What Is Isekai?

The term iIsekai literally means “another world”. What is most commonly thought of as an Isekai is an anime where the main character comes from one world into another.

There is some debate about one element of Isekai. That element is if the main character, or the character(s) who have been brought to another world can return. An example of this would be Sword Art Online. While the participants in the death game are trapped there, it is more of a virtual setting. So while considered by some to be an Isekai it is debated. For my list, it is eligible.

On the flip side, BOFURI is not going to be eligible for a list. While it takes place mainly in a game, the main character is able to logout. So it does not qualify.

My Top 10 Isekai

10. The Water Magician

This one the first season is actually still ongoing but I am really like The Water Magician. This is not one where there is much reference or connection to the original world. But that is great. The character comes in, gets dropped in a nice quiet safe area and has water powers. Eventually, because there isn’t anything in the area, he has to head out and find the real world. Turns out that he’s extremely overpowered. But he doesn’t let it go to his head. This one is just a feel good/relaxed Isekai.

9. The New Gate

Trapped in a death game, does that premise sound familiar? Well, in this case the main character just beat the death game. And everyone else logged out, but he saw a door that kept him in the world. But now it is several hundred years into the future and those NPC’s whom he knew, some of them are gone. And the world itself is massive changed. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t work for the hero to do in the world. If you want big adventures arcs, The New Gate is good for that.

8. My Instant Death Ability is Overpowered

A whole school bus is taken to another world in My Instant Death Ability is Overpowered. But when they get their powers, those who can’t are left behind. Including a kid who is actually very powerful. His ability is that he can just kill anyone or anything. The crux of the show though is how do you use that power. If you kill everything is that good or does that make you the villain? And how do you keep from becoming the villain?

7. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless reincarnation

Another common anime trope is that some middle-aged person gets a chance in a new world. And they are not dropped in as the hero, but they are reborn into the world. That is how the Isekai plot of Mushoku Tensei works. And it is a fun story with a lot of epic moments in it. It is also cringy at times as the main character is young and grows up. But the main character is also a middle-aged man. You can guess how that is weird anime at that point.

6. Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

This is the second time that this trope for Isekai shows up on the list. It is the being passed over as part of a group. First it was with an instant death ability. Now it is just some low level spells. But what happens when you level up your ability to paralyze and poison everything? That is a very deadly and powerful combination. What I like about this and the other one is that these aren’t just revenge tours, there are plenty of Isekai like that, but these are decent characters and more developed than just revenge fantasy though it calls itself that.

5. Eminence in Shadow

It is not common for characters to go looking for another world. That is the case of Eminence in Shadow. When the main character maxes out his ability as a human, he needs to find a new world to embark into and gain even more power. It works. I like how this character wants to pull strings but pull them from the shadows. He is not the leader out in front sort. The other thing I like is that he creates his “harem” of assassins with a story. But it turns out that what he says about this story he makes up, turns out a lot of it is actually true.

4. Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill

Now we go from big adventure anime to another laid back one. What if you were dropped into a fantasy world, but the power you asked for was the ability to buy things online. It means that you can bring Japanese cuisine into another world. This anime is more of that laid back feel, like I mentioned, with a main character who just wants to live a normal chill life. But turns out everyone is a fan of his food.

3. Lord of Mysteries

Another new one on the list that is still coming out. Lord of Mysteries feels different than your normal Isekai. Some of that is because it comes out of China versus Japan for the story and animation I believe. But it is a mystery in a world where magic exists, but it’s not your normal fantasy setting. Think of this as a setting that is more parallel to our own past. And it is all about the mystery of beyonders, powers, and secret organizations.

2. Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs

From a mystery we go to something that is very goofy. After beating a dating sim for his spoiled sister our protagonists dies and finds himself in that dating sim. But he is not one of the main characters. He is just a background character, a mob. But in his attempt to keep himself in the background and to keep the story progressing as it should, he all of a sudden finds that he has a more important role, much to his chagrin. It is weird, the main character is annoying but in a way that he is supposed to be, so it works well.

1. Sword Art Online

Finally is Sword Art Online. I think that this is my favorite anime of all time at this point. And while not all of it is amazing, for the most part I just love it. And it is one of those where it borders on that Isekai, like I talk about above. But I think the story is great, and it is interesting to tackle a death world and make it all about the people in the world. It is less about clearing the game, in the first season, and more about how people interact and grow and grow desensitized to what is happening.

Final Thoughts

Just to mention a few just off the list. Tsukimichi, The Devil is a Part-Timer, and The Fruit of Evolution are all ones that I like quite well. And while I love the genre, it is one that you need to think about what you watch. There are a lot of not so great ones out there. And now that the genre is so popular and common there are even more common place ones out there.

You also likely see that I don’t have a few bigger names on my list. Mainly KonoSuba, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Re:Zero, and Overlord being some of the biggest I can think of. And they are some that I have watched. I thought Overlord was fine. And KonoSuba, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, and The Rising of the Shield Hero have good arcs but aren’t always consistent. I dislike Re:Zero, I don’t find the main character interesting or the plot consistently interesting. But I know a lot of people do.

What are your favorite Isekai?

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Anime Round-up

Shangri-la Frontier Season 2

The second season is currently coming out and I’ve been enjoying it a lot again. I really enjoy the manga so I expected to enjoy this as well. We’ve gotten beyond the first big battle and now are into progressing more of the plot of the game. I still really enjoy that aspect of the story. It seems like the author has put a good amount of thought into that and the anime is staying true to what has been in the manga. If you didn’t like season one, though, of Shangri-la Frontier, this season isn’t going to change your mind.

Dandadan

My favorite that I’ve watched, and I think I wrote about the manga already. But I love the premise of this one. Momo doesn’t believe in aliens. Ken doesn’t believe in ghosts. They both believe in the thing that the other doesn’t and they challenge each other to find out if they are real. The premise is silly, and the whole story is goofy with a lot of Japanese lore thrown into it. It’s a fun coming of age story and experience with some heartfelt moments, a lot of comedy, and of course aliens and spirits and ghosts.

Oshi No Ko

The hit two years ago now, Oshi No Ko is an interesting mystery story of the death of an Idol the Idol’s sons attempt to try and track down the person who put the crazy fan up to it. The story is interestingly done and I appreciate how it sheds like on the seedy and hard and corrupt elements of the Idol business but also just of show business in general.

Of course it has weird anime elements like the son actually being the doctor who was supposed to deliver the babies but was killed before that happened reincarnated as one of the idols twins and a kid who the doctor had treated and who had passed away being the other.

Eminence in Shadow

This is another manga that I’ve enjoyed pretty well. The story is an isekai which I tend to enjoy. The main character intentionally trying to control everything from the background, to be a vigilante hero but more than that, to be a puppet master of everything behind the scenes. When he ends up in another world, he wants to continue to build upon that, since there is magic here. And he creates a shadow organization around a story that he makes up. But turns out that the story is way more real than he’d think, and in fact, he struggles with actually believing that it’s real, which is an interesting element to what’s being told.

RE:Zero

RE:Zero is an anime that I’m going to take a pause on, at least for a little while. It’s, honestly, just not that great. The premise is an interesting one and an isekai, but the main character is just frustrating. And the story progresses in okay ways, but generally they don’t use the interesting element or unique element that well. That is that the main character, when he dies, he restarts from a changing save point until h e gets things right. And I like that element of the story and just what that could do to a character. But generally it’s made him more whiny than anything and the story suffers because of that.

Arifureta

Another one that I started to read but then gave up on if Arifureta. I think that the anime is better, though it is also an anime that I find makes good background noise. A character with a seemingly pointless ability is abandoned by his classmates, but turns out that his ability is great. And with the harem that he creates around him, he becomes more powerful than anyone really. He is also not that great a character, though less of an edge lord than it might sound. I wish that this anime was less trope heavy, but because it is so trope heavy, it just makes a good background watching one.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

Now for something different in the anime realm. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is a lot of fun and very light hearted. A main character who is just kind of a boring background character with no ambitions in life is sent to get from a club that helps people and he joins the club. He and the other person in the club are very different. But the story is just fun and silly and it’s kind of that odd couple group that is created in the club. And the characters ways of handling the requests for help almost always end up working, but not in a way that is great.

My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered

Final anime is one that is an isekai as well. though, the possibility to return to Earth seems to remain open. It’s a story of a character is again extremely over powered. His ability is instant death. He is somewhat hesitant to use it though. But I feel like in every episode he does. He just wants to get back home. And the world has these evil gods in it too. And the rest of his classmates are there, most with powers. The story is oddly complex for something that is generally a lighter hearted show.

Final Thoughts

Out of all of these I do like Dandadan the best, though Shangri-la Frontier is still a lot of fun for me as well. Some of them we’ll see if I continue. But ones like My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Oshi No Ko, and My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered I’m likely to keep watching. I find them to be a lot of fun still.

What anime should I check out next? The nice thing is a new season starts soon. And with that Solo Leveling is coming back. So I am excited to watch more of that one. But what’s a good comedy anime I should checkout?

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