The normal process for creating ananime seriesor film is to wait and see how well a manga sells then translate that into moving pictures once the series already has a decent audience. While sometimes an anime series will be created without any pre-existing story to pull from, at other times, it will pull from other sources, such as video games, instead.Related:Strongest Pokémon In X & Y (Based On Stats)Considering how big theJRPG genreis, not only in Japan but in the world at large, it should be no surprise that a large portion of these anime series modeled after video games come from various JPRGs. Not all of these anime, or games, are worth the time investment to watch or play, though a few have gone on to become some of the more popular representatives of their medium.Updated July 27, 2025 by Mark Sammut:Games based on anime are a dime a dozen, and while not quite as prevalent, the reverse also happens quite often. While visual novels have served as inspiration for numerous spectacular anime, other genres have not fared quite as well. Most of these anime struggle to justify their existence, delivering neutered versions of their source material. However, as this article shows, exceptions do exist. To further illustrate that point, a few more of thebest anime based on JRPGshave been added to this list.
13God Eater
God Eatercan’t seem to escape comparisons to other, more popular properties. In gaming, the Aragami-slaying RPG exists in theshadow ofMonster Hunter; conversely, the anime lives in a post-Attack on Titanworld. While these comparisons are not unfounded, both versions ofGod Eaterhave their strengths.
In this universe, humanity has been pushed to the brink of annihilation as a select few warriors fight to protect everyone from massive creatures known as Aragami. Unsurprisingly for an anime created by Ufotable,God Eater’s animation is its greatest asset, with the action sequences delivering in terms of scale and ferocity. The characters are unfortunately quite basic and uninteresting, although they are aided by a decent story with a solid final act.
12The Tower Of Druaga
Starting out as an arcade RPG,The Tower of Druagawent on to spawn Bandai Namco’sBabylonian Castle Saga, a franchise that released games over the span of three decades. In 2008, the license was rebooted as an anime, producing two pretty good seasons in the process. Set 60 years following the events of the 1984 game,The Tower of Druagarevolves around different groups trying to conquer a tower filled with monsters led by Druaga.
Putting aside an out-of-place pilot episode,The Tower of Druagais an above-average action anime that builds momentum nicely as it moves along. The protagonist, Jil, is not the most instantly likable character ever, but he does grow quite a bit as the anime progresses.
11Valkyria Chronicles
Sega’sValkyria Chroniclesis an ideal candidate to go through theJRPG to animeprocess. Although not lacking in gameplay, the 2008 tactical RPG has a strong cast of characters, immersive world-building, and a story that holds up well. The anime retains most of what makes the game so engrossing, including well-realized representations of Squad 7’s soldiers and the external and internal conflicts they face.
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The anime has a few issues, like introducing new characters who don’t gel that well with the game’s roster, but it is overall a respectable adaptation of a stellar JRPG.
10Ni No Kuni
First released in 2010 on the Nintendo DS before being re-released on more powerful consoles to near-unanimous critical acclaim,Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witchis a JRPG thattakes several cues from monster taming gamesin its first outing before abandoning this aspect in favor of an action RPG for its sequel,Revenant Kingdom.
In 2019, an animated film was released that, while not carrying over any of the same characters as eitherWrath of the White WitchorRevenant Kingdom, was set in the same fantastical universe and featured the same world traversal aspects that were found in both games with Oliver and Roland.
9Tales Series
TheTalesseries of RPGs is absolutely enormous, spanning nearly two dozen games released over the last 25 years, and is considered the third-largest RPG series behindFinal FantasyandDragon Quest.
Considering both of these series also have their own cinematic adaptations, it should be no surprise that theTalesseries was also translated into anime form with adaptations of several of the series' main titles, such asTales of VesperiaandTales of Phantasia.
8Yo-Kai Watch
Although it has largely fallen by the wayside, in no small part due to the insistence to not localize the series outside of Japan,Yo-KaiWatchwas once a serious competitor toPokemon, both in its video games and anime form, and is largely the reason why theAlola season ofPokemonwas so vastly different from everything that came before it.
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UnlikePokemon, which follows its own story while having a vague association with the video game series,Yo-Kai Watch’sanime and video games follow largely the same storylines, though the video games translate the slice-of-life aspect of the show into a more dramatic engagement with additional conflict and villains.
7Persona
ThePersonaseries has seen something of a resurgence in the west in recent years, withPersona 5and its various expansions being some of the most well-received RPGs on the PS4. As the characters and story are what draw most gamers into thePersonaseries, this is the aspect that the anime adaptations focus on the most, being something of an animated retelling of the events of the video games.
So far, there is an animated sequel toPersona 3inPersona: Trinity Soulas well as an anime retelling ofPersona 4andPersona5. ThePersona 3movies are the best of the bunch.
6Pokemon
It’s impossible to mention anime born from video games without mentioningPokemon. Although many fans find the timeline of when each iteration of thePokemonworld was released, the video games were the first to be released, followed shortly by the anime and various manga series.
In general, thePokemonanime doesn’t follow the same stories as found in the video game series, though several story elements, such as the various evil Team’s criminal activities, as well as some in-game events like the sleeping Snorlax inX & Y, do carry over into the anime.
5Night Wizard
Although theNight Wizardseries began life as a fantasy tabletop RPG, it would later go on to expand into two fairly unknown video games that didn’t release outside of Japan, as well as subsequent anime and manga series.
Night Wizardisn’t the best-reviewed anime adaptation, generally garnering fairly middling reviews that amount to “not bad, but not great,” but it does successfully bring both the tabletop RPG and the video games to life in anime form fairly faithfully.
4Ys
Like theTalesseries of video games,Yswas a fairly unknown JRPG series when compared to the likes ofFinal FantasyorDragon Questuntil fairly recently with the release ofYs 8: Lacrimosa of Dana, which managed to be a great competitor toXenoblade Chronicles 2at the time it was released.
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However, the animated spin on this world was released very early in the game series' life, releasing one OVA in 1989 and a second in 1993 that follow the first and second games in the series respectfully.
