21+ Best Historical Anime!!! (RATED)

Updated on: July 25, 2022
by Ernie

Historical anime are those anime that represent the culture of old times. The idea of historical anime is taken from real-life incidents in history, but this scenario could not be 100% true. Imagine living in old Japan! I would say it was pretty up-to-date at that time too.

Most people tend to confuse the history of Japan, China, and Korea. But guess what? Anime is there to get all of us covered! Our Anime recommendations will let you know about the culture of Japan along with the impact of HISTORY which led Japan to where it is right now.

Let’s have a war in the comment section (Just Kidding.) In all seriousness, comment on your most Historical Anime and we’ll rank them.

25. Nobunaga The Fool

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
7	6	6	19

Nobunaga The Fool is a Historical Japenese Action anime. There are two planets in this anime, Western and Eastern, and both of the two planets were bounded in a chain known as “Dragon Stream ”. One day, the chain broke and a war took place between these two civilizations.

Nobunaga who is recognized as a fool by his family friends due to his careless behavior is the successor of the Eastern country of Owari meanwhile Jeanne Kaguya d’Arc a girl from the Western side has visions of a “Saviour King”. As she started her journey to Eastern side to find the person of her visions, a guy named, Leonardo da Vinci joined her.

24. Schwarzesmarken

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
6.5	5	7	18.5

This anime is set in 1983 when the cold war was in full swing. Humanity was under attack by the aliens named “Beta”.

The story follows the East German 666th TSF Squadron, a special force unit to fight against BETA. In this anime, Theodor Eberbach the Second Lieutenant, and his companions, were ruthless individuals who preferred the completion of a mission rather than saving another’s life. However, when Katia Waldheim joins the 666th squadron, they find themselves in more difficult situations.

23. Brave 10

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
7	6	7	20

Kirigakure Saizou meets Miko Isanami during an attack in the year before Sekigahara ended the Sengoku Period. In response to Sanada Yukimura’s support for Ieyasu Tokugawa, her shrine was destroyed. Sanada, meanwhile, has been gathering 10 warriors who have the power to change history, known as Sanada’s Brave 10. The mysterious power of Isanami is revealed as they assemble one by one.

22. The Ambition Of Oda Nobuna

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
7	5	8	20

High school student Yoshiharu Sagara suddenly woke up from sleep and found himself in the Sengoku period when war was in process. He was about to get killed but a warrior named Hideyoshi Toyotomi saved his life by getting himself killed. Hideyoshi Toyotomi, shortly before dying, wished that Yoshiharu would succeed him as a feudal lord.

After rescuing Nobuna Oda, who turns out to be Nobunaga Oda’s female version. He realizes he has been transported into an alternate reality where most of Japan’s historical warlords are changed into a woman. To get back to his present life Yoshiharu started working under Nobuna (Head Of Oda Clan)

21. Sirius The Jaeger

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
7	6	8	21

This anime was set in 1930 when a group of vampires left China and moved to Japan. A group of vampire hunters, known as Jaegers, followed them under the cover of V Shipping Company. In the jaegers, there was a young man called Yully. He belonged to the Werewolf clan and had his family destroyed by vampires years ago.

Yully was the most skillful warrior and was the only survivor of a vampire raid in his hometown. Yully and his team members helped Tokyo’s Police to get over the vampire problem in the city. They were also fighting other vampires and were trying to find the Arc of Sirius before the vampires because it can destroy world peace.

20. Devil and Realist

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8	7	6.5	21.5

This anime took place in England in 1889 when a young boy named Williams finds that his family has gone bankrupt. One day, he was searching for money in the basement of his house and accidentally summoned a demon which turned his life upside down. The demon’s name was Dantalion. Dantalion told William that he was the one who could select the demon world’s ruler.

William never believed in demons and decided not to get involved in the matter of Hell until he is chosen to be the interim king. Dantalion stays close to William and attends his school. Sytry and Camio, the companions of Dantalion joined him and one day, Williams finds himself in the middle of a war between Hell and Earth.

19. Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
7	8	7	22

This anime story was set in 1274 when a group of prisoners is sent to Tsushima Island to help fight against the first Mongol invasion. The prisoners first joined the clan named So Clan and later teamed up with Toi Barai to battle against the invaders that mainly belonged to Mongolian, Goryeo, ToTo, and Jurchen.

18. Earl and Fairy

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8	7.5	8	23.5

In the 19th century, a 17-year girl named Lydia Carlton lived in Scotland. She was also known as Fairy Doctor because of her ability to communicate with fairies. She could not only communicate but also see them. One day he met Edgar J.C Ashenbert and her crew. Edgar is looking for a person who has vast knowledge about fairies and Lydia is the best person for this job so he hired her to find information and secrets about fairies.

17. The Mystic Archives Of Dantalian

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8	8	8	24

After World War 1 and the death of Hugh Anthony Disward’s grandfather, he founds a mysterious key to inherit all the estate and possessions of his grandfather Huey must take custody of Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian.

A girl named Dalian who lived in the estate was the guardian of forbidden knowledge stored in thousands of magic books owned by Huey’s eccentric grandfather. Following his acceptance of the position as Dalian’s newly appointed Keykeeper, Huey supports her in investigating the people who misuse the Phantom Books.

16. Mushibugyo

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8	8	8.5	24.5

Japan was under attack by giant insects known as Mushi. The people are terrified because their lives are in danger. They are begging the Government to save their lives and to do that the government has established an organization to fight against those Giant insects.

Jinbei Tsukishima, a young and very talented Samurai who was a newly recruited City Patrol answered a phone call about the current situation. He is much stronger than a normal man but as he is injured he could not fight. Despite being injured, he took the burden of covering his place from Mushi.

15. Basilisk

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8.5	8	8.5	25

At the end of the 16th century, two rival ninja clans Iga Tsubagakure and Kouga Manjidani were involved in really bitter bloodshed that went on for ages. The war was finally over when the very powerful Ieyasu Tokugawa ordered a ceasefire. Due to the ceasefire, both clans were forced to put their weapons down.

After some years the Successors of the Kouga clan and Iga clan fell in love with each other. They both married each other with the hope of peace to be brought in their clans but their hopes vanished when another war occurred between them.

To solve the problems both Kouga and Iga clans are asked to send their 10 warriors to fight a final battle. Despite being married to each other Gennosuke and Kouga must fulfill their duties to decide the fate of their clans.

14. Arslan Senki

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8.5	8.5	9	26

This story follows Arslan, the prince of the kingdom of Pars. Arslan was not like his father, he had different aspects from his father in many fields. He wanted to prove his worth, so he participated on the battlefield. On that battlefield, Arslan’s father, the king, was betrayed by his army. After all this Arslan was forced to go on a run with a general named Daryun.

The enemies are a big threat to Arslan, as they are the most dangerous people. To become a great king, and to get back to his homeland, Arslan must find the strength to overcome all these hurdles. To get his homeland back and to become a great king, he must form a really strong force that will help him in every situation.

13. 91 Days

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9	9	8	26

Angelo Lagusa was a young man whose family was murdered in front of his eyes by a Mafia. The Mafia belonged to a Vanetti family. He lost everything he hid behind the name of Avilio Bruno.

After waiting for a long time Avilio finally finds a chance to take revenge on his family murderers when he got an anonymous letter from his father’s friend. He was asking him to return to Lawless and perform his revenge. Under the name of Avilio Bruno, he started killing the Mafia’s family one by one.

12. Drifters

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
8.5	9	9	26.5

When Shimazu Toyuhisa is critically wounded in the battle of Sekigahara, he finds himself in a modern, white hallway. Toyohisa inexplicably finds himself drawn into a world unlike his own by Murasaki, a stoic man surrounded by hundreds of doors on both sides. He finds other great warriors like him in this world who are brought to be a part of an organization called Drifters.

Both humans and other creatures like Dwarves and hobbits live in this world. There is a war happening between other great warriors known as Ends. Their army consists of many terrible creatures like giants and dragons. Ends wish to take over the world and kill all the drifters.

11. Moriarty The Patriot

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9	9	9	27

The British Empire has become Global power at the end of the 19th century. Due to class classification, middle-class citizens have little chance of successfully becoming rich.

William James Moriarty was the second son of the Moriarty household. He lives a simple life but deep inside he wants to destroy the current classification system that lies in the British Empire.

William works as a private consultant. Je used to solve the problems of everyone in need. He has two brothers named Albert and Louis. They both share the same hatred towards the British classification system and will change the filthy world no matter what it takes.

10. Black Butler

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9	9	9	27

A young boy named Ciel Phantomhive got his parents killed on the night of his 10th birthday. A fire destroyed the mansion and he was captured by a mysterious organization. He was later sold for slavery.

On the night of the sacrificial ceremony to summon a demon, instead of making contact with the cult members, the demon made a contract with Ciel and killed every person of the cult as proof that the contract had been formed.

Ciel formed the contract to avenge his family’s death. The demon later revealed that he would take Ciel’s soul as payment after helping him achieve his goal. Whenever Ciel needed him, Demon would appear in the form of a black butler.

9. Dororo

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9	9.5	9	27.5

Lord Daigo Kagemitsu is a greedy Samurai whose land is dying. He is willing to do anything to save his land. He prayed and summoned 12 demons to make a pact with them. Demons agreed to help him but they would take something precious to him. Daigo has never imagined that his unborn son will be taken as a sacrifice for it. Daigo’s baby was born without ears, nose, limbs, hands, and legs.

Daigo left the child near the river but the child was rescued by a man who also gave him prosthetic legs and arms with weapons for self-defense. Despite being able to see or hear anything, the child lives To regain his body parts he has to kill every demon that took his body parts as the price.

8. Baccano

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9.5	9.5	9	28

Baccano is based on a light novel. This anime is based on follows many incidents that seem unnatural for the plot but of a great and award-winning story. This anime it is showed that how A crazy philosopher, thieves, and mafia gain control over an elixir of immorality and spread it over several decades, and lives happily together with their ambitions and goals.

7. Kingdom

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
9	9.5	9.5	28

Xin and Piao are two war orphans living in the Qin State. They both share the same desire to become the greatest general of Heaven. The two suddenly part ways when Piao is hired to work in the royal palace by a minister.

After a few months, Piao returned to the village and insisted Xin travel to another village. Xin agreed and there he met a boy who was almost identical to Piao.

6. Golden Kamuy

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	9	28.5

Golden Kamuy is a Japanese anime which sets in the early 20th century. Its story revolves around Saichi Sugimoto who is a veteran. Saichi and his crew decided to find the gold of the people of Ainu. A young girl from Ainu named. Asirpa helped them in finding the gold. As a result of the significant allure of gold and the traitorous nature of each party, groups routinely form and betray truces so that no one group can collect all tattoos and decode the map.

5. Samurai Champloo

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	9	28.5

In this anime, a girl named Fuu is working in a tea shop while she is harassed by a band of samurai. While they were harassing her a mysterious guy named Mugen and a young ronin named Jin saved her. After rescuing her, Mugen attacks Jin to prove that he is a worthy opponent. The magistrate’s son Shibui Tomonoshina got killed while they were fighting. Because of their act, the government punished them. They were about to be executed but Fuu saved them and asked them to travel and help her find the Samurai who smelled like a flower.

4. Mushi-Shi

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	9.5	29

The story of this anime revolves around a strange species known as Mushi. Mushi is a creature that creates strange phenomena around them. Only a few people can see Mushi, some are born with the ability to see them and some are affected by Mushi in any way.

In this anime, the only common elements are Ginko and Mushi. Ginko not only sees Mushi but also attracts them. To avoid that he is always smoking.

3. Demon Slayer

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	9.5	29

Tanjiro Kamado is a kind and intelligent boy. After his father’s death, he is the only breadwinner for his family. He used to visit other villages and sell charcoal to earn money. One day his family was attacked by demons and Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko were the only survivors of this incident. After this incident, Nezuko was cursed by demons and transformed into a demon but still showed some characteristics of a human.

Tanjiro started his search for a cure that could bring his sister back to normal while finding the demon who murdered his family.

2. Vinland Saga

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	10	29.5

There was a young guy named Thorfinn who grew up listening to the stories of Sailors who traveled the ocean and reached the place named Vinland. Vinland is a place that is said to be the most peaceful as there is no need for a fight. Thorfinn’s father was killed by a group of mercenary fighters and to take revenge, he went on a journey with his father’s killer. He also wanted to end his life after taking revenge to pay tribute to his father who was a great warrior.

1. Gintama

Storyline:	Impact:	Animation:	Total
10	9.5	10	29.5

Aliens from outer space named The Amanto have attacked the Earth and they have successfully taken over Japan. Because of this, swords have been prohibited, and the Samurai of Japan were treated as nobody’s business.

There was a brave man named Gintoki Sakata. He never respected the rules and boundaries set by the invaders. He and his gang members are one of those who have not forgotten their morale as a swordsman. They go to different places and do nothing except creating trouble for the aliens.