run free among the ''DBZ'' community until it matured into this. "
* While it's not necessarily "mundane", {{Ballet}} has a bit of a reputation for being... boring. ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' [[DancingIsSeriousBusiness would beg to differ]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHZqxecCukg Case in point]].
* A frequently used comedic trope in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. See: [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Fine Dining Martial Arts, Takeout Delivery Martial Arts, Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, Tea Ceremony Martial Arts, Calligraphy Martial Arts]]...and so on.
** "I will NEVER forgive this offense of the CURRY BREAD!"
** Taro might fit into this trope as well. His main goal in life is to replace the front half from his EmbarrassingFirstName, "Pantyhose Taro", but all of his chosen replacements are attempts to take {{Awesome McCool Name}} literally, and thusly just as stupid- "Mr. Cool Taro", "Awesome Taro", et cetera.
** Ranma himself {{lampshade}}s the tendencies of other martial artists to do this by [[CallingYourAttacks giving fancy flowery names to maneuvers]] such as "Ultimate Serenity Strike" or the like and later agreeing quite calmly that it was "just a backrub."
* ''Anime/RioRainbowGate'':
** This anime turns casino games into something on par with ''Yu-Gi-Oh!''. A game of poker is represented with Rio talking to the cards in some sort of flowery dreamspace while her opponent summons giant charred slabs of cards down from the heavens. Casinos are loud and over the top already, ''Rio'' just makes it more so.
** In the 2nd episode, they get to compete using ''a gigantic roulette'' with the symbolism as ''volleyball''.
** In episode 5, the ''most extreme'' slide ever. Seriously.
** A ''flying casino''.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''--Kenshin slices through a daikon radish using a kitchen knife with more gravitas than he'd been shown to fight some of his battles, and for good reason: he's looking for a legendary swordsmaker, and he was testing the blade.
** Which is skipping over the ''actual'' awesome, when he immediately puts the radish halves together and the cut seals and the radish becomes one piece again, because the cut was just that perfect.
* ''Manga/RustBlaster'' manages to turn ''getting to the cafeteria first'' into a combination race/battle for survival, complete with the main character fighting off five guys at once to get the best meal possible.
* ''Manga/{{Saki}}'': {{TabletopGame/Mahjong}} is played with dramatic camera angles, speed lines, flashing lights, and gusts of wind. Being able to get plus-minus zero score every time is pretty awesome and somewhat inhuman, but that is just the beginning. It's not just dramatic music and lighting, this turns it UpToEleven in ways you would not imagine. Winged creatures, transformation and ''lightning'' are only the '''beginning.''' Good luck understanding ''any'' of the actual mahjong play except through context, but it is frikkin' '''''epic'''''.
* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'':
** Learning to read IS ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT.
** So is [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments teaching stag beetles to sumo wrestle]]. Go, Rodriguez!
* ''Manga/SaturnApartments'' shows more reverence for window-washing than your average priest shows for the sacraments.
* Spoofed ruthlessly in the second season of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Itoshiki, tired of casual conversation, tries saying an incredibly casual phrase in an earth-shattering dramatic way. It turns out to be very fun to do, and all of his students take turns saying casual things extremely dramatically. It gets even better when they start practicing extremely dramatic reactions to the above statements.
** Chiri, however, subverts this right off the bat in the same scene by saying that she gave her sister a juice injection in an overly dramatic tone, acting like it's actually no big deal at all. According to her, it comparatively isn't. She could have injected compressed gas instead, you know.
** If anyone wants to check, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZxYK484eUM here.]]
** Frankly, Itoshiki-sensei makes remarking that something bugs you into an ''art form''. '''[[{{Catchphrase}} I'M IN DESPAIR!]]'''
* ''Manga/SchoolRumble'':
** During the sports festival, the jousting tournament is accompanied by music that would have fit in ''Film/LordOfTheRings'' or ''Franchise/StarWars''. WebVideo/AMVHell 3 gives us ''School Rumble'' plus [[Franchise/StarWars Duel of the Fates]].
** The Survival Game episodes were made almost in the style of ''Film/BattleRoyale''.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' parodies the living daylights out of this trope. About once an episode, Keroro tries to turn his dialogue into a dramatic declamation... about vacuuming... or model building... or going to the toy store...
* In the FestivalEpisode of ''Manga/ShinjiIkariRaisingProject'', Shinji and Asuka have the most inane rivalry in existence. [[http://www.mangahere.co/manga/shinseiki_evangelion_ikari_shinji_ikusei_keikaku/c005/6.html It must be seen to be believed.]]
* ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'' is a series about cooking with no supernatural or science-fiction stuff. The characters' cooking is so good that people have orgasms eating it! Or so bad it makes girls feel like they've been groped.
** Just cooking or even when they're preparing cooking makes the chefs looking so Badass. The epicness of either cooking or eating is on the same level as of ''Manga/DeathNote'', but with a strong flair of a battle manga. This is what happens if you combine this [[MundaneMadeAwesome trope]] with SugarWiki/AwesomeArt.
** It helps there are amazing cooking duels (called ''Shokugeki'') like in real life, where two parties are cooking in an arena (the official Shokugeki at least).
* ''Manga/SkipBeat'': Kyoko Mogami is prone to exaggeration and flights of fancy. For a talent demonstration, she opts to ''peel a radish'' with what amounts to ''[[HotBlooded BURNING SPIRIT]]'', complete with [[{{Kiai}} intense roaring]] and [[OpenTheIris dilated eyes]].
* There was a ping pong match in ''Manga/SoredemoMachiWaMawatteiru'' featuring Tatsuno Toshiko and Haribara Harue, with [[TheStoryteller Badass Narration]] and music that belonged in the SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic section. It was one of the most epic moments in the SliceOfLife genre.
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': there's an episode devoted entirely to the main characters taking a test. This includes Soul's AWESOME CHEATING SKILLS, Patty's AWESOME GIRAFFE MAKING/KILLING SKILLS and Liz's AWESOME HAIR PLUCKING SKILLS. Black☆Star's AWESOME AUTOGRAPH, [[CouldntFindAPen written in blood]], with a backing track of heavy metal. Death the Kidd suffers, sweats, and cries for not being able to WRITE A PERFECTLY SYMMETRIC LETTER "K". Then, horror of horrors, his pencil broke and his testpaper ripped! His shock and disgust were so great, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfdRsXgu_3E he coughs up blood and dies!]]'' (Not really. As the son of the Grim Reaper himself, it's debatable whether he actually can die).
* "Anime/StitchMeetsHighSchoolMusical": [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch Stitch and the other aliens]] dance to "[[Film/HighSchoolMusical We're All in This Together]]" just to bring a stuck basketball down.
* ''Manga/StraightenUpWelcomeToShikaHighsCompetitiveDanceClub'' actually has this as its premise for Competitive Ballroom Dancing. ''Manga/WelcomeToTheBallroom'' does so as well.
* ''Anime/StreetFighterAlphaTheAnimation'' uses extreme close-ups, cuts to amazed onlookers and inspirational music when Ryu ties his headband on.
* ''Anime/SummerWars'':
** Scribbling on notepaper and rapidly tapping keyboards have never been so epic.
** The [[spoiler:[[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame Hanafuda match for the fate of the world]]]] starts out pretty awesome already, but then [[spoiler:John and Yoko grant Natsuki a rare angelic kimono for her avatar]] and it gets crazier from there, culminating in a meteor strike-esque (with an explosion of CherryBlossoms upon impact) [[spoiler:slamming down of the last card]].
** Epic use of a rotary dial phone and an address book!
* ''Anime/SuperMilkChan''. BELGIAN WAFFLLLLLSSSS!
* ''Manga/TeamMedicalDragon'': If this manga is to be believed, performing surgery is the next most badass thing after being a ninja.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' pulls out dramatic music and slo-mo at the end of episode 6 when Yoko loses her top.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNrtK78tlJA Parallel Works 2]] has epic pachinko.
* ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred'': General Hengel takes on even the most boring of everyday tasks -- like buying furniture -- with an ''incredible seriousness'' and lightning effects in the background. His subordinate sees him as slightly loony, but is loyal nonetheless.
* Wouldn't debate competitions be so much more interesting if they were as bright and shiny as the red and blue text in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''? This is so far more true in the VN than in the anime. In the VN, they'll show bright sword slashes flying through the dark while intense music like "Dread of the Grave or "Dreamenddischarger" plays.
** Umineko Chiru has Dlanor and Battler actually having a SWORD FIGHT with their respective truths...and it's pretty epic [[spoiler:especially when Battler decides to whip out the Gold Sword of Truth and completely trump her.]]
* ''Anime/VariableGeo'': Two words: combat waitressing. Picture a MMA competition between gorgeous vixens duking it out with FullContactMagic and SupernaturalMartialArts to decide who's the strongest waitress of them all. That's ''VG'' in a nutshell.
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' features an ultra-dramatic scene complete with OminousLatinChanting where a city-sized Fate Alteration Engine is used by the bad guys to...make the heroine fall in love with a different man.
* ''Manga/TheWallflower'': The fighting manga-esque ping pong battle.
* The third episode of ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' turns ''googling porn'' into a magnificently epic adventure on the high seas.
** Before that it made Satou ''looking through uncensored hentai game CG sets'' (and [[ADateWithRosiePalms some other stuff]]) as astounding to the audience as it is to him by punctuating reaching the end with ''giant explosions''. Lampshaded when a note on the screen says this is an imaginary screen.
* ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' has Keima's [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Capturing God Mode]], which pushes his concentration and stamina to increase his speed times six, to a point where he loses three years of his life for every hour he uses it (his words). And what is this awesome technique used for? Playing {{Dating Sim}}s.
* Any time someone tastes the hero's home-made bread in ''Manga/YakitateJapan'', it's an event which makes the parting of the Red Sea look minuscule in comparison, replete with dramatic music, flashing lights, and vivid hallucinations. (One might wonder if the hero is [[MushroomSamba actually slipping psychotropic drugs into his creations]]...)
** In fact, in one episode Kazuma makes a bread composed mostly of cannabis derivatives... and it was so delicious, [[spoiler: the judge who tasted the bread was [[TimeTravel sent back in time]] and saved his own mother from DeathByChildbirth.]]
** Kuroyanagi (And Pierrot) make tasting bread awesome. Besides the aforementioned effects, they both go so far as to explain why the bread is so good in a LargeHam way, then goes beyond as to deliver a what can be called a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech the reason you suck speech]] to the losing individual/team. Makes sense when you consider both their [[Creator/TakehitoKoyasu voice]] [[Creator/TomokazuSeki actors.]]
* The whole point of ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' is taking aspects of day-to-day life, like going to an electronics store or cycling to school, and treating it like an epic life-changing adventure, because to a five-year-old they really ''are'' epic life-changing adventures. Probably the best is chapter 45, where Yotsuba turns ''cake decoration'' into a monumental feat.
-->'''Yotsuba''': And finally, I'll put on this egg!\\
'''Fuuka''': An egg?!\\
'''Shimauu''': I've never seen decorations like this before!
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'' does this with a [[strike:children's]] [[strike:collectible]] card game. Though in that case, the fate of the characters involved (or even that of the world) really ''[[SeriousBusiness does]]'' hang in the balance. Still, the amount of drama that goes into picking up a card and putting it back down is [[strike:almost]] laughable.
** Taken to the next level in the Battle City Arc: apart from the usual dramatic [[CatchPhrase catch phrases]] and exaggerated arm gestures, the use of an Egyptian God Card also requires OminousLatinChanting, lightning flashes and [[FrickinLaserBeams ancient Egyptian laser beams]].
** {{Lampshaded}} in an episode during the Battle City arc. Jonouchi and Ryouta Kajiki were set to duel in what was apparently the local version of Sea World. Since they had an audience (which they shanghaied by somehow interrupting a killer whale show), Jonouchi attempted to play to the crowd by drawing his card in an even more dramatic fashion than usual, pirouetting and rotating like a champion ice skater. Kajiki interrupts this display of card-drawing prowess by demanding Jonouchi get on with it, after which both duelists continue their duel at the standard, slightly less ridiculous level.
** Just like everything else about ''Yu-Gi-Oh'', [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries the Abridged Series]] lampoons this mercilessly.
---> [[spoiler:'''Steve''']] '''Arkana''': "Now let's begin by shuffling our cards in a needlessly dramatic fashion."
---> '''Yugi''': (shuffling his cards with an utmost serious look) "Way ahead of ya."
*** "Oh, my God! '''A giant rock!'''"
** Even the dubbed characters seem to take this trope into consideration when playing:
---> '''Adrian''': I reveal two of my face downs.\\
'''Chazz''': But how?\\
'''Adrian''': Easy, I just call out their names dramatically, and they pop up.
** [[Creator/DanGreen I'm going to drink some MILK! And then I'll do my laundry...]]
** Yami Bakura made eating a steak so epic and terrifying that it was censored in the dub.
** In movie, YuGiOhTheDarkSideOfDimensions, Kaiba ''slams'' his hand into the stone floor, then his fist plunges into the stone releasing bursts of light. He then says in the most straining voice he can manifest the word "Draw". But yells in in a similar fashion to Yami's infamous "DORO! MONSTA CARDO!". And pulls his arm around him by at least ''225 degrees''. And the the the ground begins to crack as he summons Obelisk the Tormentor.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Card games... on MOTORCYCLES!]]
** Episode 86 brings us guns that turn into duel disks in a western-styled draw. Just flipping a coin to decide who gets the first move isn't nearly dramatic enough.
** A trend that starts in 5Ds and continues into the following sequel series' is that when a character summons a monster from his/her extra deck, the summon itself is always done with a lot more drama and flair than usual, while the summoner does a chant, shouts out their summoning method, and then calls the name of the monster they summon as the monster gets some dramatic camera angles. The fusion users in ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' even make it a point to clasp their hands together as they perform their fusion summons.
* ''Manga/QQSweeper'' makes cleaning a room awesome, as it takes place on the mental plane and disperses negative emotions.
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* The dodgeball match in the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' [[ComicBookAdaptation supplementary manga]], which had [[SuperSoldier Fate]] vowing to protect Nanoha, performing a [[InaSingleBound Super Jump]] to keep said promise, and having a final showdown with [[ThoseTwoGuys Suzuka]], who had now been completely absorbed in the competitive atmosphere ("As expected from Fate-chan!"), complete with internal [[CombatCommentator Combat Commentary]]. It ended with Fate losing both the match and her consciousness after Suzuka successfully countered her nigh-impossible to dodge attack, which was depicted in slow-mo.
--> '''Arf:''' ...what kind of strength does that kid have...?\\

** Mah-jong? [[BitchInSheepsClothing The head cheerleader]] [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty cheats by using her big tits to relay messages while her team tries to psych out the opposition by cheering]] and in kind, Tamao channels ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' in [[AwesomenessByAnalysis calling out and disrupting her tactics]] then TheJuggernaut by mowing through (read: fucking without cumming) the ''entire squad'' before finishing her off.