Looking for an anime to watch...

[Stormweaver]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good D&D-type anime to watch? Remember the Saturday morning D&D cartoon? That's what I'm looking for. Sorta.

I'd love to see a cartoon that has a mixed party of adventurers fighting there way here and there. I'd like to see cool magical effects and exciting magical weapons. You get the point.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[JadedDM]

The only D&D-based anime I know of is Record of Lodoss War. It was actually written from a real table-top AD&D game. It has elves, drow, wizards, priests, thieves, fighters, dwarves, dragons...the whole shebang.

[Sornas]

Well, it's not really D&D based, but I always thought that Saiyuki would make a GREAT tabletop game...

I may have to do that...journey to the west d20! :P

[Tengu]

You might want to consider Slayers - I've only seen an episode or two, but from what I've read on these boards it's much better than Record of Lodoss War (which I haven't seen at all).

I'd also recomment Full Metal Alchemist, not because it's a DND-type anime, but because you can never get wrong with Full Metal Alchemist.

[JadedDM]

Slayers, it should be noted, is a comedy. Record of Lodoss War is more serious.

[Lemur]

The difficulty in finding "band of adventurers" type stuff is that they have a tendency to focus on a single character over the expense of the others. Also, while I can think of a few shows, I'm having trouble thinking of ones I'd actually recommend.

"One Piece" has a fairly mixed party of pirates adventurers (they really aren't very good pirates, in the plunder and loot sense- all they do is fight other pirates) and does a decent job of giving each member of the crew a regualar chance in the spotlight. It's got fighting, and magicky-type stuff. The animation isn't very well done (I typically stick to the manga), though, and if you watch the show at all, make sure it's a fansub. If you're worried about legal qualms, the company that licensed it in America, 4Kids, is basically committing a crime with what they do to the show.

The manga for "Berserk" eventually becomes something that resembles a D&D adventure. The anime shows something fairly D&D-ish, except it's really about a small mercenary army rather than an adventuring party, and is relatively low on magic, for the most part. Also, it happens to be really gritty, so if you don't like graphic or horror type stuff, then this won't really be your thing. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend it.

It's not an anime, and it may be a bit different than what you're looking for, but "Avatar" might actually qualify. It's got magic and fighting, and an assortment of adventurers on a quest, in an eastern-type setting. It's also family friendly, unlike Berserk.

People have already mentioned Slayers and Lodoss War. I haven't seen a huge amount of either, but Slayers is pretty funny, and it's hard to get much more like D&D in a show than Record of the Lodoss War.

I remember some show called "Ragnorok" or something of the like. It obviously didn't make a very strong impression on me, but it did meet the qualifications you set down, so I guess I'll mention it here.

[Stormweaver]

Thank you for the recommendations.

Quick question... What exactly is manga?

[Thiel]

Short answer: Japanese cartoon
Long answer: Manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga)

[Tengu]

Actually, anime are japanese cartoons. Manga are japanese comic books.

[Thiel]

Bummer.
Translation error, sorry 'bout that.

[Wraithy]

I'd also recomment Full Metal Alchemist, not because it's a DND-type anime, but because you can never get wrong with Full Metal Alchemist.

actually there is a page on wiki about a d&d setting revolving around fma, can't find a link sadly

[Melantrist]

I'd recomend also Trinity Blood and Hellsing for the pointyteeth-lovers, VHD too! Sorry but I've watched almost all of the series of Slayers and I might say that it is the most oligophrenic thing I've ever seen, realy! I know that DnD is all about fun and so on but that's just too much for me!

[Tengu]

actually there is a page on wiki about a d&d setting revolving around fma, can't find a link sadly
What an awful idea! DND already does a crappy job in representing a high-magic generic fantasy world. FMA, or any manga/anime, converted to DND would be a disaster.

[FdL]

I recommend you Slayers. Personally I find FMA boring and can't really understand why people are so excited about it. Then again there's anime for every taste, an amazing variety of titles.

[Portent]

I guess you could take a look at Witch Hunter Robin if you want a more modern setting. It's not bad and doesn't fly over-the-top with the supernatural stuff.

Don't have too much to add, since I'm not an anime/manga buff.

[Dariendel]

Magic Knight Rayearth has a pretty cool fantasy setting. With mech-like Colossi.

[DeathQuaker]

Slayers, it should be noted, is a comedy. Record of Lodoss War is more serious.

I remember Lodoss War having a number of goofball moments. Likewise, while Slayers is overall comedic, the TV series have their very serious dramatic moments--it actually gets pretty dark at times, especially in Slayers Next and Slayers Try. (Now, the Slayers OAVs--the ones with just Lina and Naga, rather than the "adventuring party" of Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis--are pure fluff... but wonderful, bouncy jiggly fluff at that.)

I wholeheartedly recommend The Slayers as a good fantasy adventure anime series--probably the best I've seen.

Lodoss War is good although I got tired of it after awhile; it is definitely the "purest" comparison to D&D you'll find. There is also a sequel series, but I've heard it's not very good.

Now, if you really want goofball comedy, go for Those Who Hunt Elves. Fun fantasy--although in that case the "adventuring party" is from modern day Earth, stuck in a fantasy world. So it's like running a D&D campaign, but with a Fast/Soldier Hero, Strong/Martial Artist Hero, and Charismatic/Personality Hero as the PCs.

A very long time ago, I saw something called Legend of Arslan or something like that. That was fantasy and I remember enjoying it, but I can't remember a dang thing about it.

I just saw Bastard! at Otakon last year, but I didn't like it.

I remember the Vision of Escaflowne was very fantasy, but a little too shoujo for my tastes (sometimes I really like shoujo, sometimes I can't stand it). Likewise with Magic Knights Rayearth.

Maze the Megaburst Space (the television series, not the not-quite-pornographic OAV) was a fantasy with some sci-fi trappings; another "girl from real world stuck in fantasy" kind of thing. Aspects of it are brilliant--the fantasy world itself is very well designed--but other aspects are silly or annoying (one of the main characters has no point except to be constantly, babblingly cute), and some are just downright weird (there's a gender swap theme which in itself was fine until they explained why the gender swap was happening, which was creepy. Like, as in implied incest creepy). On the upside, it's only about $30 for 26 episodes, which for anime is dirt cheap.

And that's all I can think of. Ultimately, what's already been mentioned (Lodoss War and Slayers) are your best bet, and one is a long series and the other is a series of series, so they'll keep you occupied for awhile.

[Artanis]

I'd love to see a cartoon that has a mixed party of adventurers fighting there way here and there. I'd like to see cool magical effects and exciting magical weapons. You get the point.
The best suggestions have no doubt already been posted, but a couple more that fit these criteria come to mind: Inuyasha and Silent Mobius.

Inuyasha is in Adult Swim's rotation if you don't mind staying up late. Silent Mobius is in G4's Anime Unleashed rotation, which unfortunately means it'll probably be a while before it comes back on again.

[Kumquat]

A newer series that is D&D-esque and I did not see mentioned is Scrapped Princess. Other than that, all the series I would recommend have been mentioned

Edit: oh yeah, in comedy you could go with Sorcerer Hunters.

[DeathQuaker]

A newer series that is D&D-esque and I did not see mentioned is Scrapped Princess. Other than that, all the series I would recommend have been mentioned

Oh yeah! I saw some of that at Otakon. It looked very good but I haven't had a chance to see more. Some have described it as sci-fi disguised as fantasy.

That same year I saw some of 12 Kingdoms, which also was fantasy (in this case, yet another "real world people get sucked into fantasy verse" -- sheesh, doesn't that grow old?). The art was nice but I couldn't make sense of the story from what I saw.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Oh yeah! I saw some of that at Otakon. It looked very good but I haven't had a chance to see more. Some have described it as sci-fi disguised as fantasy.

No, it's Fantasy in a Science Fiction Universe, all the fantasy elements are created by science but the feel is more fantasy. The whole story is basically Fantasy and for the most part it's all swords and magic. There aren't any ray guns, lightsabres or droids.

Mahou Senshi Rui is another old comedy Sword and Sorcery anime that it might not be possible to get hold of.

[Poison_Fish]

On Scrapped Princess, strangely enough, half the names of groups or people mentioned (One of the mainstream religions, etc.) are gun companies or former gun names.

Though, I'd still say there is some large sci-fi feeling about two thirds of the way through. But general agreement for the most part on it keeping to Fantasy.

[JadedDM]

I remember Lodoss War having a number of goofball moments. Likewise, while Slayers is overall comedic, the TV series have their very serious dramatic moments--it actually gets pretty dark at times, especially in Slayers Next and Slayers Try. (Now, the Slayers OAVs--the ones with just Lina and Naga, rather than the "adventuring party" of Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis--are pure fluff... but wonderful, bouncy jiggly fluff at that.)

I didn't mean to imply that Lodoss War was completely devoid of humor or that Slayers did not possess a moment of seriousness. I just meant, in general, Lodoss War is darker and more mature, whereas Slayers tends to be more light-hearted and silly.

Personally, though, I never found Slayers to be entertaining. I think it was just a little too Japanese for my tastes.


Lodoss War is good although I got tired of it after awhile; it is definitely the "purest" comparison to D&D you'll find. There is also a sequel series, but I've heard it's not very good.Yes, in fact, Lodoss War was actually based on a real AD&D tabletop game. They took the events of the game and turned it into story format. There's a word for this. I believe it's called a 'replay.'

The original series was very well done. But the sequels were quite sub-par and became too much like standard animes (including people with blue hair and guys who never open their eyes, like Brock from Pokemon). I didn't care for them.

[DeathQuaker]

I didn't mean to imply that Lodoss War was completely devoid of humor or that Slayers did not possess a moment of seriousness. I just meant, in general, Lodoss War is darker and more mature, whereas Slayers tends to be more light-hearted and silly.

I was actually implying they were more or less on the same level. I have not seen the entirety of Lodoss War, however--I've seen a lot, but not the entirety. Compared to what I've seen, Slayers goes to extremes farther--it gets sillier--but it also has, ultimately, deeper moments and more character development. I actually think Slayers is a lot more thoughtful, for all its comedic trappings.



Personally, though, I never found Slayers to be entertaining. I think it was just a little too Japanese for my tastes.

Huh. Well, being that it's made in Japan.... but actually, I find it tries to mimic a lot of Westernness seeing as it's based on a lot of Western fantasy tropes. It's less "Japanese" than a lot of anime I've seen actually. But I guess it depends a lot on your perspective.



Yes, in fact, Lodoss War was actually based on a real AD&D tabletop game. They took the events of the game and turned it into story format. There's a word for this. I believe it's called a 'replay.'

From what I've heard, Slayers was also based on an RPG Hajima Kanzaka (the author of the original novels) ran. It's less close to D&D though.

[JadedDM]

Oh, I know it's Japanese. What I mean when I say it's too Japanese is it employs a lot of anime stereotypes that, after constant exposure, are beginning to wear thin for me. This includes people with weird shaped or colored hair, people swinging giant hammers that appear out of nowhere, 'chibi-mode', women with enormous, jiggling breasts (Naga), and people with the power to blow up entire towns (Dragon Slave).

That's just my own tastes and preferences. Generally speaking, the few animes I actually like do not employ the above elements, or if they do, very seldomly (like Lodoss War, Ronin Warriors, etc.)

[KoDT69]

Record of Lodoss War or Slayers! Just like many said. Both are great for their given target audiences. I prefer the Slayers but own both! :smallbiggrin: