Seventeen-year-old Sagara Yoshiharu suddenly finds himself inside of his favorite video game, Nobunaga’s Ambition. It’s a historic video game revolving around the conquests of Oda Nobunaga, a significant daimyo largely responsible for giving birth to a unified Japan. The only catch is that in this game world, the role of Nobunaga goes to a young woman named Nobuna, and she’s quite the feisty Princess. If that weren’t enough, her most trusted generals and advisers are cute, young girls as well! After Yoshiharu saves Nobuna’s life, she appoints him to serve in her court of advisers. Yoshiharu realizes how important of a role she plays in forming a strong nation and becomes her oracle of sorts, always keeping her on the right path, no matter what perils lie ahead. Oda Nobuna ultimately ends up developing a crush on Yoshiharu, who she (somewhat affectionately) refers to as ‘Monkey’. The intensity of battle only fortifies this attraction, and he begins to have romantic feelings toward her as well.

The way that Monkey and Nobuna can distribute and efficiently control their armies resemble the way that the Lord Marksman and Lady Eleonora trust each other while on the battlefield. They both use strategic techniques to turn the tides of war so that victory can be secured with minimal loss to their own numbers. Lord Marksman and Vanadis, and The Ambition of Oda Nobuna both have scenes where they demonstrate that, sometimes, mental prowess can be more valuable than physical power. Oda Nobuna no Yabou is quite an enjoyable amalgamate of history meeting fantasy.

When the oppressive, corrupt monarchy imposes an impossibly high tax on his starving village, country boy Tatsumi sets out on a journey to the capital city in order to join the military. He pledges to save his hungry village from a slow death by earning money as an enlisted officer. Life, however, has other plans - plans like refusing his military application, conning him out of his life savings, and leaving him to sleep out on the streets. And just when you think he has caught a lucky break, he ends up witnessing a hit being carried out by the infamous assassin group, Night Raid. Having seen “a little too much,” Tatsumi is left with only two options- join the revolutionary band of assassins in their fight against the tyrannical government, or be executed on the spot. The life of an assassin is not an easy one; the risk of death comes with each and every assignment, and to make matters worse, your friends and family could potentially be in danger as well. Regardless of the danger, he still has a starving village to support, and so Tatsumi takes the job.

This anime takes place in a similar fantasy setting as Lord Marksman and Vanadis, not to mention that it has a decent amount of ecchi as well. Much like the war maidens of LMaV, some of the assassins in Akame Ga Kill use oversized uber-weapons to take out multiple targets or to duel with a powerful enemy. Akame is the romantic interest in the story, and keeps to the loose theme of sparing the main character's life before he joins their organization on an adventure. Even though Akame isn't the leader, the boss (appropriately named "The Boss") is a strong female character in a leadership position, much like Lady Elen.

High school mega-pervert Issei Hyoudou finally scores a date with a girl! Everything seems to be going great until she reveals her true form as a fallen angel, whips out a magical spear of light, and turns him into a human shish-kebab. As he lay fatally bleeding out on the ground, Rias Gremory, the most beautiful, popular (and not to mention well-endowed) girl in his high school appears before him and saves his life. It does, however, come at a great cost -he is turned into a devil and he becomes a servant to the House of Gremory; -one of five servants to be precise-, comprised of students from his high school. Issei learns that he must battle against other devils, angels, and fallen angels to defend the House of Gremory.

In Lord Marksman and Vanadis, the critical War Maidens act much like the ‘evil pieces’ in High School DxD, each one moves with a purpose and have ultra-powerful weapons. While High School DxD doesn’t take place in an all-out fantasy world, it does have some elements of one. Both main characters were pretty much dead to rights within the first half of the first episode, but lucky for them, a strong female character prevented them from dying. Both Issei and Tigre have legendary weapons that can actually communicate with them. Both main characters are considered owned, in service to, or otherwise belong to the female leader. Both Rias and Eleonora Vitaria practically fall in love with the main character at first sight, and as their bond strengthens through teamwork, so too does their romance. In both anime, there is corruption and infighting between houses/territories on the same side, while simultaneously fighting the established enemy army. Strategy is an important aspect in both stories. LMaV uses traditional military maneuvers to deceive, entrap, and outsmart the enemy. DxD assigns combat unit roles to support their own units as well as to counter, distract, and disrupt their opponents.

Arslan is a young prince with a promising future of becoming his nation’s leader. He has been trained by the finest generals and scholars in order to prepare for such a task. His father, King Andragoras of the Parse Empire, orders Arslan to lead the front lines in the offensive against an opposing empire, Lusitania. Unfortunately, the battle quickly spirals out of control, which results in heavy and unnecessary losses for the Parse Empire because of a turncoat general. With a majority of the Parsian army slaughtered, the balance of power upset, and the King missing, Arslan has no choice but to flee into foreign territory. Though this might seem like the end for Arslan, it is merely the beginning because Arslan intends to take back his empire with the help of a few very influential friends.

If you’re looking for more large scale battles like in Lord Marksman and Vanadis, then check out The Heroic Legend of Arslan. Even though it takes place in a different region of the world, it still occurs during a medieval period, keeping in line with the traditional fantasy theme. On top of that, themes of betrayal and corruption are present in the Parse Empire as well as in LMaV.

We’ve all seen it before a Hero embarks on an epic quest to save humanity by defeating the Demon King. But what happens when the Hero finally gets to the castle and the Demon King is kind of, well… a hot girl? And she also has a total crush on him. As if it couldn’t get any weirder, she then proposes to the Hero that the pair of them work together.

The hard truth is that war is good for the economy -it cuts down on overpopulation, helps increase the circulation of certain goods, gives the nation a united purpose, increases government spending, etc. And nobody knows that better than the nobles and merchants. It’s also incredibly easy to prolong the war when you have a corrupt government who has placed a profit margin above the value of their citizen’s lives. The Hero and The Demon King make a contract to dissolve the war and to romantically belong to each other.

Maoyuu Mao Yuusha and Lord Marksman and Vanadis share a similar romantic aspect of the main character not plunging headfirst into a relationship. In fact, both leads seem very hesitant to embrace the love interest’s advances -at least; at first- but eventually they come around. Like most of the anime on this list, Archenemy and Hero takes place in an environment akin to Lord Marksman and Vanadis. Even though Archenemy and Hero lacks the violence and bloodshed of its counterpart, it still remains comparable, both in story and in setting.

Ryner Lute possesses a rare magical ability called Alpha Stigma which allows him to comprehend all types of magic instantaneously. While a student at Roland Empire’s Magician Academy, he befriends another student named Sion Astal, and together, they pledge to make their nation (and the world) a better place. Many years later, Sion becomes the King of Roland, and with assistance from a girl named Ferris Eris, Ryner hunts down legendary items around the world. Even though some of these Relics of Heroes have destructive power, King Sion believes that they can be used for good instead of evil.

The world of Madan no Ou to Vanadis feels a lot like The Legend of Legendary Heroes. People of the land are going through uncertain times as war permeates their everyday life; and to make matters worse, the kingdom is rife with corruption. As war wages on, the heroes must use their unique abilities and magic weapons to ensure victory during battle. The stakes can’t get much higher, with the fate of the entire nation in the hands of a brave few.