The 15 Definitive Anime For Dungeons & Dragons Fans

Dungeons & Dragons is one of the games with the highest level of customization ever and it’s been the foundation for many video games, anime, manga, and even movies.

Many anime have some characteristics that you may like if you are a DnD fan. Fantasy settings, different races, and a variety of weapons/skills are what make some shows exciting.

Many of the exponents belong to the isekai genre because they share a lot of traits with role-playing games.

This listicle is highly subjective and reflects our opinions.

15. Fushigi Yugi

Miaka Yuki is 15 years old and a senior in a Japanese middle school.

One day she accompanies her friend Yui to the library, where the two girls notice an ancient Chinese book on the floor and begin to read it.

It’s an enchanted book that can grant the reader’s wishes, but at the same time, the reader is sucked into its fantasy world.

They thus end up in a fantastical feudal Chinese world, where Miaka will discover that she is a decidedly important figure.

Ancient creatures derived from Chinese mythology, warriors, and more will provide the backdrop for this distinctive anime, which you can’t help but like if you are a DnD fan.

14. The Heroic Legend of Arslan

An underrated war-themed and political anime with an exquisitely compelling fantasy world as its backdrop. We are talking about The Heroic Legend of Arslan, a 2015 anime based on a light novel.

In the prosperous kingdom of Pars resides the capital city of Ecbatana, a brilliant city ruled by King Andragoras. Arslan is the young prince, but he does not seem to have the qualities to be a respected king like his father because of the bad figure he made during his first battle.

He will thus embark on a journey suitable for his redemption, gathering faithful followers on his path.

If you want to experience a DnD campaign from scratch, with the hero who has to just be born, train, and grow his party of allies and then become powerful, then splash out on this anime.

13. Konosuba! – This Wonderful World

The story of KonoSuba begins with the most classic of isekai premises: Kazuma Satou is a hikikomori, a lover of anime, manga, and video games, who dies following a car accident while trying to save a girl.

Upon arriving in the afterlife, he is welcomed by a goddess named Aqua, who offers to reincarnate him in an alternate world where he will face the Demon King instead of dying forever.

Further concessions include the ability to carry an item, skill, or anything of his liking to use as an aid in his journey against the enemy.

The protagonist’s choice, in its dementedness and provocative tone, succeeds in very closely reflecting the comic nature of the entire series: in fact, the protagonist will choose to take the goddess herself with him.

If we want to reflect it in the themes of DnD, see it as a quieter and lighter campaign with comic and relaxed features.

12. Record of Lodoss War

With its exquisite vintage spirit, the OAV series adapting the Record of Lodoss War light novel was released in the 1990s.

Years earlier the gods descended into war, decreeing the end of the era of the gods.

After countless battles, the last two remaining goddesses, Marpha and Kardis, destroyed each other, generating a small cursed island: Lodoss.

Years later Parn decided to leave his small home village to investigate strange events that were happening on the island.

An anime with distinct elements traceable to Dungeons & Dragons, such as quests to complete, goblins and mystical creatures, endless wars, and more.

11. 12 Kingdoms

Spread over 45 episodes, the anime of 12 Kingdoms was released in 2002, based on the light novel of the same name, as is often the case in such cases.

Yoko Nakajima is a high school student, bored with her life. But this boredom ends when a man, who claims to be from another world, breaks into her classroom, kneeling in front of her.

This elegant character, named Keiki, claims to be her servant and guardian, as she would be his queen.

Thus begins Yoko’s adventure into a fantasy world inhabited by all kinds of creatures, while the girl must figure out in a role-playing game what her role is in that realm.

10. Rising of the Shield Hero

Originating as a light novel and later adapted into an anime, The Rising of the Shield Hero is an isekai fantasy, thus having as its premise the protagonist’s journey to another world.

After being transported to a fantasy world through a book, young college student Naofumi Iwatani will be chosen as one of four heroes entrusted with a legendary weapon.

He will be responsible for protecting the kingdom from cyclical waves of enemies. However, he will end up being the hero of the shield, a figure frowned upon for which he will end up being ostracized, thus beginning his revenge.

Another anime that shows us a hero’s campaign starting from scratch, from an outcast hated by everyone to slowly becoming more and more respected and powerful.

9. The Vision of Escaflowne

From the same creator of the popular Macross comes The Skies of Escaflowne, an extremely ambitious project that prompted no less than Bandai to allocate 30 million yen per episode for their production.

The story revolves around Hitomi Kanzaki, an ordinary high school girl with two great passions, running,and tarot cards.

Thanks to the latter, she has a vision one night, where she dreams of finding herself in an unknown world completely different from Earth. But believing that the whole thing is just a strange dream, she does not give it too much thought.

She will be forced to believe it when a dragon and a swordsman named Van Fanel appear before her one night during a training session. After killing the dragon by saving Hitomi, the two are mysteriously sent to the warring planet Gaia.

A unique anime that combines multiple genres and elements within it. But it will also feature the most diverse magical and elven creatures, creating a perfect Dungeons & Dragons that fans will love.

8. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

One of the most underrated fighting anime of recent times, but with enormous potential in our opinion.

The plot stars Aladdin and Alibaba, two boys who meet by chance and end up forming a relationship of friendship and respect right from the start.

They decide to take on one of the many Dungeons, hostile structures that promise riches and power to those who emerge victorious.

Already the presence of dungeons, wizards, kings, and emperors should be enough to give you a sense of the deeply DnD atmosphere.

7. Slayers

The main character is Lina Inverse, a young sorceress who is very greedy for treasure and has a decidedly irritable temper.

After performing her umpteenth heist, however, something goes wrong, and she’s attacked by survivors of the gang she has just struck.

Just as she is about to effortlessly dispose of them with one of her powerful spells, she’s rescued by a skilled swordsman who routs the rogues in an instant.

To impress him by seeing him as a prince charming who has come to rescue her Lina pretends to be a helpless maiden, only to discover that she is dealing with a handsome fellow as skilled with a sword as he is dumb.

A bizarre campaign, which was from a more peculiar and twist-filled point of view than the classics. A must-see if you want to savor something unconventional.

6. Log Horizon

Log Horizon is an anime based on the light novel series of the same name written by Mamare Touno and illustrated by Kazuhiro Hara.

The plot of the series is set in the world of Elder’s Tale, the world’s most popular MMORPG played by thousands of players.

Unfortunately for the protagonists of the series, Shiro, Naotsugu and Akatsuki, this fantasy world will become their prison, as they mysteriously cannot get out of it.

A more mature version than the classic isekai, it looks like a DnD game played by experienced players who know their stuff.

5. Claymore

A 26-episode anime produced by Madhouse studio and based on the manga of the same name by Norihiro Yagi. Again the setting is a medieval fantasy-themed world in which the inhabitants are forced to fight the threat of monstrous creatures that feed on humans.

Fighting these creatures, called the Yomi, are the Claymores, warriors with enormous power who can counter the terrible monsters with their swords.

The protagonist of the story is Claire, a low-level claymore who will increase her fighting power over time as she discovers the deceptions behind the Yomi and the society in which she lives.

You should have already guessed from the synopsis the correlation with Dungeons & Dragons, namely that of warriors fighting against monsters to safeguard peace.

4. Mushoku Tensei

One of the most popular isekai in recent times, featuring an anonymous 34-year-old Japanese NEET as its protagonist.

The protagonist, after being evicted from his home and realizing the futility of his life, decides to save some high school students who were about to be hit by a truck, thus losing their lives and ending up in an alternate world.

As is often the case with isekai, which are set in very distinctive and fantastic realms, this anime also has similarities to DnD, with wizards, monsters, and powers to be acquired.

3. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

One of the best fighting anime of all time and in general. Based on the manga written in 2001 by Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the animated series that most closely follows the plot told in the original work.

Edward and Alphonse Elric are two brothers who live in a world where alchemy reigns and is used for a variety of purposes, whether warlike, medical, or related to daily life.

The two brothers have a specific purpose, which is to recover their lost bodies.

When they were young they tried to bring their late mother back to life using alchemy, but it went wrong because as powerful as this magic is, it cannot go against the laws of nature.

Each alchemist will have his or her unique powers having his or her determined role in the battle against the common enemy association to defeat, expelling it as they go.

2. Legend of the Galactic Heroes

An OAV series about the devastating and interminable war that has raged now for 150 years between the Galactic Empire led by the Goldenbaum dynasty and the Alliance of Free Planets.

Set in the distant future when humanity has now colonized and made the entire cosmos its own, we see two protagonists pop up in the great turmoil of the war: Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li.

An anime that makes war and the barbarities attributable to it its strong point, but also the heroic and tactical side behind it, as we might see in DnD.

1. Berserk

A masterpiece of the dark fantasy and sword and sorcery genres by the notorious mangaka Kentaro Miura. Its 1997 anime adaptation is famous for its vintage style and its fitting setting.

Few other works can match this one due to the complexity of its characters and for starring two incredible personalities: Gatsu and Griffith in their infinite war.

The dark fantasy setting with a plethora of monsters and creatures side by side with sword-wielding warriors cannot help but make you think of DnD.