15 Of The Best Medieval Anime Of All Time Ranked

15 Of The Best Medieval Anime Of All Time, Ranked

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1 15 Of The Best Medieval Anime Of All Time, Ranked

Anime can take place at any place or time period. Here are the 10 best medieval anime of all time.

There’s something really admirable about how manga and anime manage to visit pretty much every single genre, find inspiration in every culture, and touch every time period. Stories set during medieval times are often associated with war, knights, and tyrannical kings living in luxury while their subjects suffer, however, there are a number of anime out there that found clever ways to revamp this classic setting.

From dark and twisted series to more bright and lighthearted ones, these upcoming anime adapted what is usually expected of medieval stories to create something totally unique. Without further ado, here’s a ranked list of the 10 best medieval anime that you absolutely have to watch. In this case, the focus is on anime with a medieval aesthetic and not ones set during the Middle Ages, although the latter will naturally be considered.

Updated by Kristy Ambrose on January 6th, 2021: The popularity of both anime and medieval fantasy has resulted in a huge boom for the genre that combines them both, with an equal amount of content produced and created in Japan and abroad. Netflix, in particular, has caught the anime bug. The streaming service is currently offering several new ventures using designs and settings reminiscent of medieval times and bringing it to life with a style that draws inspiration from the “Japanimation” masters of decades past. With Game of Thrones now over, it’s understandable that fans of the show still have an appetite for the medieval aesthetic and are looking harder than ever for other series to fill that void.

15 Fairy Tail

For anyone looking for a fun, yet, complex and intense shonen with lots of unique characters, awesome animation, and a great storyline, then you should seriously consider giving Fairy Tail a try.

The story mainly follows Lucy, a young mage whose dream is to be part of the Fairy Tail Guild. One day, she crosses paths with Natsu, a teenage boy with a rare type of magic, and his flying blue cat, who happen to be Fairy Tail members. As they become friends, the three of them regularly go on missions that always happen to be much more dangerous than they would have thought.

14 The Heroic Legend of Arslan

The Heroic Legend of Arslan is what one would expect of a story set during medieval times: Two kingdoms at war and at their heads, two tyrannical and power-hungry kings.

However, Arslan, one of the king’s sons, is different and aspires to become a good and fair ruler. As he leaves the palace to his very first battle, his father is betrayed by one of his most trusted advisors and Arslan now must travel throughout his kingdom to gather the skills and knowledge necessary for him to take back his kingdom.

13 Castlevania

A recent series that blew everyone’s collective mind with stellar voice acting, a visceral story, and a polished modern look, Castlevania has been heralded as the first really successful video game to television adaptation. Richard Armitage brings the main character to life with his noble but sometimes slurred baritone, a big part of the show’s appeal.

The series follows the basic plot that has been laid out in Konami’s legendary game series, including House Belmont and the Belnades family. The story is supposed to take place in Transylvania, but the obscure Romanian region of Wallachia is where most of the action takes place. It was produced by Netflix and is currently up to Season 3 with the fourth season in the works.

12 Goblin Slayer

Set in a world where adventurers come from far to join a guild and pick out jobs, an inexperienced priestess finds herself in an unfortunate situation after joining her very first adventuring party. After her entire party is slaughtered by goblins, she is ready to give up and meet her untimely demise when fate puts a man going by the name of Goblin Slayer on her path.

This is a relatively new anime that shows great promise and has gotten pretty amazing reviews so far, although it was not without controversy when it first aired. Goblin Slayer has a pretty unique pace, alternating between light-novel adaptation and what resembles dark fantasy. Goblin Slayer definitely has the potential to become a new favorite.

11 Vinland Saga

As the name suggests, this is a story of Vikings, and the clothing, settings, and customs are all lifted from the earlier medieval time period— perhaps with some overlap into the Bronze Age. The plot is simple, focusing on good old fashioned revenge, following Thorfinn as he tries to catch up to his father’s murderer, a mercenary who attacked his village. When he grows old enough, Thorfinn joins the same band of mercenaries as they set sail to pillage, hoping to eventually grow strong enough to kill their leader.

There’s very little action that takes place in cities, with most of the main character’s trials taking place on a ship among other crewmembers. Beyond the violence and unforgiving social environment, Thorfinn dreams of freedom in a lush place over the seas known only as Vinland.

10 The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins is another surprisingly good shonen set in medieval times. Despite its colorful world and seemingly lighthearted story, the anime turns out to be quite dark at times and has a very gripping storyline.

As the kingdom falls into the demonic hands of the Holy Knights, Princess Elizabeth sets up on a mission to find and bring together the Seven Deadly Sins, a group of exiled mages whom she believes will be powerful enough to free her kingdom and bring back peace. However, finding them seems to be the easy part, but getting them to agree on working together turns out to be more complicated than Elizabeth thought.

9 Tears to Tiara

The story follows Riannon, the priestess of a small island governed by the Gael tribe. As news of the Holy Empire’s growing power on the mainland reaches the island, Riannon is kidnapped to be offered as a sacrifice to the demon Arawn.

However, upon his rise, Arawn chooses to pledge his allegiance to Riannon and the Gael tribe. Together, they will fight against the Empire to free the kingdom from its oppression.

8 The Twelve Kingdoms

For those anime fans who like the fantasy, adventure, or steampunk genres, this is an ideal mix of all of them. It starts when whiny teenager Youko Nakajima gets sucked through a dimensional portal into the fantasy world of The Twelve Kingdoms. The show also abandons anime tropes like fan service and exaggerated costuming in favor of more authentic clothing that’s accurate to the time period.

There are a number of fantasy characters in the story and this detail keeps the visuals grounded in reality. It takes on some deep themes as well, following the main character’s development as she navigates both life-threatening adventures and awkward political nuances.

7 Spice And Wolf

It is not uncommon to expect knights, some sort of kingdom in peril, and mages when thinking about a story set in medieval times. It is therefore refreshing to find an anime that goes in a completely different direction, choosing instead to share a romance story.

Although Spice and Wolf is not without its share of magic, the story mainly focuses on the relationship between Holo, an ancient goddess who has lots her influence over the years, and Kraft Lawrence, a struggling merchant. Along with a strong cast and a moving storyline, Spice and Wolf gives up information and details about medieval economics that are surprisingly interesting.

6 Yona of the Dawn

Princess Yona’s perfect, luxury filled life is turned upside down when a coup d’état occurs. With the king dead and the whole kingdom at risk, Yona has no other choice but to run away and hide among her people.

Now that she is confronted with the reality of life outside the palace, Yona is forced to admit that her kingdom is far from the idyllic place she always imagined. She sets up to win back her kingdom and offer a better life to her people.

5 Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is probably one of the most popular anime of the last few years. This series is a phenomenon of its own and combines amazing characters, beautiful design and animation, and a gripping story.

Each episode keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, with the anime truly having that “one more episode” feel. The very last season is currently airing, so it’s as good a time as any to get started and to binge this series in time to be there for its finale.

4 Inuyasha

A classic favorite that first debuted in the year 2000 and was based on a manga that was equally popular, the story of Inuyasha starts with an accident involving time travel. Kagome Higurashi is just a normal middle-school girl in Tokyo, but then she falls into well at her family’s shrine and finds herself in the Sengoku period, which coincides with the late Middle Ages.

One of the first characters she meets is the titular character, the half-dog demon, half-human Inuyasha. There are three seasons to watch as well as a few films, so there’s plenty to binge for people looking for this type of medieval anime. The first version of the anime had the complete name, Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale which gives a viewer a more specific idea as to the tone and setting.

3 Claymore

Looking for a dark anime with awesome fight scenes that have a certain talent for finding new, unexpected, and pretty much always violent ways to make a fan-favorite character suffer? Look no more, as Claymore is here!

In a world where everything supernatural is viewed as a monstrosity and must be destroyed, a group of women infused with demon blood dedicate their lives to kill all demons and protect humans, despite being themselves hated and rejected.

2 Samurai Champloo

Not all anime that uses a medieval setting is fantasy or horror. Fans that are looking for a more historically accurate creation should check out Samurai Champloo. Although the story of the three main characters on a road trip is fictional, the environment they travel through is an authentic recreation of the Meiji Era in Japan. This was the tail-end of the Middle Ages when the modern era was just beginning and feudal Japan was evolving into an industrialized world power.

At first, it seems that the characters have little connection with the history happening around them, but as the story deepens each one becomes an icon of both past and present time. Anyone curious about some of the nuances of Japanese history shouldn’t miss this one.

1 Berserk

Finally, if there is one anime set in medieval times that needs to be on any anime fan’s to-be-watched list, it’s Berserk.

Both the original 1997 series and the 2016 reboot are worth watching as they both focus on different aspects of life during medieval times. Where the original series is very focused on politics, battlefield strategies, and power dynamics between people, the reboot directs the spotlight onto subjects like witchcraft, torture, and the importance of religion in medieval times. Although the series can get pretty dark, Berserk is hands down one of the best medieval anime you can find.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/medieval-anime-best-all-time/

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