Ask John: What Are the Best Sword & Sorcery Anime?

Question:
What are the best sword & sorcery anime?

Answer:
Thorough consideration of the sword & sorcery anime draws attention to the surprising fact that the genre is actually not as old as may be expected. As a result, American anime fans are already familiar with most of the highlights of the genre.

Rough and tumble sword and sandle fantasy stories are virtually as old as narrative itself. The Beowulf epic provides an ideal example. Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, introduced to the world in 1932, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit in 1937, and the debut of the Dungeons & Dragons game in 1974 have popularized “high fantasy” as modern entertainment throughout the world. However, despite sword & sorcery being popular in modern pop culture at least 35 years prior to the advent of modern anime, anime seemed to exist for over 20 years before introducing its first original pulp fiction inspired fantasy productions.

Early fantasy action anime including Toei’s 1963 film Wanpaku Ouji no Orochi Taiji and 1968 film Taiyou no Ouji Horus no Daibouken, and Tezuka 1969 television series Dororo may have included both swordplay and magic, but weren’t inspired by traditional Western high fantasy stereotypes. Similarly, fantasy anime that followed such as the 1979 and 1980 Moero Arthur television series (and the 1990 Ai to Ken Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Slip OVA) drew inspiration from Arthurian legend and, in the case of the 1986 movie Arion and 1990 Pygmalio television series, Greek mythology.

The earliest original sword & sorcery anime that I can think of is actually a pornographic anime, the third Cream Lemon episode, “Superdimension SF Legend Rall,” released on December 3, 1984. The next example to appear may be the 1985 OVA Genmu Senki Leda. So, in fact, it may be that the 1986 motion picture Amon Saga was the first original anime production to star a male hero in the traditional barbaric, dungeon crawling vein. Other early sword swinging fantasy anime include 1986’s Superdimension SF Legend Rall 2, the 1987 Xanadu Dragonslayer Densetsu OVA, the Dragon Quest television series that premiered on December 2, 1989, the erotic OVA Astalot, which premiered only days later on December 6, 1989, and the 1990 Dragon Knight adult OVA.

Since the 1980s, high fantasy has been a popular subject for anime. Many of these productions – Maju Senshi Luna Varga, Koryu Densetsu Villgust, Ryuki Denshou, Wizardry, Grandeek, and Spectral Force, just to name a few – have settled into relative obscurity because they’re fairly unremarkable productions. Even relatively recent and successful titles like Bouken Ou Beet, Prism Ark, Ragnarok: The Animation, Tales of Phantasia, and Mar haven’t really established themselves as memorable landmarks in the history or evolution of high fantasy anime. However, there are titles that do stand out as exceptional entries in the genre.

The 1990 Record of Lodoss War is appropriately recognized as possibly the greatest of all high fantasy anime because no other anime production before or since has even attempted to match the epic scope of the original Lodoss War OVA series, or its faithful illustration of representative Western high fantasy. It’s regrettable that the Lodoss sequels – Legend of Crystania and the Lodoss War TV series – are not as compelling as the original series.

Although not a genuine rival to Lodoss War, the 1999 Wordsworth adult anime series still deserves some credit for making a serious effort to develop an epic fantasy world.

The 2007 Seirei no Moribito television series may not be filled with orcs, trolls, elves, and barbarians, but it does contain swords, magic, and monsters to be slain. While Seirei no Moribito may not be as archetypal as Lodoss War, it’s one of the best TV anime productions of any genre ever produced.

Magic is less evident or non-existant in Berserk and Claymore, but both series exude the atmosphere of pulp fantasy, and both series develop textured, empathetic characters and involving narratives.

The 1992 Bastard!! OVA series has been largely forgotten by anime fandom, but it undeniably remains attractive looking, fun, and filled with spectacular and epic scale sword and sorcery action.

When it comes to parody of high fantasy conventions, the longevity and popularity of Slayers qualifies it as the champion fantasy comedy. The two episode Dragon Half OVA series from 1993 has been largely forgotten in Japan while it retains a small fan following in America. The 1991 Ozanari Dungeon OVA series preceeds Slayers by four years and easily equals Slayers’ entertaining sitcom and parody.

The 1989 Legend of Lemnear OVA gets dismissed by many American fans. But it still has a cult following among Americans, and it remains respected by Japanese otaku for its gorgeous character designs and non-stop intense sword & sorcery action. Similarly, most Americans have forgotten about the 1992 Dragon Slayer Eiyu Densetsu OVA series because it has very little story or character development, but it does have plenty of exciting and epic high fantasy action.

The 1998 Popolocrois Monogatari television series has regrettably never been officially released in America, and the show is widely ignored by the American fan community because it’s perceived as a children’s anime. But as a traditional fairy tale fantasy adventure, the original Popolocrois is charming, touching, and more intelligent than unaware viewers realize.

Finally, I’m hesitant to categorize the 1996 Violinst of Hameln and Escaflowne television series as “sword and sorcery” fantasy, despite both series containing characteristic elements of high fantasy, because neither series fully feels like a conventional sword & sorcery action title. However, if these two series are categorized as “high fantasy” works, they both easily rank among the very best of the genre.