As the seasons change and the temperatures drop, it’s increasingly becoming a great time to kick back in front of a screen to watch more anime. Moreover, if fantasy is your genre of choice, the Fall 2023 season has several great options, both new and returning. Check out these six great fantasy shows.
The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of the Rust Mountains
Raised by a warrior skeleton, a mummified priestess, and the ghost of a mage, William G. Maryblood travels the land in order to save the suffering and to spread the light of the goddess Gracefeel as her champion. Although he is destined to endure many hardships on the path he walks, he has allies, including the fiercely loyal, half-elven hunter Meneldor and the jovial halfling troubadour Robina. In this second season, Will is warned of a great demonic evil in the Rust Mountains, former stronghold of the dwarves, and whose evil force may consume the land if left unchecked. Stand tall, child of man!
Based on a light novel series of the same name and originally premiering as a 12-episode anime series in October 2022, the first season of The Faraway Paladin was mysterious, humorous, and emotional but always engaging. William is a sure-hearted hero dedicated to his mission and to living up to the ideals instilled in him by his beloved adopted family.The first two episodes in season two have mostly been light-hearted setup for the season-long arc, but they provide a glimpse at the adventure to come, with beautiful animation and some additional character development. I cannot stress enough how good this series has been, and greatly look forward to this new season.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Many medieval fantasy anime stories tell the tale of how the heroes unite and struggle against the forces of evil until they are at last triumphant. In Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, that only begins the story. The great victory has already been won, so what happens afterward when the hard-earned peace is now here? For the distant and long-lived elven mage Frieren, the ten-year journey with her fellow heroes was but a short jaunt, so she continues her life, travelling the land and collecting spells. However, as time passes, her former companions start to pass away, and she is entrusted with a young human mage by one of them. During this new journey with this apprentice, however, Frieren begins to regret not getting to know her companions better. Of course, the question still remains: How will she live going forward?
This brand new anime came out of nowhere and packed quite an emotional punch. I was getting seriously teary eyed by episode two! And with 28 episodes scheduled in total, there’s no question that more tissues will be needed. Since then, I’ve learned that the original manga series written by Kanehito Yamada and drawn by Tsukasa Abe won the New Creator Prize in the 2021 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize awards, so we are most definitely in for a treat. Without a doubt, this is the brand new show to watch this season.
Goblin Slayer II
He is known by many names—Beardcutter and Orcbolg—but to most, he is simply Goblin Slayer. He is clad in crude and unsophisticated gear, but its practicality serves him in his singular purpose of ridding the land of the foul and despicable hordes of creatures known as goblins. Although it’s not the most glamorous or heroic life, it is a necessary one, and he is joined in his mission by a priestess, a female high elf archer, a lizardman priest, and a dwarf shaman. The first season of this dark fantasy premiered five years ago to immediate controversy over its violence and brutal depiction of rape. However, it did show how vicious and savage the world these characters lived in was and emphasize why goblin slaying was a worthwhile endeavor. Later episodes were less horrific, but a foreboding tension continues to hang over the story.
In the current second season, the first new episodes since the 2018 movie Goblin’s Crown, the priestess needs more experience leading others so that she can go up in rank. At the same time, a reckless, stubborn, arrogant, and inexperienced young wizard appears in the adventurer’s guild ready to kill goblins—alone if he must. Soon, their separate paths become intertwined: the party brings the young upstart in, but she’s also put in charge of the adventure. If the first two episodes are anything to go by, they’re not the only ones who have much to learn when it comes to adventuring and dealing with the past. Stand strong, adventurers!
The Kingdoms of Ruin
Magic, possessed by witches, was used to help humanity for generations, but over time, humans started to hate their reliance on witches to live. As a result, witches were persecuted, while humans developed technology to replace magic. Adonis, a regular boy, traveled with a witch named Chloe as this was going on, and when she was executed, he swore vengeance on this new society before being imprisoned. Years later, when a captive witch named Doroka frees Adonis as part of an escape, he begins to carry out his bloody mission. However, Doroka wants to end the cycle of violence, and so she seeks to quell Adonis’s rage and find a way for witches and humans to live together in peace once again.
The setting is actually more modern compared to the standard swords-and-sorcery fare, with its high-rise buildings, airships, and trains, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fantasy series. Both protagonists wield magic in different ways and for different goals. Although we know that in the end, Doroka’s dream will more than likely come to pass, who doesn’t love a good revenge story until then? There are plenty of antimagic antagonists to fight, so this should be a fun ride.
My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer
Belgrieve was once a young adventurer, but after he lost his leg in battle, he had to retire to a quiet life in the countryside. The years passed, and one day, he found a baby girl abandoned in the woods and took it upon himself to raise her himself. The girl, Angeline, loved and admired her adopted father more than anyone and decided to follow in his footsteps, leaving home to become an adventurer herself. As the title of the show says, she succeeded in her goal. However, she’s too good at her job. She desperately wants to visit her beloved father, but some village or traveling noblewoman always needs saving from evil beasts or bandits and gets in the way. She does eventually make it back, but how long do they have until danger interrupts her much-needed daddy-daughter time? Woe to anything or anyone who does!
This is by far the most light-hearted series on this list. Angeline clearly has a father complex, and that becomes a solid source of humor throughout each episode. Belgrieve himself is an earnest and hardworking guy, so it’s easy to see why she likes him so much. Anyway, given some of the other heavy hitters this season, it’s nice to relax for a lower-stakes adventure.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3
Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero, returns. Originally a unversity student in Japan, he was summoned alongside three others to a medieval fantasy world to become one of the heroes who would fight against the deadly waves of calamity. However, he was spurned by his fellow heroes and betrayed by the kingdom who summoned him. Cynical but unbroken, he still sought to carry out his duty, buying a demi-human slave girl named Raphtalia and a bird-monster girl, Filo, to help him fight. Together, they saved the kingdom who despised him twice already. However, the danger yet looms over the world. The Shield Hero must rise again!
The first season of Shield Hero was riveting television. His startling betrayl was visceral and his dogged determination to get back at those who wronged him endeared him to audiences. When he finally got his justice, it was sweet, sweet catharsis. However, when the narrative continued beyond that initial story arc to the next one, things just weren’t the same. Without that key motivation underpinning the character’s journey, the show felt more like any other medieval fantasy story. It’s difficult to say whether this newest season can bring back some of the magic of that first season, but we know that one of that season’s antagonists will be making a reappearance. We’ve seen what it looks like when the hero comes back from a serious blow. I hope the villain’s revenge is just as compelling.