Mana (series)

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(Redirected from World of Mana)

World of Mana, also known as the Seiken Densetsu (Legend of the Holy Sword) series, is a group of (mostly) action RPGs, most of which also tenuously share a setting. Most of the games center around a Mana Tree, the source of magic in the world, and the eponymous Mana Sword.

Games in the series include

Manga in the series include

  • Seiken Densetsu Legend of Mana (2000, by Shiro Amano, based off the game of the same name; later collected into a 2-volume set in 2008)
  • Princess of Mana (2007, 5-volume work by Satsuki Yoshino, set 300 years after Children of Mana and 310 years after Dawn of Mana)

Novels in the series include

  • Seiken Densetsu Legend of Mana: Amata no Tsuchi, Amata no Hito (2000, by Hiromi Hosae; a novelisation of Legend of Mana)


Unfortunately, to some extent the Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series have usurped the World of Mana's place in the Square Enix pantheon, with the aforementioned games featuring the 3D version of the three-character action RPG gameplay that the World of Mana series was once known for. This has caused Square Enix to start scrambling to find a different genre for the World of Mana series, such as the RTS Heroes of Mana and pure action game Dawn of Mana, the latter of which was extremely poorly received and criticized. It appears the series has jumped a shark.

The following tropes are common to many or all entries in the Mana (series) franchise.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.