Magic is a common element across different media and anime is no exception. While there are a lot of anime series featuring magic as a plot device, there are fewer built around it.
Magicians, sorcerers and wizards are extremely frequent in isekai and fantasy anime due to their tropes and setting. This list will show you what are the best anime based on magic and we will include some series that are not so popular, plus the most common that you don’t want to miss.
This article is based on our opinions and is highly subjective. Anime are ranked according to how we think they make use of the magic.
Table of Contents
25. Zatch Bell!
Let’s start with Zatch Bell!, a fairly well-known but all in all underrated fighting anime with magical elements. It originates from a shonen manga and features as many as 150 episodes.
Every thousand years demons descend to Earth to face each other in a long battle. Competition is very high because the winner will be awarded the title of King of Demons, and will live off huge benefits.
The only limitation is that each demon must choose a human being as a receptacle, for several reasons. Thus is born the collaboration between Kiyomaro and Zatch, the two main characters.
An anime that can entertain to no end, and alternates excellently between serious and comic moments, with excellent fights and plot twists.
Plus, this series has recently gotten a new manga sequel after years and it’s quite promising. We recommend reading the manga because it covers the original story and it’s longer than the anime adaptation.
24. Shakugan no SHANA
Shakugan no SHANA is a good fantasy romance anime with magical elements that features action and supernatural themes. The show first aired in 2005 and spans over 24 episodes.
Sakai Yuji is a high school student who expects to lead a peaceful life. However, everything changes when he is attacked by a mysterious monster that takes on the form of a large doll.
He believes he is done for, until a girl with blazing red hair, who goes by the name of Shana and is a dimensional monster hunter, saves him.
Shakugan no SHANA is a great anime to watch if you’re looking for some light entertainment with a good dose of action.
23. Log Horizon
Log Horizon is an isekai anime based on the light novel series of the same name written by Mamare Touno and illustrated by Kazuhiro Hara.
The plot of the series is set in the world of Elder’s Tale, the world’s most popular MMORPG played by thousands of players. Unfortunately for the protagonists of the series, Shiro, Naotsugu, and Akatsuki, this fantasy world will become their prison as they mysteriously cannot get out.
To survive, the three will find the Log Horizon guild and make their way through the game world to try to solve the mystery that has trapped them.
What sets this anime apart is the more mature vision than the classic Isekai anime.
The characters, shaped by their real-world life choices, will have to take very difficult decisions based on their past experiences.
One of the most popular isekai of recent times, animated in various series by Studio 8-Bit and based on Fuse’s light novel of the same name. You can also find it on Hulu.
Like much of isekai, here too we find a character who after his death is transported to a fantasy world. In this case, the protagonist is Satoru Mikami, a salaryman who dies stabbed after saving a colleague from a robber.
The special feature lies in the fact that he will be reincarnated as a blind slime who, after befriending the dragon Veldra, begins his adventure in the world, gathering around him a vast array of followers. Not quite the classic protagonist, then.
This anime can count on a very solid plot, with characters never left to their own devices and well characterized.
All this combined with an excellent technical aspect helped to quickly make it one of the great classics of the genre and an anime that should be recovered.
21. Little Witch Academia
Little Witch Academia is a fairly recent anime consisting of 25 episodes aired in 2017 and one of the best witch anime.
The plot tells the story of the protagonist surnamed Akko, a young girl who as a child witnesses the witch Shiny Chariot’s magic show.
From that moment on decides to follow in her footsteps by enrolling in the Luna Nova Academy for Little Witches. But not everything will be as easy and smooth as hoped.
This anime makes us identify with Akko who, even though everything seems to be turning against her, still manages to pull himself out of trouble and increase his skills episode after episode. You will for sure end up cheering for her, trust us.
In addition, the magical gimmick is used masterfully and combined with a colorful and always cheerful animation style.
20. Konosuba! – This Wonderful World
The story of KonoSuba starts with the most classic of isekai story premises: Kazuma Satou is a hikikomori, a lover of anime, manga, and video games, who dies as a result of a car accident while trying to save a girl.
Upon arriving in the afterlife, he is welcomed by a goddess named Aqua, who offers him to be reincarnated in an alternate world where he would face the Demon King instead of dying for good.
Additional concessions include the possibility of being able to take with him an object, skill, or anything of his liking to use as an aid in his journey against the enemy.
The choice of protagonist, in its provocative tone, manages to reflect accurately the comic nature of the entire series: the protagonist will in fact choose to carry the goddess herself.
As you may have already guessed we are dealing with an anime that makes comedy and silliness its strong point. So if you are looking for an isekai with these characteristics, don’t think twice.
A 12-episode anime based on Jouji Shirahishi’s light novel of the same name, it follows the adventures of young witch Elaina around a fantasy-themed world.
The girl, an enfant prodige of witchcraft, is a fan of the book “The Adventures of Nike,” a collection of adventures experienced by the witch Nike.
The book inspires Elaina so much that the girl, after earning the title Ash Witch, decides to travel the world as her heroine.
Unlike what one might expect, Elaina often acts as a bystander to the events, interacting only when required and often ignoring the consequences of what happens in the various self-contained episodes.
After all, her purpose is to travel, not to save people or change ongoing situations. All these ingredients make the protagonist unique, and not at all stereotypical.
18. Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena is an anime released in 1997 that is part of the multimedia project of the same name by Chiho Saito and Be-Papas. There’s no doubt that this is one of the best anime adapted from a shojo manga.
The story revolves around Utena Tenjou, a very peculiar 15-year-old girl who does not like wearing a female uniform and rejects the idea of traditional femininity. This is because when she was a child she fell into a stream and was rescued by a man who looked like a real prince, which welded deeply into the girl’s memory.
After rescuing her, he gave her an heirloom called the Rose Ring promising her that one day they would see each other again. To realize this dream of hers Utena decides to enroll in the Otori Institute, where a variety of people possessing the same ring as her will challenge her to a duel.
An anime with a pleasant atmosphere that is very refined and elegant, which will be conveyed to you with each episode.
The anime is also different from the manga, as they tell alternative stories. Consequently, it is fine to start with this animated adaptation and then catch up with the rest, as we recommend you do.
17. Overlord
Overlord is an anime based on another light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by So-Bin in 2012.
A great Isekai classic, it takes the basics of the genre and reworks them into a dark fantasy atmosphere all its own. Although the initial premise is the same as much other anime in the genre, here the protagonist Momonga is not reincarnated into a weakling, but rather into what is considered the most powerful being in his world.
This will lead him to be in command of a powerless army with which he will slowly conquer everything conquerable, in a series of events that are never predictable or trivial.
The great virtue of Overlord is the rawness of the actions performed by Momonga and the real and tangible weight they have on the people of the world.
Indeed, we are not dealing with the classic Isekai protagonist, weak and generous. A truly noteworthy product and one that should be watched, as it is one of a kind.
16. Slayers
Lina Inverse is a very greedy young sorceress with a rather irritable temper. She is well known for her habit of assaulting criminals to rob them, which is why she is nicknamed “thief killer”.
Gourry Gabriev, that is the swordsman’s name, sets out to escort her to the next town, and although she is against it, Lina is compelled to go along with him.
The two are tailed by a strange masked individual named Zelgadis, intent on getting his hands on Lina’s loot at all costs.
The magic system proposed by Slayers is different from those you can see in other anime. Casting spells require mana but not all the sorcerers can actually use it.
For this reason, they can ask other creatures to lend them the necessary strength. The particularities don’t end here, as there is not even a strong distinction between white and black magic, which is quite common in fantasy settings.
15. Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World
Re:Zero is a great exponent of the Isekai genre based on the light novel of the same name written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shin’ichiro Otsuka in 2014.
The story is about the usual hikikomori, Subaru Natsuki, who awakens in the fantasy world of Lugunica. Here he joins a half-elf named Emilia, accompanying her on a journey to help her become queen and falling in love with her.
After a series of misadventures, ending in their deaths, the protagonist realizes that he has a special ability: every time he dies he resurrects at the point where he arrived in the world.
It’s a sort of resetting the events that have occurred up to that point but preserving his memory. A real respawn, as in video games.
This ability will be the real strength of the narrative of Re: Zero which allows the protagonist to continuously change his future and that of the other characters, giving the plot completely unexpected turns.
14. Princess Tutu
Princess Tutu has 26 total episodes and was created by Jun’ichi Sato and animated by Hal Film Maker.
Drosselmeyer is a bizarre writer who has the power to make the fairy tales he writes come to life. In one of his fairy tales, he tells the story of Ahiru, a duck who has fallen in love with the reclusive Prince Mithos and who the writer makes into a human girl.
Thanks to a magical pendant Ahiru can transform into Princess Tutu, a girl who uses her powers by dancing. To save Mithos, who no longer has feelings, the girl-daughter will have to recover the scattered fragments of her destroyed heart.
Princess Tutu is an anime aimed primarily at young girls, but it would be superficial to judge it by that alone, as it reworks the stylistic features and themes of more classic fairy tales.
Even the story despite its simple start then develops with a succession of totally unexpected twists and turns. Princess Tutu has that dark vibe that you can only discover by watching it.
13. Flip Flappers
Flip Flappers is a series produced by Studio 3Hz and broadcasted in winter 2016 and one of the best action anime you can find.
The main character is Cocona, a young girl attending middle school. Quiet and judicious, however, she will make the acquaintance of Papika, a peer with an explosive personality.
The latter also unexpectedly invites Cocona to come along with her to a mysterious parallel dimension called Pure Illusion.
Flip Flappers is one of those original anime that may pass quietly and be forgotten, but with the potential of a cult series.
The style and fluidity of the action scenes are very reminiscent of the quality of Studio Trigger, which is repeatedly paid homage to, along with other exponents of the genre.
The direction is sublime and the color plays are the real building blocks of this little masterpiece that deserves to be discovered.
12. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
A Magi is a magician whose inclination toward magic is so immense that they can be said to shape the world.
Each Magi chooses a worthy candidate to become a king, then helps them conquer strange labyrinths called “Dungeons”. Above all else, the Magi supervises their elected representative as they build a country that might one day bring the world to its knees.
The main character, Aladdin, is one of these Magi, and he will choose to protect Alibaba, a young and talented boy. Thus begins their adventure.
This is the perfect mix of a proper fantasy setting, magic kingdom at wars. Magi draws inspiration from the classical collection of folk tales One Thousand and One Nights, as visible from the setting.
A light-hearted series that can offer some amazing fighting moments, recommended if you want something more other than just magic.
11. The Ancient Magus Bride
A 24-episode anime series based on the manga of the same name by Kore Yamazaki and animated by Studio Wit.
The protagonist of the story is young Chise Hatori, a girl who, after losing her entire family in previous years, decides to sell herself off at an auction to change her life and find some light in her life after many years of suffering.
She will then be purchased for the exorbitant sum of 5 million pounds by a particular magician named Elias Ainsworth. He is a man who stands out mainly because of his tall height and head shaped like a canine skull to make her a magician in turn.
The development of the relationships between the characters will be the real focus of the work, with great seriousness and realism to the various emotional developments.
These elements make the relationships between the characters very believable.
If we accompany all this with a truly masterful technical compartment, we have an excellent anime to absolutely recover.
10. Pretty Cure
A great classic of magical anime starring sorceresses produced in 2004 by Izumi Todo. Pretty Cure fully takes the lessons of the great past classics of the genre and reworks them into a wide variety of series, which are still in production today.
Each narrative strand has different protagonists and settings, thus giving great variety to all the Pretty Cure entries.
Although the starting basis is the same as in the classic Maho Shojo anime, in Pretty Cure the fighting is directed to a more physical approach and more emphasis is given to the various secondary characters.
Worth catching up on for those who love the genre but at the same time want to have a wide spectrum of characters and storylines.
9. Magic Knight Rayearth
Magic Knight Rayearth is a fantastic ’90s isekai anime based on the manga of the same name written in 1993 by the famous CLAMP, Rayearth features 3 girls, Hikaru, Umi and Fu, who are teleported to the fantasy world of Cefiro.
Upon arriving in this new reality, the three realize that the world is in grave danger and decide to fight for its salvation as Magic Knights.
The special feature that differentiates Rayearth from its peers is the innovative idea of equipping the classic magical girls with mechs to aid them in their battles.
This gave rise to a mixture of genres that is more unique than rare. The combination of magic, mecha, kingdoms at war and shojo themes is not so common.
The clashes draw great inspiration from fantasy role-playing games and thus combine the dynamism typical of mech battles with tactics derived from a system of weaknesses and resistances.
Mushoku Tensei is an Isekai fantasy written in 2012 by Rifujin na Maganote, which features an anonymous 34-year-old Japanese NEET as its protagonist.
The protagonist, after being evicted from his home and realizing the futility of his life, decides to save some high school students who were about to be hit by a truck, thus losing his life.
What for him seems like the end is the beginning of a new life, in fact after his death he is reborn in a world of “sword and sorcery”, where he decides to make a new and fresh life for himself.
Despite the very similar premise to other isekai Mushoku Tensei has on its side an extremely complex plot and well-characterized characters.
The introspections of the various characters give each of them a noteworthy and above-average depth in the genre, making them much more than mere specks.
7. Fate
Fate is one of those products that in recent years has managed to carve out a huge slice of popularity and a large number of fans scattered all over the world.
Composed of a huge universe divided over several completely different media, the work features summoners (Masters) who through the summoning of spirits fight to conquer the Holy Grail.
The huge budget spent on the various animated series gives the product very high quality and makes the various confrontations in the series absolutely epic.
The reinterpretations of the various historical characters in the anime are a great strength for the series and allow it to have an absolutely memorable roster of characters.
For those who enjoy fantasy anime focused mainly on confrontations, this is a series not to be missed.
6. Howl’s Moving Castle
Howl’s Moving Castle is one of the greatest anime movies in the history of Japanese animation, released in 2014 by the renowned Studio Ghibli as a movie that is a cult today.
The story revolves around Sophie, an ordinary young girl working at a hat store, whose life takes a drastic turn after a fateful encounter with a peculiar man being pursued by mysterious creatures.
Following her rescue, Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Andes and embarks on a journey to find the wizard Howl, the very man she had encountered earlier, in order to reverse the curse.
As the narrative unfolds, Sophie and Howl develop a tender relationship, adding depth to the story.
Howl’s Moving Castle is simply a timeless fantasy masterpiece, blending wonderful settings, an excellent plot, thrilling adventure and a virtually perfect romance subplot all in one captivating story.
5. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
This anime is a ray of hope for fantasy anime in a world full of isekai and this anime adaptation is doing quite well so far.
Frieren is an elf-sorceress who belongs to the team of heroes that vanquished the demon king.
As an elf, the 10 years she spent with her fellow heroes represent only a small portion of her long life, a fact that doesn’t apply to her companions who must endure the consequences of their actions.
This situation leads Frieren to contemplate the significance of her memories and the broader meaning of life.
Frieren is a rare gem in the world of fantasy that has emerged in recent years. Finally, we have a fantasy series that takes a different approach, breaking free from the genre’s usual stereotypes.
The story begins at the end, with the main characters having already achieved the grand feat typically central to other series of this kind, and it centers on the aftermath, not the action itself.
Don’t get fooled by these premises because Frieren isn’t as sad as the trailer lets you believe and you will get plenty of slice-of-life moments and fun scenes with the cast.
One thing we love about it is the detailed combat system focused on magic that valorizes the prowess and expertise of the main character (and not only).
4. Card Captor Sakura
Card Captor Sakura is one of the best-known manga and anime related to the world of magic. The story features a 10-year-old girl who one day stumbles upon a mysterious book in her father’s library.
The girl, intrigued, opens it and releases the magic contained within it in the form of cards, at the same time acquiring magical powers. These powers will be useful for the protagonist to undo the damage done, beginning a journey that will lead her to find all the lost cards.
Those who have enjoyed other classics of the genre will greatly appreciate this anime, especially if you are akin to the theme of love and how powerful it can be.
Love of any form, platonic or romantic, and the building of relationships based on it are indeed the pivotal theme of the play, so if you are a romantic, you absolutely must watch it.
3. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
An absolute masterpiece of the fantasy anime and the battle shonen genre.
Based on the manga written in 2001 by Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the animated series that most faithfully deals with the plot told in the original work.
Edward and Alphonse Elric are two brothers who live in a world where alchemy reigns and is used for a variety of purposes, whether war, medical, or even related to everyday life.
The two brothers have a very specific purpose, which is to regain their lost bodies. When they were young they tried to bring their late mother back to life using alchemy, and it went wrong, since as powerful as this magic is, it cannot go against the laws of nature.
Plot, characters and setting are expertly handled by the author, with the end result being an anime of great impact and drama.
2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
A 2011 anime produced by Shaft and Aniplex, Puella Magi Madoka Magika is a masterpiece that gives a different twist to the classic Majokko genre, even though it’s not the first series doing that.
The narrative starts in much the same way as other anime in the genre, the protagonists gain magical powers to fight against witches, who are guilty of various terrible deeds against humans.
The real revolution occurs later in the plot when the relaxed and playful atmosphere is dropped and the focus is on dark fantasy themes.
A great virtue of this anime is that it deals with adult and fatalistic themes, where every choice must be weighed as a potential cause of nefarious events, to say the least.
Making the narrative even more disturbing is the style, which, thanks to a mixed technique between the classical and the experimental, creates an eerie and anxiety-inducing atmosphere.
1. Sailor Moon
Based on the manga of the same name written in 1991 by Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon features Usagi Tsukino and her friends as protagonists.
The plot of the anime unfolds in various self-contained mini-adventures that slowly bring the warriors closer to the final enemy of the day.
Highly recommended both for the overall quality of the work and for its absolute status as a great classic of the genre. In fact, Sailor Moon is arguably the best magical girls anime ever made, that brought the genre to a whole different level and offered.
Magic is a predominant element as shown by the powers of the enemies and the overall themes of the show.
We strongly suggest the animated adaptation over the manga, even though you will have to handle a lot of filler episodes in the process.
The entire series is quite long and it got even a faithful reboot by Toei Animation in 2014 under the name of Sailor Moon Crystal.
Sailor Moon Eternal is the sequel to the third season of Crystal, as it represents the fourth season.
Passionate about Japanese culture for years, serial devourer of manga, anime, and videogames that have now become part of my routine.
My favorite series? Goodnight Punpun and One Piece.
