While the term “fantasy” is a nice comfortable cloak that we often use to drape over much of anime, Fantasy, the genre, is a broad one. It is chopped up into a number of sub-genres in order to help organize media so fans can better find the stories that really call to them.
When most people think of Fantasy stories in anime, the Swords & Sorcery sub-genre, is typically what they think of.
Unlike High Fantasy stories that tell the epic tales of world-engaging conflicts, Swords and Sorcery fantasy stories will typically feature a heavy emphasis of the personal battles of the sword-and-magic-wielding heroes. There may be conflict in the world, but you are still very much following a hero’s journey.
Swords and Sorcery Fantasy is often melded with the Heroic Fantasy sub-genre because they both follow that aforementioned hero’s journey. Unfortunately, I’m not really an authority on Fantasy sub-genres to even begin to ponder to finer details between the two.
If you’re in the mood for the singing of steel-on-steel complimented by the symphony of magical energy, then these Swords and Sorcery fantasy anime recommendations are for you.
Best Swords and Sorcery Anime
Berserk
The sorcery in Berserk is well-hidden earlier in the series, but as you move into the second season, it is in full swing.
The series follows Gutts, a lone mercenary on a journey to nowhere. After joining up with the charismatic Griffith and his Band of the Hawk mercenary group, he seemed to have finally found a place in life. However, due to events, the world is plunged into darkness and overwhelmed with demons.
This finely crafted series takes darkness to the extreme and it is great to watch the world devolve from what appears to be a pretty straight forward medieval setting into one full of magical chaos.
Magi
Magi is a Middle Eastern-theme Swords and Sorcery Fantasy. While it is often less swords and more magic, as the name would suggest, it presents a compelling story with some 1,001 Arabian Nights themes to it.
It follows the magi Aladdin that sets out into the world and meets a wanna-be merchant, Alibaba. Together they set out to conquer dungeons that, while dangerous, possess immense treasure inside.
The series grows from light-hearted adventure into the pair being entwined in world events, as shounen action series are want to do.
The Fate / Stay Series
With its setting in our modern world with its magical flourishes, Fate / Stay is admittedly more Low Fantasy than perhaps what you would want from Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. However, if you want an anime with both “swords” and “sorcery” in battles and aren’t so much concerned with the technicalit6ies that come with definitions, it is legitimately a great series for it.
This series tells the tale of the modern day war for the Holy Grail that is fought between several families that have the ability to call on the spirits of historical and mythological figures to fight for them as their proxy as Master and Servant.
In essence, the Servants use the swords, and the Masters wield the magic. Though there are some Servants that use magic instead of weaponry.
Claymore
Claymore has plenty of swords, but the magic of the series comes primarily from the supernatural demons that the women warriors in the series fight.
This series follows Claire, who is a yoma slayer in an all-female order known as Claymore. With her claymore sword and special abilities granted by imbibing yoma blood, it allows her and others to combat the demons that feast on human flesh.
While they serve a necessary task, the Claymores are shunned by most normal humans. This means this swords and sorcery series is bleak. The girls live lonely lives and die brutal deaths. Even if they do survive, they all face the same unfortunate fate that makes dying in battle the preferable way to go.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Like Magi, The Heroic Legend of Arslan is another series inspired by the Middle East, primarily during the dark ages.
It follows Arslan, a young prince that was pushed from his kingdom after his father falls to a sinister plot. Now his is a quest for survival and to return home to his rightful kingdom.
This is honestly a pretty overlooked show in swords and sorcery, but often more grounded in the “swords” part. There isn’t much in the way of magic here, but it still captures the same feel that fantasy fans desire in a swords and sorcery series.
Yona of the Dawn
Like the above Arslan, Yona of the Dawn is cut from almost the exact same cloth.
Yona is a princess of her kingdom, but when her father is murdered by her friend and crush, she is forced to flee. Now she must hunt down the powers of the reincarnated dragons of legend to help her return back to the throne.
Unfortunately, the anime, due to that lack of more seasons, does not fully realize the potential of Yona. It is an excellent watch if you like to see how royals adapt after they are thrust out into the normal, awful world that everyone else lives in, though.
Rage of Bahamut
In the world of Rage of Bahamut, gods and demons live amongst mankind, and often unhappily so. However, in order to stop the ancient dragon Bahamut that threatened them all, they combined their powers in an alliance to seal him away.
The seal was then split among gods and demons so that Bahamut will never be reawakened. Yet, years later, a bounty hunter meets a strange woman with half the seal who threatens the peace of the world.
While the world of this anime is certainly an interesting one, what really carries the show is its sassy and diverse characters. It is one of those stories where unlikely heroes end up saving the world.
The Legend of Legendary Heroes
Stupid name? Sure. Great anime? Surprisingly, yes.
The Legend of Legendary Heroes takes the most worn out premise and makes it flashy and interesting again. Essentially it is the story of a mage and a swordswoman that travel together in order to recover relics that can bring peace to a nation.
However, the interesting part of the story isn’t even their journey together. It is what is happening in the nation while they are gathering those relics. The wheels of intrigue are turning, and because the main character has access to such dangerous magic, that wheel eventually orients his way.
Moribito
Moribito is a treasure when it comes to world building. It doesn’t front-load its action, but instead takes its time to build out the setting.
Moribito follows a young princes who, according to prophecy, is determined to be the reincarnation of a water demon said to bring famine with it. To prevent this, his father the emperor, agrees to have him sacrificed. Before this happens, his mother has the young prince spirited away with a female mercenary.
The magic of this series is distinctly of a more spiritual nature. However, if does have a lovely coming-of-age story about a young royal learning about the normal people that he will one day come to rule.
Seven Deadly Sins
Seven Deadly Sins follows a young princess that seeks out a group of knights once accused of betraying the kingdom in order to fight the knights that really did betray the kingdom.
She finds them, but they were not quite as expected. Though overly strong, they are more silly than chivalrous and distinctly not the evil menace they were painted to be.
Together they set off to fight the threats of the kingdom in a very shounen-style action series. Of course, just because they are knights doesn’t mean there isn’t a hefty dose of magic involved in the story, though. As this is a shounen battler, the magic is often used hand-in-hand with physical combat.
Fairy Tail
While Fairy Tail follows a few members of a legendary mage guild, it isn’t a Swords and Sorcery Fantasy series that completely eschews the blade either. In fact, some mages use blades as magic, like Erza.
As Fairy Tail is a shounen action series, it likes to focus on big flashy battles and unique looking characters. It often has a bit of a younger vibe to it in the beginning as well.
However, like all shounen series, Fairy Tail also dips its toes into darker stories as it goes on.
Record of Lodoss War
Anime typically is a more free medium with its own genre definitions. As such, you will find few anime series that fit neatly into western fantasy genres. However, Record of Lodoss War is perhaps one of the closest anime series to a western fantasy story that you will see.
The story of Record of Lodoss War follows a young hero embarking on a quest to restore his family honor in a plot that sounds like something right out of a D&D campaign. This is not by chance since it was based on a game that strongly resembled D&D.
Although the older animation might put some off, it is the pinnacle of the fantasy genre in terms of story.
Utawarerumono
The first part of Utawarerumono is a good old swords and sorcery story about an amnesiac mercenary that is taken in by a village. He then uses the combat skills he had in the past to defend said village from attack.
Unfortunately, later in the series it takes an inexplicable turn to the sci-fi simply to explain all the things that have happened. Yet, by the time you get there, usually you are already too invested in the story to stop.
Slayers
Though well-aged now, Slayer is iconic in the fantasy genre.
Although it is a comedy, it follows mage Lina Inverse and her group that travels around the country in constant search for gold. While there are many different incarnations of Slayers, they all follow that aforementioned basic plot.
While Slayers has a big emphasis on lowbrow comedy, that can be refreshing from the other serious fantasy stories. Of course, it dares to foray into more serious plots from time to time as well.
Scrapped Princess
Scrapped Princess is a story that follows Pacifica, the so-called scrapped princess. At birth it was prophesied that she will be a poison that destroys the world. As such, the older she gets, the more endangered her life becomes from others.
However, it is later that she realizes she might not be a poison, but its sole salvation. So thus she sets off with her adoptive brother and sister, one skilled in magic while the other is a master of the sword, to unravel the mystery.
As this is an older series, it starts off rather basic, but the series grows into an interesting world with fairly likable characters. If you can endure some overused tropes at first, Scrapped Princess pays off later.
Bastard!!
Bastard, recently remade OVA from the 80’s, really captures the “edginess” of fantasy anime from the era.
The series tells the tale of a kingdom imperiled by sorcerers, their armies, and various other dangerous creatures. To defend themselves, the High Priest agrees to release a legendarily powerful dark sorcerer from the small boy he sealed him into years ago. As you might expect from a legendarily powerful dark sorcerer still sore about being sealed away, he is difficult to work with.
Bastard embraces older fantasy tropes where anti-heroes were endlessly cocky, ultra powerful, and their ladies were frequently threatened with rape and harm so they could go save them.
The fantasy story it tells is basic, but fine. It is that it uses a lot of ecchi while telling that story. However, if that isn’t something that puts you off, it does embrace the more classic “D&D-style” fantasy world and storytelling that you don’t see much in fantasy anime anymore.
The Sacred Blacksmith
Why not a swords and sorcery series where the sorcery is making the swords?
In The Sacred Blacksmith, much of fighting is done through swordcraft, but one of the main characters has the ability to smith swords through magic for use. However, typically he is the only one using them.
The Sacred Blacksmith and its sword magic set up an interesting world, but the anime does it a bit of a disservice. Instead of disarming opponents, it disarms you with unexpected, unneeded ecchi fan service moments that distinctly take away from the serious plot it is trying to tell.
The fan service is why the anime wallows in mediocrity, though it does present an intriguing introduction to the world if you are a fan of light novels.
Our Last Crusade or The Rise of a New World
Romeo and Juliet-style romances are popular in all media, and this particular romance anime details the relationship between two sides alike in dignity. One country is home to persecuted mages who are constantly defending themselves from the more martial-oriented Empire.
Our Last Crusade or The Rise of a New World is more than just a series confused about what it wanted to name itself. It is an action romance between one such mage and a young swordsman who meet in the field one day and develop feelings at first sight.
This is a swords and sorcery series for romance fans, for sure. However, it does balance their budding relationship with them having great fights as a duo. They make sure that viewers there for the action don’t grow bored.
Record of Grancrest War
When it comes to Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, they tend to have a bit of a darker turn to them. Record of Grancrest War is more standard Heroic Fantasy in that regard. The stakes are high, but things never become particularly bleak.
Record of Grancrest War follows a young mage who, while heading to enter the service of a noble, meets a young and idealistic warrior with a special crest that allows him to banish the chaos that is ravishing the country unchecked. She decides to enter a contract with him instead and help him in his goal of bring about peace.
There isn’t too much that sets Record of Grancrest War apart from other anime fantasy series, but it does all the usual fantasy tropes well and in a way that is entertaining to watch. It also happens to be a pretty nice action romance too.
Guin Saga
Guin Saga sets the solid foundations for what would be an epic fantasy tale. Its source material is, without a doubt, an epic fantasy, but its anime is instead still just the foundations.
The series follows a prince and princess who fled through a magical device in their castle after a coup. They are found by an amnesiac mercenary cursed with the head of a leopard named Guin. Together they journey through their dangerous, war-torn land. Guin protects them while trying to unravel his own mystery.
If you were already perhaps a fan of the anime Berserk, Guin Saga’s original story served as inspiration for it. Unfortunately, both are cursed with rather underwhelming anime adaptations.
Guin Saga has a more standard Swords and Sorcery-style fantasy world akin to Record of Lodoss War and Bastard (without the the ecchi).
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen
Older but with a recent remake, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen was as ignored back when it originally aired as it is today. However, while it lacks the flash and sizzle that draw people in, it tells a fairly original fantasy story.
The series starts in a magic school where a magical sword goes out of control and transforms its wielder into a horrific dragon. A young mage who was the foster brother of the girl that became a dragon is less than thrilled when the elders of the school want to pretend the event never happened instead of trying to save her. As such, he leaves the school, adopts the new name of Orphen, and vows to find a way to turn her back.
From there, you will find a familiar shounen-style anime formula where he travels, finds trouble, and often solves it through violence. However, his journey does explore a uniquely magical world that is full of people and their often magic-caused problems.
Black Clover
More like swords and lack of sorcery, am I right?
But really, Black Clover does take place in a world where most people can use magic, and the main character with his lack of even basic magical aptitude is the strange one. However, his powers manifest as the power to nullify magic – and also later this comes in the form of several swords he can wield to such an end.
He has the standard shounen protagonist calling to be the Wizard King, but the most interesting thing in the series is watching him use his unique brand of anti-magic to his advantage is his various battles.
Queen’s Blade
This series takes place in a world where women, on occasion, fight in a tournament that will decide the new Queen. That said, Queen’s Blade isn’t remember for the plot. It is remembered for the booba.
This fantasy anime features women in often impractical, but sexy armor fighting it out. While the lady knights often use swords, magic is minimal in the world. Yet, you will find that most villains are the ones who are wielding the magic.
Whether the ecchi of the series appeals to you or not, it does legitimately have some great battles. Although some of them are undermined by ecchi comedy.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash
Isekai fantasy is a newer sub-genre to fantasy that is thriving in anime. It follows characters transported or reincarnated to new, often medieval fantasy-set worlds full of swords and sorcery.
While you can make a very solid argument that much of isekai fantasy anime is also swords and sorcery anime, if often lacks the sense of danger and risk that traditional Swords and Sorcery Fantasy series have. Isekai fantasy is more wish fulfillment and escapism, which can be something Swords and Sorcery Fantasy indulges, but it is not specifically aimed at.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is an early isekai anime, but keeps things grounded and even lets the situation be dangerous as well as deadly to characters.
This series follows a group of people vaguely hinted at coming from our world, but without memories, transported to a fantasy land. The athletic and adept quickly form adventuring groups while the weak and less skilled are forced together in a small band of misfits to survive.
From there, you watch them really struggle to grow their strength and fight even the lowest level monsters in order to earn funds to eat. It is a slow slog, but this makes watching them actually grow stronger all the more rewarding.
While this is the only real isekai fantasy entry on here, if it is something that interest you, I have an ever-growing list of isekai fantasy anime recommendations for you to browse.
Goblin Slayer
A good chunk of fantasy anime made these days tend to think they need a very unique hook to make them stand out. Goblin Slayer went a different direction and it showed that having a very basic hook can work just as well.
Goblin Slayer tells the very on-the-nose story of a man who only kills goblins. A goblin slayer, if you will. He suffered under a goblin attack as a boy, and vowed vengeance as a man. So while there are other fantasy creatures to slay in the world, he focuses on this basic, but still very dangerous set of creatures.
Goblin Slayer has a basic plot with basic archetype characters that weren’t even given proper names, yet it still manages to make each goblin slaying adventure interesting. That is nothing short of a feat.
Do you have any more anime recommendations for sword and sorcery anime? Let us know in the comments section below.
