What is Alternative Past anime?

An anime that takes place in an alternative past is an anime that clearly does not belong to the future or the present, and isn't tied particularly closely to our history, or has ties to our history but only as a premise: there are too many things that don't make sense for the time-period. In some cases there is futuristic technology present, but the overall setting still feels that of the past. However the setting must still take place on Earth, since we can not know if the history of a fantasy world is an alternate one or not.

Random Alternative Past Anime You might like

Shukufuku no Campanella

(Blessing of the Campanella)

6.26

Description:

The story takes place in a trading city Ert'Aria. Leicester Maycraft is an item engineer belonging to an adventurer guild "Oasis." One night, he is at a party with his friends to see a meteor stream on the rooftop of a chapel. One meteor grazes them and hits the steeple of the chapel. There he finds a secret room and a sleeping girl. The girl wakes up and says "You must be my father!" The encounter with the mysterious girl brings an unexpected adventure to Leicester.
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2010-07-03

Fuuun Ishin Dai☆Shogun

(Dai-Shogun: Great Revolution)

5.4

Description:

In the late Edo period, Japan had experienced an unprecedented crisis by Kurofune (Black Ships), the ships from foreign countries. But a giant robot called Onigami, which has existed since ancient time, dispelled the Kurofune ships and the exclusion of foreigners was accomplished. The story begins in Japan where Meiji restoration in 1868 didn't happen. The tagline says, "I can be the greatest man in the world, because I am a virgin!!" (Source: Crunchyroll)
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2014-04-10

Strait Jacket

6.85

Description:

It is the world where magic and science coexist. Rayotte Steinberg, a lone wolf "tactical sorcerist", fights against monsters. They used to be human beings, but they had overused forbidden power, "magic", to turn into monsters. What he wears is "mold", the straight jacket that keeps him being a human. What he holds on his hand is "staff", a magical wand that explodes everything. If he casts magic, he moves one step to be a monster. If he doesn't, he will be killed. Among the harsh battles, he will face a sin he had committed in the past. (Source: AnimeNfo)
Type

OVA

Episodes

3

Ep.Length

26 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2007-11-26

Sakura Taisen

(Sakura Wars)

6.98

Description:

Sakura travels to the capital with aspirations of defending the city from the demonic forces of the Black Sanctum Council like her father before her. However, things are not as she imagined as in addition to using her great spiritual energy to pilot a mech called a Kobu, she must also perform on stage as an actor as The Imperial Flower Division's cover is an art theater. Making a fool of herself and ruining a production gets her on everyone's bad side and somehow she must learn to work with them as well as prevent the enemy from destroying several shrines which protect the city. (Source: ANN)
Type

TV

Episodes

25

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2000-04-08

Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow

7.32

Description:

Operation Victory Arrow is set in the period between the end of Operation Mars in the second television series and the 2012 Strike Witches movie. The three 30-minute short stories depict the lives of the members who returned to their respective homes. (Source: ANN)
Type

OVA

Episodes

3

Ep.Length

28 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2014-12-12

Chuuka Ichiban!

7.42

Description:

The story takes place in 19th century China during the Qing Dynasty, where the Emperor was weakened and the country was close to chaos. It is also during a fictitious era called "The Era of the Cooking Wars". It was an era in which top chefs with different cooking styles tried their best to improve their skills and to become the best chef in China. It is a country where insulting a high-grade chef or fooling around with cooking could land a person in a jail, and impersonating a top-chef is as good as usurpation of authority. Chefs compete with each other in order to gain respect and even power, but also with the risks of losing everything. The country of China has four major regions: Beijing, Szechuan, Shanghai, and Guangdong. The beginning of the story takes place in Szechuan, Mao's birthplace. After the death of Mao's mother, Pai, who was called the 'Fairy of Cuisine', Mao becomes a Super Chef in order to take the title as Master Chef of his mother's restaurant. However, before he takes his mother's place as Master Chef, he continues to travel China in order to learn more of the many ways of cooking, in the hopes of becoming a legendary chef, just like his mother. During his journey, he meets great friends and fierce rivals who wish to challenge him in the field of cooking. (Source: Wikipedia)
Type

TV

Episodes

52

Ep.Length

23 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

1997-04-27

Arslan Senki

(The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

6.81

Description:

In the medieval kingdom of Pars, young Prince Arslan confronts the hostility of his father and the disinterest of his mother, and yearns to learn more about the world. Despite being surrounded by poverty and slavery, Arslan persists in seeing the possibility of a nobler world. Everything changes when the neighboring nation of Lusitania invades Pars, and Arslan is forced to grow up in an instant.Arslan Senki follows Prince Arslan to war, where he struggles to save his nation and family with the help of a small but devoted circle of advisers. Along the way the young prince finds secrets around every corner and faces enemies who hate him because of what he is, but also finds friends where he least expects them. The story of nations at war, Arslan Senki is also the story of one boy's quest to stay himself in the most trying of circumstances.
Type

OVA

Episodes

6

Ep.Length

37 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

1991-08-17

Youjo Senki: Sabaku no Pasta Dai Sakusen

(Saga of Tanya the Evil: Operation Desert Pasta)

7.56

Description:

The 203rd Air Mage Battalion led by Tanya is forced to fight in the southern desert, the front line. In an effort to provide some food for the harsh conditions, Colonel Rerugen sent dried pasta to the battlefield. Will Tanya and the others be able to eat the delicious pasta under the conditions of water shortage? (Source: AniDB)
Type

ONA

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

17 Min

Rating

17+ (Violence & Profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2021-06-19

Shin Angyo Onshi

(Blade of the Phantom Master)

6.95

Description:

Blade of the Phantom Master takes place in the fictional land of Jushin, modeled after feudal Korea. In Jushin, there once lived secret government agents called the amheng osa (or angyō onshi in the Japanese version), who traveled the countryside in disguise. They were charged by the king with finding and punishing corrupt government officials, and bringing justice to the country's citizens. At the start of the series, Jushin has been destroyed, fractured into numerous fiefdoms and kingdoms, many of which are ruled by corrupt and tyrannical warlords. Blade of the Phantom Master follows the adventures of one of the remaining amheng osa, Munsu, as he continues to wander the countryside and deals with the chaos caused by Jushin's fall. (Source: Wikipedia)
Type

movie

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

85 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2004-12-04

Brigadoon: Marin to Melan

(Brigadoon)

7.26

Description:

Marin is a typical junior high school girl with a sunny disposition and a loving adoptive family. Her life takes a drastic change when a mysterious mirage is seen in the sky above the entire earth. Killer androids called Monomakia descend to earth from the formation in the sky called Brigadoon and begin to hunt down little Marin. She discovers a blue bottle in a shrine as she seeks escape and from the bottle comes a protector, a sword carrying gun slinging alien called Melan Blue, together they must save the earth and deal with family crisis, school prejudice and the police and come to an understanding of Marins past and Melans unexplained mission, as well as learn to trust each other. Set in 1969 Japan with a colorful cast of friends and enemies. (Source: ANN)
Type

TV

Episodes

26

Ep.Length

25 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2000-07-21

Oh! Edo Rocket

7.36

Description:

In Edo in the mid-1800's, fireworks maker Seikichi Tamaya and his friends struggle to live under the harsh morality laws imposed by the strict city councilor, which ban all luxuries, including fireworks. One day, a strange girl stops by Sekichi's shop with an equally strange request: she wants Sekichi to build a firework that can reach the moon. (Source: ANN)
Type

TV

Episodes

26

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2007-04-04

Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi - Ni no Shou

(Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon: The Second Act)

7.26

Description:

Season 2 of Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi.
Type

TV

Episodes

24

Ep.Length

24 Min

Status

finished

Aired

2021-10-02

Naze Boku no Sekai wo Daremo Oboeteinai no ka?

(Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World?)

6.47

Description:

"Why does no one remembers the true world...!" The era when the great race of the five tribes competing for hegemony on the ground ended with the victory of mankind led by hero Sid. However, that world was suddenly "overwritten" in front of a boy Kai. In the rewritten world, Kai saw the scene where humans lost to the five tribal wars because of the absence of hero Sid—here dragons and demons dominate the ground, and Kai is a forgotten existence from all human beings. However, after encountering the mysterious girl Rinne, Kai decides to break this rewritten destiny. In a world without heroes, he inherits the hero's sword and martial art and challenges the mighty enemy races who reign.
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or Older

Status

finished

Aired

2024-07-13

Shin Sakura Taisen The Animation

(Sakura Wars The Animation)

5.86

Description:

Based on Sega Games's cross-genre video game Shin Sakura Taisen. The sixth mainline entry and a soft reboot of the Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) series. In 1930, two years after the events of So Long, My Love, the Great Demon War results in the annihilation of the Imperial, Paris and New York Combat Revues' Flower Divisions. With Earth at peace and the revues' actions becoming public, the World Combat Revue Organization is formed with several international divisions; a biennial international Combat Revue tournament has been organized. Ten years later in 1940, Imperial Japanese Navy captain Kamiyama Seijuurou is assigned as the captain of the new Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division in Tokyo, which consists of: Amamiya Sakura, a swordswoman and new recruit; Shinonome Hatsuho, a shrine maiden and the most popular actress; Anastasia Palma, a newly-transferred Greek actress; Mochizuki Azami, a ninja prodigy from the Mochizuki clan; and Clarissa "Clarise" Snowflake, a Luxembourgian noblewoman. The division once again faces a new demon invasion and participates in the upcoming tournament–while trying to keep their home at the Imperial Theater open. (Source: Wikipedia and AniDB)
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Status

finished

Aired

2020-04-03

Hi no Tori

(Bird of Fire)

7.16

Description:

Hi no Tori is a collection of stories that all have something in common. The Phoenix, whose blood is believed to give an eternal life to one who drinks it. Therefore many seek to kill it, but as the Phoenix of the tale, it's reborn from the ashes. Stories take place in future and the past, where humans fight with each other as always, and everyone is afraid to die. But still, every story teaches a lesson: Life is beginning of an eternity, an never-ending cycle. (Source: ANN)
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

25 Min

Rating

All Ages

Status

finished

Aired

2004-03-21

Shin Getter Robo

(New Getter Robo)

7.39

Description:

Humanity is under attack by demonic creatures called Oni. Unable to fight back by any other means, the scientist Dr. Saotome creates a series of giant robots that harness the mysterious power of Getter Rays, giving them the strength necessary to fight the Oni. The strongest of these is Getter Robo, and Saotome must enlist three very different men to pilot it - martial artist Ryoma Nagare, criminal leader Hayato Jin, and monk Benkei Musashibou. Together, the Getter Team fights to end the Oni menace forever. (Source: ANN)
Type

OVA

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2004-04-09

Berserk: Ougon Jidai-hen - MEMORIAL EDITION

(Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition)

7.85

Description:

Kentaro Miura's legendary series returns in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition. The lone mercenary Guts travels in a land where a century-old war is raging. His ferocity and skill in battle attract the attention of Griffith, the leader of a group of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk. Guts becomes Griffith’s closest ally and confidant, but despite all their victories, Guts begins to question why he fights for another man’s dream of ruling his own kingdom. Unknown to Guts, Griffith’s unyielding ambition is about to bestow a horrible fate on them both. (Source: Crunchyroll, Viz Media) Note: This is a TV broadcast of the Golden Age film trilogy, with hundreds of new cuts including the "Bonfire of Dreams" scene and new music by Susumu Hirasawa and Shiro Sagisu.
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

25 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2022-10-01

Cluster Edge

6.35

Description:

Cluster Edge Academy isn't just any school; it's THE school, where the offspring of the elite come together to prepare for their roles running a world where artificial soldiers and religious sects are major factors in the battle for total control. Which may be part of why new transfer student Agate Fluorite doesn't quite seem to fit in. It's not just that Agate's enthusiastic attitude stands out among the somber, brooding balance of the student body. There's something about him that demands notice, even from jaded honors students like Beryl Jasper, and from the moment of arrival he's been at the center of a series of mysteries that not even Agate understands. Because Agate's not just another student, he's part of a something so momentous, and dangerous, that the world that built Cluster Edge may not survive its passing. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Type

TV

Episodes

25

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2005-10-05

Shin Chuuka Ichiban!

(True Cooking Master Boy)

6.68

Description:

During the 19th century China, the protagonist, Liu Maoxing, wins the title of Super Chef and is the youngest to do so in history. His master, Zhou Yu, suggests that he broaden his skills as a chef even more, so he goes on a journey around China with his friends Shirou and Meili. Mao’s mother, Bei, had wished for everyone’s happiness and fought against the Underground Cooking Society. In order to continue his mother’s wishes and protect the Legendary Cooking Utensils from the Underground Cooking Society, Mao and his friends go on a journey... (Source: Crunchyroll)
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2019-10-12

Patapata Hikousen no Bouken

7.41

Description:

Jane's mother dies when she is born, and her father, a rich English aristocrat, soon remarries to a woman with a son, William, who despises his new father and brother. George and Jane grow up with a dream to make a flying machine. George believes the distant Asian sands hold a secret: a mysterious cerulean sand which can make machines fly. He goes on an expedition to find it, and soon is reported executed for treason. William disappears too. After she recieves an unsigned letter holding a handful of pale-blue sand which floats in the air, Jane is sure her brother is alive and leaves to the East to find him and prove him innocent. There are many mysteries to unravel in store for Jane and her new friends on her journey. But perhaps a mystery should forever remain a mystery... (Source: ANN)
Type

TV

Episodes

26

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2002-01-05

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