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Fantasy anime take place in a broad range of settings influenced by mythologies, legends, or popular and defining works of the genre such as The Lord of the Rings. They are generally characterized by a low level of technological development, though fantasy stories can just as easily take place in our modern world, or in a Post-apocalyptic society where technology was buried alongside the old world. These anime also tend to feature magic or other extraordinary abilities, strange or mysterious creatures, or humanoid races which coexist with humanity or inhabit their own lands removed from ours.

These anime showcase the joys and hardships of falling in love, whether a schoolgirl has an unrequited crush on her senpai, a Love Triangle occurs within a group of friends, or rivals become lovers through competition or their intense passion for each other.

These anime are categorized as Shounen-ai. Boys' Love or BL in Japan, is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between men. Japan typically uses this single category for all forms of these relationships, sexual or not. In the West, the term Shounen-ai categorizes stories that focus on the emotional aspects of the relationships, while Yaoi categorizes more of the sexual aspects, such as Smut or explicit content. As Anime-Planet's audience is mostly based in the West, we use the Western definition for both Yaoi and Shounen-ai. See BL for a list of both titles.