List of gacha games that were adapted to anime

While a cascade of ill-thought-out updates reduced King’s Raid to shambles, fortunately, we have Successors of the Will to remember the game’s glorious days. The story retains the original ensemble cast and recaps essential plot points. We follow a rag-tag squad consisting of apprentice knight Kasel, healer Frey, and misfit duo Cleo and Roi. Together, they venture to subdue evil-doers threatening peace in Orvelia.

One addition that adds more tension to the story is the dark elves Riheet and Ripine’s vindictive B-plot that sometimes conflicts with the main squad’s interests. Besides the one-note characters, there is also a firm reliance on flashbacks to move the narrative forward.

In an alternate timeline where the game’s finances are still strong, it’d be excellent for the anime to adapt the tragic arc where Kasel and Frey turned to the dark side.

Thanks to its vibrant and laid-back tones, Azur Lane has always been regarded as Kancolle’s antithesis. Unlike its edgy cousin, however, plot coherence has always been Azur Lane’s Achilles’ heel, which snowballs into its anime adaptation.

With its pacing all over the place, ultimately leading to an ambiguous ending, the plot follows the antics between Azur Lane and Red Axis (Imperial Japanese and the Kriegsmarine), with the Sirens occasionally joining the party. The show has a few positives, most notably the decision to ditch the self-insert character in favour of Enterprise as the lead protagonist. You’ll also be spared from any imperialist rhetoric integral to Kancolle while possibly learning some cool facts on naval warfare.

If “make love, not war” is your motto, there’s another spin-off titled Slow Ahead that focuses on the quartet of starters to fill the void.

Netease’s Onmyoji is one of the rare titles to receive a live adaptation, plus a couple of animated spin-offs. Starting with Yinyang Master, this standalone film marries the franchise’s iconic Heian-era aesthetics with wuxia films’ oriental fantasy theme. The plot focuses on the reluctant alliance between the disgraced Boya and Qing Ming (romanisation of Seimei) as they must race against time to save the capital from Cimu’s invasion with the help of Qing Ming friendly neighbourhood yokai.

Although popular shikigamis like Ootengu or Tamamonomae didn’t make the cut, it’s still fun to see some underdogs like Kamaitachi, Red Imp, Umibozu and Yama Usagi getting some screen time. Its repertoire of animated spin-offs is more light-hearted with Heian Monogatari, where you stop and smell the roses by experiencing the daily life of shikigamis.

A spoof series runs concurrently, highlighting the player’s woes on certain game elements, such as the unintuitive grind and unbalanced PvP.

Remember when Tamagotchi, or simply digital pets, was all the rage? Although that came to pass as a fad, Monster Strike carries on that essence and uses it as a foundation for its anime adaptation.

It follows Ren Homura, who gets into a predicament after booting Monster Strike on his repaired device. With Oragon, the pipsqueak mascot who’s secretly a prince, the pair must journey to solve a string of anomalies associated with the game in town. The story continues into the second season, split into two arcs, with the first one taking a detour with Mana Livingston and snapping back to Ren for the second.

Both share the same goal of resolving energy points responsible for the monster outbreak and uncovering Madarame’s sinister motives. It’s definitely a missed opportunity that we don’t get to see the game’s billiard gameplay translated into the battle scenes, but we can always count on Oragon’s exuberant energy to never let us slip into a dull moment.

Narration through a visual novel format is great, but it doesn’t do justice to the immersive world-building that some games like Arknights have to offer. As a motion picture show paints a thousand words, thankfully, there are three seasons of anime adaptation that doubles as an entry point for newcomers to the franchise.

Prelude to Dawn chiefly adapts from the prologue up to Chapter Three; Perish of Frost continues Four to Six, while the upcoming Rise of Ember concludes the first arc.

Set in the fictional world of Terra, battered by the life-threatening disease Oripathy, the story follows Doctor – an enigmatic executive at Rhodes Island in search of a cure while butting heads with Reunion. The top-notch production value reimagines Terra, while the decision to space out the story with three seasons offers enough time to tell a good story without breaking the pace. These factors make it a labour of love.

Touken Ranbu plays a foil to Azur Lane by anthropomorphizing legendary swords throughout Japanese history, sporting an all-boy cast draped in feudal-era armour plates. Similarly, the two adaptations contrast in tone.

Hanamaru explores the daily routine of the swords, known as tsukumogami, through the perspective of Yamatonokami and Kiyomitsu in a slice-of-life fashion. Katsugeki, on the other hand, takes a more serious tone with an all-out war between the tsukumogami and the “Time Retrograde Army” through Izuminokami and Horikawa’s point of view.

The brotherhood between characters, mesmerising duels, and the symphony of blades clashing make this an enjoyable ride. However, the show can benefit a lot more if it takes time to dive deep into the motives behind the characters, including the antagonists’ desire to alter the past.

Rage of Bahamut: Genesis and Virgin Soul tick all the boxes of a functional fantasy anime. Both seasons are set in the diverse realm of Mistarcia, where Gods and demons walk alongside humans.

In Genesis, the story starts with Favourre, a hubristic bounty hunter who was unwittingly bound by Amira, a demon, to travel to Helheim. A decade later, Virgin Soul stars Nina navigating a tumultuous world where humankind prospered at the cost of demonkind suppression.

The primary goal in these two seasons is to keep Bahamut, the overarching doomsday device, sealed in slumber. Although the show will often leave you in a moral dilemma with its character’s contradictory agenda for the sake of the world, stick with it, and you’re in for a treat by MAPPA’s top talents.

Where King’s Raid failed, Seven Knights succeeded. Not only does it have a sequel and is set to receive a remake for its first game, but there’s also the obligatory adaptation in the form of Hero Successor.

The story stars Granseed president Faria and Nemo, with the theme of good versus ancient evil in the backdrop, on a quest to end the forces of Physis that usurp Gaia’s peace. The fanservice aspect is also interesting, as iconic champions like Eunomia are not directly involved in the story. Instead, they appear as past heroes whose powers can be inherited by characters through “Succession.” Furthermore, Nestra’s choice to reprise her role as the brain behind Physis is a welcome one.