Winter has come and it’s gonna be a cold one. April 14th marks the beginning of the end for the HBO mega hit series Game of Thrones. Based on the “Song of Fire and Ice” series by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is the 21st century answer to The Lord of the Rings, combining equal parts high adventure with political intrigue and supernatural horror. The show has definitely inspired a lot since it was created and its hard not to watch some Anime titles and feel like they have that same Game of Thrones vibe to them, this goes for both classic and modern day Anime. So when Winter (and the series itself) conclude, what’s next? Well I have five titles from the world of Anime that could sate your Game of Thrones thirst. These are my Top 5 Anime You’ll Like if you Like Game of Thrones.
#5-Record of Lodoss War
The quintessential Fantasy
Anime, Lodoss War remains a classic kind of lost to time. For an early
90’s OVA it still looks amazing with beautifully animated landscapes and still
images that can blow your mind. Also you get a crap ton of Dragon action,
beautiful Elvish warriors and epic clashes of good vs evil. If you ever
wanted to see a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in Anime form, look no further
than Record of Lodoss War.
#4-Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Game of Thrones contains
plenty of scenes of tactical planning and strategizing, going hand in hand with
some of the most epic clashes in TV history. Now imagine having two
warring space factions, each with their own Tyrion Lannister, matching wits and
tactics against each other from the bridge of a ship amongst hundreds of
thousands of battlecruisers…that’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes aka one of the
greatest space operas of all time. I’d recommend the original series over
the Die Nue These series since the latter is far from finished and the former
is still one of the best looking OVA series of all time, which is good
considering it took nearly 10 years to see the 110 episode epic to completion.
#3-Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Magical mind altering
abilties, a battle for the freedom of an entire nation and would be mad man
saviors with daddy issues…Game of Thrones actually has all of these
things. Code Geass just adds the giant robots and one of the coolest and
most complex anti heroes in Anime history in the form of Lelouch Vi Britannia
aka Zero. The first season of Code Geass still stands as one of the best
seasons of Anime ever for me, filled with plenty of twists and turns and one of
the best cliffhangers this side of The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 (that’s a
Star Trek reference). If you can stomach the minor dip in quality at the
beginning of Season Two, the show still finishes as strong as it began.
Here’s hoping Game of Thrones can do the same.
#2-Berserk
If there’s one thing Game of
Thrones is best known for it’s how much hell the main characters get put
through, especially if you’re a good guy. Those of kind hearts rarely win
and the bad guys revel in their suffering. Plus the ultra violence.
Berserk is one of the darkest fantasy tales in history, never mind Anime.
Not only do Guts and his allies get put through the ringer across multiple wars
and political manipulations…they get put through one of the most horrendous and
nightmare inducing sequences in Anime, one that even I have refused to truly
watch for fear of never being able to sleep again. And that’s all before
the nightmare fueling bad CG of the follow up series.
#1-Fate/Zero
At the end of my Fate/Zero review I flat out called it
the “Game of Thrones of Anime” and I still stand by that. A cast of
characters so complex you’ll have a hard time finding someone good to root for
(unless bad boys are your thing); duels and action sequences that defy anything
Dragon Ball Z could ever do; and a game of wits, ruthlessness and soul
sacrifice all in the name of possessing one all powerful maguffin. Yeah
that sounds like Game of Thrones to a T. Iron Throne or Holy Grail, both
feature a lot of bad things happening to good people while the soulless
bastards leech off their suffering and servants clash in the streets to the
most epic of music and visual brilliance. You know what, as soon as Game
of Thrones wraps, just start Fate/Zero and think of it s a bonus season.
You wont be sorry you did.
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