Most people who want to be entertained to their heart's content absolutely love anime with a passion. The over-the-top and awe-inspiring nature of this medium lends itself to some truly memorable moments that simply cannot be captured with regular live-action shows or anything along the same lines.
As anyone familiar with anime will concur, deaths are a common thing in most shows. While most deaths are fairly avoidable, there are others that need to happen for the sake of other characters, especially when it comes to the main characters. However, there are times when the sacrifices made by certain characters end up being fairly useless due to just how less of an impact these events have in the grand scheme of things.
Keeping this in mind, here are some of the most "heroic" anime sacrifices that were ultimately meaningless.
10 Naruto: Neji Protecting Naruto
One of the most emotional moments in Naruto stems from Neji's demise after he stood in the way of the wooden spikes that were going to pierce Naruto and Hinata. It was a powerful moment... but not really all that logical.
Given Neji's powers, he could've easily used the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven to deflect the attack without any harm coming to him. Along with this, there were several other ninja with long-range abilities around Naruto who could've achieved the same!
9 Attack On Titan: Eren Saving Armin From The Jaws Of Death
During their first excursion to fight off the titans, Eren and Armin are placed in the vanguard and quickly realize how out of their depth they really are. This leads to Eren losing his limb and Armin almost being eaten... before Eren jumps over and saves Armin at the cost of his own life.
However, Eren reveals that he can easily turn into a titan of his own, leading to him avoiding the jaws of death altogether. It might've been a great way to show Eren's powers, but an overly dramatic one regardless.
8 Dragon Ball Z: Vegeta Exploding To Kill Majin Buu
After Vegeta decided to use Babidi's powers to increase his own, he and Goku initiate a battle for the ages. The fight emanated so much power that it led to the creation of Majin Buu.
Realizing the error of his ways, Vegeta decided to clear out the battlefield and sacrifice himself in a bid to defeat this enemy. However, this sacrifice was ultimately pointless, since Majin Buu survived the explosion and Vegeta was bound to come back from the dead anyway.
7 Bleach: Gin Deceiving Aizen
Bleach might be a show that ended on a low note, but it still had its moments. Two characters that were excellent in this regard were Gin and Aizen, the antagonists who betrayed Soul Society to seek out greater power.
However, Gin reveals that he was conspiring against Aizen and seeking out the perfect time to land a fatal blow against the man he was serving all this time. Unfortunately, this sacrifice was completely pointless since Gin lost his own life instead while Aizen recovered from this blow.
6 Sword Art Online: Asuna Preventing A Fatal Blow On Kirito
The fight against Heathcliff was one of Kirito's toughest battles. In fact, the Black Swordsman was almost going to lose his life... had it not been for Asuna intervening and taking a fatal blow meant for Kirito.
This sacrifice seems good on paper but was ultimately pointless due to just how poorly Kirito was faring anyway. While Kirito did manage to land a fatal blow on Heathcliff, he only did so after his HP was depleted.
5 Fullmetal Alchemist: Greed Actually Performing A Selfless Act
After Father was being pushed against the ropes by Edward, he decided to absorb Greed in a bid to regain his power. However, Greed was having none of it and decided to give his own life in a selfless act that weakened Father.
This death was quite poetic, but ultimately completely useless and avoidable. Edward could've just prevented Father from trying and absorbing the Homunculus, but everyone else was just complacent in a bid to add some drama to the final battle.
4 Yu Yu Hakusho: Genkai Losing Her Life Against Toguro
While this wasn't a sacrifice per se, Genkai's death at the hands of Toguro did unlock the latent potential that was present in Yusuke all this time. It's just a shame that this power came after he witnessed the death of his sensei.
However, after Yusuke defeated Toguro, it turned out that Genkai was alive all along. She'd simply faked her death so that Yusuke could unlock the true extent of his powers, which just felt like a major cop-out.
3 Naruto: Chiyo Sacrificing Her Own Life To Save Gaara
The first arc of Naruto Shippuden is pretty action-packed, with the ninja of Konoha striving to save Gaara from the Akatsuki. Unfortunately, they come too late, with Gaara's life ebbing away after his Jinchuuriki was ripped out of him.
Thankfully, Chiyo comes to save the day instead and gives up her own life for Gaara. It's a touching moment... after which Chiyo is barely mentioned or talked about in an important capacity ever again.
2 Attack On Titan: Hannes Dying In A Bid To Save Eren And Mikasa
Hannes seems like a good-for-nothing drunkard who doesn't care about humanity at all. However, after preventing Eren's mother from being eaten by a titan, he decides to turn over a new leaf.
Finally, after Eren is rendered helpless against the titan that killed his mother, Hannes steps in to save the day... only to promptly get eaten himself. While this compels Eren to fight back and release the power of the coordinate, that doesn't mean that he couldn't have activated the coordinate anyway without all this extra drama.
1 Dragon Ball Z: Goku Transporting Cell To King Kai's Homeworld
After Gohan got too cocky against Cell, the latter decides to blow himself up in a bid to destroy Earth with his last gasp. When everything seems lost, Goku decides to transport Cell's body to King Kai's homeworld and save everyone... at the cost of his own life.
Of course, death doesn't matter in Dragon Ball Z. So, Cell manages to come back by leaving one part of his body behind and Goku comes back to life during the Buu Saga as well.