10 Anime Inspired by Chinese Mythology That Aren’t Dragon Ball

Published Mar 29, 2026 at 7:00 AM EDT.

Author Justo has over 15 years of experience in the video game and anime press, having worked for Hobby Consolas and SOSGamers and now at GameRant.

The article looks at how Chinese mythology inspires video games, movies, and anime.

It notes that Dragon Ball was inspired by the legend of the Monkey King.

Examples include Fruits Basket, which references the Chinese zodiac and whose Sohma family are possessed by the zodiac animals and has had two adaptations (most recently 2019); and Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, a combat-focused anime that premiered in 2017, ran 12 episodes, and was a big success.