Isekai anime are so popular that at least two new fantasy worlds for characters to get reincarnated into crop up every anime season. In fact, the subgenre is so widespread that anime that don't need the isekai tropes incorporate them anyways.

RELATED: 10 Basic Mistakes Isekai Protagonists Keep Making

For one reason or another, anime that don't need to be isekai stories force themselves into the niche's constraints. This either results in anime with too many ideas, or ones that are confused as to what story they're even trying to tell.

10 Girls Bravo Could've Just Been Any Other Harem Anime

Yukinari Runs Away From His Suitors In Girls Bravo

Girls Bravo is best remembered as a nostalgic harem anime, and most people forget that it's actually an isekai. The story kicks off when Kirie Kojima kicked Yukinari Sasaki into her bathtub and, instead of drowning, he woke up in Seiren. Other than the fact that Seiren's population is 90% female, it's basically just modern-day Earth.

If not for its summary, the pre-Sword Art Online isekai Girls Bravo would never be mistaken for an isekai. In fact, its only isekai tropes are fanservice-loaded harem hijinks and Yukinari being romantically indecisive with his childhood friend, Kirie. Why the anime needed Seiren to be an alien planet is anyone's guess, when a normal high school would've sufficed.

9 Battle Girls: Time Paradox Could've Been The Feudal Answer To Strike Witches

Oda Nobunaga Introduces Her Party In Battle Girls Time Paradox

Fanservice aside, Battle Girls: Time Paradox is basically an educational kids' show: After bumbling in a local shrine, Yoshino Hide accidentally found herself in Sengoku Era Japan which, coincidentally, was the topic of an exam she was praying to pass. The only difference is that this alternate Japan has no men, and all its historical figures are now women.

Even factoring in the twist that Yoshino is this alternate Japan's version of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, this anime's isekai framing device is unnecessary. If not for the isekai bit, Battle Girls would've worked perfectly as a fanservice-centric historical retelling, not unlike Strike Witches: a non-isekai fantasy World War II where the war's ace pilots are now magical girls.

8 Drugstore In Another World's Store Didn't Need An Isekai Backstory

Reiji And His Staff Greet Their Customers In Drugstore In Another World

For better or worse, Drugstore In Another World is one of the most laidback and relaxed isekai anime around. It started when the normal salaryman Reiji Kirio randomly found himself in a fantasy world, where he decided to run a drugstore. None of this is shown in the pilot episode, which began with Reiji already managing the drugstore.

To say that Drugstore In Another World doesn't need its isekai plot is an understatement; Reiji rarely thinks about his past life, and it has little to no bearing on his and his staff's day-to-day pharmaceutical work. Contrast this to Restaurant To Another World, where the titular dimension-hopping establishment can only exist in an isekai setting.

7 Ascendance Of A Bookworm Didn't Need Isekai To Profess Its Love Of Books

Myne Opens A Book In Ascendance Of A Bookworm

Unlike most isekai protagonists, the introverted librarian Urano Motosu's only dream was to read books forever. After dying in an earthquake, she got the chance to see her dream come true when she woke up in another world. Problem is, not only was Urano reborn as the five-year-old girl Myne, but the world she's in doesn't have libraries.

RELATED: 15 Isekai Manga That Are Better Than You'd Expect

Specifically, educational materials are reserved for the elite, so Myne took it upon herself to bring books to the masses. Myne's understanding of reading's joys plus literacy's societal benefits don't need an isekai slant to be conveyed and would've worked perfectly in a regular fantasy or alternate history anime. For reference, see Violet Evergarden. 

6 Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?! Didn't Need Isekai To Parody Overpowered Heroes

Adele And Her Friends Strike A Pose In Didnt I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life

Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?! is another stab at overpowered heroes, but with an isekai twist. After dying while saving a kid from an accident, the overachieving Kurihara Misato was rewarded with a second life as a normal girl in a fantasy world. Problem is, she's "average" by cosmic standards, meaning she's a demigod.

Kurihara was reborn as Adele von Ascham, a noble family's daughter who inherited power that was only a few steps away from that of an Elder Dragon's. Adele's struggle to live an ordinary life and foster genuine friendships despite her royal status is already perfect for comedy and drama, making her past life as Kurihara redundant.

5 The Rising Of The Shield Hero Didn't Need Isekai To Deconstruct Fantasy Anime

Naofumi Brandishes His Shield In The Rising Of The Shield Hero

The Rising Of The Shield Hero is notable among isekai fans not just for its thematic cynicism, but for how blunt its opening is. To get into a new world, Naofumi Iwatani didn't die horribly or tragically; he just opened a book. Before Naofumi knew it, he was now the prophesized Shield Hero and blessed with his title's designated powers.

Even if Naofumi's goal is to essentially kill time before he can return to his world, the anime's real focus is on him clearing his name of heinous accusations and mastering his deceptively useless powers. If Naofumi's contemporary origins were taken out, his story would've still worked fine as an edgy and deconstructive fantasy, not unlike Goblin Slayer.

4 Bleach Should've Focused More On Its Supernatural Worlds

Ichigo And His Friends In Bleach

Of Shonen Jump's former Big Three, Bleach is notably the only isekai, and it would've been better if it was a shonen fantasy like its contemporaries. Bleach followed Ichigo Kurosaki's time as a Substitute Shinigami, or someone who kept the peace between the living world and Soul Society. Problem is, this particular duty of his didn't get much spotlight.

RELATED: Bleach: 5 Hotheaded Soul Reapers in the Series (& 5 Who Keep Their Cool)

Instead, Bleach focused on Ichigo's impact on Soul Society's culture and strife, the war with Hueco Mundo, and other realms like Hell. The modern-day Karakura Town's inclusions felt more begrudging than anything else, and Ichigo's story would've been tighter if he were a Shinigami living in and defending Soul Society from the beginning.

3 That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Could've Just Been The Demon Lord's Origin Story

Rimuru Tempest Leads The Monsters In That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

After dying to a random act of violence, the ordinary if unfulfilled salaryman Satoru Mikami woke up in another world as a slime. His newfound life as the world's weakest monster didn't last long, since he eventually evolved into Rimuru Tempest: the king of monsters and the ruler of the Jura Tempest Federation, a sanctuary for monsters like himself.

As an underdog story with a bit of nation-building as well, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime barely needed its isekai trappings. Satoru's old life has almost nothing to do with his time as Rimuru, especially when he was uniting the scattered monster factions through diplomacy and grinding his power level to its highest potentials.

2 Overlord Would've Worked Better As A Villain's Straightforward Character Study

Ainz And His Subjects Welcome A Guest In Overlord

At its heart, Overlord is a villain origin story for the evil mastermind Ainz Ooal Gown, the soon-to-be conqueror of the New World. Before that, Ainz was the unremarkable salaryman Suzuki Satoru, who woke up as his character in the game YGGDRASIL after he fell asleep playing it. That said, Ainz's real-world origins are unnecessary.

Not helping is how Suzuki had no attachments to his old life, which raises the question of why Overlord introduced an isekai plot device at all if it was going to be resolved so quickly. Ainz's arc as an immortal supervillain torn between unlimited power and reconnecting with his humanity wouldn't lose a thing if his isekai backstory were dropped.

1 The Saga Of Tanya The Evil Barely Bothered With Its Isekai Implications

Tanya Stares Down Mary Sioux In The Saga Of Tanya The Evil

The Saga Of Tanya The Evil is undoubtedly one of the most (in)famous isekai anime, even if it doesn't really feel like a proper isekai story.  Beyond the first episode, the unnamed salaryman's life before becoming Tanya doesn't factor in any of the anime's later conflicts. In fact, the isekai scenario feels more like an excuse for what came next.

Odd as it is, Tanya being a sociopathic military child prodigy with a grudge against God is perfectly acceptable by anime's over-the-top standards; her backstory as an adult man is unnecessary and needlessly creepy. Additionally, Tanya was barely fazed by her reincarnation, emphasizing how pointless her story's isekai element is.

NEXT: Sword Art Online: 10 Undeniable Ways This Anime Influenced The Isekai Genre