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What is dark fantasy?
Dark Fantasy is a popular subgenre in a literature that often has dark and blood-soaked themes. It can be scary or disturbing, and sometimes it can even seem more like horror than fantasy.
What is a subgenre?
In literature, many genres can be divided into categories. Many of these categories exist within primary genres that have been mixed with others. For example, when fantasy is mixed with horror, it is often called dark fantasy.
For more information, check out our post on anime genres and demographics.
We can’t speak for everyone, but Dark Fantasy is one of our favorite genres in all forms of pop culture. These 90s anime are all good reasons.
Side note: In Dark Fantasy the protagonist could be an antihero and would like to scream a lot.
Second side note: There will be blood. A lot.
The Best Dark Fantasy Anime of the 90s and What Makes Them So Dark (See What I Did There?)
Crazed
Berserk is a well-known series to 90s anime fans. It is often used as an example, outside of anime, as a perfect sample of Dark Fantasy storytelling. Killer, right?
(Very good, right? It didn’t sound enough like Dark Fantasy for this article)
Berserk is the story of a legendary swordsman who people call The Black Swordsman. His name is Guts (I guess they took his blood).
The show starts in the present, but then flashes back to when Guts was young. Guts is a skilled fighter, but he is outmatched in combat by Griffith, the enigmatic leader of a mercenary group called the Band of the Hawk. After their defeat, Guts joins them and rises through their ranks over the years.
Berserk aired on Nippon TV from October 1997 to April 1998 with 25 episodes in total. But what makes it a Dark Fantasy?
Well, it’s easy to refer to this animation as brutal and, at times, disturbing. If you’ve ever needed to visualize the word “visceral,” combining it with this program will help. I can still hear the screams, hours after re-watching the first two episodes. So many screams…
Reviews of Berserk are generally favorable, referring to the characters as well-written. We agree and quite enjoy how the static manga art mixes with the animation during the battle scenes, somewhat accentuating the violence. Not that it needs to be remembered any more than it already is, hahaha.
From time to time, here and there
Dark Fantasy comes in all shapes and sizes. For example, Now and Then, Here and There is a combination of post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, Isekai and fantasy genres, and more. It is what we commonly call multigenre.
Every once in a while here and there it may seem cute at first, but it’s the furthest thing from cute. If you have delicate sensitivities, you may want to avoid this one. We don’t want you strident“I’m too sensitive!” like Stu from a certain 1996 American horror movie, after watching it.
This story follows Shu (not Stu) after being transported to another world when trying to protect a girl. This world is a waterless wasteland filled with despair.
Prepare yourselves, gentle viewers, as there are many elements of physical and mental torture. What makes this fantasy story so dark are the additional themes of slavery, child exploitation, and rape (thankfully most of which are implied graphic content).
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but critics really enjoy the masterful storytelling and top-notch voice acting.
Ninja Scroll
We find ourselves once again mentioning the much-loved Ninja Scroll from 1993. Set during the Tokugawa shogunate, this ’90s ninja anime film is everything ’90s kids wanted, dipped in chocolate syrup and drenched in a mixture of corn syrup, cornstarch, and red food coloring.
Ninja Scroll is the brutal story of Jubei, a Ronin/Ninja Mercenary. Jubei is neck-deep in a nasty assortment of demons and devils, and he slices and dices through them over the course of the 94-minute film.
It’s an understatement to say that Ninja Scroll is full of action-packed graphic violence. He’s gloomy and moody and feels like he has a dark cloud hanging over him all the time. Wow, that’s great! 😊
What makes it a dark fantasy? Aside from basically defining the subgenre just by glimpsing the cover? Good…
TO. It is a fantasy story set in an alternate history.
b. It’s full of horror and supernatural elements (like demons…just saying).
DO. Your iPad, smart TV, or monitor will literally be dripping with blood by the end of the movie.
Do we need to say more?
Often ranked among the best anime films of the ’90s, Ninja Scroll is a great movie to watch, and if you liked Guts from Berserk (mentioned above), you’ll probably love Jubei too.
Lodoss War Record
If Dungeons and Dragons of the 80s were a Japanese anime, it would be Madhouse’s 90s release.
Fighter, cleric, thief, wizard, all classes are there and represented by the races from the classic role-playing game, such as elves, dwarves, orcs and more!
Needless to say, a show that fits neatly into the fantasy genre, like Record of the Lodoss War, would touch on the dark fantasy subgenre. However, it is more firmly planted in the Sword and Sorcery category.
Demonic possessions, evil spirits, vicious warlords and monsters galore fill the minutes of each episode of this exciting show. (Yes, there are demons)
Parn, the main character is the son of a disgraced knight and seeks to restore honor to his family while undertaking quests against a rival landlord, a demon god, and an evil necromancer.
Dark, right? Well, not as dark in story, violence or characters as Ninja Scroll, Berserk or Now and Then, Here and Now. While it has those dark themes, Record of Lodoss War carefully balances them on a foundation built on colorful environments and a much larger love story.
The reviews are good and most people highlight the good animation and excellent soundtrack.
Princess Mononoke
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli, Princess Mononoke is a blockbuster film that made its studio a household name.
This movie fits into the fantasy genre and then combines many subgenres such as historical fiction, epic fantasy, and dark fantasy.
Can you guess one of the reasons why it can be labeled as Dark Fantasy? (hint: malevolent supernatural entities)
Ashitaka, the last prince of a village, is cursed by a demon. The curse grants superhuman strength but also creates a great deal of pain and will kill him in time.
A wise woman tells him that he must leave his lands and embark on a journey in search of a cure. It is on this journey through the desert that he encounters more gods and spirits. He also meets San, a human girl who rides a giant wolf.
San and Ashitaka start on different sides, but soon join forces and face many dangers as they fight against a town that is cutting down the forest and making iron weapons.
The film becomes brutal at moments when we see innocent inhabitants massacred. Limbs are cut off; The bones are exposed and blood is splattered. Unfortunately, many animals are killed, but not as graphically as people.
While it’s not pure dark fantasy, it has some great elements.
Hey! Don’t let that stop you from watching this masterpiece with a whopping 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
BASTARD!!
Let’s finish strong.
Bastard!! It’s entirely Dark Fantasy. The description often throws out the word “dark” as if it were free! Ha ha ha.
Bastard!! It has a dark age, a dark army and a dark wizard! This show lives in a Dungeons and Dragons-style dystopian world and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Bastard!! tells the story of an evil wizard who has possessed a child. This wizard’s name is…wait for it…wait for it…Dark Schneider! (mic drop) (guitar riff)
Released in the early ’90s, Bastard!! combines pop culture with popular music by naming lands, spells, and people after popular heavy metal artists. Think about it, what other music could pair better with Dark Fantasy?
Swords and sorcery, devils and demons, evil wizards and damsels in distress, you bastard!! It has a Conan feel to it at times and we think it’s great.
Get ready for a lot of screaming on this one!!!
Conclusion
What have we learned? Dark Fantasy can be combined with many things. It often takes place in dystopian worlds and focuses on the suffering of a town or person.
Expect stories filled with excessive violence, moral ambiguity, apocalyptic stories, and sometimes some fun anti-hero characters.
One last thing to keep in mind. Just as the mystery genre has rain, Dark Fantasy seems to have demons.