5 Brilliant Anime With Better World-Building Than Lord of the Rings (& We Aren’t Exaggerating)
On the topic of worldbuilding in fiction, it’s not easy to top The Lord of the Rings, in either book or movie format. The world of Middle-Earth and beyond set a new standard for fantasy with its kingdoms, the peoples who lived there, the rich history, and more. That being said, today’s pop culture consumers find The Lord of the Rings‘ world deep yet familiar. In a way, The Lord of the Rings succeeded to well when every work of fantasy emulated it, to the point it now feels routine.
That’s why some anime series with remarkable worldbuilding can compete with or even top The Lord of the Rings in terms of novelty and memorable twists or quirks. Such worldbuilding can’t beat The Lord of the Rings with the sheer volume of detail involved, but then again, bigger doesn’t always mean best. These anime series feature worlds even more thematic or memorable than Frodo Baggins’ own, and that’s part of what makes these anime so special.
One Piece’s World is Built on Layers of Disaster & Mystery
If any anime series can seriously rival the worldbuilding found in The Lord of the Rings, it’s One Piece. To begin with, One Piece is one of the precious few anime that actually can match The Lord of the Rings in terms of the breadth and depth of the worldbuilding. That includes nations, historical figures, world-shaking past events, the geography, and even in-universe mysteries, such as the Void Century. It’s unknown how many islands the world of One Piece actually has, but fans can tell there are a lot in the Grand Line and beyond. What is more, the fact the world is split up into small islands rather than continents is part of the incredible worldbuilding’s mysteries, not just an excuse to craft a pirate-friendly setting of tropical islands.
The world is divided into islands because in the Void Century, the World Government used an Ancient Weapon to flood the world to destroy the Ancient Kingdom, and something similar might happen again now. That’s a stunning revelation on why One Piece is designed this way, and there’s still more. Fans are eager to know how the One Piece treasure ties together the fate of the Ancient Kingdom and its Joy Boy champion, which may also tie into the cryptic prophecy in the Harley about the divided world reuniting. That alone makes One Piece one of the best examples of anime worldbuilding, and there’s still so much more: the unusual weather of the Grand Line, the Noah ark found in Fish-Man Island, the vivid themes of Alabasta and Wano, and even topics like the Voice of All Things and the Will of D.
Bleach’s Three Worlds Are Distinct & Balance One Another
It’s true Bleach‘s worldbuilding doesn’t easily compare to either One Piece or The Lord of the Rings in terms of sheer scale and depth with its worldbuilding, but there is more to consider than that. Worldbuilding also thrives on efficiency and distinct contrasts, and that works to Bleach‘s advantage. As fans have recently learned, this anime’s lore includes the fact the Soul King split the original world into today’s three worlds, which meant the Quincy tribe had no place to call home. The three-world model worked for the benefit of Souls and humans, but now the vengeful Quincy are fighting to restore the original world, even if that means bringing in the apocalypse for Earth, the Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo. Few anime depict a villain who wishes to crash three worlds together just to give his wronged people a promised land, complete with moral ambiguity.
On top of that, Bleach has powerful worldbuilding with its contrasts and balance in those three worlds. Karakura Town is the most grounded of the three, giving Ichigo Kurosaki a slice-of-life home where Rukia and the other Soul Reapers may stand out as reverse-isekai characters of sorts. That gave the Substitute Shinigami Arc distinct flair and comedy, and then Bleach reversed all this with Ichigo and his friends journeying to the Soul Society as isekai heroes of sorts. Notably, the Soul Society is a peaceful, pre-industrial world based on Japanese history, making it feel exotic, pleasant, and troublingly regressive all at once. Finally, Hueco Mundo may seem boring at first, but the bleak nighttime desert is perfectly symbolic for the empty, dead creatures who call it home. It’s a world of despair, a dry jungle where being the strongest means nothing.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is The Lord of the Rings For Isekai
The overall isekai genre is a total sandbox mode for anime, throwing open the doors to all kinds of worldbuilding. Some isekai anime don’t make a serious effort since they don’t have to, such as I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years or Trapped in a Dating Sim, but others go the distance to compete with Middle-Earth. One such anime is That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, or Tensura, which clearly set out to be The Lord of the Rings in the isekai space. The scale and depth of the worldbuilding in Rimuru Tempest’s world is astonishing, gradually and energetically expanding the fantasy realm Rimuru calls home with nations, cities, notable characters, monster races, spells, and much more. By Season 3, the worldbuilding in Tensura is so expansive, fans might need to start taking notes or look up maps of this isekai world.
The lore and themes found in Tensura do their job too, such as how the world is divided between feuding nations and even monsters vs humanity. It’s an immersive and gripping take on how such a world would function, since of course people would feel threatened by monsters, and of course some of the smarter monsters would feel wronged by this prejudice. That made Tensura‘s world the ideal place for a philanthropist like Rimuru to bring together the races with the power of kindness, tolerance, and friendship to build a newer, better society. Thus, Rimuru established the current phase of this world’s history, the era when everyone adjusts their views on what monsters like orcs are — and what they aren’t.
Attack on Titan’s World Feels Alien Yet Chillingly Familiar
Attack on Titan may not have deep lore with elves and kingdoms like Númenor, but it does have some bluntly effective worldbuilding to make the narrative hit home. In fact, fans might say author Hajime Isayama succeeded too well with Attack on Titan‘s worldbuilding, seeing how much controversy it has stirred up in terms of grim historical events and today’s geopolitical tensions. Then again, art isn’t always meant to make people comfortable — it’s often meant to expose the problems of humanity and the real world in vivid, engaging ways. That is no doubt part of what Attack on Titan is doing with the narrative of an island being besieged by larger neighbors or one ethnic group labeling another as “devils.”
All that makes Attack on Titan feel like early modern fantasy mixed with all-too-real political tensions and war stories, combined with the unforgettable excitement and horror of the Titans themselves. What’s so cool about the Titans is how they are defenders, builders, and monsters all at once depending on who is using them and why, and in what time period. Titans have reshaped the course of humanity every time the Eldians are involved, making it tough to decide if the Eldians are decent people who got carried away with their powers or tyrannical devils after all. On a side note, anime fans love the simple yet memorable worldbuilding centered around the people of Paradis Island defending their walled city from pure Titans while also desperately wondering what lies beyond the confines of those same walls.
What makes the worldbuilding in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood so interesting is how the entire nation of Amestris was built to be Father’s ultimate transmutation circle. Edward Elric’s homeland is the blueprint for Father’s final victory hiding in plain sight, which explains its unusual shape as a neatly designed, circular nation. It looked like the anime designed Amestris that way out of sheer convenience or to allude to transmutation circles, but this worldbuilding isn’t for fun. Father designed this nation as an artificial sacrifice for his plan for godhood, and only later in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood did the heroes realize that fact and resolve to do something about it.
That alone makes Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood‘s worldbuilding some of the best, since few stories of any kind use an entire nation as a sinister plot device hiding in plain sight like that. To round things out, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood treats fans to a stylish steampunk world of alchemy, homunculi, and 1910s technology to add some serious shonen flair. It helps that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood contrasts Amestris with the faraway realm of Xing with its charming Chinese overtones, along with the fallen nation of Xerxes in the desert, a cool place for fans of archeology.
