Eagle-Eyed: 10 Anime Sniper Situations (that Shouldn't Be Missed)

Eagle-Eyed: 10 Anime Snipers/Related Situations that Shouldn’t Be Missed

Few soldier classes have captured the level of fear/veneration as the sniper, the silent and stealthy hunter of the battlefield. Dispatching their targets with a single shot, often from supposedly impossible distances, they're elites in their own class, bearing superior training and combat instincts that make many blush. Throw in their famous mottos—which literally became the title of a famed sniper anthology, Charles Sasser and Craig Roberts' One Shot, One Kill—and it was inevitable they'd become pop culture darlings, swiftly earning reputations as heroes/villains everywhere.

Anime is no exception, with many series beautifully showcasing these legends' incredible feats, a true testament bringing their admirable skills to entirely new generations. To fully showcase this, let's look at some of the better anime depictions of snipers over the years.

10: Tigrevermud Vorn

Lord Marksman and the Vanadis

Before firearms were invented, the deadliest distance shooters were archers, and Tigre (as he prefers), Count of Alsace, is a class of his own. His patron deity is the Goddess of Wind, a key feature in any sniper shot. When called up by his king, he more than proves himself, starting with his attempt to kill War Maiden Eleonora after a brutal battle…from an insane distance. He fails and is captured, yet so impresses Eleonora she falls for him at first sight.

When she asks him to assuage her jealous men by having him demonstrate his skills, he does even better: after a failed attempt on her life, he disables the assassin, a moving target on an elevated position, at an even greater distance—with a deliberately sabotaged bow. It's only the first of a series of incredible shots, many of which involve a black bow infusing his arrows with dark energy, a power he first displays when he halts Duke Thenardier's invasion of Alsace by shooting down his son Zion (and the dragon he's escaping on) when they attempt to fly away. Another example is when he kills another invading army's commander at an extreme distance, then later kills Thenardier with an arrow the wind literally helps steer on target.

Learn more about Tigrevermud Vorn and Lord Marksman and the Vanadis on MyAnimeList

9: Tomo Asama

Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere

In the far future, humanity returns from the stars, only to find the space around Japan is inhabitable. Other nations exist on a separate plane from native Japanese, until an accident brings both into conflict…and all settle on a new plan: recreate history to return to space via advanced tech and magic. Tomo, shrine priestess of the wandering city-ship Musashi, is a wonderful person in her own right, but stands out due to both her Shinto proficiency and exceptional archery.

Combining the two to ensure hits, she can drop all manner of targets, but her biggest impact starts toward the second half of season one, when she uses a giant magical bow to cover her comrades by shooting through an incoming energy round to destroy the warship that fired it; the feat later gets her referred to as "the sniper priestess." She goes even further during season two's recreation of the Spanish Armada, where she uses those same skills to unveil a stealth ship and disable a battleship.

Learn more about Tomo Asama and Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere on MyAnimeList

8: GM Sniper

Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team

The Gundam franchise is legendary for its realistic portrayal of war, but this series, which examines a secondary theater of the infamous One Year War, reveals a unique weapon during the final battle with the Zeon superweapon Apsalus: the GM Sniper. Derived from the Federation's generic GM mobile suit, it uses an advanced beam rifle with a sniper scope attachment, allowing it to strike from a distance with continual energy to melt the thickest armor.

These suits significantly damage both the Apsalus and Zeon forces, making them a true franchise marvel.

Learn more about GM Sniper and Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team on MyAnimeList

7: Naomi Fluegel

Zoids: New Century Zero

In the future, people compete in extreme sports using mechanical creatures called Zoids. They come in all shapes and sizes, but the type used by Naomi Fluegel is a gem: the Gunsniper. Resembling a velociraptor, it has rotary cannons on its arms, but its primary weapon is a long-range energy cannon in its tail. The pilot's seat literally turns around, revealing a scope and trigger, and Naomi is an ace.

She's able to hit foes with such frightening ease that, when challenging other teams, she insists on their only using six shots each. Granted, she ultimately loses to protagonist Bit Cloud, but only improves from there, so much so the latter's teammate Brad fell for her.

Learn more about Naomi Fluegel and Zoids: New Century Zero on MyAnimeList

6: The Duel

Cat Planet Cuties

In the future, far off world Catia sends representative Eris to investigate Earth, eventually leading to diplomatic relations. Ultimately, Eris falls for good-hearted protagonist Kio, leading to romantic complications with him and two others: childhood BFF/aspiring CIA agent Manami and classmate/former assassin Aoi. Curiously, Manami offers to help Aoi land Kio, but the pair soon argue about the former's belief she doesn't need to train, leading to an infamous duel.

That's where the sniper element comes in, courtesy of a hostile alien hiring a pro sniper duo to kill the pair during the bout. Aoi saves Manami, then locates their foes via a famed counter-sniper range guesstimation tactic famously described in the History Channel Documentary Sniper: Deadliest Missions: Crack-Thump AKA measuring the time lapse between the sound of the bullet hitting/whistling by (crack) and the sound of the gunshot reaching them (thump). Granted, they use alien tech to finish the job, but this needed mentioning.

Learn more about the sniper duel and Cat Planet Cuties on MyAnimeList

5: Reike

Aria the Scarlet Ammo

This series, where teens train to become armed detectives called Butei, features one of anime's most definitive snipers: Reike. She's calm, cool, and her ability to stay focused behind the scope is incredible. Her shining moment is in episode three, where she helps save Butei students trapped on a bomb-laden bus by aiming at said bomb from a chopper.

She uses perfect trigger pull, keeps calm, and fires with a gentle squeeze, an impressive display by an implacable warrior…and naturally hits her target.

Learn more about Reike and Aria the Scarlet Ammo on MyAnimeList

4: Yujia Wang

Assault Lily Bouquet

In the future, giant monsters called Huge attack from large nests, and only Magi-empowered girls called Lilies can fight them. They use weapons called Charms, each capable of close/ranged combat, along with rare skills enhancing their performance. Of these, the stand-out is Yujia, an exceptional shot, especially with her rare skill, Heaven's Measure, which allows her to zoom in on distant targets with pinpoint accuracy.

Sadly, she has little confidence in her skills…until protagonist Riri asks her to join her legion. In the end, Yujia's roommate, Shenlin, offers a test: she'll give Yujia ten shots to hit her. In the process, we see Yujia's keen aim, but what really counts is seeing her adjust the angle of fire to allow for a wind shift, a practice referred to in the History Channel documentary Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs as holding off or "Kentucky Windage." She only uses her sniping skills one other time, but this also needed mentioning.

Learn more about Yujia Wang and Assault Lily Bouquet on MyAnimeList

3: Sig

Upotte

In this series, Seishou Academy students all have one thing in common: they're the personifications (and bearers) of different firearms. One such is Sig AKA Sig-Sauer SG550, a Swiss girl known for her brains and exceptional shooting…including sniping. We get a glimpse of such in episode two, when we see her on the target range, making full use of a windsock for windage.

However, we really see her skills when outsiders Sako and Galil challenge popular girl Ichiroku for control of the school during a competition. It gets particularly ugly when the pair fight Sig's friends FNC and Ichihachi: during the bout, Sako pins FNC down and then repeatedly shoots her vest to prod Ichiroku. However, in a breathtaking display, Sig braces her rifle's bipod with her feet and snipes on full auto from well outside the combat zone, saving her friend and humbling the arrogant Sako, who ultimately loses the competition.

Learn more about Sig and Upotte on MyAnimeList

2: Yuuji Kazami

The Fruit of Grisaia

As the series begins, Yuuji, a mysterious teenager, is sent to an equally mysterious school, where he finds only five other students, all girls. What's more, each girl has suffered severe past trauma…all of which follows them to the school. Thankfully, Yuuji's an exceptional fighter, one of his many skills being sniping, which we first see when classmate Irisu helps him train by having her call out corrections while target shooting.

But he really comes into his own when defending classmate Yumiko from her dad, a railway tycoon trying to force her into taking over his company despite previously dismissing her. After an initial standoff leads to a police confrontation, her dad comes forward, trying to call her bluff, but then Yuuji uses his rifle to wing the man's shoulder, forcing him back and enabling Yumiko to fake her death, thus freeing her. He does it again when defending classmate Amane, the apparent sole survivor of a bus wreck, from a disturbed man whose daughter died in said incident. In a breathtaking use of skill, Yuuji fires a shot through a hole in a bathroom wall, wounding the man and saving the day again.

Learn more about Yuuji Kazami and The Fruit of Grisaia on MyAnimeList

1: Torway Remian

Alderamin on the Sky

In an alternate world, conflict is impending between Kioka and Katjvarna, the main characters being from the latter. One is Torway, the youngest of a famed military family who shows an incredible knack for shooting from the beginning…and literally embodies the evolution of sniping. He starts by simply having a longer barrel on his air gun, enabling a slight boost in range, but then, at the series' halfway point, he gets a greater edge: an air rifle.

As the series famously reveals, the term rifle comes from the process of rifling, or cutting grooves in the barrel, causing the bullet to spin, stabilizing its trajectory and thus dramatically increasing range/accuracy. Moreover, when he first uses this weapon in combat, we see him using both a scope and holding off like Yujia; in the aftermath, he even creates a new soldier class, the sniper. Yet, one of his greatest moments is when he takes on Kioka's Kalakarm unit, which is attempting to snipe a fortress from the rear. Torway showcases his own skills by eliminating this foe via asking himself where he'd attack from, a golden example of counter-sniper tactics.

Learn more about Torway Remian and Alderamin on the Sky on MyAnimeList

Final Thoughts: The Ultimate Anime Snipers That Define Precision and Excellence

There's plenty more examples to be found, but these should showcase the incredible grasp anime writers/animators have of the profession. It's truly magnificent how far they've come, and hopefully they'll continue to accurately depict these legendary hunters of the battlefield in future series.