At least, they are rare when compared to other genres that don’t necessitate too many action sequences and spectacular moments. That’s why war anime need to be cherished and appreciated as they appear. One will want to start with the best of them, however. These recommendations will surely sate the viewers’ craving for action, strategy, and bloodshed.
Updated April 18th, 2022, by Sid Natividad: There’s no shortage of human-induced suffering on Earth, and wars are the apogee of this. That very well means there’s plenty of source material for war anime but thankfully, most of them are sensitive enough to abstain from glorifying war and instead, feature an anti-war message.
Others are mere fantasy or far sci-fi futures where war is a precursor for long-lasting peace. In any case, war anime are some of the most philosophical and thought-provoking genres in the medium. There are many of them, and it wouldn’t be fair to some if only the tippity-top were recommended. So we’ve expanded the list to feature more of them.
15 Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings
Release Year: 2009 Setting: Historical Sengoku Period in Japan
The warring states era of Japan are rife with epic war stories. The most prominent warlord among them is Oda Nobunaga; his plight to unify Japan under his iron fist is nothing short of violent. That’s what Samurai Kings portrays in its romanticized form.
Except, Nobunaga is treated as some kind of villain here. He’s a war mongerer who forces two warring underdog clan leaders to set aside their differences in order to oppose the oncoming giant who’s after their territory. Viewers can expect some large-scale samurai combat and more historically-accurate fighting (at least when compared to the vast majority of samurai anime).
14 Jormungand
Release Year: 2009 Setting: Contemporary
Jormungand tackles a lot of controversial material stemming from the contemporary world. Its protagonist, Jonah, was a former child soldier who’s compelled to become a bodyguard for an idealistic illegal arms dealer and mercenary leader who wants to bring about world peace.
Sounds ironic but the anime is willing to tackle that debate while unraveling the complexities of its characters— all of whom have a history of modern conflict. Jormungand is thus a unique anime set in a contemporary world that isn’t afraid to drag its viewers out to bask in the harsh realities of the world all the while spinning its own fantasy tale.
13 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Release Year: 2007 Setting: Futuristic Sci-fi
It’s developed by Gainax who’s the same studio responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion so any fan will know that they mean business. Sure enough, Gurren Lagann doesn’t pull its punches and goes all out in telling its massively epic sci-fi war story. At its core, it’s a rebellion plot where the oppressed and enslaved humans of Earth rise up against an alien race who took over.
Leading that rebellion is Kamina and Simon, brothers-in-arms, bound by the promise of freedom and victory. Together with their friends, they wage war against the universe itself made possible by their awesome mech and the willpower to grow as a human race.
12 Macross Frontier
Release Year: 2008 Setting: Futuristic Sci-fi
Macros Frontier is not unlike Gurren Lagann but with a mix of Mobile Suit Gundam. In it, humanity is forced into artificial space vessel cities called the Macross Frontier after an alien race conquers Earth. As the humans enjoy relative peace brought about by their distance from their destroyed home, an unprecedented threat looms over the horizon.
During one fateful concert aboard the Macross Frontier, an unknown species of alien robots attacked by surprise, once again reigniting humanity’s will to fight. Luckily for them, an ace combatant and pilot named Alto is on their side and he’s ready to have his finest hour.
11 Full Metal Panic!
Release Year: 2008 Setting: Sci-fi, mecha
Full Metal Panic! offers a more muted and subtle approach to war despite being a mecha anime. Because primarily tells its story through espionage. Sousuke Sagara is a young veteran mech pilot who was tasked with posing as a high school student in order to protect Kaname Chidori.
Chidori is one of the key beings to protecting the world from threats of conflict as she’s an experimental human who would later activate her knowledge of designing advanced technology. Sure enough, other nefarious factions are also after Chidori and it’s up to Sousuke to defend her while also keeping up his cover.
10 Zipang
Release Year: 2004 Setting: World War 2
There’s a war anime featuring World War 1 so naturally, there’s also one set in World War 2. Zipang is a battleship war epic where a modern-day destroyer and its crew somehow find themselves mysteriously transported to the past, specifically in the Battle of Midway between the US and Imperial Japan in 1942.
Being afraid that their interference might change the course of present-day history, they make themselves scarce and anonymous. However, it suddenly dawns on them that they can also change the present day for the better.
9 Kingdom
Release Year: 2012 Setting: Historical Warring States period of China
Those expecting an adaptation of the Three Kingdoms era of China will have to look someplace else. Kingdom sets its sights on an earlier (but still war-torn) time period in China’s long history (circa 476 BC to 221 BC). Regardless, it’s still one of the most intense periods in the said nation since it ended in the unification of China – for a limited time.
Thus, Kingdom follows the story of two aspiring war orphans who yearn to someday become generals in the long period of turmoil and conflict. It has rich source material and of course, massive battle sequences that capture the ferocity of the time period.
8 Altair: A Record Of Battles
Release Year: 2017 Setting: Historical Ottoman period in Turkey
Speaking of anime period pieces, Altair: A Record of Battles is one such anime that will delight history buffs. It’s a war epic based on the Ottoman Empire (Turkey in the modern world) which ran from around 1300 - 1922 CE. That’s a long period but the anime picks the medieval portion of that spectrum.
Thus, there’s plenty of Islamic iconography as well as somewhat realistic battle tactics and war strategies employed during the depicted time period. Tughril Mahmut is the protagonist and his small country is being threatened by the Ottoman Empire’s aggressive expansion, so he must do everything within his power to defend his land and people.
7 The Heroic Legend Of Arslan
Release Year: 2015 Setting: Based on Medieval Persia
While on the topic of war anime set in the Middle East, The Heroic Legend of Arslan is heavily based on pre-medieval Persia. In fact, the fictional country in the anime is even named The Kingdom of Pars. They didn’t even try to deviate too much from the wordplay.
In any case, Arslan is the crown prince of the Kingdom of Pars and he sets off for war against their neighboring kingdom of Lusitania. The problem is, Arslan’s father is suddenly assassinated while he’s away, setting off a chain of political events that threatens the Kingdom of Pars’ stability.
6 The Saga Of Tanya The Evil
Release Year: 2017 Setting: World War 1
Believe it or not, The Saga of Tanya the Evil is both an isekai and war anime set in World War 1. It begins after a modern-day man challenges a godly being to a battle of wits. Unsurprisingly, the man loses and as punishment, he is reincarnated as a girl from World War 1.
Hell-bent on defying his new role, the man, now named Tanya, rises through the ranks of the military. Tanya also becomes known as the “Devil of the Rhine” as he/she drives his/her fatherland to victory while skirting around war crimes through her inherent kawaii-ness as a gun-toting blonde girl.
5 Attack On Titan
Release Year: 2015 Setting: Fantasy Industrial Age with giants
Attack on Titan’s setting is more of an odd fantasy cross between the Victorian era and the Industrial Age where giants roam around a certain continent and its endangered inhabitants have to wage a defensive war against them. That’s what’s happening for the first three seasons.
After that, the whole anime becomes a full-blown war epic complete with bombs, zeppelins, and automatic-mounted weaponry. It’s also proof that war anime is expensive to make. Attack on Titan keeps getting delayed supposedly due to studio issues and the dizzying scale of its combat.
4 Mobile Suit Gundam Titles
Release Year: Varies Setting: Futuristic sci-fi
There’s no shortage of Mobile Suit Gundam anime so consider the franchise as a nigh-endless pool of sci-fi war epics featuring giant beautiful mecha. All Gundam anime involve a war of some sort. The most political or philosophical of them would be Gundam Seed or its Destiny sequel.
Regardless, most of the war in Gundam titles have always been political in nature. They involve some complex geopolitics that serves as a backdrop and green light for the boy band protagonists to ride their favored blue-and-white mechs to combat.
3 Legend Of The Galactic Heroes
Release Year: 1988 Setting: Futuristic space sci-fi
For those looking for one of the longest sci-fi war anime in existence, Legend of the Galactic Heroes should more than suffice. It ran for nearly a decade and has seen many improvements in its animation due to the anime’s length. The whole anime is a classic case of a dictatorship empire versus a free peoples alliance but in the glory of space opera battleships and laser beams.
It draws inspiration from many historical figures such as the art university reject who started World War 2, Frederick the Great, Qing dynasty power players, and even Alexander the Great. Likewise, there’s a heavy emphasis on strategy and tactics as inspired by said historical figures.
2 Vinland Saga
Release Year: 2019 Setting: Historical Viking Age
As far as war anime go— or any anime, for that matter, Vinland Saga is one of the most unique. It’s one of the few anime in existence to pick its setting as the Dark Ages or the Viking Age. In the aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire, where a huge power vacuum on the continent of Europe was being contested, Vikings were among the most fearsome contestants.
At the heart of all the conflict is Thorfinn, son of the Legendary Thors who was unfortunately killed by a clever mercenary Viking. The worse part is that Thorfinn’s father’s killer somewhat adopted him into his freebooter Viking army. Hence, the two walk and fight around their new relationship dynamics while playing with politics and war in one of the most chaotic time periods in the Scandinavian region.
1 Code Geass
Release Year: 2006 Setting: Alternate history sci-fi
Code Geass reimagines a world where the British Empire decided to not let the sun set on their dominion and straight-up conquer everything, including Japan. For some reason, one of the British nobles named Lelouch with a claim to the crown grew up in Japan and was accidentally given the power of the Geass, where he can hypnotize people to do his bidding using his gaze.
With his newfound powers and his closeted hatred for his own invasive country, Lelouch sets out to liberate the people of Japan and wage war against his father, the Emperor. As his brilliant victories mount thanks to the Geass and his intellect, Lelouch becomes more and more ambitious and sets his sights on world peace.
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