While several anime and the graphic novel may have their similarities, this doesn't necessarily mean they copied each other or something because, in spite of whatever similarities they may have, they're still quite different from each other anyway.
Moreover, just because you can think of a certain anime while reading a certain part of the manhwa, this doesn't mean that you'll be reminded of said anime all the time.
At other times, it could even be just one single term being mentioned that would get you to think about another anime, which might have used the same term in the same or in a similar way or context.
Furthermore, this also depends on what anime you've already watched or heard of since you can't be reminded of something you've never even heard of yet. With all that out of the way, let's now take a look at some of the anime that you can think about when reading the Ragnarok series.
1. Full Metal Alchemist
When I heard that word, I was immediately reminded of the homunculus that appears in the anime series called Full Metal Alchemist (FMA).
In that series, the homunculi are the result of a failed human transmutation. They are created when an alchemist tries to bring someone back from the dead and fails.
An example of a homunculus in FMA is Sloth. She was born or was created after Edward Elric tried to return his mother from the dead. If you're wondering what else the Ragnarok homunculus has in common with the FMA homunculus other than their names, well, keep wondering. It's unlikely that we'll ever find out but, as this is discussed in the post about Skrymir, let's not talk about this now.
2. Pokémon
Anyway, when I read that Skrymir was now a golem, I immediately got reminded of Pokémon, specifically the Pokémon known as Golem.
Golem is a rock and ground-type Pokémon. This one starts out as a Geodude then evolves into a Graveler before finally becoming a Golem, its final form.
The 2 golems from the 2 series don't really look all that alike though. Did you also get reminded of the Golem Pokémon when you heard that Skrymir in Ragnarok manhwa is also a golem?
3. InuYasha / Inu-Yasha
Apparently, this can also ensure that Freya's reign will last for another thousand years, which is why she sent one of her followers, Himmelmez, to retrieve this heart for her.
The summary in Volume 5 gives us some more information about the heart. Midgard was apparently created from Ymir's Heart. Then it was scattered all over the world in shards and pieces.
Freya wants the heart for herself because its power will help her control the world and let her be its supreme ruler for a long time. So Freya sends 3 of her followers, Himmelmez, Bijou and Sara Irine, to Prontera where one of the shards or pieces of Ymir's Heart is located.
Of course, Chaos and the rest of the main characters just so happen to be in Prontera and they do their best to protect the heart piece. A fight ensues and it ends with the bad guys getting one of the heart shards. Now our heroes will have to travel around Midgard to locate the other pieces in order to prevent Freya from getting her hands on them and using it for her evil purposes.
Replace Ymir's Heart with the Shikon No Tama and you'll see the similarities between these two items. Both are very powerful, are wanted by many different people and are scattered in pieces all over the world.
The Shikon No Tama or the Jewel of Four Souls or the Sacred Jewel is a magical and powerful jewel that exists in the world of the InuYasha series.
Certain events happening led to the jewel, not only being shattered into millions of shards and pieces, but also scattering to the four corners of the world. The protagonists, consisting of Inu-Yasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo (not counting Kirara), travel around in order to collect all of the Shikon shards and prevent the main villain, Naraku, from obtaining the jewel for himself.
In the same way, the main characters of Ragnarok, consisting of Chaos, Fenris Fenrir, Loki, Lidia and Iris Irine, also travel around Midgard, to look for the pieces of Ymir's Heart and stop the main antagonist, Freya, from getting her hands on the heart.
4-6. Flame Of Recca, Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter X Hunter
Numbers 4 to 6 are listed together because one single event in the Ragnarok series reminded me of these 3 anime. What is this scene exactly? And how can one scene remind one of so many anime?
Thanks to that, all the shops except the inns and booths will be closed, leaving our heroes stranded in this city, unable to leave and head to their destination.
The festival will last for half a month. Obviously, the main characters can't wait that long and would like to leave the city as soon as possible.
Fortunately, there is going to be a Tournament of Magic. In this tournament, only magic can be used by the fighters. The winner will get many prizes (exact prizes have not been specified) and, apparently, one of the prizes can help Chaos and the others with their transportation problem. And that's the reason why Fenris Fenrir is made to join the Tournament of Magic.
Volume 9 is where we see the tournament and Fenris battling against other people and showing us readers just how cool and awesome she is with the way she fights and wins against her opponents.
The main characters, including Recca Hanabishi, Fūko Kirisawa, Domon Ishijima, Tokiya Mikagami, Kaoru Koganei, join and fight in this tournament using magical items known as madōgu (psychic devices).
In this tournament, we saw many different kinds of cool psychic devices and awesome fight scenes between the resident heroes and their opponents.
In this tournament, teams of humans and demons fight against each other. The team who wins gets any wish they want.
The protagonists, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and Genkai, join this tournament and are collectively referred to as Team Urameshi.
As can be expected, they fight a lot of fierce battles but they are eventually declared as the winners of this tournament. Again, as with the other anime with tournaments, there are a lot of really cool fight scenes in this one and we get to see the heroes showcase their abilities and amazing fighting styles.
Being in need of money and some training, Gon and Killua, 2 of the main characters in the series, head to what is known as the Heavens Arena (Tenkū Tōgijō).
This is a place where fighters and martial artists and all those who want to fight and earn some money gather. People fight matches and, if they win, they get the prize money and advance to the next level. Of course, that's easier said than done since many of the best fighters and those that are expert Nen users gather in this place to fight.
In the anime, we see Gon and Killua learning Nen, strengthening their skills and engaging in battles where they showcase what they learned and show how cool and amazing they really are, all the while also earning some money.
These are just some of the anime that you might think about while reading the Ragnarok manhwa. What do you think of all these other series? Do you like them? What other anime or manga can you think about when reading Ragnarok: Into The Abyss?
*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell, CC:BY from deviantArt
- The similarities between the two figures in the image are meant to represent the similarities that can sometimes be found in different anime series
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget
- Last 2 images are also from Amazon.com; links shown above
