The thrill and mystique of a city are impossible to avoid; there will always be something different to find, whether it is a favorite new cafe, a sleazy tavern suitable for shooting, secret treasures, or big shopping centers.
It’s much more difficult to ignore the allure of our beloved anime cities.
Cities add to the development of a lived-in sense of location, but they are not as significant as the cast of a series.
Cities, while not as important as the cast of a show, tend to build a sense of place, and the best of them become as important to the story as our favorite characters.
Here are our top 15 anime cities of all time.
15. Magnolia Town From Fairy Tail
Magnolia has a total population of 60,000, and is a city of traders that has been active in Enchantment since prehistoric days.
Magnolia has a wide built-up area, stretching to Sciliora’s coasts over a large, rectangular surface.
A set of large roads split the city vertically and horizontally.
14. Gourmet Town From Toriko
Gourmet City, predominantly identified as Manpuku Toshi’s “Full-Stomach Metropolis,” has been the Human World’s largest city.
The number of tourists to Gourmet Town every day is said to be over 25 million.
Midora’s assault on the Human World tragically ruined the city, obliterating everything inside it and leaving little of the once-wonderful emblem of the Gourmet Period.
13. Karakura Town From Bleach
In the Human World, Karakura Town is a village which located in the Western Tokyo.
Karakura City. It’s a small town with a normal population, most of which are ignorant of the existence of ghosts and supernatural powers.
Karakura Town is located on the existing jreichi (Important Spirit Ground) – the point in the Human Universe with the largest concentration of spiritual beings – and is under the jurisdiction of the 13th Division.
12. Academy City From Toaru Majutsu no Index
As the name means, it is a city with many schools and colleges of higher learning, ranging from kindergarten to university level, where students study alongside scientists studying psychic powers and higher education, the latter being one of the city’s main targets.
It is the world’s most modern city and its infrastructure is said to be 20 or 30 years ahead of the globe.
Academy City is divided into 23 districts, known as School Districts, with numbers ranging from one to twenty-three and each having a distinct purpose.
11. Z- City From One-Punch Man
On Planet, Z-City (Zeddo Shi) is a big city.
It is made up of a commercial district, a suburban district, and a deserted, trashed area widely known as the Ghost Town.
Saitama and Genos are residents of the latter area, in which many enigmatic entities dwell but are free to live.
10. Akihabara From Steins; Gate
As seen in Steins; Gate, no list of great cities in anime will be complete without including the perfectly realized animated version of Akihabara.
Akihabara is a sophisticated mecca for lovers of all things otaku, including manga, game consoles, past and present gadgets, oddly designed cafes, and more, and it has to be seen to be believed.
Except for the ones there who can’t make it. You simply can’t top unbelievably precise representations of the actual thing when it comes to unforgettable towns.
9. New York City From The King of Eden
New York City has traditionally always been a cornerstone in the United States, acting as the key to opportunities in a faraway place.
Music, speakeasies, and the danger and corruption of the period ooze from each and every frame, particularly in exotic locales like Masterchef, while supernatural shenanigans offer a larger-than-life city on an even grander scale.
8. Tokyo From Kimi No Na Wa
Although animated cities are great for investigating a wide variety of topics and plot devices that would usually be unplausible, the best depictions of anime cities are sometimes those focused on real life.
Tokyo is a serene capital in the middle of very real rough patches in a difficult time of Japanese history, far from the tall skyscrapers, fast trains, and busy streets.
The underlying political and social complexities of a rapidly modernizing Japan are juxtaposed by elegant, Japanese Style architectures dotted with cherry blossoms.
7. Alubarna From One Piece
Alubarna is the capital of the Alabasta Empire, and its grandeur is boosted by the barren deserts that surround it, as well as the fact that it sits atop a huge rock.
The architecture is plain white stone, but the massive clock tower, symbolic of London’s Big Ben, including its Royal Palace, is also what nicely complements apart from most other cities.
Its rich cultural heritage will prevent the Trench Coat Pirates from causing more than a little mayhem.
6. Ecbatana From The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Ecbatana is the capital of the Kingdom of Pars, a prosperous mecca ruled by Andragora, who has gained the reputation of being invincible due to his military skill.
Caravans and merchants from all over pass through to pedal their wares and show their exotic cargo since it is a crossroads between competing kingdoms.
The city is enclosed by imposing walls, and the exquisite interior architecture, with dazzling domes and pure whitish stone, is reminiscent of the Middle East Renaissance.
5. Sidonia From Knights of Sidonia
Sidonia is a self-sustaining city and called a technological marvel because its created by remnants of a planet that was floating in space.
Sidonia is a barren wonderland that is modern. Humans have been genetically programmed to live by photosynthesis and replicate asexually or by cloning.
Even the most influential figures of humanity have reached immortality.
The technological wonders, however, do not stop there; the Sidonia still houses the immense mechs known as the Gardes, used by pilots to protect the area.
4. Wall Rose/Trost District From Attack On Titans
Trost District is a town on the southern outskirts of Wall Rose.Trost is the town nearest to the Wall Maria break, because it is the one that is most often targeted by Titans.
The city behind Wall Rose has a distinctly European feel, quaint stone structures with soaring spires behind an immense wall that holds the greatest hope of mankind for battling the titans.
3. Metropolis From Metropolis
Metropolis tells the tale of a futuristic utopian town where humans and robots work together.
The city is a technological wonder as well as a testimony to how low civilization can go.
The city’s de-facto king, Duke Red, constructed a grand tower called the Ziggurat in the middle, which he says is the secret to expanding power and influence to all corners of the globe.
2. Teppelin/Kamina City From Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Teppelin is a hideous spiral city that serves as the headquarters of the Beastmen, soldiers created by Lordgenome, the Spiral Leader, one of the series’ main villains.
Although little is initially known about the town, it is gradually discovered that it is a giant computer called a Shooter, and becomes another weapon in the epic struggle between Lordgenome and the protagonists of the show.
The city’s reputation isn’t all negative, of course. Humanity rebuilds a capital city in the ashes following the fall of the Teppelin.
The towering spire, called Kamina City, reflects the advance of human resistance and the distance they have marched to make it above ground again.
1. Celadon City From Pokémon
On Ash and his friends’ quest to become the best trainers in the world, the Pokemon series features a slew of cities large and small, but none leaps out far more than Celadon City, the grandest locale in the Kanto region.
As it has sweeping skyscrapers, game centers, fancy hotels, and shopping malls, it is more like a fictional version of Tokyo.
That’s not to mention the city’s gym, which is run by the talented trainer Erika and focuses on strong grass-type pokemon, in keeping with the city’s name.
Although there is plenty to keep you entertained, be careful not to inhale too much of the city’s signature scent, which is heavy enough to knock weaker pokemon out.
