1. Fairy Tail - famed for being packed with fantasy and adventure, this is a must watch series! It's packed with a huge number of series and episodes, running from 2009 to present day, so you'll always have another episode to binge watch. Fairy Tail is filled with magical tales, powerful mages and seriously cool adventures. It follows celestial mage Lucy Heartfilia who ends up teaming up with Fire Dragon Slayer Natsu and becoming a new member of Fairy Tale. Also featuring ice wizard Grey Fullbuster and magic swordswoman Ezra Scarlet. It's such an epic series waiting to be discovered!
2. Ancient Magnus Bride - entrenched in fantasy, this fantastical anime is one to watch! We meet a girl called Chise who is able to see a whole manner of strange things. When she is 15 she is sold to a tall masked man for 5 million pounds at an auction. Unexpectedly, he proposes they work together and wishes her to become his apprentice and bride. A deep fantasy storyline awaits, this one is so addictive!
3. Sword Art Online - we join protagonist Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they explore various virtual reality MMORPG worlds through playing the massive multiplayer online role playing game. It deals with a world where fiction and reality are blurred. The game allows people to control their in-game characters with their minds when using a Nerve Gear helmet. This series is so expansive and gripping, it's a real fantasy gaming adventure to explore and get lost in!
4. Hack//Sign - the adventures of someone unable to log out of a game world, we see Wavemaster Tsukasa become mysteriously trapped in The World and learn about a mysterious item called the Key of Twilight... there is so much to watch and discover, this is such an in depth and clever series!
5. Fate Stay Night - a dark fantasy anime where a young mage called Shirou Emiya becomes a warrior in a battle between 'Servants' that is known as the Holy Grail War. As the story goes, we see Shirou confront different mages who participate in the war.
6. Clay More - following the adventures of Clare, a Claymore - or half-human, half-yoma hybrid! With her comrades, they fight for survival in a world filled with yoma - shape shifting demon creatures.
7. Cardcaptor Sakura - one of the best magical girl anime, based on magical manga series of the same name, we follow Sakura as she opens the Pandora's Box and unleashes the powers of a set of magical cards upon the world! Accidentally setting them loose, Sakura will need to catch them before they wreak havoc on the whole world - with help from best friends Tomoyo and Kerberos. An exciting whirlwind of an adventure, don't miss out on this!
8. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - a young boy called Aladdin sets out on a fantasy quest with his Djinn mentor Ugo, in a world where several bizarre labyrinths hide incredible magical treasures. They are rumoured to have been built by rare magicians named Magi and supernaturals named Djinn rule over them. Such an exciting and colourful fantasy series with great character depth and development!
9. Fullmetal Alchemist - we follow two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, as they search for the philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring back their mother using alchemy. This series is incredibly rich, the storyline so elaborate and full of detail, it's one of the most well loved fantasy anime series out there!
10. Tokyo Ghoul - a dark fantasy work that is well worth a watch! There are humans and 'ghoul' beings living amongst each other in the city. What makes the ghouls frightening isn't their hunger for human flesh, but their ability to blend in amongst humans, undetected. This series stars college student Ken Kaneki, who ends up on date that goes badly wrong - when he wakes up he finds he has been transformed in to part ghoul. He must now grapple with a secret life of being half human, half ghoul and everything that entails!
11. Attack on Titan - set in a world where Titans exist, fantastical, monstrous beings who attack humanity in order to consume them, we follow our main character Eren Yeager. Having lost a loved one to the Titans he is set to avenge by enlisting in to the Survey Corps, an elite military unit designed to combat the Titans. A clever blend of action, drama and fantasy that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
12. Seven Deadly Sins - a brilliant fantasy series set in a world that is most comparable to Medieval Europe, where there are figures known as Holy Knights of Britannia. The story tells that a small faction years ago tried to overthrow the ruler of Lionels before being defeated by the Knights and becoming known as the Seven Deadly Sins. Now a young princess Elizabeth sets out to find the Seven Deadly Sins in an attempt to take back her kingdom, but there is far more to the story than you expect! A brilliant anime to easily get lost in!
13. Overlord - a prime dark fantasy work, it begins with the shutdown of the virtual reality game Yggdrasil. In the last hour of closing, a player called Momonga decides to stay until the end - however, instead of shutting down, Momonga becomes his avatar and the NPC's also come to life. A new world envelopes them and the quest begins, to get through the game until the end. This is such a unique fantasy series and one that gamers will adore!
14. Little Witch Academia - set in a world where anyone can learn to be a witch, this series stars Atsuko Kagari, or 'Akko', who longs to become a witch after for years being inspired by the renowned witch Shiny Chariot. Even though Akko doesn't have a magical background, it doesn't dull her passion. This is such a fun blend of comedy, fantasy, adventure and friendship.
15. Log Horizon - a really fun adventure for video game lovers! Here multiple characters find themselves transported to a game world. Without exposing any more spoilers, this is a really interesting twist on standard isekai anime series with extremely clever plot points and it gives us an insight in to the perspective of the NPCs too.
16. One Piece - this series is adventure meets fantasy, meets pirates! We meet a young man called Luffy who sets off to piece together a crew and seek the One Piece, a treasure left by the previous Pirate King Gold D Roger and it is priceless. We follow Luffy as he wishes to take the mantle of Pirate King - an exciting, compelling tale!
17. Kyou Kara Maou - here a high schooler is summoned to be the king of a Demon Kingdom. Against the backdrop of a realm of dark magical creatures who appear like humans, Yuri Shibuya is on a journey to be a good king, yet also must develop his latent powers. It's a really fun twist on the traditional conventions of the fantasy genre.
18. Ookami to Koushinryou - a mix of fantasy, folktale, economics and romance! We follow a female wolf deity named Holo as she becomes entangled with travelling merchant Kraft Lawrence and the duo become business partners. The characters are fascinating and have incredible backstories, Holo is known as folktale to the people of Pasloe, reduced to legend as the once 'Wise Wolf of Yoitsu'. The story is so detailed, there is so much depth to this series.
19. Tensei Shi tara Slime Datta Ken - a more recent fantasy anime work, our main character takes the form of a slime monster! This is a different twist of the conventional fantasy anime framework, but there are still loads of fantasy elements, like the typical set up of a character being born in to another world or fantasy realm. The English name is 'That time I got reincarnated as a slime'!
20. Made in Abyss - this series revolves around the great and mysterious Abyss and those who venture in to explore it, known as divers. Riko, who is a diver in training, one day discovers a mysterious robot, with the appearance of a young boy. As she finds out more about him, Riko begins to receive contact from her mother, a legendary diver, that was lost to the depths of the Abyss. With a goal to find and save her mother and retrieve the boy's missing memories, the two of them set out to venture in to the Abyss. It's a gripping mystery series with themes of adventure and fantasy, and is incredibly compelling and addictive to watch!
21. Tsubasa Chronicles - here we meet a young man called Syaoran who is friends with a princess called Sakura. One night a strange phenomenon occurs and the princess who has wing, suddenly disperses in to many feathers which get lost in different realms. Syaoran, along with exiled ninja Kurogane and mage Fai, must travel to the various realms to retrieve the feathers and discover more about their reality along the way. It's steeped in fantasy and mystery and feels a little bizarre, but is a lot of good fun.
22. Fate/Zero - this series focuses around a rare and highly sought after precious artifact known as the omnipotent Holy Grail. Said to be able to grant any wish, it has previously been the cause of three wars. Now there is a new war happening around main character Kiritsugu Emiya and his familiar, Saber and we watch him battle through six other participants. It's incredibly action filled, packed with drama and intrigue.
23. Fruits Basket - Tohra Hunda is an orphaned high school student who ends up living in a tent in the forest, land owned by the Soumas. After a landslide destroys her tent, Tohra ends up living with the trio of Souma males. She discovers they hold a secret - involving the Zodiac animals. It's a brilliant slice of life fantasy, involving people turning in to animals and a gripping series to watch!
24. Tokyo Mew Mew - the story of five girls infused with the DNA of endangered animals, that each gives them special powers. With superhuman abilities and enhanced agility, they struggle to find each other, to bond with each other and to come together to work as an ultrapowerful force against alien invader forces that grow ever powerful. The series focuses on real life teenage girl problems and follows the girls as they grow up, trying to adjust to their new supernatural circumstances and defeat multiple villians, all while trying to keep their powers a secret to the outside world.
25. Pokemon - is an anime too! Possibly partially forgotten as a fantasy anime, the characters are extremely well known and loved in today's society, even by those who aren't familiar with anime series.
There are so many fun types of fantasy anime to choose from. Some can be described as 'isekai' anime, a popular type of anime today where a character from a 'normal' world is summoned, brought or ends up in a fantasy realm or world. Others have many different other elements mixed in, such as comedy, romance and mystery - there are even some that take a darker path and explore some dark themes. There is so much variation and so much to enjoy, I hope these fantasy rooted anime picks will help get you started - and offer some suggestions as to those you might not have seen yet!
