The fantasy genre is having a big moment in anime over the last few years, with large productions gathering quite a lot of attention and accolades. Whether you want to expand your fantasy anime horizons or are just looking to get into the genre, it’s about time IGN published its own list of the very best fantasy anime series. These are shows that impacted the genre and set standards – shows that charmed us, delighted us, and amazed us.
To pick only 10 shows from across the history of fantasy anime was a challenge, but a panel of anime experts across IGN pulled their heads together to pick the very best. It’s important to note that this list only took into consideration shows that are exclusively fantasy in its purest form, with fantastical creatures, magic, swords, elves, and a time period setting, if not outright set on an entirely different world. That means shonen anime with a genre-bending story, regardless of having fantasy elements, were not considered (sorry, Hunter x Hunter). Likewise, though indebted to the fantasy genre, we generally stayed away from isekai shows with notable exceptions; that genre is just big enough to warrant its own specific list, so we decided to focus on strict fantasy.
Before we get to our top 10, let’s take a quick look at some of the many, many other shows that were considered, but ultimately didn’t make our list. Our honorable mentions include the early 2000s gem Inuyasha, which made a generation fall in love with a half-dog demon. Likewise, The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a delightful coming-of-age story and an emotional rollercoaster. Then there’s Yona of the Dawn, a uniquely East Asian-inspired fantasy that deserved more than one season.
And now… our top 10 best fantasy anime series of all time!
Berserk
First of all, this is exclusively about the 1997 adaptation by studio OLM. Sure, this is an extremely incomplete adaptation, but the show turns this into a feature rather than a bug, with the series building up to an ending that’s even bleaker and more heart-wrenching because of how abrupt it is. And in spite of that, Berserk does manage to tell a complete story – a beautifully tragic tale of friendship, vengeance, violence, and love. This is dark fantasy by way of Clive Barker, and a hugely influential story whose legacy can still be felt today across multiple media. The relationship between Guts and Griffith not only drives the narrative forward, but serves as an elaborate and compelling tale of friendship in and of itself, and it also has an epic payoff. Even if this show doesn’t get to cover the more fantastical arcs of the manga, it still features a fully fleshed-out fantasy world where darkness lurks in every corner.
Delicious in Dungeon
Most fantasy shows and movies focus on fighting big monsters, and less so on the minutiae of surviving in the wild. That’s not Delicious in Dungeon, a show that’s equal parts epic fantasy and a cooking show with some of the best-looking animated food outside of a Ghibli film. The show balances comedy, action, and even horror seamlessly, turning them into a delicious stew clearly inspired by tabletop fantasy RPGs. But don’t let the funny title trick you – halfway through the first season, the show changes tone to reveal a compelling fantasy epic with many moving parts, intriguing mysteries, and some of the best visual storytelling and world-building in all of anime.
