Best Heroic Fantasy Anime, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Fantasy anime like The Rising of the Shield Hero offer underdog tales filled with betrayal and revenge.
• One Punch Man’s comedic take on an overpowered hero makes for a unique and entertaining series.
• Solo Leveling’s linear progression fantasy structure creates an engaging narrative with a lovable main character.

People love underdogs, and they love a heroic tale that stirs their hearts. The greater the stakes, the better the tale, and there are no better tales than those found in fantasy. Heroic tales with a fantasy setting make for some incredible stories.

Fantasy is a genre full of wonder and has been a popular setting, whether it be in movies, books, or anime. In the grand scheme of things, anime is a fairly new medium, but there are plenty of examples of great heroic stories with a fantastical twist.

8 The Rising of the Shield Hero

Underpowered Isekai With A Grim Tone

An anime that thrives off of the viewer’s suffering, Rising of the Shield Hero is an isekai that doesn’t quite deviate from the overpowered protagonist trope but adds enough flavor outside of it to make the anime stand out as an outlier among its peers.

The main character of the story is an underdog who gets falsely accused and has to rise up against all odds without any support from the people around him. It’s a tale of inauspicious betrayal, burgeoning hatred, and sweet revenge.

7 One Punch Man

Overpowered Hero Goes Under the Radar

The most important step a person can take is the next one. 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run every day, and the world has an unbeatable superhero on its hands who hasn’t a spec of hair on his head.

Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does, and he makes it his life’s mission to go through monsters one punch at a time. One Punch Man is a series that doesn’t take itself too seriously but sticks to its premise remarkably well. The juxtaposition of the sheer power the main character possesses, the way he acts, and the way others perceive him make this anime much more comedic than one would expect.

6 Solo Leveling

The Grind to Greatness

Linear progression fantasy is a great subgenre within the fantasy sphere. The slow, but steady progress of the main character makes for a great narrative structure and helps audiences connect with an otherwise unrelatable hero.

Solo Leveling is one of the more popular manhwa, now an anime, that uses this trope to great effect. It has a fantastic story, a heroic and lovable main character, and graphics to make an animator cry.

5 Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Simple and Charming Fantasy

Taking a break from Isekai, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon, also called Danmachi, brings the viewer into a traditional fantasy world with some godly presence among the rabble. The main character starts off quite weak but lives up to his heroic status as the story progresses.

The world-building of Danmachi is one of the best ones in recent history, and the story isn’t anything to sneeze at either. The main character’s childlike innocence and genuine passion make it a great story to follow.

4 My Hero Academy

Heroes Aren’t Born, They’re Made

My Hero Academy is a typical underdog story that has all the hallmarks of a great shonen. A powerful mentor that passes on his legacy, a willing disciple with great guts and morals, and a league of villains, literally called the league of villains, for the heroes to fight and save the world.

The great thing about My Hero Academy is that it doesn’t try to disavow what it is, but embraces it wholeheartedly, making the story that much better in the process. No one is going to accuse it of being revolutionary, but it’s a great piece of entertainment regardless.

3 Log Horizon

The Logistics of a Fantasy World

Getting back into the realm of isekai anime with a few twists, Log Horizon brings the reality of getting transported into another world to light. The show features a supporting-class main character with more brains than brawn, and a wealth of knowledge that is used to better the world they live in.

Log Horizon is, in many ways, a nerdy anime. It is about numbers, logical strategies, and convoluted systems that must be slowly parsed through. It’s an absolute delight for the right kind of person, and it has some of the best world-building on this side of the globe.

2 Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World

Time is a Mortal Construct

It might be tempting to dismiss Re: Zero as another isekai with no real substance, but doing so would be a disservice to the incredible world that this show has built over its three-season runtime.

The first season of the show is perhaps the least powerful, but even that has enough of a hook to catch even the slipperiest viewer. The morbid reality of being stuck in a time loop, the horrific world the main character is stuck in, and the slowly unraveling story that becomes more and more interesting as the episode counter goes up, all come together beautifully to craft a show that is hard to spot watching once someone starts.

1 Attack on Titan

The Reputation is Deserved

There isn’t much to say about Attack on Titan that hasn’t been said already. It’s a masterpiece in every way that matters, and everyone with a passion for fantasy, political intrigue, and grand stories should watch it with all the zeal they can muster.

The plot of this show, more so than any other show, is impeccable. The twists and turns that come along the ride are incredible and the depth of its characters breathes life into an already vibrant world. In the realm of fantasy, it’s an all-time classic that everyone should watch.