5 Best Young-Adult Fantasy Series for a Magical Escape from Reality
No Wednesday, no Shadowhunters, no Supernatural or Vampire Diaries. These five overlooked YA fantasy TV shows are unique in their own rights, so hop on board!
5. His Dark Materials ( 2019–2022)
In an alternative version of our world, every person has an animal spirit called a daemon, but the dominant regime called Magisterium represses this connection. A young girl who finds out the truth sets off on a journey to liberate the people from the Magisterium. Though her quest is hard, she has valuable allies who help her out.
If this sounds too much like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to you, forget it. His Dark Materials is a grim and properly dystopian TV show that features a world taken over by an oppressive regime, inhumane experiments on children, and truly evil characters. From any perspective, it’s a fresh take on the well-familiar concepts.
4. The Magicians (2015–2020)
Who of us hasn’t dreamt of waking up one day and learning that the magical worlds we read about are real? That’s exactly what happens to the main character of The Magicians, except his favorite book reality is extremely dangerous to his world, and the academy that recruited him needs all the help it can get to prevent a tragedy.
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The Magicians is built upon the classic fantasy and adapts it into a modern, dark, and positively ironic version of itself. There is no destiny, no rights and wrongs, and arguably, no hope. There’s only a looming danger and a bunch of people too scared, weak, or egocentric to fight it — but they’ll have to do it anyway if they want to live.
3. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (2022)
As common people are living their lives, they don’t notice a hidden world of wizards and witches under their noses — the world that’s constantly in a state of war. The Blood Witches and the Fairborn Witches hate each other, and the son of the most dangerous Blood Wizard has to pay the dreadful price for his hated father’s sins.
Does the premise remind us of Harry Potter turned upside down? Absolutely. But it doesn’t make it worse! The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is filled with wicked and defiant energy, and its cynical attitude to the wizarding and supernatural legacy of other franchises turns it into a bloody, dark, dramatic, but ultimately fun mixture.
2. You’re Nothing Special (2022)
Stepping away from the gritty and the hopeless, the Spanish TV show You’re Nothing Special entertains the idea of combining modern life and old witchcraft. A young girl moves from Barcelona to her mother’s boring town where she tries to find new friends and realizes that she might have inherited her grandmother’s gifts.
Ironically, You’re Nothing Special is quite special and stands out from the other shows on our list. While following the lives of teenagers, it toys with our perception of all things supernatural. The main character tries to replicate her grandma’s rituals and magic, sure, but neither she nor we learn whether they’re real until the very end.
1. Julie and the Phantoms (2020)
Another positive and light-hearted show, Julie and the Phantoms follows a young girl who accidentally summons a band from the 1990s, The Phantoms — three boys who died right before their big breakthrough. A huge fan of music herself, Julie and The Phantoms create a new band together to conquer the world of show business.
Julie and the Phantoms is joyful, happy, and doesn’t overdo anything. You’ll get just the right doses of drama, comedy, romance, and musical from it; all while getting charged with positivity and the desire to get out there and live your life to its fullest. Though overlooked by fans, this show deserves way more attention than it got.