Anime Tropes from Anime WIkipedia

the most commonly used:

Against The Setting Sun
=================
A common usage in sports manga and anime, and occasionally parodied in other genres, the hero, team, or group in question will swear allegiance to fulfilling their dream while facing the setting sun (often while standing on a cliff or beach overlooking the ocean, but not always).

Quivering Eyes
===========
During times of emotional stress, a character's eyes, or just the reflected highlights in them, will shake perceptibly. This is not usually a comedy trope, and can in fact mean that things have turned very serious. It may presage a Sparkling Stream Of Tears, if the situation gets worse. It can also indicate extreme happiness or love.

Idiot Hair
=======
Ahoge refers to the noticable slim forelock of hair that sticks straight up from a character's head. Originally a hairdresser term for the "stupid hairs" that will not comb down, it later mutated into a literal reflection of intelligence. Someone with Idiot Hair who's not actually stupid is at least a bit naive at times.

Not to be confused with the two "antennae" strands of hair that frame the faces of characters in shows like Ah My Goddess and Love Hina.

Oddly Visible Eyebrows
=================
This is not strictly speaking wholly limited to anime and manga, but one of the most noticeable artistic conventions--after the big eyes and small mouth--is the fact that most characters' eyebrows are always visible, even when hair, a hat, or a bandage ought to cover them up. It's not quite as extreme as the American cartoon breakfast cereal spokesman Cap'n Crunch, whose eyebrows are on his hat, but sometimes it does approach that level.

The eyebrows are drawn that way, of course, to make it easier to convey nuances of facial expression.

Multinational Team
=============
This is a team consisting of a number of individuals of different (and explicit) nationalities. They are invariably the good guys. The team will include a Japanese member, who is often (but not always) the central character in the series and/or the team leader. Still related to....

Tokyo Is The Center Of The Universe
==========================
Are aliens landing in UFOs? They'll land in Tokyo.

Is there a neighborhood full of world-class martial artists with superhuman powers? It's in Tokyo.

Is there a magical gateway between worlds? It's in Tokyo.

Is a giant alien monster attacking? It's attacking Tokyo.

Is there a mysterious gigantic cavern hidden just beneath the Earth's surface, wherein aliens once upon a time created all life on Earth? It's underneath Tokyo.

Is there only one person with the special gifts needed to save a distant planet or alternate dimension? They live in Tokyo.

Is a prominent figure from a Western religion or myth manifest once more and living in the world of Men? They're in Tokyo.

This is not merely an Anime Trope but a cliche in anime and manga. The rest of Japan barely exists and the rest of the world might as well not be there at all.

Four Is Death
==========
"Four" and "Death", despite being spelled differently, sound exactly the same in Japanese (shi). As a cultural trope, it's often treated like the number 13 in the west.

A major example is how many villains' organizations in anime have four major characters, while you're more likely to see heroes in groups of three or five.

Transformation Sequence
==================
sentai-esque series such as Ronin Warriors? will often have them. Transformation Sequences are good for a show's budget because they provide a large amount of Stock Footage that can be (and often must be) reused each episode. They also provide nice filler for the writers. If a particular transformation sequence occurs multiple times in one episode, a shortened version will often be used after the first time.

Humongous Mecha that can transform often do so in this manner, especially in old-school mecha shows of the "giant metal super hero" vein.

Calling Your Attacks
==============
If you can do something more impressive than just throw a punch, your attack(s) must have an equally impressive name. More than that, you have to call it out as you launch the attack. It doesn't matter if it's a martial arts move or a magical spell, if you can't say its name, it just isn't nearly as cool or effective. A standard feature of practically every Magical Girls, high fantasy, or martial arts anime.

This is an Anime Trope.

The Single Stroke Battle
=================
Two enemies of nearly equal skill meet, about twenty yards apart. They may be ninja or samurai. They observe each other from a distance. The aspect ratio is widescreen, letterboxed if the show is shot in 4:3. They stand at opposite ends of a very wide, low-angle shot.

On cue -- sometimes triggered by an outside event, such as a slowly falling flower petal touching the ground -- they break into a sprint toward each other, leaning far forward, hands on weapons. Each character is shown in a frontal shot from the other's perspective.

Reaching critical distance, they leap. Each is shown leaping in a closeup, probably from the waist down, although the leap is simultaneous.

The characters move past each other in midair, weapons drawn, but no weapon strikes are shown. This happens in slow motion. They face forward and do not look back. Alternately there is the sound of steel on steel, but events pass too quickly for the audience to see what happened

Both characters land in a crouching position. They are shown in a shot from the front of one character, with the other in the background. This shot is usually shown for both characters.

A beat goes by.

One character falls to the ground, dead. Sometimes in pieces. The other stands.

dah dulu ah...