If asked to envision a typical adventure anime, we would imagine expansive fantastical worlds and larger than life characters. While realism does have its place, this genre is rarely ever described as such. Anime is not hampered by reality's limitations, so a studio is under no obligation to restrain themselves to a familiar setting. Successfully subverting these expectations, A Place Further Than The Universe offers one of the more unique experiences of the last couple of years.

Instigated by her mother's disappearance during an expedition in Antarctica, high-school student Shirase Kobuchizawa has spent the last three years trying to find a way to the icy continent. Inspired by her contemporary's passion, Mari Tamaki latches onto Shirase and agrees to go on this journey with her. Eventually, two other girls join the group and the students end up on a trip of a lifetime.

A Place Further Than The Universe is heartbreaking, humorous, and beautiful. Created by Madhouse, this anime is a pitch-perfect adventure series that wholeheartedly embraces the sense of wonder that comes with going on a dangerous but exciting expedition. Putting aside some of the cuter moments, there is nothing fantastical or outlandish about this story and the girls' blossoming friendship is the central focus.

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is set in a world where magic is a thing and rulers build their empires by overcoming strange dungeons that reward their conqueror with riches and a powerful Djinn. Few studios can match the sheer animated gorgeousness of A-1 Pictures and Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic and its sequel rank among the company's best work. With a heavy focus on shounen and action, this fantastical adventure just gets better with each passing episode.

Aided by a Djinn, Aladdin is a young magician yearning to explore the land with a group of people that he respects. After a stint on his own, the child gets what he asked for in the form of Alibaba Saluja and the duo head out to explore a dungeon. In due time, their quest leads them to many lavish cities and their path intertwines with powerful figures like Sinbad and Ja'far.

Simply put, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is a ridiculously fun series that starts as a relatively straightforward adventure anime before tackling themes of war and corruption. Followed up by the superior Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, this franchise's success hinges on its world-building and a genuine sense of mystery fueled by the unexplored dungeons.

Madhouse is synonymous with anime brilliance and Trigun is rightfully hailed as a classic of the medium. Broadcasted in the late '90s and based on a manga by Yasuhiro Nightow, Trigun is frequently mentioned in the same breath as Cowboy Bebop, and this level of praise is hardly unwarranted.

Identifiable by his absurd hairstyle and less-than-subtle wardrobe, Vash the Stampede has earned a reputation as a nasty villain capable of destroying entire cities. Desperate to put this madman down for the count, the authorities of the planet Gunsmoke placed a massive bounty on his head to attract the attention of every mercenary dog in the area. In truth, Vash is a goofy but capable gunman who got involved in a rather precarious situation above his pay grade.

Flip-flopping from outlandish humor to exhilarating shootouts, there is not a single dull moment throughout Trigun's entire run. While the protagonist is iconic for a reason, the supporting cast more than holds its own and the story develops into something truly special. Influenced by westerns, Madhouse's Trigun is endearingly stylish!

Kino's Journey is the quintessential adventure anime. Even though superior series do exist, which is why Lerche's show fails to place higher on this list, none of them capture the pure essence of the genre like Kino no Tabi. Adapted from Keiichi Sigsawa's long-running novel series, the premise centers around a 15-year-old girl who travels from one country to the next on her trusty sentient motorcycle.

Kino's Journey is not an action show and the protagonist is not driven by heroism or righteousness. Spending around three days in each country, Kino avoids interfering in the society's political or cultural climate, opting to take the position of an observer. While far from a pushover and, if need be, able to defend herself from any threat, Kino's adventure is marked by self-reflection and discovery.

Tackling various political and social themes, Kino's Journey comments on many different ideologies but avoids coming across as preachy. Kino explores some genuinely terrifying countries, but the anime understands there is no such thing as a purely good or evil society.

Madhouse has done it again! One of the studio's contemporary creations, Overlord opens during the final hours of a virtual reality game called Yggdrasil and centers on Momonga, the ruler of a dark guild known as Ainz Ooal Gown. As the players say their goodbyes, Momonga suddenly realizes that he cannot log out and finds himself trapped within Yggdrasil's game world. Okay, that is a pretty weird start, but things are about to get a whole lot stranger!

Momonga has not lost any of his powers and his non-playable character servants have suddenly grown personalities of their own. Continuing to follow their master's orders, Momonga sets his sights on conquering this new realm while searching for any other humans who might also be locked within the game.

Overlord is wish-fulfillment at its absolute best! Who has not dreamed of getting sucked into a massive RPG? While formidable, Momonga lacks any basic understanding of the rules that govern this universe, so sets out on an adventure to educate himself. Accompanied by his delightful servants, Momonga's journey is bombastic and unpredictable!

At this moment in time, Katanagatari cannot be streamed from any legal service and, unfortunately, White Fox's anime seems to have been slightly forgotten. Adapted from Isin Nisio's novel series of the same name, the anime is set in an alternate Edo-era Japan that measures a person's worth by their skills with a sword. Dedicating his entire life to mastering the Kyotouryuu style, Shichika Yasuri is a human weapon and lives in exile as the current head of the Kyotouryuu school.

One day, Shichika's peace is disrupted by the arrival of the boisterous Togame that demands his assistance in her quest to collect twelve legendary swords. Slightly bored by his lifestyle and attracted to Togame's ambition, Shichika agrees and they set out across Japan. Unsurprisingly, many other travelers are seeking these very same swords and the owners of the blades are hardly going to just hand them over!

Dedicating each episode to a specific weapon, Katanagatari can be rather formulaic, but the anime's peculiar art design and insane fights are worth the price of admission.

At first glance, Hunter x Hunter seems like a relatively conventional shounen series about a young adventurer who wishes to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a Hunter. Opening with an arc that focuses on an exam, Madhouse's adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi's highly-rated manga lures the viewer into a false sense of comfort before pulling the rug from underneath their feet.

Hunter x Hunter subverts expectations by going against tropes associated with shounen and adventure series. Suffering multiple heavy blows and depicted as a youngster with talent but far from ready for the big leagues, Gon might be Hunter x Hunter's protagonist but he is in no way comparable to One Piece's Luffy or Dragon Ball Z's Goku. Occasionally, he is even left out of entire arcs.

Madhouse's anime takes viewers on an adventure. There is no telling what the story holds in store and a fair amount of time is dedicated to developing the characters. Hunter x Hunter is about change and that is reflected in every scene.

By this point, Eiichiro Oda's manga can make due without an introduction. This is the series that has dominated Shounen Jump for over a decade. From Pirates of the Caribbean to Errol Flynn's swashbuckling adventures, fiction loves to romanticize life on the open sea and few are anywhere near as ambitious as One Piece.

The Straw Hat Pirates are family and we are not just talking about their rapport. With the anime approaching its twenty-year anniversary; audiences have laughed, cried, and rejoiced with Monkey D. Luffy's crew. While Luffy's end goal is to discover Gol D. Roger's treasure and became the Pirate King, the story is truly about the freedom that comes with cutting ties from society and venturing out into the unknown.

Whether challenging the world government or arguing over meat, the Straw Hat Pirates are always striving to sail beyond the horizon.

What drives humans to abandon their family and lives to travel towards the stars or explore the ocean's darkest pits? While the vast majority of us are perfectly satisfied paying our bills and watching a bit of Netflix, there are people who yearn to be the first to experience something new.

Made in Abyss examines the hazards humanity is willing to face in its pursuit of knowledge. The premise is perfect; out of nowhere, a huge chasm opens up that delves deep into the planet's depths. Packed with valuable artifacts and deadly monsters, the Abyss attracts curious adventurers from around the world who dedicate their lives to traversing this dangerous area. Divided into multiple levels, survival is pretty much impossible in the lower sections, but that hardly discourages explorers from making the trip.

Riko is the daughter of a famous adventurer who went missing over ten years ago. Suddenly, she receives a package stating that her mother is waiting at the bottom of the abyss. Aided by her amnesia-suffering robotic friend, these two children set out to do the impossible and conquer the abyss!

Frankly, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is simply one of the greatest tales ever told and everyone owes it to themselves to give Bones' anime a viewing. Sticking closer to the manga than the original Fullmetal Alchemist, which is a criminally underrated series in its own right, Brotherhood offers a complete experience. Serving as a gateway anime for many people, the adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's story runs the gamut of human emotions from crushing sorrow to unbridled joy.

Alchemy allows objects to be created from thin air but functions on the Law of Equivalent Exchange, meaning that something of comparable value has to be given in return. Mourning from the loss of their mother, Edward and Alphonse Elric try to bring her back to life but the process goes terribly wrong. Leaving the former without an arm and a leg while the latter loses his entire body, the brothers set out to become professional alchemists to attempt to right their wrongs.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's plot holds many twists and plunges down a couple of truly gloomy paths that question the motives of the protagonists. From the gorgeous animation to the brilliant cast, Bones' anime is a masterpiece that rarely puts a foot down wrong!

Sword Art Online can be hit and miss depending on who you ask. Some like the direction the series took after the initial setup of the virtual world that took place in the first several episodes. Others felt it was a wasted opportunity and should have had better pacing and be less focused on the multiple time skips that take place. Whatever your view may be, a virtual world free to explore was established early on in this anime, and the artwork is very beautiful in terms. If you consider the artwork and setting of an anime to be the most important aspects and are not as concerned with having a detailed story structure, then this adventure anime is worth taking a look.

One of the most popular adventure anime is Samurai Champloo with its unique take on the travelling samurai concept through the use of music in addition to its development of the 3 core characters. Ruroni Kenshin is almost a “quieter” interpretation of the same genre: a wandering murderous samurai once known as Battousai has now reformed as Kenshin Himura in an attempt to repent for his sins and never kill again. It soon becomes clear, however, that despite Kenshin’s good intentions and vow to never kill again, old and new enemies will put Kenshin’s new samurai code to the test. There may not be as much humor as there was in Samurai Champloo, but if you enjoyed that show for the amazing samurai fights, the main cast, and their unique journey, then Ruroni Kenshin is worth watching.

Princess Yona was living the life of luxury completely unaware of the problems going on in the kingdom of Kouka. That was before the murder of the king forced her and her longtime friend, Son Hak, to flee the castle, resulting in Princess Yona seeing the troubles of her kingdom for the first time. A coming-of-age type adventure that really delves into the ideas of both vengeance and betrayal, Yona of the Dawn is one of the newer anime series to really capture the idea of how awesome an adventure anime can be. The shifts between serious and humor can perhaps be better, but if you’re looking for a newer adventure anime with both a great story and great music to really help set the scenes, then look no further.

A more detailed virtual world adventure than Sword Art Online in most respects, Log Horizon focuses a lot more on the elements of gaming as well as the political aspects in conjunction with the adventure Shiroe and his friends find themselves on. Shiroe’s approach is also a lot different than most main characters in the sense that he tends to solve his problems through logic and serving in the background as opposed to the typical method of running headfirst into a problem and solving it through more power. As a result, the adventures Shrioe’s group have can be pretty varied from a fair amount of other adventure stories. If this type of adventure journey interest you and Sword Art Online doesn’t cut it for you, Log Horizon should do the trick.

A great example of an adventure that starts off small and grows big, Gurren Lagann focuses on Simon and Kamina, two boys that were raised in an underground village. When Simon’s discovery of an ancient weapon prompts an attack from the surface, the resulting view of the sky in the aftermath causes Simon, Kamina, and a wandering red-head named Yoko to explore the wastelands that make up the surface, resulting in an adventure that has not only the planet but the galaxy at stake. Make no mistake: this adventure gets straight to the point with many explosions along the way. In addition, you have a great contrast of characters in Simon being young and unsure of himself and Kamina being loud and pushing past any boundary in his way. If you want to watch an adventure with a simple approach and unapologetic action everywhere, then start with Gurren Lagann.

An interesting take on souls, weapons, monsters, and even death, Soul Eater has a great cast of characters as well as numerous adventures that can have you laughing one minute and focused on the action the next. There isn’t so much a journey as there is a focus to reach a certain goal at first and eventually going up against certain villains that stand in the way of that objective. In addition to those fights, you also get to enjoy Soul Eater’s unique take with its artwork and how it sets itself apart; the appearance of the smiling half-moon at night, for example, is immediately recognizable as being that of Soul Eater. Definitely an adventure anime worth taking the time to enjoy.

Fairy Tail is a very elaborate adventure with many different guilds and magical abilities present throughout the series. But the creator of Fairy Tail also has another adventure anime that is overlooked sometimes: Rave Master. We get to see from start to finish the journey of Haru Glory as he becomes the Rave Master and forms a team to help him find the Rave Stones as well as defeat the various member of Demon Card. Wacky and fun with a fair amount of impressive fighting throughout, this is definitely an adventure anime to look into, especially if you’re a fan of Fairy Tail.

A rather unorthodox journey that combines both romance and economics of all things, Spice and Wolf is definitely an adventure that few have emulated. A powerful wolf deity named Holo inquires the help of a traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence to take her north to her home. While Lawrence recognizes that there is much more than meets the eye regarding Holo, he accepts, but what he thinks will be an opportunity to finally realize his dream of opening a shop soon turns into a journey with a deeper meaning. There’s a lot of dialogue to this type of adventure, much more than the typical journey. However, if adventures that aren’t always about fighting is the type of thing you enjoy, then watch Spice and Wolf for a new type of adventure.

Elizabeth, the third princess of the Kingdom of Liones, is on an important quest to take back the kingdom from the Holy Knights. Once the protectors of Britannia, the Holy Knights staged a coup d’état and became the new tyrannical rulers instead. Only by finding the 7 Deadly Sins, or 7 Knights, can Elizabeth hope to return the kingdom to what it once was. This type of adventure is the type of journey where the main character or characters focus on bringing together a group of some sort before setting out to achieve an objective. Each member of the 7 Deadly Sins has their own strengths and weaknesses (not to mention unique personalities), but once all 7 of them are together again, they are certainly formidable. If you enjoy the adventures where the group gets bigger as the journey goes on as well as the magical setting, the 7 Deadly Sins fits that niche nicely.

One of the standard adventure stories in anime, Dragonball is up there with One Piece in terms of iconic adventures. Based off of Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King, Dragonball focuses on multiple adventures that Son Goku, Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, and many others go on. But none beat the adventure that started it all: Bulma’s quest to find the Dragon Balls and how Goku ended up joining her on her journey. If fighting and humor are all it takes for you to enjoy an adventure, then Dragonball delivers that in spades. However even if you’re not a fan of fighting, the very 1st adventure that starts off the series is at least worth one viewing to see how the Dragonball series got its start.

In the world of Earth-land, magical guilds are hired to dispose of criminals, evil guilds, and monsters known as Etherious made by Zeref, a dark wizard, and one of the most famous guilds out there is the group Fairy Tale. The guild consists of Natsu Dragneel, Happy, Lucy (who runs away from home to join), Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet who are all very powerful wizards themselves. Throughout the course of the show, the guild continues to fight against Zeref all while Natsu continues to search for his father, the great dragon Igneel.

Fairy Tail is fast paced and action packed fun that anyone can easily pick up. While the original series ended in 2013, there are several sequel series, OVAs, and movies that continue the story of these epic group of characters.

Seven seemingly average kids are whisked away to the digital world and gifted digivices, which allows them to bond and control to some extent various creatures called Digimon, short for digital monsters. In order to get home, they must save the digital world from the evil Digimon and their human counterparts. Their digital devices, or digivice, allows their Digimon to digivolve into higher level monsters that are able to battle enemies and save their human partners from harm.

Many people will remember watching Digimon on Fox Kids way back when, but not many know that the series continued on and is still going pretty strong. After the original series aired, a sequel soon came afterwards and now a new series is airing in the form of Digimon Tri which follows the original DigiDestined many years later. The new series can be found on Crunchyroll.

As a master thief and womanizer, Lupin III travels the world in search of rare treasures to steal. Lupin III never fails and is so confident in his abilities that he is famous for sending a calling card before the heist has even occurred. As a result, he is one of the most wanted people in the world and is often pursued by master detective Zenigata who always comes close, but never quite catches his prey.

Lupin III has a crazy cast of characters that will cause anyone to laugh and enjoy the oftentimes goofy adventures of this mischievous mastermind. Lupin’s trusty partner Jigen, a master marksmen, often shows up to be the voice of reason for Lupin since he’s continuously led astray by the famous femme fatale, Fujiko Mine. The group is rounded out by Goemon, a samurai who can cut anything.

One of the best parts of Lupin III is that anyone can dive right in at any time making it easy to show family and friends unfamiliar with anime in general. Perhaps that is why the series has lasted so long and continues to inspire.

Alibaba has been through a lot in his life. He grew up in the slums and then taken in by the king as a bastard child set to rule the kingdom one day, but then left once he disgraced himself. Now, he just wants to get by, but ultimately has the goal of defeating a dungeon, mysterious temples that appear out of nowhere, and claiming its treasure and power as his own. Lucky for him, he runs into Aladdin who seems to have magical powers and can control a Djinn who lives in his flute. Perhaps there’s more to this boy that what meets the eye?

The story of Magi is based on the classic novel, The Arabian Nights, and puts a new twist on a tale that has been retold in many different ways. There is a sequel series that continues the adventures of the entire party once they split and a spinoff series based on the adventures of Sinbad, a prominent character in the Magi universe.

After discovering that his father is indeed alive and well and a famous hunter to boot, Gon Freecss decides to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a reputable hunter himself. In order to do this, though, he must pass the Hunter Examination, one of the toughest tests around. On his journey, Gon befriends several of his fellow aspiring hunters who help him along the way, but not everything is so easy. The mysterious Hisoka has become infatuated with Gon which begins to cause problems for the group.

An amazing anime and wonderful example of adventure anime in general, Hunter x Hunter will, unfortunately, leave everyone upset seeing as the original creator has yet to finish the manga and thus the anime has been on hiatus for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be watched! The series tears at the hearts of everyone which is why people continue to rewatch this series over and over again. And now there is hope as the creator has recently continued the manga! Our prayers ahve been answered!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s overall plot revolves around different members of the Joestar family who fight evil and discover that they possess various magical powers. This first series involves Jonathan Joestar whose adoptive brother Dio makes life a living hell in their youth. Dio frequently appears more competent and kind in front of their father but is secretly cruel to Jonathan in hopes of gaining the right to be heir to the Joestar inheritance. In Dio’s thirst for power, he discovers a stone mask that transforms him into an unstoppable vampire bent on world domination. Jonathan must save the world and defeat Dio.

Drawing from its spiritual predecessor Fist of the North Star, JoJo can be described as over the top fun. The characters are exaggerated beyond belief and the whole series gives off a kind of soap opera type vibe that makes it unique and funny at the same time. This series is only for the manliest of men out there!

After eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, a mysterious Devil Fruit that grants those that eat it the power of rubber, Monkey D. Luffy is determined to follow in the footsteps of his idol, the infamous pirate Red-Haired Shanks, and become a pirate. But Luffy doesn’t want to become just any pirate! He plans on taking the place of the deceased Gol D Roger and become the King of the Pirates! And Luffy does just that, he assembles a crew shortly after his eighteenth birthday and sets out on numerous adventures in search of the One Piece, the treasure left behind by Gol D Roger and the item that will grant him the title, King of the Pirates.

A classic, it is impossible to leave the quintessential adventure anime One Piece off of this list. The show is packed full of adventure from giants and dinosaurs to long dogs and crossdressers, this show has it ALL. The characters are well developed and the story becomes much deeper and darker as the story progresses leaving holes in the hearts of all of its fans.

Pazu, a young boy, discovers a girl floating from the sky one day and decides to shelter her in his quarters. Little did he know that this mysterious girl would bring trouble to his doorstep because she is, in fact, the princess and heir to the mysterious sky island Laputa, an ancient kingdom filled with advanced technology that has long been abandoned. The girl, Sheeta, is now the only key remaining to finding and discovering what happened centuries ago and because of this, she must evade the clutches of those who would resurrect the power hidden within the castle above.

Hayao Miyazaki directed this movie so its pedigree is quite sound. The visuals are gorgeous and the soundtrack by Ghibli’s famed composer, Joe Hisaishi, just adds to the mood. Castle in the Sky is a feast for the eyes and medicine for the soul. Simply a must watch anime.

Fuu, a young waitress, is attacked by several samurai one day while working. She is then saved by Jin, a master of traditional sword techniques and Mugen, who has a rather unorthodox way of fighting. The two manage to defeat the samurai attacking Fuu, but soon become interested in each other and begin their own fight to see who is truly the stronger. During their battle, they accidentally kill the magistrate’s son and are soon wanted men. Fuu helps them escape in return for finding a samurai that smells like sunflowers.

This is Watanabe’s first directorial venture after his famed Cowboy Bebop. The juxtaposition of Jin and Mugen creates many memorable and comedic moments, but the series also can be quite serious and heartfelt. The art style and music explore elements of hip hop giving the anime its own unique flavor that sets it apart from the rest. Truly a masterpiece.

While on a journey with his mother to the city, Tetsuro soon must make the trip solo after his mother was hunted down by those with mechanical bodies who enjoy hunting normal humans for sport. He doesn’t get far in the snow covered wasteland before he himself collapses and resigns himself to his fate. Fortunately, a young woman name Maetel rescues him and gives him a pass for the Galaxy Express 999, a mysterious space train that takes its passengers to a planet that will provide them mechanical bodies free of charge. The only thing Maetel asks is that she accompany him.

An oldie but goodie, Galaxy Express 999 sends its viewers on an emotional ride through the galaxy where morals and ethics are constantly being questioned. Each planet the duo travels to are unique, but hide some sort of suffering in the shadows. Tetsuro’s unwillingness to ever listen to Maetel’s warnings consistently get him into trouble and expose him to dangers like no one has ever seen.