The period-piece has long been a successful anime subgenre. While the bulk of historical anime takes place in Japan, often in the Edo period, sometimes anime goes a bit more global.
Fans of corsets, bonnets, the occult, and murder will find many shows to satiate their interests. Mangaka are seemingly just as infatuated with the Victorian era as anyone else. While some of these series might lean harder on existing in a fantasy world, all of these are heavily influenced by the fashions, inventions, and social constraints of Europe, circa the 1800s.
10 Dantalion No Shoka Romanticizes Forgotten Libraries
Dantalion No Shoka, produced by Gainax in 2011, is based on a successful series of light novels by Gakuto Mikumo, the author perhaps best-known for Strike the Blood. Set in the late 1910s, the series is actually a bit too late to be considered full-blown Victorian.
Still, the character designs are anachronistic, particularly in Dalian, a gothic lolita-esque character who guards the magical archives of the estate inherited by the protagonist, Huey. Dalian's design choices may be intentional—she's been holed up with the archives for years—but the inconsistencies here also crossover into the story. While some episodes are fascinating, others are remarkably dull.
9 Earl And Fairy Combines Fairie Mythology And Romance
Earl and Fairy may be mostly forgotten, undiscovered by newer otaku, but it was a well-liked romance series in its heyday. Set in Victorian England, the show incorporated magical elements unique to the era: girls who see fairies, curios with paranormal properties, changelings, and a magical sword passed down through generations.
The protagonist, Lydia, born with the ability to see and communicate with the fae, is enlisted by Edgar J.C Ashenbert to help reclaim his family inheritance. While the series is of its time and has its share of flaws, it's a fine shojo romance outing with a hearty dose of mythology to boot.
8 Croisee In A Foreign Labyrinth Depicts Paris Through A Visitor's Eyes
Those who travel the world learn quickly to cherish the experience of being a stranger in a strange land. If any series embraces this concept, it's Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth. Written by Gosick mangaka Hinata Takeda, who unfortunately passed away due to illness in 2017, the series is a beautifully detailed ode to another time and culture.
Yune moves from Japan to Paris in the late 1800s, serving the owner of an ironworks shop. The bulk of the show focuses on the shopping arcade that becomes Yune's new home and interactions with its inhabitants and workers, who become her new friends. Watching Yune build a new life and find love in a foreign world is a truly worthwhile journey.
7 Emma: A Victorian Romance Challenges Classism As Only Reality Can
While newcomers might assume this manga is another adaptation of a beloved Jane Austen classic, they would be mistaken. Emma: A Victorian Romance is set in the latter half of the Victorian era and stands as an original work by renowned mangaka Kaoru Mori.
While most Victorian anime incorporates supernatural elements or mystery at the very least, Emma: A Victorian Romance is much more grounded in reality and focused on the nuances and struggles of daily life in the past. The protagonist, Emma, is a housemaid who falls in love with a nobleman. Rather than monsters or fairies, Emma must vie against the confines of society and a class system that feels all too real.
6 Pandora Hearts Gives Alice In Wonderland The Shonen Treatment
In Pandora Hearts, the statement "the manga is better" certainly seems to apply. The anime adaptation of the hit series, produced in 2009 by Xebec, had its share of fans but struggled with coherence and pacing. Still, any property inspired by Alice in Wonderland is bound to find an audience.
Set in an alternate world rather than the Europe we know, Pandora Hearts chronicles a young nobleman's plummet into Abyss, a supernatural fantasy realm inhabited by creatures called "chains." Rife with Victorian imagery and melodrama, Pandora Hearts has its share of charms but lacks the emotional depth of other, more successful period fantasy stories such as Fullmetal Alchemist.
5 Princess Principal Brings Espionage To A Steampunk Realm
Princess Principal is set in a world that is Victorian England adjacent: Albion, an industrial landscape complete with steampunk elements. In the Princess Principal universe, the world has been altered irrevocably by a substance called "cavorite," which is used in part to power airships. Classism and societal injustice run rampant, and the country is literally split in two by a wall that divides the poor and the wealthy. Discontent with the state of things, agents of the commonwealth attempt to replace the wealthy princess with a doppelganger, but things don't go as planned.
Princess Principal knows what story it's telling, and it tells it with style. Amazing animation, excellent characterization, and a fantastic soundtrack make this show one for the books.
4 Black Butler Remains A Gateway To Darker Anime
Love it or leave it. There's no denying the profound impact Black Butler had on an entire generation of otaku. While this story about a wealthy young earl and his demonic butler isn't without its share of problems, including several lesser sequel series, Black Butler certainly knows its audience, and its first season culminates in a singularly haunting, devastating moment.
Like any Faustian tale, Black Butler can't help but feel introspective at times. Beyond the irritating side characters and questionable fanservice moments is the dark heart of a truly bleak story: sometimes one must become corrupt to challenge a corrupt society.
3 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Kicks Off With Victorian Melodrama
Considering the remarkable success of every JJBA season since sometimes it seems that the first season gets forgotten. But JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a manga that has been serialized for decades, and even this earliest of storylines has a great deal of entertainment to offer. It also happens to begin with a story set in Victorian England.
The first episodes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2012) adapted the Phantom Blood arc of the story and introduced otaku to Jonathan Joestar and the infamous Dio Brando. And like all JoJo properties, Phantom Blood dives deep into the lore and melodrama of its respective time period. In this case, that means vampires, occult possession, supernatural evil, zombies, and emigrating to America. Is there any story more profoundly European?
2 Moriarty The Patriot Provides A Holmes Story Worth Watching
The most recent addition to Victorian anime is also among the best. Moriarty the Patriot. The series is a fresh take on the world of Sherlock Holmes. While it's far from the first series to retell a famous story from a villain's perspective, Moriarty succeeds where many such adaptations fail.
James Moriarty proves a deeply compelling protagonist in this take, a young genius pursuing not only answers to mysteries but some degree of social justice in an unjust world. As prequels go, Moriarty is also a gem and casts the origins of villainy and crime in a new light.
1 Gosick Is An Orignal Work That Feels Timeless
Gosick grew on audiences during the course of its story, just as the characters themselves grew into something remarkable. While many initial viewers were perhaps put off by the loli elements, blatant nods to Holmes, and familiar Victorian tropes, Gosick soon proved to offer a great deal more under the surface.
Written by Hinata Takeda and produced by the ever-reliable Studio Bones, Gosick tells Kazuya Kujou, an international student studying in the fictional European country of Sauville. When he discovers that the school library is inhabited by a strange, precocious, and brainy girl named Victorique, a story that's part mystery and part romance begins. Gothic detective stories are nothing new, but Gosick brings a new take to an old tale that leaves the audience deeply moved by the end.