Prime 5 Fantasy Anime That’ll Scratch That Lotr Itch

Uncategorized

Posted On Nov 19, 2025 By dalelorenzo With No Comments

What do you think about when you think of fantasy?

Maybe you’ve spent an entire year catching up to Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere. Perhaps you’ve built a yearly ritual around the Lord of the Rings movies. Maybe you’ve even sat through the last season of Game of Thrones, gritting your teeth in disgust. Yeah, high fantasy has found its home in countless movies, TV series, and books, but there’s one genre where high fantasy can really thrive. Anime has been home to some of the best fantasy series ever made, mainly because the animated medium and the modern art style allow you to talk about intricate magic systems without breaking diegesis. People are more willing to believe certain things about anime.

So, which anime tell the best fantasy stories? Let’s look at some of our absolute favorites.

1. Berserk

Guts is one of the most unique fantasy heroes you will meet. Sure, in the first episodes, you see him as this arrogant, brooding figure that is a mainstay of darker fantasy, but slowly you start peeling the layers of his character. Beyond the facade of a battle-hardened warrior is a human being. A horribly abused man who is dogged by bad luck. His nemesis, Griffith, looks way more gentle. But Griffith kills with abandon.
If you can sit through hours of sword fights, the series reveals a surprisingly kind heart underneath. Every character comes with their own stories, and the story is highly detailed. If we had to make a comparison, Berserk bears resemblance to the best of Kurosawa’s movies.
Berserk tells you the story of a hero, only to reveal the fact that every hero is just a human who tried to be extraordinary.

2. Claymore

Claymore has a deceit at its center. The league of heroes that the series centers around is also fighting an inner battle. They need to constantly monitor themselves so that they don’t turn into Yoma, the shape-shifting demons that serve as the series’ antagonists.
The silver-eyed, white-haired claymores serve as the heart of the story. There’s a lot of deep philosophy here with the main character dealing with the overwhelming monster inside her. Her tragic past and motivations for taking up the path of a hero are excellent.
Additionally, there are the villains. The design for the demons is really unique and beautiful. They are doubly impactful because there are many fights.

If we really had to split hairs here, Claymore does lack great supporting characters. However, the story is beautifully told, and the animation and art style will stick with you for ages to come.

3. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End stars the elven mage Frieren. Eighty years ago, she joined forces with other heroes to defeat the Demon King and save humanity. Now that 80 years have passed, she tries to meet her friends, only to see them pass away before her. The series explores mortality and the pain that the elf endures as an immortal.

The series is an introspection on human connection, and since the elven mage is standing outside of humanity, your experience of the story feels unique. The villains here are demons. However, the story transcends the generic formula of sword-and-magic fights that often plague fantasy anime. Frieren has big moments, yes, but at its heart, it’s about the smallest feelings —and it’s about humanity.

4. Natsume’s Book of Friends

Takashi Natsume isn’t the typical anime protagonist. He inherits the “Book of Friends” from his grandmother Reiko, and suddenly every lonely god and curious spirit in the countryside knows his address. Most episodes explore a haunting or misunderstanding, but they end with a name returned to the yokai.

The show’s magic system is ancient. Supernatural fans will find comfort in this anime, which still incorporates salt circles and ancient words of power. Unlike Supernatural, though, the yokai here aren’t out for blood. Natsume learns that compassion can be used to calm the legendary demons that infest the countryside.

Humans and spirits in this series hold a mirror to each other: whenever Natsume helps a yokai, he also ends up helping his human friends. This is the calm, comforting story you can watch before bed, and a reminder that not all monsters want you dead.

5. Made in Abyss

Riko is a bright-eyed cave raider who wants to find her mother, while Reg is a relic with a blank past and an arm that can level a cliff. Made in Abyss takes these main characters through layer after layer, showcasing various biomes and the expansive environment of the series.

Like most dark fantasies, these beautiful environments also bring dangers with them. Each ecosystem has its own unique rules and loopholes, and our main characters can only discover them when they fail to follow through. If you can sit through the body horror, Made in Abyss is a visually stunning piece of fantasy fiction. The villain is terrifying, and the environment makes him shine ever brighter. It’s a reimagining of the dungeon crawler that sticks with you for a long time.

One of the decisions we made when creating this list was to exclude the popular shounen anime. The reasoning was simple: you don’t need our help to discover the likes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, or One Piece. While these fantasy anime are not exactly underrated, we believe they are underwatched pieces of fantasy that deserve some solid recognition. So, if you’re stuck this weekend and are itching to reach out for the ye olde LOTR DVDs, maybe put one of these anime on instead.