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Such stories focus on more classical concepts like monsters, magic, and more. Yet, several anime fans may not be familiar with them because for some reason, these manga don’t have an anime adaptation yet. The fantasy manga listed below sorely deserve one and would be wonderful to see onscreen.
Updated February 9, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: Defining a manga as a “fantasy” series is about the broadest descriptor one could use. It’s about as bad as describing a video game as an “action” game since almost every release out there has a lot of action in it. Because of that, finding the best of the best fantasy manga that have managed to elude adaptation is difficult as so many series fit that description. But, we took another look and found a few more beloved series that desperately need an anime adaptation.
13 Solo Leveling
This series has an anime adaptation on the way, but since that anime isn’t coming until “sometime in 2022”, it could still fall through. In any case, Solo Leveling is one of the most popular fantasy manga series in recent memory.
Whether it’s the mindbogglingly beautiful artwork by Jang-Sung-Rak, the thrilling narrative written by Chugong, or the constant feeling of character progression and growth, this series couldn’t be a better fit for an adaptation. Thankfully, fans should get one soon, though the release date is still unknown. Additionally, the manwha has actually come to a close as well, meaning that when it does finally get adapted, fans won’t have to worry about the classic “is there enough manga content to make another season” dilemma.
12 Witch Hat Atelier
Witch Hat Atelier is a story that manages to revitalize the concept of magic so that it actually feels, well, magical again. There’s a lot to love about Witch Hat Atelier, whether it’s the mystical yet understandable rules of the magic circles that witches draw, the different applications of magic between each character, or even just the overarching narrative between the witches and the brim hats.
WHA is just so much fun to read because the audience is learning about magic at the same time as Coco (the protagonist), and this gives the setting an ever-present feeling of “wonder” to it. And, to top it all off, the actual artwork for this manga is breathtaking! It feels like a beautiful combination of classic storybook art with modern manga aesthetics mixed in, and WHA is one of the best manga without an anime out there. Frankly, if it does ever get adapted, it’ll be hard for the anime to beat out the manga, considering how masterful each composition is in Witch Hat Atelier.
11 Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint
There’s a bit of a setting trope in fantasy manwha specifically, comparable to the isekai trope of modern manga. To summarize it in as few words as possible, it’s common for fantasy manga or manwha to have a setting where the world is invaded by beings from another planet, universe, or reality, causing the rules of the central world to change. Whether it’s dungeons, monsters suddenly spawning, or the world itself becoming a game, it’s a common narrative in these types of manwha, and almost always the main character is massively underpowered at the start. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is one of these stories, but it’s so much more memorable thanks to the main character Kim Dokja, who actually knows the general events of what’s going to happen ahead of time.
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Turns out Dokja, who loves web novels, read “Three Ways to Survive The Apocalypse” and now has an invaluable advantage as the events of this book become his reality. And, because the story wasn’t all too popular, Dokja is one of the few people in the world who knows all the best ways to get ahead in this new fantastical world. Plus, Dokja is also at constant odds with the protagonist of the story, Yoo Joonghyuk, who has also lived through this world multiple times, but in a different sense. It has all the best fantasy tropes while also feeling a lot like a classic isekai story.
10 The Eminence In Shadow
Cid Kagenou is not the normal type of fantasy manga isekai protagonist; in fact, he doesn’t want to be the protagonist at all. Rather than a hero, or a villain, Cid longs to be the ever-mysterious mastermind who runs a shadow organization during the night while pretending to be an inept loser during the day.
And, the way this manga delivers on that concept is just amazingly hilarious. Kagenou is the perfect comedic MC, one who will effortlessly make themselves look the fool as long as it works toward his goals. And, funnily enough, that’s exactly what he needs to do in order for people to believe he’s just another “mob character”. The Eminence in Shadow has fantastic action, memorable characters, and a ton of gut-busting laughs. That said, because the series is satirical and pokes fun at a lot of classic isekai, fantasy, and action manga tropes, it isn’t the best thing to read for someone new to the medium.
9 Kaiju No. 8
Kaiju Number 8 began publication in Shonen Jump rather recently, and differs from standard shonen fantasy manga stories in quite a few ways. The protagonist, Kafka Hibino, is a 32-year old man, whereas the standard shonen protagonist who is usually much younger. He and the Defense Force constantly encounter monsters rather than going on a journey, which is more common in manwha settings than manga ones. Lastly, it completely changes up the power scaling, as the protagonist is weaker than other characters in most scenarios.
Currently, it only has around 50-ish chapters out, so adapting it now would surely lead to some big storyline changes considering its short length. Still, it’s absolutely another series that deserves one somewhere down the line.
8 Dungeon Meshi
This entry fits into the absurdly popular sub-genre of “gourmet fantasy.” while also excelling in the comedy manga category as well. For those who don’t know, this sub-genre of “gourmet fantasy” is filled with fantasy stories that place just as much emphasis on the food as they do on the isekai or fantasy elements.
Dungeon Meshi is one of the longest-running examples,publishing since early 2014, as well as one of the funniest fantasy manga in general. The series hooks viewers with a compelling story way that almost seems too good for its wacky concept. While massively underrated for its quality, Dungeon Meshi is absolutely one of the most beloved manga without an anime adaptation.
7 Spirit Circle
Before reincarnation stories were all the rage in the form of isekai or “second-life” manga and anime, Spirit Circle was (and still is) one of the all-time greats. It only ran for four years from 2012 to 2016, but that was enough time for it to garner quite the following. It manages to tell a story that jumps back and forth between the many different time periods and reincarnations of two characters, and avoids getting too confusing.
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At its core, Spirit Circle is a high school romance series with a fair bit of fantasy mixed in, and both of these aspects are done masterfully. The only big hiccup is its art style, which is a bit simplistic and would be a tad difficult to translate into the modern anime stylistic trends. If Shaman King can do it, though, so can Spirit Circle.
6 Psyren
Trending towards the “battle royale” genre of fantasy stories, there’s Psyren. Psyren has a fair bit in common with Battle Game in 5 Seconds, an anime that recently aired, but Psyren came long before it. It’s similar to The Matrix, in that characters use landlines to transport to an alternate world where they can use superpowers and are in constant danger; however, instead of martial arts, they use psychic abilities or “Psi.”
The best thing about Psyren is that it’s almost impossible to tell where the story is going at any point in time, which is always a huge plus for a thriller mystery series. And, thanks to other incredible modern-day psychic-based anime adaptations like Mob Psycho 100, it’s obvious that Psyren would do well if given the adaptation it deserves.
5 Vigilantes
This is an odd one, because technically it’s a spin-off of the My Hero Academia franchise. But Vigilantes (which is also published in Shonen Jump) has long since proven itself to be on par with My Hero Academia, even surpassing it in some ways in regards to storytelling. For one, it’s on a much smaller scale, focusing on the adventures of a smaller main cast fighting street-level crime.
More than that, though, Vigilantes explores the nuanced aspects of a world revolving around “Heroes” and “Quirks” that fans have always wondered about while watching MHA. If the MHA anime ever catches up with the manga, Vigilantes would be a fantastic series to adapt to hold fans over.
4 Fire Punch
With the Chainsaw Man anime finally coming out sometime before the end of 2021, it seems like an apt time to talk about Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s first manga. This fantastic story is almost equally deserving of an adaptation — even if the plot is a little all over the place.
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The main character is a guy named Agni with a “blessing” of infinite regeneration, who ended up being set on fire by another person with the “blessing” of inextinguishable flames. This caused an infinite loop that meant Agni was always burning alive, but could never die. Eventually, he learns to live with the pain enough to control his body again, and goes on some of the wildest adventures in manga history. Who wouldn’t want to see a story like that animated?
3 Helck
Helck is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful series that takes place after the Hero has already won. It can be summed up as, “He-Man tries to become the new Demon King to fight back against humankind and make everyone happy.”
Helck is the “He-Man” in this scenario, and he’s every bit as overly buff and overly righteous as one would expect.
He’s like Saitama from One Punch Man, but actually intelligent. It’s a fantastic series with a ton of action, twists, and genuinely emotional moments that would make for a great anime adaptation.
2 Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
At the start of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, the journey is already over, hence the title. The Hero’s party has defeated the Demon King, and “peace” has come to the world. In fact, not long after the story begins, Himmel, the “hero” of the story passes away from old age. This may take readers back initially, but that’s sort of the point.
The actual focus of this story is on Frieren, the elven mage of the Hero’s party. In this setting, Elves are long-lived, even more so than usual, and almost immortal in regards to their lifespans. So, to Frieren, this ten-year journey with the Hero Himmel, the Dwarven Warrior Eisen, and the human Priest Heiter, was nothing more than a drop in the bucket of her lifetime. Frieren is about many things, but it’s primarily about how a person’s legacy defines how they’re remembered, and how that impact can ripple goodwill to so many other people, creating a domino effect of kindness.
1 The Legend of the Northern Blade
For those familiar with other manhwa series, the Murim is a setting or concept used to describe a fantasy world of fantastical Martial Arts. In such a world, these martial artists can manipulate energy, destroy mountains with a punch, or even fly. This is where The Legend of the Northern Blade takes place, with the story focusing on Jin Mu-Won, son of Jin Kwan-Ho, fourth-generation sect leader of the Northern Heavenly Sect.
This manhwa tells the ever-expanding tale of Jin’s journey from being a prisoner in his own dilapidated home to becoming something more. It’s incredible every step of the way, has non-stop action at every turn, and nails the small character moments as well. That said, it would require an incredibly well-done adaptation to really do it justice, as anything slightly disappointing would be a crime. If, for example, it got the God of High School anime adaptation treatment, nothing could be better.
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