Anime like Shangri-La Frontier

Sword Art Online

Also known as Sword Art Online.

Studio: Aniplex , A-1 Pictures , Genco , DAX Production , Aniplex of America , ASCII Media Works
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy , Romance

In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...



Tags: Virtual World , Isekai , Death Game , Video Games , Male Protagonist , Swordplay , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Primarily Female Cast , Female Harem , Artificial Intelligence , Travel , Unrequited Love , Time Skip , Found Family , Fairy , Tragedy , Prison , Fishing , Amnesia , Inseki , Primarily Male Cast , Rescue , Medieval

Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.

Also known as BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense..

Studio: SILVER LINK. , AT-X , MAGES. , ABC Animation , Sammy , Docomo Anime Store , Kadokawa Media House , KADOKAWA , D-techno
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Slice of Life

The story centers on Kaede Honjou, who is invited by her friend Risa Shiramine to play a virtual reality MMO game with her. While Kaede doesn't dislike games, what she really, truly dislikes is being in pain. She creates a character named Maple, and decides to put all her points in VIT to minimize pain. As a result, she moves slowly, can't use magic, and even a rabbit can get the best of her. However, as it turns out, she acquires a skill known as "Absolute Defense" as a result of her pumping points into VIT, as well as a "Counter Skill" that works against special moves. Now, with her ability to nullify all damage, she goes on adventures.



Tags: Video Games , Virtual World , Female Protagonist , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Primarily Female Cast , Magic , Henshin , Parody , Animals , Swordplay , Primarily Teen Cast , Battle Royale , Twins , Episodic , Samurai , Monster Girl , Swimming , Steampunk , CGI , Robots , Fishing , Creature Taming , Medieval

Log Horizon

Also known as Log Horizon.

Studio: Satelight , NHK , NHK Enterprises , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

The online fantasy game Elder Tales is a worldwide phenomenon, immersing millions of players in its intricately conceived virtual world. However, the release of the game's twelfth expansion pack makes that immersion all too literal, as players from around the world are suddenly pulled into the game's no-longer-fictional universe! Now, eight-year ET veteran Shiroe, his friend Naotsugu, the beautiful assassin Akatsuki, and 30,000 other players are faced with the daunting task of learning how to deal with an entirely new reality, one where the Non-Player Characters are actually alive, and the tips and tricks learned while playing with a keyboard no longer apply.



Tags: Virtual World , Politics , Isekai , Video Games , Male Protagonist , Magic , Alternate Universe , Kingdom Management , Dungeon , Ensemble Cast , Anthropomorphism , Found Family , Primarily Adult Cast , Kemonomimi , Love Triangle , Elf , Goblin , Twins , Kuudere , Samurai , Femboy , Skeleton , Episodic

Kyuukyoku Shinka Shita Full Dive RPG ga Genjitsu yori mo Kusogee Dattara

Also known as Full Dive: This Ultimate Next-Gen Full Dive RPG Is Even Shittier than Real Life!.

Studio: ENGI , KADOKAWA , Bit Grooove Promotion
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Ecchi , Fantasy , Romance

Yuuki Hiroshi has just picked up Kiwame Quest, the realest VRMMO ever made. But this RPG is TOO lifelike; he can smell, taste, feel, and when he's hurt in it, his physical body is hurt too. Even worse, his abilities in this adventure suck as much as they do in daily life. This was supposed to be immersion, not reality. Consumed with winning, he swears he'll conquer this game—even if it kills him!



Note: The first episode received an online advance screening on March 31, 2021. Regular TV broadcast started on April 7, 2021

Tags: Video Games , Virtual World , Surreal Comedy , Parody , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Isekai , Yandere , Conspiracy , Gore , Memory Manipulation , Female Harem , Goblin , Rehabilitation , Primarily Female Cast , Prison

Overlord

Also known as Overlord.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Funimation , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

The story takes place in the year 2138 when virtual reality gaming is booming. Yggdrasil, a popular online game is quietly shut down one day. However, the protagonist Momonga decides to not log out. Momonga is then transformed into the image of a skeleton as "the most powerful wizard." The world continues to change, with non-player characters (NPCs) beginning to feel emotion. Having no parents, friends, or place in society, this ordinary young man Momonga then strives to take over the new world the game has become.



Tags: Isekai , Anti-Hero , Skeleton , Virtual World , Magic , Male Protagonist , Demons , Succubus , Primarily Adult Cast , Yandere , Politics , Villainess , Necromancy , Ensemble Cast , Kingdom Management , Medieval , CGI , Maids , Monster Girl , Female Harem , Kuudere , Femboy , Love Triangle , Butler , Elf , Twins , Vampire , Monster Boy , Tomboy , Crossdressing , Goblin , Dragons

Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata

Also known as The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Studio: Shin-Ei Animation , Studio Add , Frontier Works , GREE Entertainment , Crunchyroll , Bandai Namco Music Live , Capybara , Shin-Ei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy

An ordinary walk home from school turns into an epic journey for Usato. After suddenly being dropped into another world with two fellow students, Usato learns he was summoned there by accident. But things turn around when he discovers a unique aptitude for healing magic! Now, he trains beyond human limitations, using his self-healing abilities to gain absurd strength and unrivaled stamina.



Tags: Isekai , Magic , Demons , Fitness , Male Protagonist , War , Military , Heterosexual , Animals , Kemonomimi , Swordplay , Female Harem , Cultivation , Wilderness , Creature Taming

Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki

Also known as A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life.

Studio: Maho Film , Yomiuri Advertising , King Records , AlphaPolis , KLOCKWORX , Stay Luck
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy

Tanaka Taichi is just an ordinary 38-year-old who enjoys video games. He starts a new virtual reality multiplayer game called One More Free Life Online, naming his character Earth. Unlike his fellow players, he decides to master the most menial of skills in the game. He cooks the finest meals, overbrews complicated potions, and hunts monsters with handmade weapons. His fantasy life begins!



Note: The first 2 episodes were exclusively shown as a world premiere during the Anime Messe Babelsberg 2023 in July as a part of a special Anime Panel.


Tags: Video Games , Virtual World , Archery , Male Protagonist , Artificial Intelligence , Kemonomimi , Food , Fairy , Marriage , Alchemy

Sword Art Online II

Also known as Sword Art Online II.

Studio: Aniplex , A-1 Pictures , Genco , DAX Production , Aniplex of America , ASCII Media Works
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy , Sci-Fi

One year after the SAO incident, Kirito is approached by Seijiro Kikuoka from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Department "VR Division" with a rather peculiar request. That was an investigation on the "Death Gun" incident that occurred in the gun and steel filled VRMMO called Gun Gale Online (GGO). "Players who are shot by a mysterious avatar with a jet black gun lose their lives even in the real world..." Failing to turn down Kikuoka's bizarre request, Kirito logs in to GGO even though he is not completely convinced that the virtual world could physically affect the real world.

Kirito wanders in an unfamiliar world in order to gain any clues about the "Death Gun." Then, a female sniper named Sinon who owns a gigantic "Hecate II" rifle extends Kirito a helping hand. With Sinon's help, Kirito decides to enter the "Bullet of Bullets," a large tournament to choose the most powerful gunner within the realm of GGO, in hopes to become the target of the "Death Gun" and make direct contact with the mysterious avatar.



Tags: Virtual World , Video Games , Primarily Female Cast , Male Protagonist , Battle Royale , Guns , Female Protagonist , Swordplay , Death Game , Primarily Teen Cast , Tragedy , Bullying , Unrequited Love , Kuudere , Assassins , Crossdressing , Tomboy , Female Harem

Accel World

Also known as Accel World.

Studio: Sunrise , Genco , Viz Media , Rakuonsha , Warner Bros. Japan , flying DOG , ASCII Media Works
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Romance , Sci-Fi

The year is 2046. Haruyuki Arita is a young boy who finds himself on the lowest social rungs of his school. Ashamed of his miserable life, Haruyuki can only cope by indulging in virtual games. But that all changes when Kuroyukihime, the most popular girl in school, introduces him to a mysterious program called Brain Burst and a virtual reality called the Accel World.



Tags: Virtual World , Video Games , Henshin , Netorare , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Augmented Reality , School , Philosophy , Primarily Teen Cast , Tokusatsu , Female Protagonist , Isekai , Motorcycles , Kuudere , Bullying

Ore dake Level Up na Ken

Also known as Solo Leveling.

Studio: A-1 Pictures , Aniplex , Netmarble , D&C MEDIA , Kakao piccoma , Crunchyroll
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but that’s not the case for the world’s weakest hunter Seong Jin-U. After being brutally slaughtered by monsters in a high-ranking dungeon, Jin-U came back with the System, a program only he could see, that’s leveling him up in every way. Now, he’s inspired to discover the secrets behind his powers and the dungeon that spawned them.





Tags: Dungeon , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Super Power , Magic , Necromancy , Cultivation , Survival , War , Anti-Hero , Gore , Tragedy , Alternate Universe , Swordplay , Angels , Time Manipulation , Post-Apocalyptic , Heterosexual , College , Bullying , Travel , Gods , Dragons , Ninja