As an anime and manga fan, I have to admit that one of my favorite things about fantasy stories is watching a character prove everyone wrong. Especially when that character does not rely on some ridiculously overpowered skill, a legendary sword, or a convenient magical ability that solves every problem. Sometimes, the most interesting hero…
There are plenty of fantasy manga where the protagonist wins because he suddenly unlocks a ridiculous new ability. The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System has always felt different to me. What makes this series so entertaining is that Elma doesn’t really fight like a traditional shonen hero. He fights like someone…
There are a lot of fantasy series built around the same basic idea: an absurdly powerful protagonist shows up, everyone realizes how strong he is, and the story moves on to the next fight. From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman takes that formula and does something much more entertaining with it. At first glance,…
If there is one piece of manga news that can completely change the way you look at a series, it is this: Witch Hat Atelier may only be about one-third of the way through its story. As a longtime fantasy manga fan, that information hit me much harder than I expected. I already knew Kamome…
When the Summer 2026 anime season started, I expected The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System to be another disposable “kicked out of the hero party” fantasy. Instead, three episodes later I was searching for the manga at 2 a.m. because I needed to know what happened next. What surprised me most…
When I started watching The Cat and the Dragon, I expected a relaxing fantasy series that would help me unwind after work. What I didn’t expect was becoming emotionally invested in a giant red dragon who was raised by cats and somehow turned into one of the most lovable characters of the year. That combination…
If there’s one anime I genuinely didn’t expect to become one of my favorites this year, it was The Cat and the Dragon (Neko to Ryuu). At first glance, it looks like another relaxing fantasy series filled with adorable cats and beautiful forests. A few episodes later, I realized it was so much more. It…
If you’ve spent any time hanging around anime Reddit, manga Discord servers, or even small fan communities over the last couple of years, you’ve probably seen one request pop up again and again: ‘Please license Champignon Witch already.’ At this point it almost became a running joke. Every licensing announcement came and went, yet Luna’s…
Every anime season has one fantasy series that quietly builds momentum before suddenly everyone starts talking about it. This year, for me, that’s From Overshadowed to Overpowered: Second Reincarnation of a Talentless Sage. I’ll admit it—I expected another generic “overpowered protagonist” story. There are plenty of those already. But after reading several manga chapters and…