One important tool for storytelling in futuristic or fantasy works is world-building. How well did the creators make us believe we had entered a living, breathing space with its own history, rules, and logic? I’m a big fan of anime series that don’t just tell a story, but construct complex worlds for fans to think about and explore. In this blog post, I’ll give you my top ten picks for best anime world-building!
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Why Is World-Building Important to Anime?
Let’s look at why the best anime and manga creators take the time to create a complex world for their characters to live in.
- World-building gives the story weight by setting the characters in a unique world that has a culture and history different from ours.
- It allows the creator to flesh out the world their characters will inhabit ahead of time, improving the story’s structure and consistency.
- Fans can dive in as deeply as they like into the fictional world. It’s perfectly fine to read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings without delving fully into the insanely detailed historical backstory that is The Silmarillion. Fans can choose how deeply they want to delve into the lore.
- Complex fictional worlds makes rewatching rewarding for fans. There’s nothing like watching your favorite anime again and finding something new in the background you didn’t notice before.
What Anime Had the Best World-Building? See my Top Picks Here!
Royal Space Force, aka Wings of Honneamise
The first work undertaken by the newly created Gainax was perhaps its most ambitious. It tells the story of a fictional nation in a fictional world that seeks to do what no one has done before: put a man in space in a rocket. The film is breathtaking in its scope: every aspect of the world the characters live in, from their technology to the religions they follow to the money they use, is invented for the film. If you’re a fan, J-List has the 4K Blu-rays in stock now!
The World-Building of the Toaru Franchise is On Another Level
I’m on record as not being a fan of anime series (and the novels they’re based on) that grow so complex, you basically need to study the equivalent of a Master’s degree in engineering to properly follow everything. Still, I do enjoy the world of A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun. I love its ridiculously over-the-top blend of magic, technology, religion, and colorful characters.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Created a Whole Galaxy For Us
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, a well-regarded space opera that ran from 1988 to 1997, depicts the final chapter of a 150-year stalemate between two vast interstellar powers, inspired by 19th-century European empires. The series is filled with massive space battles, political intrigue, and more German-sounding names than I can begin to pronounce.
Beastars Builds a Totally Believable Predator–Prey Society
I’m a huge fan of Beaststars. It’s a CGI-based anime that asks, “What pressures would a society of intelligent carnivores and herbivores living side-by-side face?” They even have “bunny porn” magazines for meat-eaters to read! Read my blog post about Beastars Final Season here.
More Amazing World-Building in Anime: Kemono Friends
Another entry on the best anime world-building list is Kemono Friends. At first glance, this low-budget CGI series — based on a mobile game that had already flopped when the anime aired — looked like a harmless kids’ show about a human girl exploring a zoo filled with talking animals. But gradually, it reveals a far darker truth: it’s a world where humanity was wiped out in a mysterious disaster, leaving behind self-aware animal “Friends” and decaying remnants of technology no one can repair. The anime has acquired a huge fanbase who endlessly debate the meaning of the story.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song Tells an Incredible Story Spanning 100 Years
You could be excused from thinking Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song was some kind of Vocaloid-inspired idol anime, because the main character is a singing android. But the story is much more than that. Over the course of a century, humans and the AIs they created move from uneasy coexistence to all-out war, resulting in a disaster for humanity. Vivy, a songstress android built to bring joy through music, is tasked with trying to avoid the disaster by a professor who sent his consciousness back in time in the form of a robotic bear. I loved the way the story is told, a few decades at a time, as Vivy is revived so she can undertake the next part of her overall mission. It’s some of the best futuristic anime storytelling you could ask for.
Peak Anime World-Building: Gundam Universal Century
You can’t talk about world-building in anime without going back to the beginning. The Universal Century of 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam depicts humanity’s exodus from Earth into space, and the resulting conflicts between those who remain on Earth and the colonists who now call space their home.
Which Gundam era do you prefer? Read this article about the different Gundam universes here!
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a Complete World
Next, another early work that showed the world the potential of anime as a medium for serious world-building. Nausicaä tells the story of a post-apocalyptic Earth blanketed by the toxic Sea of Corruption, filled with colossal insect life and ancient environmental ruin. Every detail of the fictional world is organic and believable.
Mushoku Tensei Created a Totally Original Fantasy World
I have to say, Mushoku Tensei has to be my favorite anime from the current century. It took the standard “reincarnated in an isekai world” trope and did amazing things with it, which no one could have foreseen. I loved how the fantasy world wasn’t populated by familiar elves, dwarves, and orcs. Instead, we meet more fantastical creatures with their own unique abilities and backgrounds.
The World of Made in Abyss is Dark and Delicious
Finally, we have Made in Abyss, a series I love to evangelize quite a lot. It’s about humans who live on the edge of a deep and mysterious Abyss, a great hole in the Earth filled with monsters and ancient technology. The story follows Riko and her robot boyfriend Reg as they look for Riko’s mother, who is waiting at the bottom of the Abyss. What a happy adventure anime this must be!
Thanks for reading this blog post about the best anime world-building examples. Did we miss any shows that have highly creative and detailed fictional worlds? Tell us in the comments below!
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