Anime has become increasingly popular in recent years, with its high-energy action scenes and rather unique storylines and artwork bringing in more and more new fans from across the world every day.
While anime is perhaps best known for its swords, martial art and magic themed storylines, there are quite a few titles that include a staggering array of fantastic firearms with incredible and often futuristic designs that really capture the imagination.
If you’re a fan of anime and airsoft and want to bring your favorite anime guns and/or characters to life, then read on as we explore the world of anime airsoft guns and suggest some ways you can recreate some of the most iconic guns from your favorite shows.
Spike Spiegel’s Jericho 941 (Cowboy Bebop)
Cowboy Bebop follows the adventures of Spike Spiegel, a former hitman turned bounty hunter who travels the solar system alongside his crew taking down criminals.
Sure, it sounds like a simple story, and in a lot of ways it is, but great writing and phenomenal characters have made it hugely popular and even spawned a somewhat controversial (and quickly canceled) Netflix adaptation.
The show’s weapons don’t hurt its appeal either – a lot of the guns in the series are very elaborately designed, fitting the neo-noir, space Western setting.
Yet, far and away the most iconic weapon of the series is a simple 20th century pistol.
Spike’s Jericho 941 is no ordinary handgun, being heavily modified to have reduced recoil, more power, and a higher fire rate.
Add in the custom grips and a side-mounted laser, and it’s one cool piece that has people talking about it even to this day.
Get It In Airsoft
If you want to recreate Spike’s gun for an airsoft build, then you’ll first need to pick up an airsoft Jericho replica that’s as true to life as possible.
In our opinion, the most accurately designed (and frankly most well-built) airsoft Jericho on the market is the Cybergun Jericho 941.
At 8 inches long and just a hair under 2 lbs in weight, it is a full-size, realistic feeling CO2 gas-powered airsoft replica designed by KWC and licensed by Cybergun, so it has plenty of official trademarks and markings that make it look very realistic.
For those interested in trying it out on the field, the Cybergun Jericho can also deliver where it counts, offering a decent and CQB-friendly 340-350 FPS and being capable of hitting targets reliably to around 65 feet (20m) without a problem.
Although there’s no real blowback to the gun, it is quite cheap to own and run, getting around 6-7 magazines (100 rounds or so) per fill of CO2 and costing well under $100 to purchase.
Read our in-depth review of the Cybergun Jericho 941 for more detail
To get the authentic Cowboy Bebop look, you’ll want to pick up one of these in black, rather than the more traditional silver.
You’ll also need to sacrifice a little bit of functionality and get a model without the traditional 6 o’ clock rail, which means that (like Spike) you’ll have to go without the usual flashlight or laser accessories for this build.
Spike does fit his Jericho with a pair of futuristic-looking specialty channeled grips, however, which are kind of cool.
Sadly, they can be kind of hard to find (as they were designed for the show) and your best bet is to either buy them from LOK (which are designed for real steel guns) or get them 3D printed.
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LLENN’s P-Chan Pink P90 (Gun Gale Online)
As an anime about an online shooting game, Gun Gale Online features more than a few interesting firearms.
Most of these are quite realistic and grounded in reality, even if they aren’t always based on real-world weapons.
But a couple stand out, thanks to their unique appearance.
The main female lead of Gun Gale Online, Karen Kohirumaki (aka LLENN. aka Pink Devil) makes all of her gear and weapons as cute (and as pink) as possible.
This is due, in part, to a complex she has over her unusual height, and a desire to seem more feminine.
Enter her P90 SMG, which she has nicknamed P-Chan.
P-Chan has more than its unusual looks going for it, though.
It performs very well in the game and the anime series, and Llenn is able to use it to rack up triple digit kill counts.
Technically, there were two of these guns since one was destroyed in an early match.
However, as she replaced it with a near identical copy, we’ll count it as just one weapon.
Get It In Airsoft
Now, the FN Herstal P90 is already a very good looking weapon. It has an unusual design that nevertheless looks very aggressive, futuristic and cool.
Getting one in all pink just adds to that uniqueness and will certainly help it stand out even more…even if it won’t exactly win you any accolades from sticklers for firearm form.
The first step in recreating the P-Chan is, of course, to get yourself a P90.
The easiest way to do so is to go for an out of the box pink solution, like this CYMA/Cybergun Pink P90.
The gun sports all the FN Herstal trademarks and markings that you could want, uses a mixture of polymer and metal (which keeps it quite lightweight and maneuverable) and uses a TM-compatible gearbox that can easily be repaired and upgraded, should you so choose.
It performs quite well, chronoing at around 380, and really isn’t all that expensive for a P90 (or SMG AEG for that matter), coming in at just around $165.
Check out the Cybergun/CYMA Pink P90 on evike
If performance is more your game and you’re looking for something more top of the line, and cost is less of an issue, then we recommend picking up the Cybergun/Krytac P90 and painting it pink.
Aside from being a pretty exact duplicate of a real steel Herstal FN P90, the gun is made of high quality aluminum and reinforced polymer and comes with a specially-designed, high performance gearbox with steel gears, 8mm steel bearings, half-rack steel toothed piston (with second to last tooth removed), a MOSFET/ETU and a quick change spring system that allows users to increase/decrease power with the turn of a hex key.
All this allows the gun to deliver an impressive 400-405 FPS (easily tunable to CQB standards), a pretty quick 23 RPS full auto option and allows it to hit targets well past 150 feet out with no issue, making it one of the top (if not the top) airsoft P90s out there for your money period.
Read our in-depth review of the EMG Krytac P90 AEG for more information
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Revy’s Twin Sword Cutlass Berettas 92Fs (Black Lagoon)
As you might expect from an anime about a badass mercenary company-slash-smuggling ring, there are a lot of guns featured in Black Lagoon and it’s kind of hard to pick which is best.
For our money, though, we like the Sword Cutlass Berettas owned by Rebecca ‘Revy’ Lee.
To start with, they look amazing.
The standard Beretta 92F is already a pretty sweet looking pistol, but the anime adds a few touches that make them look even better.
Made out of polished chrome, they have special grips embossed with the symbol of the famous pirate Calico Jack Rackham, as well as the words “9mm Sword Cutlass,” as well as extended barrels that make them look even more intimidating and pirate-like.
Get It In Airsoft
The easiest way to get your own Sword Cutlass Berettas is to pick up a specially-designed replica from WETech.
WE’s M9 Sword Cutlass is a gas blowback airsoft pistol that is designed to look about as close to the anime’s as you’re probably going to get.
They are extended barreled (10 inch) nickel-plated M9 replicas with ivory-colored plastic grips (yes, with chrome sword and crossbones) and the words 9mm Sword Cutlass laser etched into the slide.
More than simply looking like Sword Cutlass’ brought to life, they are actually pretty decent airsoft pistols as well, so they can be used to great effect on the field if you so choose.
The gun’s frame, barrel and trigger module are all made of sturdy alloy metal, while the slide itself is made of high quality CNC’d aluminum, so it can stand up to the stress of its not-insignificant blowback action.
Running on green gas, the WE M9 Sword Cutlass manages to deliver around 350 FPS, which allows it to deliver enough of a punch but without (usually) falling afoul of any CQB FPS limits, which is always nice.
Based on WE’s M9, it’s also pretty accurate at range, being capable of hitting targets and even getting some groupings well past 150 feet, which is pretty impressive for an airsoft pistol.
At around $145, they are smack in the middle of the price range for a good quality green gas airsoft pistol and fairly affordable for an M9 all things considered, but keep in mind you will need two to complete the set.
Check out our in-depth review of the WE Sword Cutlass
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If you are on more of a budget or if you already have a chromed-out M9, you can always pick up a slightly cheaper chrome M9 and pick up a pair of WE Sword Cutlass grips for about $20.
Jigen’s S&W Model 19 (Lupin III)
Daisuke Jigen is an old-school gunman whose manga comic (Lupin the Third) has been around since the late sixties and was made into a variety of anime series and movies.
His creator, Monkey Punch, based him off actor James Coburn, which gives him that air of New York Gangster cool.
By and large, the character is known for three things: His hat, his attitude and his gun.
Jigen’s revolver, a Smith and Wesson Model 19 revolver, has stayed the same throughout the considerably lengthy series.
While perhaps not the prettiest or flashiest gun on our list, when it comes to revolvers we feel there’s something to be said for simplicity.
But the main reason it’s on our list is what the weapon has done over the course of fifty years.
It’s been used in such incredible feats as shooting down missiles, sniping targets from ridiculous range, and shooting other bullets out of the air.
Truly a weapon as cool as the man himself.
Get It In Airsoft
Replicating the look of Daisuke Jigen’s revolver isn’t that complicated – it’s pretty much a standard cartoon-drawn S&W Model 19 with wood grips, a 4” barrel and a blued finish.
The Smith & Wesson Model 19 itself was developed in the 1950s as part of the K-frame Combat Magnum series and was carried by police and federal agents until the late 1990s.
Yet, despite its long and storied history, the gun itself isn’t really in demand as an airsoft revolver and replicas can be hard to find.
If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box solution, Japanese airsoft maker Tanaka makes a very accurate replica.
The gun is extremely true to life, matching a real steel Combat Magnum revolver in looks, function and overall dimensions.
The gun holds 11 rounds and hits at a decent enough 280 FPS.
It’s also exceptionally well put together, with a smooth and reliable trigger pull and silky hammer and cylinder action.
That said, the Tanaka Model 19 has a fixed hop up and is made, due to strict local laws on airsoft manufacturing, out of (admittedly very realistically finished) plastic.
As a result, it’s not exactly an airsoft gun you’re going to want to continuously run on higher pressure gas.
It’s also (like other airsoft revolvers) not exactly cheap and, assuming it’s not out of stock, can run at a little over $200.
Golgo 13’s M16 (Golgo 13)
Let’s dive into something really old-school.
Golgo-13 is a story with a very simple premise – an unstoppable, stoic assassin kills a variety of targets in hyper-violent fashion, attracting many beautiful women along the way.
Golgo has been around since 1968, and has starred in countless manga, several anime and a number of live action films.
The longevity of the series is due to the sheer creativity of the action scenes, and the amazing detail on some of the main characters’ kills.
Golgo’s trademark assassination method is by sniping his target using a modified old-school M16, hitting them square in the forehead from great distances and from weird angles with the help of his trusty, high-powered scope.
Over the years has led to quite a few memorable scenes, such as below.
A bit of an odd choice for a dedicated sniper, in our opinion, but we can’t say he doesn’t make it work.
Get It In Airsoft
While ARs are pretty common in airsoft, the trick here is finding one that really matches Golgo’s old-school gun,
To be precise, Golgo uses a M16A1 variant with a fixed stock, round clamshell handguards and a sniper scope attached to its carrying handle.
At times, however, Golgo has been depicted as using a flat top M16, which complicates the matter a little further.
For the gun, we would go with a CYMA Sport M16A3.
The gun is a pretty realistic replica of a classic M16, being 1:1 in terms of size and a popular go-to when it comes to milsim, lack of official trademarks aside.
It is quite well built, with a reliable, highly upgradable and decent performing TM-compatible V2 gearbox, torquey CYMA motor and ample battery space.
Out of the box, it should deliver about 350 FPS and hit targets to about 150 feet without a problem, making it an ideal base platform for a Golo build.
More than that, its carrying handle is detachable, so you can set it up as classic Golgo or from one of his more modern depictions.
For a sniper scope, we’d keep things pretty simple – this isn’t an actual sniper gun (yet) and an anime build probably isn’t enough to really justify spending a ton of money on a high powered real steel scope.
The Matrix 3-9×40 rifle scope is a solid and durable aluminum scope that has plenty of magnifying power, 5 adjustable brightness settings, red and green reticles, and fully adjustable windage and elevation, and – perhaps most importantly – is quite affordable at around $50.
More than that, it looks the part too and will attach and detach from an airsoft M16 pretty easily.
Keep in mind that if you do choose to keep the M16 with its carrying handle (for that old-school Vietnam-era charm) you’ll need a mounting adaptor as well.
We’d recommend keeping this simple, as well, and the Matrix M4/M16 adaptor is a pretty good and cheap bet, being solidly built out of aluminum and fitting easily onto nearly any AR carry handle.
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Bottom Line
Anime isn’t best known for its depiction of firearms, but with the wide variety of fantastic and classic models that can be found in the medium perhaps it should be.
With the accurate designs and relatively inexpensive prices of their guns, airsoft can be a great way for collectors, fans of popular anime and cosplayers alike to find and add something a bit unusual to their collections.
And, thanks to the expansive aftermarket and accessory parts available in airsoft (not to mention the growing 3D printing/maker movement), even if a replica of a particular anime firearm isn’t readily available, it usually isn’t that hard to put one together.
Will Martin – Will has been into airsoft and paintball for well over 10 years, and has done it all – from upgrading and fixing gearboxes as a tech to building custom airsoft loadouts for his friends to supporting off those friends as a DM.