Animes to Watch If You’re Obsessed With ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’
Tears of the Kingdom has been on all of our minds. But while your Switch has to charge, take a break with one of these animes.
At this point, we’re all playing the latest Legend of Zelda game. Tears of the Kingdom has been selling at a record rate and videos of the truly wild things people have been helping Link build have been filling up my recommended watch lists. People are loving this game. So if Tears of the Kingdom is your exact jam but your Switch needs some time to charge, here are a few animes to check out in the meantime.
Anything Ghibli
I know that not specifying is sort of a cop-out. But in a few ways, Ghibli is Ghibli across the board. And one of those ways is how darn pretty the worlds always are. If you’re enjoying Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild before it, there’s a good chance that this was in no small part because of the gorgeous, open world to explore. When I think of amines with big, pretty, storybook-looking settings, I think of Studio Ghibli every time. And oh yeah, there are also consistently great movies with thought-provoking, meaningful stories, genuinely likable characters, and kind morals.
Record of Lodoss War
A bit on the older side, but still good. Record of Lodoss War feels like a hybrid between an epic adventure-fantasy book and an RPG game… because it was literally made to. A little more strictly organized in the 80s and 90s video games way, but if you’re looking for an anime that will give you that big fantasy world feeling, Lodoss is the one.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Another big story in a big world, Fullmetal Alchemist at times can be a little less fantasy and a little more sci-fi. But it definitely toes the line the whole way. And the way you can fuse items together to make everything from rickety bridges to skateboards to flying explosives feels a lot like the kind of alchemy they practice in FMA. You may be wondering which version I’m talking about, and the answer is both. I genuinely love both versions of FMA, yes, even with how hard the first series went off the tracks.
Inuyasha
Inuyasha is another one of those animes that feel a lot like a video game at times. This time though, I don’t think it’s necessarily on purpose. Instead, it’s the nature of the “go here and then here and then here in order to hit the major beats of the plot, and then along your way collect these numerous identical items for power” setup of the show. But it’s okay since the collecting episodes are some of the best, just like finding all of the shrines can be fun all on its own.
Eden’s Bowy
Another slightly older anime, this one is a little less well-known and maybe a little harder to come by. It’s got floating island continents, a civilization that’s been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, and a boy out for adventure with his sword. While the manga ran for more than ten years, the anime only had 26 episodes. So it’s not even that much to commit to watching.
Have you seen all of the animes on this list? What is your favorite anime with that Legend of Zelda vibe? Are you enjoying Tears of the Kingdom so far?
Let us know in the comments!
