Best Magic School Anime Shows

Let's talk Magic School Anime! These shows might also be considered as part of the high school anime shows category, an incredibly popular genre in anime - but bring us a slice of fantasy, magic and a wonderful escape in to magical realms we might never have imagined before! From anime shows like Harry Potter to anime shows like the Worst Witch, here are our Top 20 best magic school anime, all the magic anime you could shake a stick - or a wand - at! 

Best Magic School Anime Shows of all time

20. Magical Warfare

Takeshi Nanase is an ordinary high school boy who has a somewhat dark past. Due to certain circumstances, he formed a "fake" couple with his childhood friend Kurumi Isoshima, but otherwise, he lives a normal life. However, one day, he comes across a girl named Mui Aiba, in a uniform he has never seen before, collapsed on the school campus. This encounters changes Takeshi's destiny completely. Mui tells Takeshi that she is a magician, and she apologizes, for she turned Takeshi into a magician, too. What Takeshi once knew as one world is actually two-the world where magicians live and the world where humans live.

19. Sky Wizards Academy

A relaxing anime and comforting watch, it is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the future of humanity is threatened by giant armoured insects. Forced to retreat to floating cities, the rest of humanity can only watch as wizards from famous wizard academies take on these monsters. We follow protagonist Kanata Age who seeks to restore his reputation after being labelled as a traitor, but there are certain characters who aren't going to make it easy for him!

18. Absolute Duo

This popular anime is about people called Blazers who can create weapons from their souls. Kouryou Academy High School specializes in training these Blazers where they are required to partner up with a fellow Blazer and unlock their true potential. The protagonist of this story Tooru Kokonoe enrols himself in this academy to become stronger and take revenge for his sister. He joins with a foreign student, Julie Sigtuna and starts their journey to become the Absolute Duo. 

17. Blade Dance of the Elementalers

On his first day at Areishia Spirit Academy, Kamito Kazehaya runs into a naked Claire Rouge, a student who had been bathing as part of a purification ceremony. She had been preparing to form a contract with a powerful spirit in order to acquire more power as an "elementalist." Her efforts are wasted, however, when Kamito ends up with the spirit - despite the fact that only shrine maidens can become elementalists. Yet to be discouraged, Claire then announces that Kamito must become her contracted spirit instead! Kind of like Lego Movie - but cooler. To add to his troubles Kamito then needs to face off with the strongest elementalist who is contracted with a dark spirit in the Blade Dance.

16. Rosario + Vampire

A supernatural romantic comedy that explores the misadventures of Tsukune in Yokai Academy, a normal school that only has one rule “All humans found on campus to be executed immediately.” It’s because Yokai Academy is a boarding school where monsters go to learn to cleverly blend in amongst humankind. Tsukune Aono is an average teenager who is unable to get into any high school because of his bad grades. His parents inadvertently enroll him into Youkai Academy as a last-ditch effort to secure his education. As Tsukune unknowingly enters this new world, he has a run-in with the most attractive girl on campus, Moka Akashiya. This series follows a human that is forced to go to a supernatural school. There a vampire discovers his secret humanity and they bond over it. From there, he gathers himself a harem of supernatural women by basically helping or saving them. They all end up guarding his secret. It is a little lewd, a lot of harem, but you can distinctly tell that the first girl is the concrete love interest.

15. Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero

This action fantasy harem anime is set after the happy ending, making it pretty unique. In normal RPGs, a hero defeats the Satan king and the story ends. But what does the hero do after that? There are more loose ends to tie up than you might realise! Akatsuki Ousawa, known as the "Rogue Hero," returns to Earth after slaying the Demon King, but has to bring back Miu with him, the daughter of the Demon King he defeated. He now must hide her true identity by having her pose as his little sister and to fit in, the two soon join Babel, a special school designed for those who have acquired special abilities and magical powers through their journey to a fantasy world. Babel was seemingly founded to train young interdimensional travelers and "guide them to the right path for the sake of humanity and themselves," but its true purpose remains unclear to the pseudo-siblings. Will Akatsuki and Miu be able to overcome the hostile, powerful student council and uncover the forces at play behind the scenes?

14. The Asterisk War

In the previous century, an unprecedented disaster known as the Invertia drastically reformed the world. The powers of existing nations declined significantly, paving the way for a conglomerate called the Integrated Empire Foundation to assume control. But more importantly, the Invertia led to the emergence of a new species of humans who are born with phenomenal physical capabilities—the Genestella. Its elite are hand-picked across the globe to attend the top six schools, and they duel amongst themselves in entertainment battles called Festas. Ayato Amagiri is a scholarship transfer student at the prestigious Seidoukan Academy, which has recently been suffering from declining performances. Through a series of events, he accidentally sees the popular Witch of Resplendent Flames, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, half-dressed! Enraged, Julis challenges him to a duel for intruding on her privacy. After said duel is voided by the student council president, Ayato reveals that he has no interest in Festas. Instead, he has enrolled in the academy to investigate the whereabouts of his missing elder sister. But when a more devious plot unravels, Ayato sets out to achieve victory, while being surrounded by some of the most talented Genestella on the planet.

13. Freezing

A great ecchi, harem, and magical girl anime set about 50 years into the future, where the earth is at war against extraterrestrials called Nova. The government does some research and creates genetically modified women who can use Stigmata to become superhuman fighters. They work alongside Limiters in a pair. Limiters are male. Freezing is set at a school in Japan where a boy named Kazuya is attending. He lost his sister a while back, who was a powerful Pandora. Eventually through some mishaps he becomes a limiter for a girl named Satellizer. They have to beat rivals within the school and the invading Nova as they try to gain access to the school’s underground lab.

12. Mahou Sensei Negima!

This series involves a 10-year-old wizard known as Negi who wishes to become a Great Wizard in the future. However, to achieve his goal he needs to complete one final task of being the teacher in an all-female school. Thus, he starts his new journey accompanied by a student named Asuna and work together to do various tasks from fighting wizards to helping their class pass their exams.

11. Knights and Magic

Another after death anime - or I guess afterlife anime - follows Tsubasa Kurata, an otaku from modern Japan, as he is killed in a car accident but is reborn in the Fremmevilla Kingdom, a medieval world where powerful mechs called Silhouette Knights are used to fight horrific demonic beasts. Born into Merlin times, in to a noble family under the name of Ernesti Echevarria and bestowed with prodigious magical abilities, he enrolls into Royal Laihaila Academy. Merlin went there too, for sure! This school of magic aims to train young men and women on how to pilot the Silhouette Knights, teaching them how to defend the kingdom from threats, both demonic and human, at all costs. Ernesti teams up with the twins named Adeltrud and Archid Olter with the goal to create his own Silhouette Knight one day, a feat unheard of for several centuries! The reincarnation storyline really does produce some epic op mc anime characters!

10. Unbreakable Machine-Doll

As the armies in the world have started to incorporate Machinart – (living dolls) in their army skilled puppeteers are being trained to control the automations. Unbreakable Machine-Doll follows the story of Raishin Akabane and his puppet Yaya as they try to get into The Walpurgis Royal Academy after failing the academy entrance exam. This can be done by first defeating one of the top 100 students and entering EveningParty. Where puppeteers fight for supremacy and the last one standing is given the title Wiseman and they get access to powerful forbidden arts.

9. Trinity Seven

Here we meet Arata Kasuga, who's world is destroyed around him, due to what is called the "Breakdown Phenomenon" when the bright red sun ceases to exist, resulting in the destruction of the town and the disappearance of the people inhabiting it. All, however, is not yet lost; by utilizing the magical grimoire given to him by his childhood friend and cousin Hijiri Kasuga, Arata's world gets artificially reconstructed. Investigating the phenomenon, Lilith Asami appears before Arata and he is given two choices: hand over the book, or die. However, Arata opts for a third choice, enrolling in the top-secret magic school Royal Biblia Academy, where six other magical users await him. All together they then form the Trinity Seven, the elite of the school who each bolster their own power and skill. With his ultimate aim to save Hijiri, Arata will stop at nothing to prevent his beloved hometown being destroyed and will not rest until he can bring his best friend back.

8. Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor

An anime you can catch on Netflix, this story is based in the Alzano Empire which is famous for its Alzano Imperial Magic Academy. Sistine Fibel and Rumia Tingel attend this academy to bolster their magical skills. However, they need to overcome the obstacles of the dark forces hidden within the empire as they deal with their personal problems.

7. The familiar of Zero

Louise is an anime character that is a little similar to Mildred in The Worst Witch, a mage at the prestigious Tristain Academy that can't quite do magic right, resulting in things often going wrong. Due to this her classmates call her Louise the Zero. One day during a summoning ritual, Louise accidentally looses her grip on the spell and ends up mistakenly summoning a boy named Saito. He serves as her slave, that is until she discovers a powerful brand on him, the sign of a legendary familiar known as Gandalfr. Now we are embarking in to standard shounen series territory. A guy from our world is summoned to help a protagonist who is struggling and in need of character development, he turns out to be really strong and super op, and they endure battles together. It has that classic mix of comedy, action, ecchi romance, and harem that you are familiar with!

6. The Irregular at Magic High School

One of the most popular Magic School Animes on Netflix, it is set in the 21st century where magic is systematized and taught in school and follows a pair of siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba. The school categorises students into Blooms and Weeds where Miyuki and Tatsuya find themselves assigned respectively. Despite being place under Weeds, Tatsuya possessed great knowledge, physical combat capabilities and unique magical skills which make him an irregular in the school.

5. Chivalry of a Failed Knight

In an alternate Earth, humans called "Blazers" have supernatural abilities. These Blazers can materialize weapons known as a "Device" which are made through a person's soul. Chivalry of a Failed Knight follows the story of Ikki Kurogane an F ranked blazer who meets Stella Vermillion, an A-ranked Blazer. Although Ikki doesn't possess magic talent, he has the ability to learn as he fights and is willing to practise day and night to climb the ranks and become the best in the academy. On Stella's first day at Hagun Academy, she is arranged to share a room with Ikki as a transfer student of the academy, even though he has many lust filled girls chasing him. When Ikki inadvertently discovers Stella half-dressed, he is challenged to duel where the loser has to be obedient to the winner for life. She ends up losing the duel, but they agree to become roommates as Ikki's one and only merciful desire. It is a harem type show due to elements of erotiscism, romance and ecchi in the story - along with the characters!

4. Tokyo Ravens

There are rarely people who have not heard of the anime series Tokyo Ravens. Protagonist Harutora and his brother Natsume are the last of the Tsuchumikado clan. However, being the last of their clan, they have also made many enemies for themselves. Between restoring the glory of their clan and living a normal life, what will Harutora and Natsume choose? Watch Tokyo Ravens on Funimation to find out.

3. The legend of the legendary heroes

"Alpha Stigma" are known to be eyes that can analyze all types of magic. However, they are more infamously known as cursed eyes that can only bring destruction and death to others. Ryner Lute, a talented mage and also an Alpha Stigma bearer, was once a student of the Roland Empire's Magician Academy, an elite school dedicated to training magicians for military purposes. However, after many of his classmates died in a war, he makes an oath to make the nation a more orderly and peaceful place, with fellow survivor and best friend, Sion Astal. Now that Sion is the the king of Roland, he orders Ryner to search for useful relics that will aid the nation. Together with Ferris Eris, a beautiful and highly skilled swordswoman, Ryner goes on a journey to search for relics of legendary heroes from the past, and also uncover the secrets behind his cursed eyes.

2. Little Witch Academia

Set in a world where anyone can learn to be a witch, this series stars Atsuko Kagari, or 'Akko', who longs to become a witch after for years being inspired by the renowned witch Shiny Chariot. Even though Akko doesn't have a magical background, it doesn't dull her passion. This is such a fun blend of comedy, fantasy, adventure and friendship.

1. Magi: The labyrinth of Magic

This highly rated anime involves several labyrinths hidden around the world full of rich treasures. It is believed that these were created by magicians named Magi and supernaturals named Djinn rule over them, who direct a few selected people to these dungeons. We follow a young boy called Aladdin as he sets out on a fantasy quest with his Djinn mentor Ugo, in a world where several bizarre labyrinths hide incredible magical treasures. Such an exciting and colourful fantasy anime series with amazing character depth and development!

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