Top 5 Fantasy Anime, Ranked
World-building that does the work instead of describing itself.
Fantasy anime can be anything: alchemy, dragons, cursed abysses, endless time loops. The best ones make their rules matter and their worlds feel lived in.
These five are the gold standard, each a different kind of fantasy.
1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
2009 · TV series · 64 episodes · bones
Equivalent exchange: to gain something, something of equal value must be lost.
Alchemy in this world has rules and costs, and the Elric brothers learned that the hard way. Their quest takes them through war crimes, homunculi and a plot to sacrifice a whole nation.
It is the most complete fantasy anime ever made: every rule matters, every character grows, and the ending lands perfectly.
Shop the Fullmetal Alchemist collection
2. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2023)
2023 · TV series · 28 episodes · MADHOUSE
The fantasy that starts after the quest is over.
Frieren lives for thousands of years, and her party's ten-year adventure was a blink to her. Now she retraces their path with new companions, and memories of Himmel appear at every stop.
Magic duels with real strategy, a world full of quiet beauty and a meditation on time that will stay with you.
3. Made in Abyss (2017)
2017 · TV series · 13 episodes · Kinema Citrus
A wondrous, beautiful, terrifying descent into a world that does not care about you.
The Abyss is a giant hole full of strange creatures and ancient relics, and every layer down has a curse. Riko and Reg go further than anyone their age should.
Its world is one of the most original in anime, and Kevin Penkin's score makes every layer feel enormous.
Shop the Made in Abyss collection
4. Delicious in Dungeon (2024)
2024 · TV series · 24 episodes · TRIGGER
A fantasy where the ecosystem is the plot and dinner is the reward.
Laios and his party race to save his sister by cooking and eating their way through a dungeon. Every monster has a biology, a habitat and a recipe.
It is cosy, clever and quietly emotional, and you will finish it hungry.
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5. Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (2016)
2016 · TV series · 25 episodes · WHITE FOX
Every time he dies, he wakes up at the start again. He remembers everything.
Subaru is pulled into a fantasy world with one power: returning by death. Each loop costs him a little more of his sanity as he tries to protect Emilia and the people he cares about.
Dark, tense and emotional, it is the isekai that showed what the genre can be when it takes pain seriously. Rem fans already know why.
If you want a big story told start to finish, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If you want something gentle that grows on you, Frieren. If you want to be scared, Made in Abyss.
How we ranked: drawn from the fantasy anime fans name most often across the major community rankings, then ordered by Anime Crush.