One of my favourite things about anime is the plethora of genres and subgenres that are out there. There are anime series out there that tie into other interests. For example, if you like victorian history you have Black Butler. Needless to say, there are plenty of anime out there for gamers, and I want to honour them here today!
For the record, I’m only including anime that I have seen. If I have missed out a gaming anime that you love, or think I should watch please let me know. Also, these are not in any particular order. With all that said, may I present to you my top five anime for gamers!
No Game No Life
You knew this had to be on the list.
No Game No Life follows the NEET siblings Sora and Shiro as they are transported from a dull and meaningless world into a fantasy world where all conflict is solved by games.
Sora and Shiro put their gaming skills to the test in order to challenge the god of Disboard. Along with their new pals, they will stop at nothing to achieve this goal.
Filled with wacky characters, interesting story and references, any gamer will enjoy this show. However, I personally think the light novel series is much better as the story continues and there is a lot more detail than the anime.
And you thought there is never a girl online?
I adore this anime.
And you thought there is never a girl online? is about a group of gamers in a guild who decide to meet up in real life. Not only do they all attend the same high school, but two members have been playing as guys but in fact are girls.
The other two are protagonist Nishimura and the delusional Ako who believes that she is married to Nishimura as their avatars are married in the game and can’t tell the difference between games and reality. The three guildmates decide to try to help Ako but it proves to be a difficult challenge.
Out of all the animes on this list, And you thought there is never a girl online? is the most relatable and realistic. It discusses the effects of gaming addiction as well as the positive and negative parts of being a gamer. Not to mention the humour, And you thought there is never a girl online? is hilarious.
With plenty of inside jokes for gamers, likeable characters and an overall rather sweet story, you really need to check out And you thought there is never a girl online?
Log Horizon
Much like No Game No Life, I prefer the light novel series to the anime. That being said, the Log Horizon anime is still fantastic.
Players from all over Japan are sucked into their favourite MMORPG and have to adapt to their new home. Our protagonist Shiroe, the Machiavellian with Glasses tries to create a new society for the so-called adventures along with his friends.
What makes Log Horizon stand out for me is just how well it takes advantage of its MMORPG setting. With how combat works, NPCs and MMORPG mechanics. As a lover of MMORPGs I enjoy how well this element is incorporated into the series.
Also, I like how the focus isn’t on non-stop fighting. While there is action in the show, the attention is mostly on characters and how this society is created and how it operates. For me, this is a lot more interesting that FIGHT CONSTANTLY FOR FREEDOM! If I wanted to watch people fight for their freedom, I would watch Braveheart!
KonoSuba – God’s blessing on this wonderful world!!
God bless this anime!
KonoSuba is the funniest anime on this list, at least in my humble opinion.
I could go on and on about this show, but I already have before. So I’m going to be a tad lazy and link the article I wrote about it here if you want more detail as I really don’t want to repeat myself.
KonoSuba is a loving parody of the “hero from the ‘real’ world gets summoned to a fantasy world” troupe that seems to be extremely popular lately. Heck, two animes on this very list fall under that category.
I fell in love with this show thanks to its characters, charm and comedy. I’m sure you will too.
Oh, and the second season that came out recently? It’s pretty good.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Don’t judge this anime by its title.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? might not be explicitly about games but I think it deserves a spot on this list.
The show is about a young adventurer named Bell Cranel who dreams of being a hero and finding love. He has a crush on a fellow adventurer but is too shy to talk to her, so he decides to become stronger to return the favour. Things take a turn pretty early on, but I am not going to spoil that for you.
In case you are wondering how this title made the list, its because a lot of elements found in RPG games are in this anime. Such as a levelling up system and the fantasy setting.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is an interesting show that I highly recommend.
Nerd Rambles 
Is it wrong to … is a hilarious and for gamers.
Another choice would be Sword Art Online.
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Quite a nice list and reasoning behind them. I’ve got a couple shows worth looking into for you, if you haven’t seen them already, or would just be a good recommendation.
1. BTOOOM – Pro gamer of a 3rd person bomb fighting game (basically a 3rd person shooter with no guns, only bombs) is kidnapped and left on an island with a crystal in his hand and a set of bombs and is forced to play the game in real life. Think Battle Royale meets gaming.
2. Re:zero – I say Re:zero because it’s an interesting take on transported to a game-like world where it explores the concept of a game’s respawn at a checkpoint system and how messed up that would actually be to experience.
3. Baka and Test – A school that has a war/game system in place where the students fight each other with avatars that’s power is based on their test scores. Really funny show that’s often overlooked.
4. Summer Wars – Movie about a virtual world, family and gorgeous visuals. Basically the section from the Digimon movie “Our War Game” but a full movie.
5. Senyuu – Konosuba before Konosuba. That’s not an insult to Konosuba, I just mean it’s the same basic idea and comedy which having more of is never a bad thing.
Those are my five I’d add on to that list. 😛
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Wow, so many anime to add onto my viewing list, thanks! I have seen Re: Zero and I was going to give it a spot, but it was between that and KonoSuba, and KonoSuba narrowly beat it out.
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Aggh, such a great list! I’m always looking for new anime series to check out, so I’ll definitely make note of these! ^-^
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