Do you enjoy fantasy stories? But what about those fantasy fiction in which the narrative took place in a city? Well, there are different types of fantasy stories and many often associated it with tales like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc. But do you know that a fantasy story can also take place in a modern urban setting? By any means, an urban fantasy story? For example, one of my favorites is The Mortal Instrument.
In anime, and even in donghua, we also have plenty of stories like this, although they may not be as popular as those from a full-scale fantasy-journey story with epic narratives. Nevertheless, this is the type of fantasy story that can be a bit grounded or easy to relate ourselves to as it shares a common boundary with reality.
In Japanese anime, some of my favorite urban fantasy stories are Beyond the Boundary, Noragami, and K Project. However, since most of my readers are donghua fans, you might be asking – are there any Chinese urban fantasy donghua too? Obviously yes, and that is why I have prepared this list of my top recommended urban fantasy donghua for you guys to check out.
Top 10 Chinese Urban Fantasy Anime Recommendation
The Outcast
First on the list is the story of the outsiders, people who are outside the normal perception of the general public – they can be considered as gifted, people with special abilities but still follows certain rules and laws of nature. This donghua is also known as Hitori no Shita and follows the story of a young man who got entangled in the world of the gifted and the long journey of reclaiming his past and discovering his real identity begins.
All Saints Street
An adorable donghua, All Saints Street always comes along with Non-Human (Fen Ren Zai) but I often regard the former as my favorite. Imagine having different supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and even demons and angels who live together in one apartment. That must be crazy, isn’t it? All Saints Street follows their daily life as they circumvent their differences to live a normal and peaceful life in a modern world.
Rakshasa Street
Tragically sad and dramatic, Rakshasa Street brings forth what the secret that lies in the middle of the night on the surface. An urban fantasy donghua with rich folklore and a strong foundation at its core, it’s one of the earliest donghua that captured the hearts of many anime fans several years ago.
My Holy Weapon
A donghua like Shaman King where the MC or even various characters can summons spiritual beings to do their bidding in a game where they have to risk their lives just like the Holy Grail War from the Fate series. My Holy Weapon is like an accumulation of various tropes from different anime set in a certain modern-day city in China.
Lan Mo’s Flower
This romance donghua feels like a Cinderella story in many ways but it has its own respective appeal too. Here, we have our young girl who has feelings for her best friend but she’s not confident with herself, thus, she relies on dark magic to change her appearance and get the man of her dreams, but such things always have a cost.
Link Click
Two young and handsome men have the ability to change the past, but such power always comes with risk and when things went out under their control, a spiral of events comes back at them as the worst nightmare they ever had. This is the time travel donghua that made a name on its own in 2021, even capturing the attention of many fans of Japanese animation.
Spare Me, Great Lord!
An urban fantasy combined with cultivation antics of a high fantasy story, this donghua thrives in its unique and overwhelming presence and it even became one of the most hyped series from 2021. Its main character Lu Shu gets stronger by absorbing the negative thoughts and emotions of other people, thus, he often upsets or annoyed them to further fuel his power.
Drowning Sorrows of Raging Fire
Next on the list is a BL donghua that follows the story of a young man with monster’s blood in his veins, and the incarnate of once a mighty emperor who became a demon in the process of saving his people. Set in the modern world, their meeting triggered a series of events as they unraveled the conspiracy behind unusual supernatural occurrences while also slowly learning the stories about each other’s past.
The Daily Life of the Immortal King
Here comes the almighty overlord, Wang Ling from The Daily Life of the Immortal King has shown us all his effort to keep a low–profile life for the peace of his high school life but no matter how powerful he might be, certain things may not go as he wished. Hence, this is the story of how he struggled to maintain that peaceful high school life despite all the odds.
The Journal of Unusual Creatures
Quite similar to All Saints Street, we have a vampire and a werewolf live together with the main character, thus, our MC got entangled in the supernatural world.
Further Recommendations
Outside of our top 10 recommended Chinese anime with urban fantasy setting are some more interesting titles that you might want to take a look at too:
- Rift
- The Last Summoner
- I Might Be A Fake Cultivator
- The Indomitable
- Bureau of Paranormal Investigation
- The Chronologist
Last Updated on September 18, 2022 by Yu Alexius
