What Makes the Magic: Successful Worldbuilding in Fantasy Fiction

The main purpose of this thesis is determining what is “successful” worldbuilding in a fictional fantasy setting, with close regard to culture and magic within the story. This will be achieved first through discussing the history of fantasy as a sub-genre, the differences between a believable story and a realistic story, and dissecting compelling aspects of current fictional worlds. I plan on analyzing the worldbuilding of Diana Wynne Jones’s novel Howl’s Moving Castle and the manga Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama along with the accompanying anime produced by Bug Films and directed by Ayumu Watanabe.