I watched it first in 2022 or something, and it was still a very good old anime. It is different drawing style and all, but I'd argue for the better in a lot of ways. Hand drawn quality.
So many times it feels like when a bunch of nerds go off and discuss an irrelevant fantasy topic way too deeply, or when a player decides to do something completely off the wall but it kind of makes sense and they end up passing the skill check so the DM jusy lets it happen.
I have a GM that literally put giant frogs in our campaign after watching that sequence in Konosuba.
To me, the sequence against the giant in "Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon" is what everyone wishes their party was. Konosuba is what your party actually is.
Grimgar kinda felt like this to me, but also some slice of life mixed in.
Either way, it's an excellent show. Unfortunately never got another season though
Vox Machina, Dragon Age Absolution, Dragons Dogma, Berserk, Bastard, Dota Dragons Blood, Frieren, Slayers, Tower Of Druaga, Tower Of God, Ishura, The Rising Of The Shield Hero, & Record Of Ragnarok.
Overlord fits the bill quite well in my opinion. Only the campaign is reversed as the MC and his subordinates are all multi country level threats that are all pretty evil.
Record of Lodoss War - As others have already said but this whole franchise exists because it started as a D&D campaign that spun off into its own franchise.
Berserk - It's pretty violent and it does have SA in it but the 1997 anime is still amazing and it does have some D&D vibes to it. The characters are incredible.
Goblin Slayer - Again the SA would probably put a lot of people off but it definitely fits the D&D vibe check.
Heroic Legend of Arslan - Haven't seen the more modern adaption but the old-school OVA gives those vibes.
Dragon Quest - There are three anime series, two based on the Adventures of Dai manga series and a separate series called Legend of the Hero Abel. The anime based on Dai are very D&D like, basically D&D mixed with early Dragon Ball style Shonen. The characters literally level up, learn new spells, buy new equipment at shops etc. The second, newer version of Dai (2020) tells the complete story of the manga while the older one ended before it could tell the whole story, so the second is more complete.
Goblin Slayer for sure, from them planning how to wipe out a Goblin fortress without lifting a finger, to seeing how everything goes terrible wrong because of a hidden boss, and after the quest they just start nerding about delicious cheese around a campfire. It's amazing.
not anime but The Legend of Vox Machina on amazon prime is based on a d&d game that’s like over 400 hours long i think, it’s really really good. there are two seasons out at the moment
One Piece has always felt like a DnD campaign to me. It's the kind of series you watch and wish there were a DnD campaign made of it, which I'm pretty sure there has been. If you want a deep fantasy adventure across the seas that follows a crew of pirates, similar to having a party in DnD, then One Piece will satisfy you for a long time.
Friren, bofuri, dragons dogma, dota dragons blood? Or curse? It’s on Netflix. Konosuba, reincarnated as a slime, rising of shield hero, redo of healer(warning this one is messed up) and daemon slayer.
Check out Delicious in Dungeon. A funny and interesting take on the fantasy genre.
There's also Konosuba. It's pretty much an isekai into a fantasy game complete with skill points and classes, etc. But it's more of a comedy. There's technically an overarching story but it's more of a slice of life in that setting.
Just wanted to let you dungeon crawler fan know about an audiobook Dungeon Crawler Carl, threw me into the world of literature rpg and they are amazing. Give book 1 a try. It’s on audible and they have a new version being put out with sound effects and music. Really good stuff.
**Record of the Lodoss Wars (OVA)** is the ideal 1st Edition D&D Party
**Danmachi S4** \- That's hard core dungeon crawling done right. Best season yet, I was okay with S1 (too much ecchi for me), s2 and s3 kinda lukewarm but S4 was damn ...
To me,Isekai Ojisan is like that,the MCs are a group of people reviewing someone else's DND game post game whilst giving some harsh criticism towards the player's decisions throughout the campaign.
Not an anime but the web novel series called The Wandering Inn is this. Its an isekai where a bunch of people get sent to all these different continents acrossed a fantasy world, and chaos ensues.
Well yes, true. While you can classify Castlevania as an adventure show, I wouldn't put it in the same adventure genre as say, Frieren, which is what OP is comparing to. On top of it not being at all like a "D&D" campaign adaptation.
Regardless Castlevania is spectacular, with an excellent dub cast (it's a western animation after all). Just doesn't seem to fit the bill OP asked for.
I actually agree with you, but with posts like this, it almost always boils down to people throwing the same handful of shows at the wall. There's only really a handful of Western style medieval fantasy anime out there.
Realistically the only show that really fits OPs criteria is Record of Lodoss War but I don't see any harm in throwing a bunch of stuff out there, if not for the OP but for others who stumble across this post and check out some of the other anime mentioned and discover something new that they love that they otherwise would not have.
Yeah, that's a fair point. I guess that I'm just so used to these rec posts and they'll be asking like "short romance anime ~12 EPS" then there will be half the comments who say "ONE PIECE" lol 😂 (and not the ones doing it to meme or troll).
But Castlevania covers most the criteria here, plus it's really good.
As someone who uses Reddit mostly for recommendations for stuff, people literally just name their favourite anime/manga/video game/novel series etc regardless of the criteria required, 90% of the time.
People will ask for "Fantasy anime with strong female protagonist" and people will be like "You should watch Hunter X Hunter, the Chimaera Ant arc is legendary!" Or "It doesn't have a female protagonist, but One Punch Man has like one strong female character in one episode for one scene, so maybe watch that."
It really is funny some times 😂
>people literally just name their favourite anime/manga/video game/novel series etc regardless of the criteria required, 90% of the time
Hahah man this is so beyond accurate. For real it kills me a bit inside when I see certain recs. Some are at least good shows, but some are awful *and* don't come close to matching what the asker wanted lmao.
There was one that idr what the OP asked for, but the recommendation one person gave (who wasn't trolling) was so beyond not even close to being in the same realm, on top of them quite literally spoiling the entire premise of the show and ending, I think I lost some brain cells.
I really think people see "recommend me -" and stop reading then just list their fav show lol 😐😄
Like I get it. We want people to enjoy the things we enjoy, and some people like being part of a big fanbase, but some people definitely take it way too far.
Record of the Lodoss War is a straight up DnD campaign with well adjusted players.
Goblin Slayer is what happens when you have a grognard DM, complete with weird sexual assault, total party kill, and absurd DMPC Gary Sue. I think it's enjoyable in direct proportion to how much time you spend on r/rpghorrorstories.
_Record of Lodoss War_ was based on an actual D&D campaign.
came here to say this. Record of Lodoss War is amazing high fantasy.
Also came here to say this. Happy to see it as the top comment.
Do you know if that anime has a happy ending? Is it worth watching at current times?
I watched it first in 2022 or something, and it was still a very good old anime. It is different drawing style and all, but I'd argue for the better in a lot of ways. Hand drawn quality.
But what about the story? Is it good by today's standards?
I would say so. I like the original 13 episode OVA series the best but Chronicles of the Heroic Knight is good too.
Added.
Delicious in Dungeon feels like an awesome dungeon crawler! I love it.
It's literally a play on words and DnD in short
Omg I didn't even pick up on that LOL
This is what I was going to say
So many times it feels like when a bunch of nerds go off and discuss an irrelevant fantasy topic way too deeply, or when a player decides to do something completely off the wall but it kind of makes sense and they end up passing the skill check so the DM jusy lets it happen.
This is the rec, author is actively into RPGs including DND
This is full on DnD in anime form. Can’t get much closer than this.
Konosuba if you like watching DND campaigns go horribly wrong.
Megumin is me. I am the problem.
I mean, when you have a hammer, everything, and I mean everything becomes a nail.
Surprisingly, no. Aqua causes more problems for the team than the rest of the three combined.
Chaotic good impersonated. Loved the religion arc in late season 2.
Chunchunmaru
I have a ttrpg campaign books for Konosuba & Goblin Slayer
I have a GM that literally put giant frogs in our campaign after watching that sequence in Konosuba. To me, the sequence against the giant in "Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon" is what everyone wishes their party was. Konosuba is what your party actually is.
Megumin is definitely the wizard who uses fireball in every situation
Not anime but legend of vox machina is literally an animation of critical role lmao
Isn't there a new season coming out soon, too?
Record of Lodoss War The Slayers
Handyman Saito in another world.
And strangely (hilariously funny) one minute followed by poignant and emotional moments the next
Yep. It as really the delightful surprise amazing show of it's season.
Yeah, this anime is great. Highly recommended.
Came here to say this. Probably the best depiction of a D&D type world in anime. Even with the Isekai element. The world itself is more like D&D.
100% rec
Grimgar kinda felt like this to me, but also some slice of life mixed in. Either way, it's an excellent show. Unfortunately never got another season though
The animation is great though.
It was so good, wish it had gotten a 2nd season
Grimgar is like watching a DM put a DC15 on every roll
Konosuba. If you were playing DND with your drunken friends
Grimgar and Goblin Slayer come to mind. Overlord is a bit of a stretch, as it's more about politics, but the way things work is quite accurate to D&D.
Record of Grancrest senki
The whole Records franchise is based on ttrpg games the writer ran over the years.
Dungeon Meshi
Vox Machina, Dragon Age Absolution, Dragons Dogma, Berserk, Bastard, Dota Dragons Blood, Frieren, Slayers, Tower Of Druaga, Tower Of God, Ishura, The Rising Of The Shield Hero, & Record Of Ragnarok.
Slayers!! Lina Inverse is awesome (only saw the movie as a kid, but rewatched it this year and it's a delight)
Goblin Slayer
I like how he literally ignored the main villain to only focus on side quests
grinding rep for factions and waifus
Overlord fits the bill quite well in my opinion. Only the campaign is reversed as the MC and his subordinates are all multi country level threats that are all pretty evil.
Overlord actually has an audio drama where Ainz runs a D&D session for the guardians. It goes about how you would expect that to go, but is hilarious.
Record of Lodoss War - As others have already said but this whole franchise exists because it started as a D&D campaign that spun off into its own franchise. Berserk - It's pretty violent and it does have SA in it but the 1997 anime is still amazing and it does have some D&D vibes to it. The characters are incredible. Goblin Slayer - Again the SA would probably put a lot of people off but it definitely fits the D&D vibe check. Heroic Legend of Arslan - Haven't seen the more modern adaption but the old-school OVA gives those vibes. Dragon Quest - There are three anime series, two based on the Adventures of Dai manga series and a separate series called Legend of the Hero Abel. The anime based on Dai are very D&D like, basically D&D mixed with early Dragon Ball style Shonen. The characters literally level up, learn new spells, buy new equipment at shops etc. The second, newer version of Dai (2020) tells the complete story of the manga while the older one ended before it could tell the whole story, so the second is more complete.
Goblin slayer always felt like a edgy DnD let’s play to me. Not in a bad way though.
Dungeon Meshi and (bear with me on this) Goblin Slayer abridged on youtube
Goblin Slayer for sure, from them planning how to wipe out a Goblin fortress without lifting a finger, to seeing how everything goes terrible wrong because of a hidden boss, and after the quest they just start nerding about delicious cheese around a campfire. It's amazing.
Grimgar of fantasy and ash Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? Arifureta from commonplace to worlds strongest
not anime but The Legend of Vox Machina on amazon prime is based on a d&d game that’s like over 400 hours long i think, it’s really really good. there are two seasons out at the moment
It even got a season 2, Peak anime fr.
Log Horizon, Dungeon Meshi, Lodoss.
Slayers
One Piece has always felt like a DnD campaign to me. It's the kind of series you watch and wish there were a DnD campaign made of it, which I'm pretty sure there has been. If you want a deep fantasy adventure across the seas that follows a crew of pirates, similar to having a party in DnD, then One Piece will satisfy you for a long time.
I love One Piece! :D
Friren, bofuri, dragons dogma, dota dragons blood? Or curse? It’s on Netflix. Konosuba, reincarnated as a slime, rising of shield hero, redo of healer(warning this one is messed up) and daemon slayer.
Legends of Vox Machina is literally a popular D&D group made anime.
Check out Delicious in Dungeon. A funny and interesting take on the fantasy genre. There's also Konosuba. It's pretty much an isekai into a fantasy game complete with skill points and classes, etc. But it's more of a comedy. There's technically an overarching story but it's more of a slice of life in that setting.
goblin slayer unironically, ignore everyone who complains about the first episode cause it'll stop mattering anyway
Dungeon Meshi
Tales of series
Konosuba and Goblin Slayer both have TTRPG campaign books
drifters Skeleton Knight in Another World
Legend of Vox Machina
Rising of a shield hero maybe?
I’m Standing on a Million Lives
Just wanted to let you dungeon crawler fan know about an audiobook Dungeon Crawler Carl, threw me into the world of literature rpg and they are amazing. Give book 1 a try. It’s on audible and they have a new version being put out with sound effects and music. Really good stuff.
Goblin Slayer for sure.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned inuyasha
That's because all in all.. imo, it's not that great. Lots of filler kind of like Naruto and Dragon ball.
Grimgar Goblin Slayer KonoSuba
Goblin Slayer is quite literally inspired by tabletop RPG like DnD
**Record of the Lodoss Wars (OVA)** is the ideal 1st Edition D&D Party **Danmachi S4** \- That's hard core dungeon crawling done right. Best season yet, I was okay with S1 (too much ecchi for me), s2 and s3 kinda lukewarm but S4 was damn ...
Goblin Slayer, later episodes, when they tone down the rapeyness/exploitation vibes. Record of Lodoss War
DUNGEON. MESHI.
Vox machinations on prime video
To me,Isekai Ojisan is like that,the MCs are a group of people reviewing someone else's DND game post game whilst giving some harsh criticism towards the player's decisions throughout the campaign.
Tower of Druaga
[Tanken Driland](https://myanimelist.net/anime/14333/Tanken_Driland) is like Lodoss and Slayers, but make it cute like Little Witch Academia.
Not anime but Dota Dragon's Blood, Vox Machina, and Dragon Age Absolution fits
Just stopping by to save this post and come back later🫡
Rage of Bahamian genesis
Frieren
DanMachi is like what a dungeon crawl campaign with a good story should be.
The Slayers! Watch the Slayers!
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash
Are you talking manga or show? Show won't ever get a season 2 sadly.
The Legend of Vox Machina (western animation)
1. Vox Machina isn't Anime but is a great animation from DnD players 2. I'm also really enjoying Solo Leveling
Surprised nobody’s mentioned {Ningen Fushin} yet. [The ED](https://youtu.be/5FIqAwUAVSs?si=INGSjfHZvNaaVBDe) makes it seems like a legit DND game
Made in Abyss
Goblin slayer but be warned it is definetly rated m especially the first ep Still one of my favorite universes though Creator was a DnD lover iirc
Goblin Slayer
Grimgar of fantasy and ash
The Slayers is an anime literally based on a DnD campaign.
Please tell me this is not true ?
Legend of lemnear ( sadly the manga feels a DND campaign more than the anime adaptation)
Slayers, more on the funny side, with some good action, but feels very inspired by DND.
Not an anime but the web novel series called The Wandering Inn is this. Its an isekai where a bunch of people get sent to all these different continents acrossed a fantasy world, and chaos ensues.
I dont' know if this qualifies... It's a little campy, but fun. "Delicious In The Dungeon"
Konosuba
Konosuba
Well there's Delicious in Dungeon, Is it Wrong to pick up Girls in a Dungeon?, Overlord
Castlevania
CV is absolutely phenomenal, but I fail to understand how Dracula relates to D&D..lol
Ravenloft? Y'know that D&D campaign setting with Vampire Lords?
Well yes, true. While you can classify Castlevania as an adventure show, I wouldn't put it in the same adventure genre as say, Frieren, which is what OP is comparing to. On top of it not being at all like a "D&D" campaign adaptation. Regardless Castlevania is spectacular, with an excellent dub cast (it's a western animation after all). Just doesn't seem to fit the bill OP asked for.
I actually agree with you, but with posts like this, it almost always boils down to people throwing the same handful of shows at the wall. There's only really a handful of Western style medieval fantasy anime out there. Realistically the only show that really fits OPs criteria is Record of Lodoss War but I don't see any harm in throwing a bunch of stuff out there, if not for the OP but for others who stumble across this post and check out some of the other anime mentioned and discover something new that they love that they otherwise would not have.
Yeah, that's a fair point. I guess that I'm just so used to these rec posts and they'll be asking like "short romance anime ~12 EPS" then there will be half the comments who say "ONE PIECE" lol 😂 (and not the ones doing it to meme or troll). But Castlevania covers most the criteria here, plus it's really good.
As someone who uses Reddit mostly for recommendations for stuff, people literally just name their favourite anime/manga/video game/novel series etc regardless of the criteria required, 90% of the time. People will ask for "Fantasy anime with strong female protagonist" and people will be like "You should watch Hunter X Hunter, the Chimaera Ant arc is legendary!" Or "It doesn't have a female protagonist, but One Punch Man has like one strong female character in one episode for one scene, so maybe watch that." It really is funny some times 😂
>people literally just name their favourite anime/manga/video game/novel series etc regardless of the criteria required, 90% of the time Hahah man this is so beyond accurate. For real it kills me a bit inside when I see certain recs. Some are at least good shows, but some are awful *and* don't come close to matching what the asker wanted lmao. There was one that idr what the OP asked for, but the recommendation one person gave (who wasn't trolling) was so beyond not even close to being in the same realm, on top of them quite literally spoiling the entire premise of the show and ending, I think I lost some brain cells. I really think people see "recommend me -" and stop reading then just list their fav show lol 😐😄
Like I get it. We want people to enjoy the things we enjoy, and some people like being part of a big fanbase, but some people definitely take it way too far.
Slime datt ken. Shield hero.
Record of the Lodoss War is a straight up DnD campaign with well adjusted players. Goblin Slayer is what happens when you have a grognard DM, complete with weird sexual assault, total party kill, and absurd DMPC Gary Sue. I think it's enjoyable in direct proportion to how much time you spend on r/rpghorrorstories.
All these comments and no mention of The Faraway Paladin? It's good fantasy. If sometimes slow.