10 Best Anime Like The Ancient Magus’ Bride

The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a fantasy shōnen manga by Kore Yamazaki. Wit Studio produced an OVA trilogy titled The Ancient Magus Bride: Those Awaiting a Star as a prequel to the series; the animation studio also made an animated television series that first aired between October 8, 2017, and March 25, 2018. Another three-part OVA series, The Ancient Magus’ Bride: The Boy From the West and the Knight of the Mountain Haze, aired from September 10, 2021, to September 10, 2022. On September 10, 2022, a second season was announced, which premiered on April 6, 2023. In this article, we have decided to compose a list of the ten best anime series you will enjoy if you liked The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

1. Yona of the Dawn

Original Run: October 7, 2014 – March 24, 2015
Number of Episodes: 24 + 3 OVAs

What it’s about: Yona, the princess of the Kôka kingdom, grew up carefree. Since childhood, she has been pampered by her father and protected by her bodyguard and childhood friend, Hak. On her sixteenth birthday, Yona is happy: her cousin and secret love, Soo-Won, comes to visit her to celebrate her birthday, and she intends to confess her feelings to him. But nothing will go as planned. Forced to abandon her position, she will have to fight to regain the throne that is rightfully hers. As well as for its survival because the country of Kôka is full of dangers.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Yona of the Dawn is all about combining adventure, fantasy, and romance, and if the title of The Ancient Magus’ Bride doesn’t imply exactly that, then… well… we do not know what does. Yona of the Dawn might not be so grim and grotesque, but it is nevertheless a great series you’ll love.

2. Natsume’s Book of Friends

Original Run: July 7, 2008 – June 21, 2017
Number of Episodes: 74

What it’s about: Natsume can see youkai and ayakashi (Japanese supernatural spirits), while those around him do not perceive them. When he was little, he didn’t particularly like them because the apparitions tended to put him in embarrassing, even dangerous, situations and led him to behaviors that normal humans could not understand.

Categorized as “weird,” the orphan is lonely, rejected by other children, and goes from foster family to foster family. After yet another move, many youkai start chasing him without his understanding of why. While trying to flee an attack, he one day enters a sacred place and inadvertently releases Madara, a “cat” who had been trapped there.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Natsume’s Book of Friends combines every day with the macabre most beautifully. It is also a story about emotions and interpersonal relationships, but also self-discovery and growth. It has a lot of similarities with our main show, which is why we think you’ll love it.

3. Mushishi

Original Run: October 23, 2005 – December 21, 2014
Number of Episodes: 46 (+ 2 specials and a movie)

What it’s about: In a world somewhat similar to Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, beings of neither animal nor vegetable nature exist. The living beings that are said to have a great connection to nature are called Mushi. The Mushi are invisible to most people. Few people who can see them often travel the world as mushishi trying to help the people who have problems caused by Mushi.

The white-haired Ginko, who lost an eye through a mushi in his childhood, works as a Mushi master (mushishi) and meets different people and mushis on his travels. When he encounters people harmed by Mushi, he first carefully investigates the cause and type of the mushi before attempting to drive it away without killing it.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Mushishi is a truly enlightening spiritual journey that focuses on man’s relationship with nature from a very specific perspective. It is also one of this list’s most complex and beautiful titles. This might not be the romance title you’re looking for, but it has a very similar ambiance, and that is why you’ll love it.

4. Snow White with the Red Hair

Original Run: July 6, 2015 – March 28, 2016
Number of Episodes: 24 + OVA

What it’s about: Shirayuki, a herbalist from the Kingdom of Tanbarun, stands apart for only one specific trait: her fiery red hair. She chops off her hair and runs away to the neighboring Kingdom of Clarines after Raji, the prince of Tanbarun, forces her to become her concubine because of her. Shirayuki encounters her second son Zen Prince along the way and her two guards, Mitsuhide and Kiki, who aid in her escape from Raji. Shirayuki begins the journey to becoming a herbalist.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Well, Snow White with the Red Hair is a title with more than its fair share of similarities with The Ancient Magus’ Bride. It features a lot of romance and a fantasy setting, and while it is definitely not as grotesque, fans of the series should definitely enjoy this one as well.

5. Spice and Wolf

Original Run: January 9, 2008 – September 24, 2009
Number of Episodes: 24 (+ 2 OVA)

What it’s about: Spice and Wolf is set on a continent inspired by Europe in the late Middle Ages. In an unspecified time, the population of a small town, Pasloe, made a pact with a wolf god to avoid lean periods and guarantee good harvests. While preparing for the feast in honor of the wolf, a young merchant named Lawrence discovers, hidden among the skins contained in her cart, a sleeping girl with the ears and tail of a wolf. The young woman introduces herself as the Holo – the name of the wolf deity – of her and asks the boy to take her back north to where she was born.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Well, Spice and Wolf definitely isn’t as macabre as The Ancient Magus’ Bride, but it does tell the story of a romance between a very odd and unlikely couple, which is why it definitely fits our criteria here. The world is also a fantasy, so that’s another reason to jump into this story.

6. Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits

Original Run: April 2, 2018 – September 24, 2018
Number of Episodes: 26

What it’s about: Aoi Tsubaki, a student, was endowed by her late grandfather with the gift of being able to see ayakashi. When Aoi passes a torii shrine one day, he notices Ayakashi sitting there and hears him say he’s hungry. But after feeding him, Aoi is taken away by Ayakashi, an ogre by the name of Odanna. She travels with him to the Hidden Realm, the home of all Ayakashi. He informs Aoi that her grandfather owes him money, and she must wed him as payment. Instead, Aoi bargains with the ogre, requesting a position at Tenjin’ya’s inn.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: A romantic comedy with supernatural elements? What more could you want? Kakuriyo indeed has a lot of similarities with The Ancient Magus’ Bride. We definitely think you’ll enjoy this series thoroughly, especially because it combines its fantasy with some macabre elements, which is great.

7. Somali and the Forest Spirit

Original Run: January 9, 2020 – March 26, 2020
Number of Episodes: 12

What it’s about: Golem, the god of the forest, meets Somali, a human girl in a world where wonderful creatures roam the planet, and humanity has been marginalized and all but exterminated. After that, he adopts the role of a surrogate father and embarks on a search for the last remaining humans with her. Somali are ignorant of Golem’s short life expectancy.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: An odd coupling in a fantasy world is also the focus of this anime series, so we simply had to list it here. The world is magical and beautiful, but it does, like our main series here, also have some macabre elements, which is why it is so similar to The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

8. Iroduku: The World in Colors

Original Run: October 6, 2018 – December 29, 2018
Number of Episodes: 13

What it’s about: In the year 2078, Hitomi Tsukishiro is a teenage girl from a family of witches who lost her sense of color by losing the people she cherished. Not wanting to see her granddaughter suffer anymore, Kohaku Tsukishiro, Hitomi’s grandmother, sends her 60 years from the past to 2018 to meet her 17-year-old self.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Well, the aesthetical approach of Iroduku is much cheerier and lighter than that of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, but it is nevertheless a beautiful story filled with magic and fantasy. The topics are more diverse, but it is still a series that fans of our main series should enjoy.

9. Violet Evergarden

Original Run: January 11, 2018 – April 5, 2018
Number of Episodes: 13 + OVA

What it’s about: The story is set around a young girl who performs the “automatic memory dolls” trade: dolls initially created by Professor Orland to help his blind wife Mollie write her novels and later rented out to others. People who needed their services. The term refers to people who perform the function of a public writer, whose purpose is to transcribe the words and feelings of people. After four years of bitter warfare, this young girl with a heavy past tries, not without difficulty, to rebuild her future, starting with the exercise of this profession. However, one seems unwilling to heal from all the wounds inflicted on him during the war.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: If you’re looking for a great romance story, Violet Evergarden is definitely a great pick. It features more technology than magic, but the aesthetical approach and topics are so similar that we couldn’t make this list without this great and complex title, whose emotions you will love.

10. Made in Abyss

Original Run: July 7, 2017 – ongoing
Number of Episodes: 25

What it’s about: A 12-year-old girl named Riko resides at the Belchero orphanage in the town of Orth. The city looks out over the Abyss, a massive earthen pit with an unknown depth and a width of 1000 meters. Many explorers worldwide travel to this chasm because it is a source of magical artifacts gathered for sale on the surface. Only a few skilled explorers, known as white whistles, have emerged from the lowest strata; everyone else has perished from the curse or remained below.

Why it’s like The Ancient Magus’ Bride: This might not be your first pick, but we definitely recommend it. Made in Abyss is set in a beautiful and disturbing world, with a backstory that has less to do with romance than you’d expect, but with a similar approach. It also follows a very odd couple of protagonists (although it does not focus on romance), which is why we think you’ll like it.