s-CRY-ed
Kazuma is a Native Alter who takes mercenary jobs because rent still exists after the apocalypse. Ryuho is a HOLY officer who believes control is the only thing keeping the Lost Ground from collapsing. Their powers are different, their politics are different, and both of them solve emotional problems by hitting the other one harder.
s-CRY-ed aired in 2001, directed by Goro Taniguchi years before Code Geass. Adult Swim picked it up in 2005, where Steve Blum's Kazuma helped the show fit perfectly beside the network's louder action lineup. It never became the biggest title in that block, but the people who watched it remember exactly how committed it was. No ironic distance. No apology for shouting attack names. No attempt to make the rivalry healthier.
Twenty-six episodes built around two men who would rather punch through the world than admit the other one understands them.
Guides and reference pages for this series. More coming.