Can certain anime characters be considered "superheros"?

Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire could be a superhero in my opinion. She has superhuman senses and strength and is pretty bad ass.

I haven’t watched an anime in a while, so I’d have to think about some more. I’m sure there are others though.

Akira. Total superhuman powers.

I know this sounds weird but I have have to go with Sailor Moon, and the Sailor Scouts! And let’s not forget Saint Tail.

I thought of another one. Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. The alchemy skills he has are really powerful and he has just the right attitude to fit in with most other superheroes (wants to do right but doesn’t want to be a puppet for the State Military).

I forgot to put why sorry :(
Sailor Moon can kick some ass. However, she’s not smart, and she is eccentric. And the sailor scouts can use their energy like Captain Planet by giving all of their energy to Sailor Moon. Now that’s what I call commitment.
Saint Tail is just a dorky school girl, who saves the world from evil, just like Sailor Moon.

@shego
I second Sailor Moon.
Also, let’s not forget Astro Boy. I mean, he was the very first anime character.

@squidcake I didn’t know that. That is interesting. :)

@shego
Yup. Japanese animation has definitely come a long way since.

@squidcake but since Astroboy was a robot… do his abilities count as “super powers” or merely design features?

From the Astroboy Wiki:

Astro Boy is a science fiction series set in a futuristic world where robots co-exist with humans. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular “Astro Boy” (sometimes called simply “Astro”), a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science, Doctor Tenma, to replace his son Tobio (‘Astor’ in the 1960s English dub; ‘Toby’ in the 1980s & 2004 English dubs), who died in a car accident. Dr. Tenma built Astro in Tobio’s image and treated him as lovingly as if he were the real Tobio, but soon realized that the little robot could not fill the void of his lost son, especially given that Astro could not grow older or express human aesthetics (in one set of panels in the manga, Astro is shown preferring the mechanical shapes of cubes over the organic shapes of flowers). In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg.

After some time, Professor Ochanomizu, the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus and convinced Hamegg to turn Astro over to him. He then took Astro as his own and treated him gently and warmly, becoming his legal guardian. He soon realized that Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.

Astro then is shown fighting crime, evil, and injustice. Most of his enemies were robot-hating humans, robots gone berserk, or alien invaders. Almost every story included a battle involving Astro and other robots. Once, Astro actually took on the US Air Force, stopping it from bombing some peaceful innocent Vietnamese villagers (this was a time-travel episode, in which our hero went back from the 21st century to 1969).

@Dr_C
Well, Iron Man is a superhero, and he has no superpowers apart from his robot suit.

Do not forget Son Goku, who could whip all of the western super heroes’ arses with his small finger.

@Seaofclouds I’m not sure Edward Elric counts. In the world where he lives, he’s only a little special, and a genius.

To be a superhero, you need to be able to do things that are not normal in your world.

Most of the anime I watch doesn’t really lend itself to this kind of character, but maybe other types do.

@squidcake people call him a super hero. He’s a guy in a suit. Without it he has no power.

Fighting evil by mooon lightt winning love by day lightttt never runnin from a real fightttttt
eh hmmm sorry about that….

@uberbateman here’s the rest of the song that I can remember from the top of my head but I know there are parts missing.
She is the one named Sailor Moon she will never turn her back on her friends she is always there to defend she is the one that you can depend, she is the one name Sailor Moon She is the one Sailor Moon!

Hmm…..well of course! I’ve seen animes where the main character is called a superhero. Also, depending on what you think a superhero is, there can be millions of anime superheroes. It’s kinda silly to think like this but, Naruto can be thought as a superhero because he saves lives, he’s brave, thinks of others, and can’t let a friend die.