I wonder why anime/manga/(light)novels draw so heavily upon some game concept for the fantasy genre.

There’s ranks, levels, guilds, the church, etc. It’s a very similar system.

While classic Sword and Sorcery, which they all derive from, doesn’t have any of that. I mean it pre-dates D&D so, there’s that, but I’m still surprised that we aren’t seeing any more shows in that style.

A lot of traditional Japanese mythology get these non-game based shows after all. Catgirls, oni, spirits, and shinegami are the same as elves, giants, gnomes, and Hel (the goddess) in this sense.

It’s my favorite genre, so it would be cool to see some more old school ideas come back.